Module 4 Images and Discourse Surrounding Learning/Volunteer Abroad

we must understand not only our power as travellers but also the roots of photographys strengths as
an authoritative medium.
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Ellyn Clost, 2014, p. 234 in Picturing the Canadian Global Citizen

I suggest that a questioning of the ground on which we (teachers and students) stand is a possible way
forward in volunteer abroad, and a way to reflect back to the lives of both student and teacher to think
not only about international inequality but also about ongoing settler-Canadian relations.
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Katie MacDonald, 2014, p. 207 in (De)colonizing Pedagogies: An Exploration of Learning with Student
Volunteering Abroad

Images and Discourse Surrounding Volunteer/Learning Abroad

When you think about volunteering or learning abroad what images come to mind? What types of
discourse do you think about? Do you imagine helping, caring, giving, and/or supporting types of
images/words? The majority of images online found under a Google search of volunteer abroad often
portray some sort of helping or caring relationship between volunteers and host community. How do
these types of images and discourse surrounding a helping intention influence your perceptions of and
actions towards humanitarianism and international development? Thinking back to the module on
motivations how might have various images and discourse influenced some of your motivations to
participate (or not) in an international experiential learning opportunity.
In learning about global citizenship and international experiential learning it is crucial to consider how
images and discourse are used to promote such programs and what do these images and discourse tell us
about the practice? The readings in this module pull apart common images and discourses to understand
what they are actually representing. How are images of a single white person surrounded by non-white
locals reproducing colonial relationships? How are images of a white female surrounded by black
children reproducing gendered norms and stereotypes? What role does the camera play in a volunteers
relationships and power dynamics of these relationships within their host communities? It is important to
understand that NGOs and volunteer/study abroad organizations may choose to use these types of
promotional material for specific purposes.
This module not only deconstructs images and discourse, but it is also meant to help you deconstruct the
industry as a whole and the pedagogy surrounding international learning. Understanding the colonial
parallels of volunteer/learn abroad programs is important if we are to attempt to improve the ethical
dilemmas within the industry. But how do we move away from these colonial parallels, and can we?
MacDonalds chapter provides some excellent reflections on the pedagogy surrounding international
experiential learning, as well as suggestions on how to, as her title suggests, (de)colonize how we teach
and learn from international experiences.
Please complete all the readings and activities prior to proceeding to the discussion board where
you are expected to contribute your thoughts on the modules subject matter.

Module 4 Required Readings:

In Globetrotting or Global Citizenship? Perils and Potential of International Experiential Learning
edited by Rebecca Tiessen and Robert Huish, 2014, University of Toronto Press.
Chapter 11 by MacDonald (De)colonizing pedagogies: An exploration of learning with students volunteering
abroad.
Chapter12 by Clost Visual representation and Canadian government-funded volunteer abroad programs:
Picturing the Canadian global citizen.

Additional readings: You can find the PDFs for these readings through the uOttawa library
database.
Mostafanezhad, M. (2013). Getting in touch with your inner Angelina: Celebrity humanitarianism and
the cultural politics of gendered generosity in volunteer tourism. Third World Quarterly. 34(3).
485-499.
Simpson, K (2004). Doing development: The gap year, volunteer-tourists and a popular practice of
development. Journal of International Development. 16. 681-692.
Suggested Readings:
Keese, J. (2011). The geography of volunteer tourism: Place matters. Tourism Geographies: An
International Journal of Tourism Space, Place and Environment. 13(2). 257-279.
Pluim, G. and Jorgenson, S. (2012). A reflection on the broader, systemic impacts of youth volunteer
abroad programmes: A Canadian perspective. Intercultural Education. 23(1). 25-38.

Activities:
(1) Watch the two videos of Ellyn Clost and Katie MacDonald available on Blackboard Learn.
(2) Please watch these short recommended videos that will help with your discussion board posts.
Radi-Aid video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJLqyuxm96k
Lets Save Africa Gone Wrong Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbqA6o8_WC0

Discussion Questions:
Discuss and reflect upon Mostafanezhads discussion on a humanitarian gaze. Do you agree/disagree with
her arguments? Do you agree/disagree with her linking images of Angelina and Madonna with their
adopted children as an influence in youths desire to volunteer abroad? What role does social media and
popular media have in promoting volunteering abroad?
Do you think the images and discourse presented online that promote volunteer/study abroad accurately
depict the experience?
Discuss your thoughts on Clost and Mostafanezhads readings on imagery. What do you think about
Closts three types of images? What do you think about both authors discussion on images and colonial

parallels? Does international volunteering reinforce or disrupt colonial-type relationships with the Global
South? How might the photographs we share and/or the stories we tell reproduce power hierarchies and
structures of inequality?
Please also discuss the questions raised by the authors in the video links.