Infuse service learning programs intersect critical global citizenship education with international development. We develop impactful service learning tours for schools both in Australia and overseas. Service learning programs are distinguished from other types of programs by the pre-trip and post-trip curriculum that Infuse provides and facilitates for schools.
For years, we’ve evaluated our student and community impact – if students experience the expected personal growth on programs and whether our service projects meet the needs of the community partners they’re designed to benefit. In 2018/19, we partnered with Dr Kearrin Sims, a critical development scholar at James Cook University, to research best practices in international service learning. The results from Dr Sims’ research is guiding our programming from 2020 onwards.
We have also aligned our work with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Service projects at Infuse contribute directly to Sustainable Development Goals such as improving access to education, protecting and preserving the environment, and ensuring access to basic human needs such as clean water and adequate food. Not only do our community service outcomes contribute to the 17 goals the UN is working to address by 2030, but everything we do as an organisation is guided by those core principles.
This is the general framework we apply when developing our service-learning programs:
Below is an example of how this framework manifests for participants on a service-learning program with Indigenous communities in Australia:
- Students investigate the historical, social, racial, and economic issues that have impacted Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people since colonisation.
- Students prepare for travel through connecting with Aboriginal elders in their home communities to begin developing cultural awareness. Once in their travel destination, students meet local stakeholders and project partners to prepare them for engaging in community service projects.
- Students act by assisting with projects alongside locals that help achieve goals identified by community members.
- Students participate in facilitated reflections during their travels, thinking critically about how to support transformational changes in their world and advocate for poverty alleviation.
Students demonstrate their learning to their school community and are connected with resources for ongoing education, further investigation and action by Infuse Foundation, which contributes to ending poverty, one of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Please contact us for further information or explore some of our service-learning tour destinations.