Abstract
International Service Learning (ISL) has gained much attention in recent years as a promising pedagogy for intercultural and global learning. Serious questions, however, have been raised about its basic principles and their feasibility. In this paper, I describe the evolution of one program carried out in Nepal by Poole Gakuin University of Osaka, Japan over the last 17 years. Then I review the range of program-types that fall under the heading of international service learning and the current understanding about how ISL should be defined. I next discuss recent research on ISL student outcomes and turn to questions raised by practitioners about the rhetoric and reality of key service learning concepts such as “service,” “reciprocity” and “partnerships.” I conclude with a discussion of “producing mutuality” (Crabtree 2008:26) and argue that this requires on-going dialogue and adjustment with the partner-institutions who quite often have an entirely separate agenda of their own.
