As educators and program coordinators plan for global collaborations in a post-pandemic world, we have an opportunity to reimagine partnerships with reciprocity at the forefront. Taking inventory of current patterns and future possibilities is a first step in relaunching community-based global learning programs.
In this blog, Mac Benavides, Ph.D., provides insights and tools to take inventory of global partnerships in community-based global learning.
Collaboration without Dependence: Taking Inventory of Global Partnerships
As we pass the third anniversary of the beginning of the global pandemic, the world is undergoing a process of reawakening. We are not waking up to the same reality as pre-pandemic times, but instead to a hunger for new possibilities. The COVID-19 pandemic necessarily paused operations across the globe as we grappled with health and infrastructure challenges worldwide. In community-based global learning and international development spaces, this also meant that intra- and international partnerships were put on hold, creating space for much-needed reflection from program coordinators and community partners.
From the program coordination side, we found breathing room to engage in deeper examination of the relationship between student learning and the role of our collaborations in achieving sustainable change in line with community interests and priorities. Historically, reflection has often been limited to technical evaluations of our programs and immediate adaptations needed to improve for the upcoming year. However, this insular focus has long been critiqued and, in a post-pandemic world, is no longer a tolerable approach to global partnerships.
The gift of humility can open the door to ideas that were previously considered unimaginable. Over the last three years, community organizations have learned to not only survive but also thrive without our direct support. Our partners have shifted, expanded, contracted, and in every other way possible have effectively adapted to meet the emerging needs of their communities. Many community organizations used this time to re-structure their theories of change to function in a world without international volunteers.
So, the question we have to grapple with becomes, where do we go from here?
Taking inventory
Relaunching global service-learning and other community-based global programs is not an easy process, and there are many factors that need to be considered as we start. The COVID-19 pandemic produced an environment of constantly changing policies for institutions and community partners alike. As we learned to navigate this instability, and amid resurgences and new variants, it became increasingly important to take inventory of our global partnerships to gain a clearer picture of where we stood and how we could move forward. Within the International Service Teams program, we took time to connect with our partners to hear about what was happening locally and how the global crises were affecting their communities and organizations. Building from this relational point, we were able to assess what emerging needs our partners were identifying that an ongoing partnership could help address.
Following these conversations, we realized that there is a need for honest and critical reflection as we design our programs for a post-pandemic world. We must evaluate and reflect on our current global partnerships, which can surface uncomfortable truths about possible disconnects regarding what we have experienced or what we have assumed about our partners’ experience in comparison with the actual stories our partners might share. To what extent does our collaboration contribute to – or possibly deter – sustainable development within our partners’ communities? What would it look like for our collaboration to meaningfully support the work of our community partners? Through this reflection, we have the opportunity to understand the role we currently play in our partners’ work, as well as the role that they need us to play.
Of course, the type of support our partners need may be beyond what we are capable of providing. As we prepare to relaunch our programs, conducting this needs assessment allows us to consider the purpose, scope, and nature of reciprocity in our partnerships. We have to be honest with ourselves (and with our partners) about our personal and institutional capacity to enact reciprocity. At the same time, a relaunch means we can also dream and design beyond what has always been feasible and consider new forms our partnerships could take.
Final thoughts
Taking inventory of our partnerships opens the doors to new ideas and sets the foundation for a strong and successful relaunch. With a greater focus on quality, rather than quantity, of our community partnerships, we can deepen and strengthen the relationships we have with communities and sustain a relationship of trust. In that way, we establish conditions for new possibilities to support student learning and tangibly contribute to sustainable community development.
Questions to consider
Below are questions to help engage in critical reflection about the history and current reality of your programs, as well as begin to consider what possibilities exist.
- What is my personal capacity and investment to reimagine and solidify the relationship with my community partners?
- Have I invited partners to my institution before? In the name of reciprocity and trust-building, what would it look like to bring partners to campus as a visiting scholar or a community partner?
- How might I leverage the knowledge, skills, and expertise of partners in my classrooms and programs?
- What knowledge, skills, and expertise can I leverage in support of my partners’ needs and efforts within their communities?
