TRANSFORMING STUDENT PERCEPTIONS: THE CASA GUATEMALA EXPERIENCE by JEFFREY TODD STEWART B.A. Hons., Queen’s University, 1985 B.Ed., Queen’s University, 1988 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in THE FACULTYOF GRADUATE STUDIES (Department of Social and Educational Studies) We accept this thesis as conforming to the equired standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA March 1994 © Jeffrey Todd Stewart, 1994 __________________________ In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the head of my department or by his or her representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department of SfxLS The University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada Date ii 2Z I DE-6 (2/88) ABSTRACT Teaching students to have a “global perspective” is one of the key aspects of global education. Curriculum used to develop such a perspective at the high school level rarely involves experiential cross-cultural programs which take students to the “Third World”. One such program, the Casa Guatemala Project in British Columbia’s Richmond School District, sends a small group of grade eleven and twelve students to Guatemala each year for two weeks to work at a childrens’ orphanage. This study looks at how the experience transforms the students’ perceptions of Guatemala, North America and themselves. This investigation focuses on the substance and dynamics of changes in the students’ perceptions using Mezirow’s (1991) theory of the transformative dimensions of adult learning. The research follows six students as they go through the program from September of 1992 to April of 1993. Semi-structured and open-ended interviews, student journals, researcher observations and available documentation suggest that the students’ perceptions and worldview are altered as a result of three key dynamics: a) conflict and dilemma, b) selective perception, and C) group dynamics and dialogue. When the students return to Canada they experience an intense period of alienation from their own community and society as they attempt to comprehend, assimilate and accommodate solutions to new understandings generated by the experience. The possible benefits of structured preparation and debriefing sessions are explored, as are implications for other experiential learning programs of a similar nature. III iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract Table of Contents i V Acknowledgements v i Chapter One: The Problem 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 The Research Population and Program Student Selection Process 4 1 .3 The Problem 7 1.4 Overview of the Research Methodology 9 1 .41 Semi-structured and Open-ended Interviews 9 1 .42 Student Journals 1 4 1 .43 Field Observations 1 5 1.44 Documentation 1 5 1.45 Summary of the Research Methodology 1 6 1.5 The Role of the Researcher in the Study 1 7 1.6 Towards a Theory of Experiential Learning in Young Adulthood 1 9 1.7 Chapter Outlines 24 Chapter Two: Literature Review 2.1 Introduction 27 2.2 Sources of Literature 28 2.3 Experiential Learning 29 2.4 Citizenship Education 3 9 2.5 Environmental Education 4 6 2.6 Global Education 5 2 2.7 Cross-Cultural Learning 5 8 2.8 Discussion 6 3 2.9 Conclusion 65 Chapter Three: History of the Casa Guatemala Project 3.1 Introduction 6 7 3.2 Origins and Early Years of Casa Guatemala (1979-1 989) 68 3.3 The Great Leap Forward: Launching the Trip to Guatemala 79 (1989-1990) 3.4 Expanding Horizons: A Period of Consolidation and Evaluation 99 (1990-1992) 3.5 Future Considerations for the Casa Guatemala Project 111 Chapter Four: The Students’ Perceptions Prior to the Tour 4.1 School Selection Process and Lead Up to the 1993 Tour 11 3 4.2 The Students and their Perceptions Prior to Departure 11 6 4.21 Linda Shaw: Social Status or Social Action 11 8 4.22 Holly Range: Feminism and the Trumpet 1 23 V 4.23 Kaily Soila: On the Fast Track of Perceptual Change 1 27 4.24 Alice Gibson: An Adventure in Cross-Cultural Learning 1 33 4.25 Jane Lamb: Alienation and Social Action 1 38 4.26 Tim Long: Informing a Legal Career 1 43 4.3 Onward to Guatemala: Common Factors Affecting the Students’ 1 48 Perceptions Chapter Five: The Journey Through Guatemala 5.1 Introduction: The First Steps Forward 1 54 5.2 Guatemala City: Just Another “North American” Town 1 56 5.3 Antigua: Learning About Life in Guatemala from the Tourist Beat 1 61 5.4 San Jose Chillijuyu: The “Happy Poor” 1 66 5.5 Chichicastenango: The “Bargain Basement” of Guatemala 1 68 5.6 Tikal, Flores and the Camino Real: Temples, Poverty and Karaoke Bars 1 71 5.7 Round Two of Guatemala City: Deepening Reflections and Divisions 1 75 5.8 The Visit to a Baby Orphanage in Guatemala City 1 78 5.9 Casa Guatemala on the Rio Dulce: Gunboats, Mansions, Paint and 1 80 Partnership 5.10 Livingston, Emilio and Casa Alianza: From Speeches to Glue Sniffers 1 92 5.11 Last Minute Reflections: The Students’ Perceptions before the Journey 197 Home 5.12 The Reception Back Home: Suntans, Gifts, Memories and Anger 203 5.13 Summary 215 Chapter Six: Conclusions 6.1 Change and the Students’ Expectations 21 8 6.2 Critical Aspects of Transformation in the Students’ Knowledge, Values 219 and Perceptions 6.3 Conflict and Dilemma in Perceptual Change 222 6.4 Selective Perception 227 6.5 Group Dynamics and Dialogue 230 6.6 The Need For Preparation and Debriefing Sessions 232 6.7 Implications for Experiential Learning 237 Bibliography 240 AppendixA Semi-structured Interview Questions 247 Appendix B Letter of Permission 251 vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Educational research always involves the support of many individuals. This study is no exception. First of all, I would like to thank the administration, teachers and students in the Richmond School District who supported this research effort from 1992-1994. To the students who participated in the research, I would like to extend my gratitude for providing your time and energy throughout the experience. I wish you all the best in your future endeavours. Without the assistance of Mr. Bob Carkner (Principal of Richmond Senior Secondary) and Mr. Bruce Seney (Teacher, Steveston Senior Secondary) this study would not have been possible. I am also indebted to Mr. Ray Sawatsky and Ms. Jill Poulton for their assistance providing critical background information on the Casa Guatemala Project. This study has been continually guided by the encouragement of many individuals in the Faculty of Education at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Peter Seixas, in particular, has acted as my mentor and thesis advisor since 1991. His guidance has shaped my own professional development as a researcher and teacher. Likewise, Dr. Deirdre Kelly, Dr. Walter Werner, and Dr. Roland Case (Simon Fraser University), provided a great deal of assistance throughout this project. Finally, I am greatly indebted to my partner, Ms. Megan Spring, for her constant encouragement and assistance while writing this thesis. Thank you for tolerating all the hours spent in a deep trance before the computer screen. This thesis is dedicated to the memory of my grandparents. Jeff Stewart March, 1994 1 Chapter One: The Problem 1.1 Introduction The sixty kilometer road between the airport at Flores and the ruins of Tikal is, without doubt, one of the best maintained in Guatemala. The pavement cuts through the dense lowland jungle of the Peten and a myriad of small Campesino farmsteads and villages. Locals stare at our tour bus without much concern and, once we have passed, they quickly return to what previously occupied them. At either end of this well engineered highway the road reverts to the more common composition of dirt and gravel. This is poignantly obvious to us flying into the regional airport and even more on the fourteen hour bus ride from Guatemala City. At the northeastern corner of Lake Peten-ltza and half way along this first rate jungle path you can find the Westin Camino Real Tikal. It is a five star, international class hotel with rooms costing between $150 and $200 [U.S.] per night. I was travelling with a group of twelve senior high school students and three teachers from Richmond, British Columbia, and an eighty-two-year-old physician from Australia. We arrived at the Camino Real that evening at about 5:00 pm. Most of us were drenched with sweat, tired, hungry and grumpy after a long day of touring the ruins of Tikal. On the way into the resort we had passed dozens of isolated peasant houses made of thatched palm roofs and dried cornstalk walls. In a patchy clearing near the hotel, several Maya children were playing soccer in their bare feet, using what appeared to be a worn out plastic ball. As the group reached the hotel many individuals experienced disbelief, anger and rising tension. The students wondered why they were staying in such affluent surroundings when all they had seen during the day were the homesteads of destitute peasants. This was not the students’ first glimpse of poverty in Guatemala. However, on this particular evening they confronted in full force the contradictions between extremes of 2 wealth and poverty on this planet. Perhaps more disturbingly they were realizing that they might be implicated in this global relationship.