Service-learning is moving past the limits of classrooms, and young people in the world today have begun to explore a new world where they take part in meaningful work with their communities while learning educational information on a variety of topics pertaining to place-based education, almost like education in the wild, globally. Most service-learning programs are the combination of academic learning and volunteerism, all while teaching students to develop their critical thinking skills, awareness of intercultural issues, impact of their contributions, and leadership skills to provide direct impact with communities across the globe. Below are ten full-fledged global service-learning programs that exist just for teens.
1. Projects Abroad High School Specials
Projects Abroad is a leader in the teen service-learning space when it comes to safety and educational content. They provide customized programs for youth ages 15-18 in Nepal, Thailand, and Argentina. The programs combine formalized volunteer work and educational content so that students gain reflective knowledge about modern world challenges regarding global development, as they connect to a broader community. In Nepal, for example, teens may be working within rural schools teaching English, while at the same time exploring issues of education inequality and sustainable development logics and practices. The value of these programs is in the level of support. Projects Abroad employs trained staff that facilitate regular reflection sessions for the students with the objective of helping them process their experience and link that experience to the global community.
Projects Abroad service-learning model prioritizes reciprocal learning. Teens are not only contributing their expertise and knowledge but also learning/about perspectives that ultimately reshape their understanding of global interconnectedness. Prior to their departure, learners are engaged in an orientation around cultural sensitivity, volunteer project objectives, and the protocols for safety. The experiential learning philosophy of Projects Abroad provides students with a learner-directed experience that ensures that students are not only volunteering or performing a task, but they can connect their volunteer work to the systemic issues being contented. The structured programs also provide a structured journaling process, group discussions, and finally presentations that support students in articulating how their participation influenced their worldview and future intentions.
2. Global Leadership Adventures (GLA)
Global Leadership Adventures provides authentic service-learning opportunities in community development while also immersing students in the local culture in a variety of countries. High school participants are involved with meaningful volunteer service while experiencing, learning, and developing a deeper understanding of global issues directly related to engagement with the community. Programming lasts from 1 to 4 weeks and consists of varied projects, for example educational support in rural schools and environmental support initiatives. GLA's unique approach differs from others in that, instead of short-term projects, GLA provides a long-term service opportunity by using local organizations with whom they have partnerships.
GLA's approach emphasizes leadership development with activities designed to provide participants with structured activities which encourage them to step outside of their comfort zone and engage in the development of problem-solving skills. Participants may work with local educators to develop literacy programs in Guatemala or partner with local conservation groups in Costa Rica to secure sea turtle nesting sites. Reflection sessions are conducted in the evenings to help students make the connection between their daily local service and the big picture global issues; with the emphasis on critical thinking about development, inequality, and social justice. Action planning sessions help students brainstorm ways to continue their engagement in global issues once they return to their home.
3. International Volunteer HQ (IVHQ) Teen Programs
InterNational Volunteer HQ is uniquely qualified to meet the need for teen service-learning by offering programs in 17 destinations around the globe. IVHQ welcomes teens as young as 16-17 years old to participate in independent travel, contributing nearly 20% of all IVHQ volunteers to volunteer service project locations. The amount of awareness and commitment to engaging young people, as well as their own responsibility to developing protocols for their own safety are important enough for IVHQ to establish separate protocols for their teen participants. Volunteer options are available in: wildlife conservation, educational support and community development focused areas. Unique from an adult volunteer for weeks, teens will have added supervision and enhanced learning, and IVHQ protocols result in greater rigor or educational opportunities.
IVHQ offers comprehensive safety protocols, including: (i) 24/7 emergency support and communications, (ii) vetting host families and projects sites, and (iii) pre-departure preparations that include guidelines on operational safety and responsibilities to maintain expectations and support on-site expectations. In South Africa, the teens could participate in wildlife research while learning about conservation biology and how to minimize human-wildlife conflict/loss, built-in educational workshops would add experiences based around the ecosystem, research methods, and data collection. While on-site, IVHQ provides support firmly grounded in youth development, including: designated reliability and minute to minute travelling supports, regular check-in periods (a process to refocus assertive reflection task using non-discursive communication methods-ways to be critical or process their experience), reflection at various time periods before departing South Africa, being introspective of their experiences, as well as learning to apply their new understanding to the larger context of potential changes in their rational practices, personal decision making, and even social structures upon return from the collaborative volunteer effort.
4. VISIONS Service Adventures
For the past three decades, VISIONS Service Adventures has specialized in teen service-learning, offering month-long programs that combine community service, cultural learning, and adventure-based learning. The Peru program, based in Urubamba, a town near Cusco, Peru, is a great example of VISIONS’ holistic approach, because it includes practices of a language (Spanish), place-based use of the indigenous community, development projects around infrastructure, and experiences to important historical areas including Machu Picchu. Teens engaged in the program work directly with indigenous farmers and help build schools, giving them the opportunity to learn about sustainable agriculture and community development firsthand.
VISIONS also emphasizes personal transformation alongside community service - and through structured reflection activities, participants learned how their experiences challenged their assumptions and perspectives about the world. The educational aspect of the program included workshops that highlighted Andean history and examined farming practices and contemporary issues within indigenous communities, allowing teens to develop both practical skills and their understanding of a culture, while also working on important community needs. VISIONS alumni usually comment on how impactful the experience was, and how it shaped who they are today and their future goals, with many ultimately pursuing careers in international development, education, or social justice due to the experience.
5. GVI Teen Conservation Programs
GVI focuses on award-winning teen volunteer programs in wildlife, marine, and environmental conservation across Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. GVI is a parent-run organization with just over twenty years of history, and places emphasis on child protection and safety, all the while providing age-appropriate conservation challenges that not only challenge teen participants to be involved in scientific research and environmental protection work, but that also have a positive impact on both society and the environment. GVI's teen programs offer conservation challenges that provide a combination of age-appropriate, authoritative conservation work with structured learning about ecology, research methodology, and environmental policy to ensure that the volunteer work contributes to scientific gains and the volunteer's own learning.
GVI's model is founded in a belief that, with appropriate support, and with a well-supported young person, can create their own unique personal pathways, in order to make a positive impact in the world. Many programs included mentorship components, career exploration sessions, and apprenticeship connections with conservation professionals.
For example, in Fiji, contributing to coral reef monitoring, while also exploring marine biology and climate change effects; included educational components such as data collection training, species identification training, and presentations such as conservation objectives. When these pieces work together in a cohesive fashion, service-learning experiences have the potential to shape long-term personal or professional engagement with the world, while helping teens understand how their current or future interests may translate into educational or career goals.
6. African Impact Youth Programs
Founded in 2004, African Impact has been providing meaningful volunteer experiences for participants, aged 16 years and older, through up to 20 different types of projects, in multiple African countries. African Impact is intentionally positioned in the space between volunteering and what are considered Peace Corps-style programs. They are committed to healthy safety standards and educational rigor, and while the projects available range from marine conservation in Tanzania to providing support for English education initiatives in South Africa, they also recognize that programs, particularly with youth, must be educational in nature. The educational framework of the program is based on exposing the participants to understanding real local contexts, challenges, and solutions - instead of examining situations from outside lenses. Both before participants depart for their program, and during program delivery, African Impact materials educate participants on African history, current issues, and development challenges.
As part of its youth program offerings, African Impact engages participants in reflective structure, which assists participants to connect, understand, and develop relationships about their experience within larger issues of global development, inequality, and social justice. Participants have regular opportunities to engage in discussions with local staff and community members, providing contextual dialogue around African perspectives on development, education, and conservation, fostering more nuanced understandings of complex global issues. Healthy consideration for cultures is placed first, whilst moments of meaningful learning experiences will arise through immersion; working alongside people and organizations.
7. Habitat for Humanity Global Village Teen Program
Habitat for Humanity's Global Village program allows teenagers 16 and older to engage in community development and housing construction projects in 40 countries. The Global Village program gives young people an opportunity to help address immediate housing needs, while also giving them new skills and educating them about housing inequality, poverty, and sustainable development. Host countries span from Argentina to Zambia, and the program positively impacts communities in a myriad of ways.
Participants work with future homeowners and experienced volunteers on construction skills and community development while also taking part in workshops about housing policies, poverty alleviation strategies, and sustainable building practices. Throughout the Global Village experience, youth participants not only build relationships, but have a chance to engage in cultural exchanges with local community members, while also seeing housing related challenges from the resident's perspective. The program ensures that students know the advantages they provide through their work and focuses on the structural issues that surround the availability of housing and community development as a whole. Alumni tell us that the balance of experiential work and cultural education offers lifelong connections and expands understanding of global inequalities, as well as community resilience.
8. Maximo Nivel Spanish Camp Service-Learning
Maximo Nivel provides exclusive service-learning options for youth as young as 15 years through combined Spanish language immersion programs and community service delivery. Their program is part intensive language instruction and part 3-4 hours of community volunteerism each day, so participants can practice Spanish in authentic contexts and support a local development initiative or community intervention in Latin America. Maximo Nivel also has a unique educational framework to advance student language learning, cultural learning, and social learning, so students not only develop the linguistic skill of the Spanish language but also cross-cultural competence through various avenues of community interventions or local education projects, environmental projects, or community development.
Maximo Nivel is also established on the premise that authentic language acquisition is most effective through communication with purpose and interaction with culture with an emphasis on integrating the service-learning component as it can afford participants previous experiences for spontaneous practice of Spanish. Maximo Nivel's approach combines this integrated service with language learning, meaningful experiences with service delivery, and an exploration of Spanish culture through a service-learning perspective so that teens are meaningfully contributing to community capacities, and are connected with local residents and other international participant cohorts as they engage across cultural differences.
9. GoEco Teen Conservation and Wildlife Programs
GoEco offers specialized teen programs with chaperone supervision for youth aged 15-17 with animal care and environmental sites around the world. These projects bring together regular, hands-on wildlife efforts and structured education on topics ranging from conservation biology to ecosystem management and environmental policy. Participants in the programs are assured to be involved in more than just community outreach opportunities but will be actively engaged in significant research and conservation work. Projects that participate in conservation work like sea turtle nesting in Costa Rica blend marine biology with practical experience and a full educational component. The marine biology component involves nest monitoring and data collection using standard conservation biology practices. Throughout the course of this project the teens complete a two-day learning component that includes workshops on conservation strategies, the research process, and specific environmental challenges that never go away.
GoEco's teen volunteer programs contain all the safety, precaution and educational components that have been developed for youth. Engaging with youth volunteers, we understand that one of the largest factors is supervision with chaperone oversight while also allowing them the opportunity to be independent and cultivate their leadership skills. The operational model allows participants to understand their immediate project supervision while developing an understanding of the larger conservation principles connected to challenging, developmentally appropriate, conservation work and cultural exchange that informs their volunteer work.
10. Volunteering Solutions Global Impact Programs
Volunteering Solutions welcomes young people 17 years and older in many international service-learning programs. In fact, about 18% of volunteers in all of Volunteering Solutions' programs fell within the 17-18 age range. At this organization, there are full summer volunteer programs, and wildlife conservation projects that combine outdoor adventure with community service and structured learning about the global challenges of development. The educational model used in the programming framework with teens emphasizes learning about local issues and community redemption needs rather than applying solutions from what they may have read in the experience / volunteering preparation materials.
The teen volunteers participate in pre-departure preparation focused on learning cultural sensitivity, goals of the project, principles of development, etc. Volunteering Solutions supports their participants in emergencies on a 24/7 basis, and every project is thoroughly vetted and hosted by vetted families with the health and safety aspects of the program. Social change is driven through experiential learning and immersive experience working with local organizations and local community members.
As part of their commitment to educational outcomes, they have structured reflection activities, opportunities for cultural immersion, links between the volunteer work and expansion of broader global agendas and issues, and volunteers engage in and develop lasting meanings and commitments to engaging globally in the future while getting ready to learn respectfully and does so meaningful learning experiences.
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