ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights the connections between purposes of higher education institutions and study abroad programs in less familiar destinations, particularly those programs that eff ectively facilitate participants’ transformation and growth. We construct an academic, theoretical justifi cation for increased participation in study abroad programs to less familiar destinations as one largely underutilized but powerful way to meet the purpose of postsecondary education of student development. This chapter opens with a discussion of the aims and purposes of institutions of higher education. Among other areas, mission statements of such institutions support goals of increased awareness and personal growth, the potential for which is inherent to study abroad programs to less familiar destinations. We turn next to cognitive and psychological theories of learning and development for insight as to how the mind, intellect, and personality develop. We focus particularly on the concepts of stress, struggle, and disequilibrium in Vygotsky’s and Piaget’s theories of learning and development. Understanding processes of learning and maturation is essential to facilitating such development. Then we emphasize relationships between study abroad programs and theories of human development-in this section, we underscore the increased potential, arising from psychological and cognitive unease and dissonance, of study abroad programs to less familiar destinations to further participants’ development. In the next section, we empirically outline the popularity of various study abroad destinations by geographic location. This chapter closes with a cautionary articulation of some of the risks of conducting study abroad programs in less familiar destinations, focusing particularly on the risk of perpetuating colonial practices
PURPOSES AND AIMS OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS
What roles do study abroad programs-especially those to places that are less traveled by U.S. students-play in fulfi lling the goals, purposes, and aims of postsecondary education? To discover the extent that institutions of higher education support studying abroad as part of a students’ higher education experience, we must briefl y investigate the general purposes and aims of American colleges and universities. Importantly, the 21st century has ushered in new factors which have begun to change the discourse about the philosophy of higher education. Barnett has noted several factors that play into contemporary contextualization of university purposes,
including: globalization, technology, social equity, and competition (2004). He concludes that these factors have caused the traditional functions of universities-objective knowledge, critical thinking, and institutional autonomy-to be “put in doubt” (p. 72) and that contemporary institutions must be aware of the larger global arena to truly be universal universities. As the 21st century continues, higher education purposes will continue to be restructured with international as opposed to national foci.
