Exporting Leadership: International Service-Learning Ethical Education

This article poses questions about the ethical considerations of international service-learning as a component of leadership education programs. The author draws on historical critiques from a 1960s address by Monsignor Ivan Illich to US volunteers and Richard Slimbach's framework for global citizenship to offer a lens through which to understand international service-learning. Leadership education administrators are implicated in how educational institutions share American values, export ideals and ideas of democracy, leadership, and values, under the guise of service. This work explores the risks and responsibilities educators and administrators have to international partners and for the development of students prepared to participate in a complex global community. The author advances critical service-learning as a pathway forward for international service-learning in leadership education.