Literaturtipp: Vier Jahrzehnte Jugendaustausch

Ulrich Zeutschel und David Bachner freuen sich, es geschafft zu haben: Die Ergebnisse ihres transatlantischen Forschungsprojekts zu den Langzeitwirkungen von Jugendaustausch liegen jetzt in umfassender Form vor: "Students of Four Decades. Participants’ Reflections on the Meaning and Impact of an International Homestay Experience". Das Buch gibt Antworten auf die Frage, ob Studentinnen und Studenten nach einem Auslandsstudium andere Lebenseinstellungen haben und sich einer fremden Kultur gegenüber aufgeschlossener verhalten. Die Autoren fragen zunächst, was „Veränderung“ bei Einzelnen eigentlich heisst. Sie gehen darüberhinaus auch auf die Frage ein, wie die Erfahrungen der Rückkehrer von der Gesellschaft aufgenommen werden.

Aus dem rückwärtigen Umschlagtext:

"Do individuals change - and change for the better at that - when they study abroad? The research study discussed in this volume set out to examine the assumption, so prevalent among international educators, that there is a direct and positive relationship between student sojourn experiences in another country and the subsequent course of the students' lives.

Focusing specifically on former German and U.S. high school ex-change participants, to test this assumption the authors explore such key questions as: What does "change" mean to the former participants, and how do they differentiate it over time with respect to their personhood, their careers, and their place in society? How do returnees actually value the various aspects of changes they identify - positively or negatively? How is change to be observed over time in concrete manifestations and behaviors? How do returnees feel they have contributed to supporting the typical rationale for exchange pro-grams? How have the results of returnees' experiences been used by their own societies since the exchange? How do sojourn-caused changes identified by returnees differ by generations of students?

Combining a grounded theory approach with survey and inter-view data collected over time, the authors offer answers to these questions and discuss the practical implications of the findings for prospective exchange programs."

David J. Bachner is scholar-in-residence at American University's School of International Service in Washington, DC, USA. He also serves as chairman of the International Advisory Council of Youth For Understanding (YFU) and is a board member of YFU USA.
Ulrich Zeutschel is senior consultant in human resources and organization development with osb Hamburg GmbH as well as a free-lance consultant with transferberatung & training GbR. He is also chairman of AFS Germany.

Bibliographische Angaben:

David Bachner / Ulrich Zeutschel: Students of Four Decades. Participants’ Reflections on the Meaning and Impact of an International Homestay Experience

Münster: Waxmann 2009, 184 S.

ISBN 978-3-8309-2082- 3

€ 19,90.