UCLA

In 2005, four high school students and their teacher (the author of this dissertation) began developing a nonprofit organization for the purposes of coordinating and leading educational travel programs for youth. The educational trips were intended to raise awareness about social justice issues, particularly manifestations of inequality, human exploitation, and oppression, in both local and global contexts. This philosophy developed over the years into a theoretical framework termed "critical travel pedagogy," and its first full implementation was on a two-week educational program to Thailand in 2008 with six high school students and one college student. The primary objective of this dissertation is to provide the first insights into the development, experiences, and outcomes of critical travel pedagogy as an emerging theoretical framework. Specifically, this research describes the theoretical conceptualizations and development of critical travel pedagogy and explores its implementation during the trip to Thailand. Individual interviews conducted two years after the trip with the founders and organizers of the organization and participants of the educational program to Thailand and a follow-up group dialogue with several of the trip participants provide the foundation for a phenomenological approach to the research. Through the voices of the founders, organizers, and trip participants, this dissertation describes the sequential development of critical travel pedagogy, the experiences of the participants during and subsequent to the trip to Thailand involving manifestations of exploitation and oppression, and the ways in which involvement in the development of critical travel pedagogy has impacted their views and lived experiences. The results suggest that there have been tangible consequences for the founders, organizers, and trip participants in their development of a critical consciousness, which have long-term implications regarding their views of the world and their relationships and roles within the world, particularly in terms of their altruistic values and global awareness. Lastly, results provide guidance for further evolution of and research about critical travel pedagogy.