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The Development of a Global Perspective DuringParticipation in Semester at Sea: a comparative globaleducation programLester Thomas McCabe aa University of PittsburghPublished online: 02 Aug 2006.

To cite this article: Lester Thomas McCabe (1994) The Development of a Global Perspective During Participation in Semesterat Sea: a comparative global education program, Educational Review, 46:3, 275-286, DOI: 10.1080/0013191940460305

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Educational Review, Vol. 46, No. 3, 1994 275

The Development of a Global PerspectiveDuring Participation in Semester at Sea:a comparative global education program

LESTER THOMAS McCABE, University of Pittsburgh

ABSTRACT This article reports on the results of a study seeking to answer: (1)How do students studying abroad change views with respect to different dimensionsof a global perspective? (2) How do various elements of the comparative globaleducation program, Semester at Sea, impact the development of a global perspec-tive? Data were collected using limited participation observation (23 participants),interviews and student journals at the beginning and end of a Semester at Seavoyage. Domain, taxonomic and theme analysis were used to identify patterns ofchange in five dimensions of students' global perspectives. The findings of this studyoffer some possible conceptual refinements concerning dimensions of a globalperspective, and generally reinforce the conclusions of prior research on how touristand study abroad programs contribute to or detract from the development of aglobal perspective.

Introduction

In recent years, there has been an emphasis in education on developing a globalperspective, due to increased global connectedness and interdependence. The conceptof a global perspective has been loosely described by researchers as a combinationof social, psychological and environmental understandings within an individual's lifewhich are world-wide in scope. A global perspective includes a general recognitionof human conditions within a social-ecological framework. It can be considered alevel of consciousness about the world which is developed in response to both formaland informal learning processes. A global perspective can be regarded as the naturaloutcome of what Robertson (1990) calls the global human circumstance.

This study examined global perspective development among students participatingin the Spring 1992 Semester at Sea voyage. The Semester at Sea program is acomparative global education program sponsored by the Institute for ShipboardEducation in conjunction with the University of Pittsburgh. This study was devel-oped in order to identify the type and course of development of global perspectivesof college-age students participating in a comparative global education program. Itassumes there are certain elements, both formal and informal, in an educationalprocess which contribute to, or detract from, the development of a student's globalperspective. In addition, it assumes that there is more than one dimension of a globalperspective which may be developed, more or less, in the context of this program.

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The purpose of this study was to address a gap in the field of international educationby addressing the following questions:

(1) How, if at all, do students change their views with respect to different dimen-sions of a global perspective?

(2) How do the following elements of the Semester at Sea program contribute to, ordetract from, the development of students views along various dimensions of aglobal perspective?

(a) Prior to Semester at Sea experiences.(b) Informal shipboard interactions.(c) Formal academic program.(d) Interaction between the formal academic program and the port experiences.(e) Formal and informal port experiences.

This study was grounded in prior conceptualizations of global perspective, includ-ing those of King (1976), Stillman (1978), Hanvey (1982), Selby (1991) and others.These theorists consistently imply that a global perspective consists of a world viewthat acknowledges a degree of interconnectedness within and between societies. Itsuggests the existence of competing world views, ideologies, and beliefs, that crossglobal cultures.

In addition to the discourse on global perspective, this study also consideredcontributions of several cognitive theorists including Piaget, Vygotsky (1978),Boulding (1988) and Mead (1934). These theories served to frame the basicprocesses that occur during students' experiences in programs, such as Semester atSea that may contribute to or detract from development of a global perspective.Research on the sojourner experience in the fields of travel and study abroad werereviewed in light of these theories.

Research Site

This study was conducted with the permission of the Institute for ShipboardEducation which sponsors the Semester at Sea program. The Semester at Seaprogram serves as the study source for an examination of the development of globalperspectives. As a part of the mission of the Institute for Shipboard Education, theaim of the Semester at Sea program is to afford students the opportunity to developcross-cultural understandings of human commonalities and global interdependence,while simultaneously recognizing, defining, and respecting individual potentials andcultural diversities.

The specific countries of call during the 1992 Semester at Sea voyage includedThe Bahamas, Venezuela, Brazil, South Africa, Kenya, India, Malaysia, Taiwan,Hong Kong and Japan. Research was conducted in The Bahamas, Venezuela, Brazil,Hong Kong, Japan and the US. During participation in Semester at Sea studentsspend approximately 50% of their time on ship and 50% of their time in port for aperiod of one-hundred days. Students are enrolled in full-time course work and canchoose from over fifty course offerings including anthropology, history, music,philosophy, religious studies, business, political science, sociology and psychology.The curriculum has been internationalized to reflect the countries of call. Shipboardfaculty are recruited from accredited colleges and universities and are required tohave expertise in one or more of the countries of call. Field experiences involve staysof 4-6 days in each country during which time students have first-hand observations

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The Development of a Global Perspective 111

and encounters in the cultures which coincide with shipboard study. Students arerequired to complete some course related practica in countries visited. In addition,students have the opportunity to participate in a comprehensive field program whichincludes visits with host country university students, home stays and organized tripsto historic landmarks within the countries. The Semester at Sea experience is bestsummed up in the program's academic advisory as follows:

Both in port and at sea, Semester at Sea provides a unique and valuableway to see the world. Students spend their on-ship days in the intensity ofthe classroom, developing a framework for analyzing world events andcountry specific issues and for comparing cultures and political systems.Equipped with this framework, they soon arrive in port to test then-understanding and generate new questions. On board students have theresources of knowledgeable and caring faculty and the companionship offellow students with whom to share and learn from the field experience.(Semester at Sea, 1990)

The Semester at Sea program takes place on board the 18,000 ton SS Universepassenger ship, which serves as a floating classroom and residence for 500 passen-gers and approximately 125 crew members. The SS Universe is outfitted withclassrooms, study lounges, 10,000 volume library, cafeteria, student union, campusstore, theater, sports decks, swimming pool, hospital and photo labs.

Passengers include faculty, staff, undergraduate students, and senior adult passen-gers. A small percentage, (approximately 3%), of foreign undergraduate studentsparticipate in this program. The crew includes a mixture of Filipino and Taiwanesenationals. The uniqueness of a passenger ship serving as a floating university,provides students with close and frequent interactions with crew, faculty and staff,which contributes to important daily interactions. These interactions provide bothformal and informal learning processes that enhance shipboard student life and theoverall learning experience.

Methods and Data Analysis

This research was undertaken on the SS Universe and in port, during the beginningand conclusion of the Spring 1992 Semester at Sea voyage. Twenty-three studentswere selected as participants on a stratified random basis, and the sample was thenreduced to fourteen focal group members. Qualitative research methods, includinglimited participant observations, interviews and student journals, were used to collectdata. Data were thematically coded as evidencing: (a) a students' position on one ormore of five dimensions of a global perspective at the beginning and the end of thevoyage, and (b) the elements of the Semester at Sea program that impacted students'positions and movement on those dimensions.

By comparing what students discussed during interviews and in journals at thebeginning and end of the voyage, it was possible to identify change and non-changealong five dimensions of a global perspective, as well as to consider how thosedimensions were impacted by various elements of the Semester at Sea program. Thefive dimensions include:

(1) fear versus openness;(2) people as the same or different versus people as the same and different;

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(3) naivety versus cross-cultural knowledge and understanding;(4) pro or anti-Americanism versus pro- and anti-Americanism;(5) ethnocentrism versus globalcentrism.

An examination was done of the key linkages between interview and journal dataobtained at the beginning and conclusion of the Semester at Sea program in order tomeasure movement on these five dimensions. It was possible to look for movementon the various dimensions of a global perspective, between the beginning and end ofthe Semester at Sea experience, by analyzing data which were classified using bothdescriptive codes (used to attribute a class phenomena or category to the text of thetranscripts), and inferential or explanatory codes (used to denote 'emergent leitmo-tive' or patterns as suggested by Miles & Huberman, 1984). Specific themes whichcontributed to the establishment of the dimensions in this study were consideredbased on the frequency of their appearance in the data obtained at both the beginningand end of the voyage. The descriptive nature of this study provided the opportunityto inspect the data for key words which indicated movement on the variousdimensions. For example, in several dimensions, movement was seen if studentswere able to articulate their understanding of certain phenomena by considering only'either/or' situations or if they were able to understand multiple explanations of aphenomenon and used the word 'and'. Some students at the beginning of the voyagesaw people as either the same or different across cultures, but showed movement inthis dimension towards the conclusion of the voyage when they were able toarticulate descriptions of people across cultures that included an understanding ofboth sameness and difference between people.

Field notes from observations of participants traveling independently in port orparticipating in organized field trips were used to reinforce or contradict the analysisof interview and journal data when considering measurement of movement on thedimensions, as well as those elements of Semester at Sea that impacted movement.Specifically, observation data were examined in order to determine the nature ofinteraction and actions of participants in the Semester at Sea program.

The goal was to analyze data through an inductive process uncovering emergentpatterns. They could then be represented in a typological fashion as categories andclassification schemes of both various dimensions of a global perspective. In short,movement was analyzed by examining the regularity of events or internal consisten-cies of descriptions from interviews and observations, with respect to the concept ofa global perspective (Guba, 1978). In other dimensions domain and theme analysisof the data from interviews, field notes and written materials (journals) utilizedcoding techniques in order to identify clusters of information (Spradley, 1979; Miles& Huberman, 1984). Using these coding techniques it was possible to assessmovement in other dimensions by considering changes in students' descriptions oftheir experiences and by comparing and contrasting the data students provided at thebeginning and conclusion of the voyage.

Results

The Dimensions of a Global Perspective

The first dimension uncovered by this research, fear versus openness, can be seen asan indication of attitude towards experiencing new countries and cultures. For allstudents the degree of openness increased as the voyage progressed; they became

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The Development of a Global Perspective 279

more accommodating to a variety of experiences. Students' positions on thisdimension were primarily influenced by pre-program experiences, including priorstudy abroad and family influence, as well as the shipboard academic program. H.T.represents one example of how students moved along this dimension during thevoyage:

I guess my biggest fear might be like personal injury or getting somethingstolen, or just being treated poorly ... I can't picture a lot of things we aregoing to do ... I was scared to get off the ship ... I was scared ofVenezuela ... I focused on the scary things. (2/6/92 H.T.)

I think it got easier after India because it was like the ultimate country ...it was the furthest culture from the US and I had some of the oddestexperiences in India that just totally baffled me and frightened me ... I wasjust totally astonished with the way things were and I could actuallyempathize with the people. (5/2/92 H.T.)

In the second dimension students frequently classified people from other culturesas being the same and/or different when interpreting their experiences duringSemester at Sea. Only three of the participants began the voyage seeing people in theworld as both the same and different. However, by the conclusion of the voyage, tenof the fourteen participants recognized qualities in people that occurred acrossculture, while at the same time recognizing the differences that exist betweencultures. Interviews and journals did not explicitly suggest which elements ofSemester at Sea specifically contributed to, or detracted from, change on thisdimension. However, it can be inferred that contact with host nationals was the mostsignificant element that influenced thinking on this dimension. H.M. represents anexample of a student whose position on this dimensions changed from the beginningto the end of the voyage.

... It's amazing all the little kids we've seen so far all act the same ... itkinda shows us how much alike we are in this world and how the same weall are. (2/5/92 H.M.)

I found out that... in a really broad sense people are the same ... good andbad people everywhere. However, I have my western frame of thought andthe way I traveled around ... and then there is someone in India who hasa totally different world view and perspective because of the way she/hewas brought up in their culture and the things they were taught. (4/27/92H.M.)

Data revealed that in the third dimension students generally moved from naivetetowards cross-cultural understanding. In addition, some of the students evidencedincreased awareness and interest in world events. Position (and movement) on thisdimension appeared to be influenced by pre-program experiences, especially priorstudy abroad. However, shipboard experiences, including formal course work,informal socialization processes, and port experiences, constituted the most import-ant elements in terms of their impact on this dimension. Typically, students variedin where they were positioned on the various dimensions. In a few cases, students

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had already moved along a dimension such as naivete versus cross-cultural aware-ness early in the voyage. H.T. represents a student who began and ended the voyagewith a relatively developed sense of cross-cultural awareness:

I am still having a bit of trouble coming to grips with South Africa ... butthen again ... I look at it in the hands of the white person ... if I put myselfin the situation of a white student ... and I am the same age of a studentin South Africa ... and I have had this life my entire life ... brought up totreat these people as if they are slaves or lesser people ... it would be hardto come to grips with changing it ... and someone you have beenaccustomed to calling a lesser person, now your equal... I don't appreciateit or like it ... but I understand. (5/2/92 H.T.)

The data revealed a fourth dimension of a global perspective which found thatstudents developed strong feelings with regard to nationalism as a result of theirparticipation in the Semester at Sea program. Half of the students began the voyagebeing for or against things American, while the remainder of the students did notprovide sufficient evidence of a beginning position on this dimension. However, bythe conclusion of the voyage, all but three students viewed Americanism on abroader basis that encompassed both its positive and negative sides. This dimensionwas somewhat influenced by port experiences which allowed students to contrast theUS with other societies. For the most part, positions on this dimension wereinfluenced by student-to-student interactions. Participants' ability to see a reflectionof themselves as US citizens in other students' behaviors served as the most powerfulimpetus for developing pro- and/or anti-American sentiments. C.B. and R.B. rep-resent different perspectives on nationalism at the end of the voyage:

I think it is sort of interesting that I found out there are a lot of the 'uglyAmericans' on our ship ... a lot of that. I never really thought Americanswere that obnoxious, but they are ... and the way they treat other peopleand other Americans is not exactly hot. (5/4/92 C.B.)

It (the voyage) has made me look at America as another culture ... andmaybe as before when I used to go out in Texas and I would seeAmericans as being loud and outgoing, love to party, love to drink, and allthat stuff ... I used to think of it as being maybe a problem which I didn'tunderstand or didn't agree with, and now its more like I look at it as partof the culture and I can accept it more. (4/30/92 B.R.)

The final dimension revealed by this study was ethnocentrism versus globalcen-trism. Globalcentrism implies looking at issues from the standpoint of a citizen of theworld, rather than perceiving the world singularly. Only two students could beclassified as being ethnocentric at the beginning of the voyage. Meanwhile, all of theparticipants were classified as possessing a higher degree of globalcentrism at theconclusion of the voyage. Students who started the voyage already globally centric,developed this globalcentrism to a higher level by the voyage's conclusion. Coursework and in-port experiences could be directly linked to change on this dimension

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The Development of a Global Perspective 281

for a few students. However, as a whole, students' position (and movement) on thisdimension appear to have been a result of an amalgamation of different elementsofthe Semester at Sea program. H.T. articulates the globalcentric perspective whichhe possessed at the beginning of the voyage:

I see it (global perspective) as being able to identify with a variety ofdifferent people rather than just western European Norm Americans ... youknow because you are always ethnocentric around your own area ... I thinkof it more as being able to realize that there are other cultures out there andyou aren't just the only one out there ... and that it may be best for youwhere you are at, your culture ... but it may not be the best overall. (2/6/92H.T.)

Implications of Semester at Sea Elements and Existing Theories and Research

Pre-program experiences. Prior experiences tended to shape students' global per-spectives brought to the voyage, as well as how their perspectives changed during thevoyage. This is consistent with Smith's findings in 1955 that general attitudesfollowing an abroad experience may be more determined by attitudes which thestudents had before they left, than by the actual experiences they encounter abroad.For many students, the new experiences on Semester at Sea served to reinforce whatwas initially a relatively global perspective. In other words, as Smith (1955) and thedata suggest, while certain elements of Semester at Sea did influence some students'movement on the various dimensions, a considerable number of students did notmove dramatically on the continuums identified by this study. Prior to the voyagetheir perspectives could be considered to be already globally oriented, and therefore,their changes were mostly refinements and extensions. While the data suggests thatthe voyage was still useful in refining their views, the fact remains that prior attitudesand beliefs had already positioned many of the participants at a relatively developedlocation on some of the dimensions of a global perspective.

The impact of previous experiences on students' global perspectives is alsoconsistent with Hanvey's (1982) notion that the proportion to which particular typesof global perspectives are developed is determined by outlook, distinguishingabilities and the nature of people who interact within an important context in whichpeople learn about the social and corporeal environment.

The findings of this study that pre-program experiences are relevant to perspectivedevelopment also are confirmed in Watson & Lippitt (1955) in Church (1982), whosuggest that knowledge may not occur during a sojourn experience when attitudesare in contradiction with stereotypes, prior personality orientations, or when diver-gent values exist between a host country and sojourner with regard to a conceptualframe of reference. Finally, the Selltiz & Cook (1962) research on study abroadevidenced the potential for some individuals to possess a more limited globalperspective due to pre-existing factors. They have suggested that some people do notenter host countries with open minds due to preconceived notions and expectationswhich in turn influence their experience and its interpretation. To a degree this mayhave been the case with the two participants from this study who were economicsmajors and possessed a world view which was narrower in its focus because it wasentrenched within an economic framework.

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Formal academic elements. Each participant reported that some, but not all, ship-board classes were significant elements of the Semester at Sea program whichcontributed to various dimensions of a global perspective. Students reported thatclasses which related course materials specifically to ports of call, and students' ownport experiences, were significantly more meaningful than were abstract and theoret-ically oriented courses. Interport lecturers (specialists from each country on thevoyage itinerary), were also perceived to be important, contributing elements toglobal perspective development, primarily because they focused exclusively on theproceeding ports of call and subsequently were more relevant and meaningful to thestudents. T.A. describes his experiences in one of his classes as an important elementimpacting his global perspective:

You not only want to listen to what he (professor) is saying, but you alsowant to be right there in India ... I perceive him as thinking that he is justpassing it along ... but he is seeing himself as a student as well as a teacher... I guess that is something that is unwestern and something he has learnedin his Asian studies ... I am looking forward to India because of that class... I thought India was going to be interesting, but now to understand it . . .(2/6/92 T.A).

The relevance of the academic program to global perspective development isconsistent with Hensley & Sell's (1979) finding that 'solid curriculum offerings' and'quality faculty members' are important components of a learning environment inorder to maximize attitude change as a result of contact with other cultures. Inaddition to Hensley & Sell (1979), Abrams & Arnold (1967) and Batchelder &Warner (1977), also emphasize the important domains of learning in the classroomwhich inform experiential methods of cross-cultural education and subsequently thedevelopment of a global perspective. Similarly, this study suggests that an interna-tionalized curriculum such as that found on Semester at Sea, is important to thedevelopment and change of students' global perspectives.

Informal shipboard elements. The uniqueness of the ship, the composite of faculty,students and crew, living together in close proximity, fostered a series of exchangesthat enhanced and cultivated an understanding of differences and similarities be-tween and among people. A sense of community was created on board ship duringthe 100 day Semester at Sea program, which allowed participants to feel comfortablein learning, processing and digesting new information obtained about the worldthrough classroom and port experiences. This in turn became an important elementcontributing to the development of dimensions of a global perspective. Informalconversations with faculty were integral for H.M. with respect to movement towardsa perspective that demonstrated openness to other cultures:

It was kind of fun to be able to go and talk to a professor, sit down anddrink or eat a meal... I guess in a really important way they influenced myglobal perspective ... I like to sit around and hear other peoples opinionsand perspectives ... I like to listen to their opinion and then try to figureout why they think that and where that came from ... throughout this wholetrip and everywhere throughout the world every person has their ownopinion and their own perspective of the world that might be slightlydifferent from some frame of thought. (4/27/92 H.M.)

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The Development of a Global Perspective 283

This is consistent with Billig's (1976) findings that groups provide participantswith the opportunity to negotiate through cultural experiences together, and providea basis for social comparison processes informing students' global perceptions. Inaddition, the impact of shipboard interactions on global perspective development isconsonant with Hanvey's (1982) view that a global perspective is developed inrelation to the socialization of 'collectivities' of people who derive different compo-nents of a global perspective from each other. Thus, participants in this studybenefited from the shipboard environment because of its ability to foster therecognition by individuals that although their views of the world may not beuniversally shared, those views can be shaped by influences on an ongoing basisthrough a process of exchange and interaction (Hanvey, 1982).

Port experience elements. Students consistently described port experiences as themost meaningful element of the Semester at Sea program in terms of their contribu-tion to the development of a global perspective. Students' consciousness andknowledge of the global system expanded with each port of call as a result ofrepeated exposure to a variety of cultures, people and situations. The majority ofparticipants reported a heightened cross-cultural awareness and new sensitivity toother cultures as a result of a variety of formal and informal contacts in ports of call.Exchanges, both formal, via university visits and home stays, and informal casualencounters, allowed students to investigate and challenge their preconceived notionsabout the cultures they visited, which is consistent with Hansel's (1986) research onintercultural American Field Service (AFS) homestays and their impact. Whilehomestays on Semester at Sea are considerably shorter than during an AFS experi-ence, both result in host national contact. As such, the impact of homestays as portexperiences on Semester at Sea, are consistent with Hansel's findings that showedthat AFS returnees who had intercultural homestays were less ethnocentric and moreglobalcentric in terms of understanding the world as one community. Like Semesterat Sea students who concluded the voyage more globalcentric, Hansel found thatreturning AFS students had an increased capacity to empathize with people fromother countries and develop an appreciation of the common needs of people. Theseare traits which could be classified as being globalcentric.

On a broader level, travel within host countries in general during Semester at Sea,no matter what form it took (standard trips, independent travel, etc.) contributed tochanges in attitudes prompting students to move on various dimensions of a globalperspective, or strengthening pre-existing positions. T.A. relates a story of hisexperiences in Kenya and how this provided him with new knowledge and global-centrism:

Safari was incredible. Nature as I imagined it and the beauty of theecosystem. The Grants gazelle, the ox, the dik-dik, water buffalo, elephant,giraffe, lion, cheetah, wart hog, many beautiful birds, monkeys, baboons,crocodiles, zebras, and many others which I could not name. Perfect inevery way except for the presence of man. This soft skinned, weak,ungraceful, slow, and confused animal was out of place. And the dirt roadsscarred the terrain and the Rhino was killed off and where there was oncean abundance of wildlife now there are reserves. The Masi people whohave lived here for thousands of years in their dung huts, who producedgreat warriors, who hunt great beast, who were proud and prosperous in

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their lives. These people who are semi-nomadic are forced to live on themost desolate land, unable to hunt the wild game and left to suffer and die.Now the warriors have left for the cities to sell things on the side of thestreet. The women left to beg for money for their young. (3/13/92 T.A.)

The impact of even tour orientated travel in some ports of call (such as this safari),with respect to global perspective development, supports Pearce's (1982) findings onthe impact of travel to a new environment. He suggests that environmental contactwith host nations has an impact on changing images and conceptions of placesvisited. This is compatible with the finding of this study that port experienceschanged students' conceptions of countries visited, as well as the world in general,which ultimately informed their global perspectives.

Formal and informal port experiences predominantly contributed to the develop-ment of the naivety versus cross-cultural knowledge and understanding dimension ofa global perspective. During the course of port experiences, some dramatic eventsoccurred, which at times challenged existing ways of thinking for the participants,and caused them to change on the cross-cultural knowledge dimension. Theseperiods of culture shock, particularly in India and South Africa, were importantcontributors to global perspective development. The extreme contrasts and pluralismof the countries were a shock to the consciousness of students, jolting them into acognitive process causing them to alter their perspective. They also served as acatalyst for deeper understanding of the similarities and differences of the culturesand people of the countries they visited. N.M. recounts the culture shock heexperienced when he traveled to a township in South Africa.

We saw the townships today!! God I ask how people live this way. Howcan people suppress people like this? Don't they have a conscience, andhow do they live with it? What I write today, no matter how descriptive,will not portray what I saw! I hope my pictures do, but I don't think theywill. He first took us to a colored township. It was bad. Trash everywhere,no water, shacks made of trash, newspapers as wallpaper, children playingin the streets. It was as if these people built their shelter on a hump of'shit'. Hundreds of people were doing nothing! Many children had red hairand big stomachs ... It slapped me in the face, it hurt! It left a scar likewound. It hurt like a war was inside me. Although I did not show on theoutside, I cried! I'm still crying, I will never stop. Life is not hell! No oneever told me life was hell! (no date, N.M.)

The culture shock experienced by Semester at Sea students is consistent with theoriginal notion of culture shock described by Kalvero Oberg in 1960. Obergdescribed disorientation, discomfort and anxiety as a result of being placed in anunfamiliar situation. Culture shock was also relevant to Semester at Sea students'development of the dimension of fear versus openness. In some ports it was directlyresponsible for initiating fear in some students as a dimension of their globalperspective. Brislin & Pedersen (1976) spoke of culture shock in terms of how itimpacted an individual's attitude towards his or her own culture. This is consistentwith students in the study who reflected on their sense of culture as Americans andsubsequently developed pro- and/or anti-US feelings.

On a more general level, participants experienced periods of sojourner adjustmentas a part of contact with host nationals, and this seemed to influence their global

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The Development of a Global Perspective 285

perspectives. Sojourner adjustment has been implicated in the development ofspecific attitudes towards host countries contributing to some of the dimensionshighlighted in this study. Church's (1982) research on study abroad confirms portexperiences relevancy to developing a global perspective. He found that the number,variety and depth of social encounters with host nationals may be the most importantvariable related to sojourner adjustment. Similarly, other study abroad researchindicated that formal and informal host national contact similar to that experiencedby Semester at Sea students, consistently influences the development of a globalperspective. For example, Gudyskyust & Ting-Toomey (1988) found that a globalperspective is influenced by the non-verbal and verbal communication processbetween host nationals and visitors. This is consistent with Semester at Sea studentswho reported that their exchanges and subsequent communication with host nationalssignificantly impacted the development of their global perspectives, particularly withregard to the dimension of viewing people as the same and/or different, and thedimension of cross-cultural knowledge and understanding. Brislin's (1981) work oncross-cultural interaction also concurs with the notion that Semester at Sea students'interaction with host nationals impacted perspective development. As Brislin et al.found, the process of cross-cultural interaction has an impact on both awareness andknowledge of other cultures, as well as national identity which ultimately became thebasis for the dimensions described by students in relation to a global perspective.

Conclusion

The data revealed that elements of Semester at Sea contributed to global perspectivedevelopment. The interplay of varied shipboard and port experiences influencedstudents towards a more comprehensive global perspective. Understanding whichelements of Semester at Sea contributed to global perspective development (includ-ing an internationalized curriculum coupled with experiential learning in port, andinformal interaction with other students, faculty and crew), should help educationpolicy makers see the importance of learning in this manner in order to developbroader perspectives about the world.

As this study illustrates, despite some similarities between participants' initialglobal perspectives, how they changed during the voyage on the various dimensions,and their global perspectives at the end of the voyage, varied considerably. Thisimplies that when educators are constructing global education programs, consider-ation should be given to how the combination of program elements may be organizedto facilitate different students' global perspective development.

From an educator's standpoint, this study is useful when considering the need fora global perspective. International education specialists cannot continue to advocatethe development of a global perspective until they first consider what constitutes aglobal perspective. Once a global perspective is defined in terms of the variety ofdimensions it may possess, those elements of education programs that may contrib-ute or detract from global perspective development must be considered. This studyhas shown that programs such as Semester at Sea are beginning the process ofestablishing a pedagological basis for the development of a global perspective. Indoing so, global education has begun to move from just an internationalizedcurriculum in the domestic classroom, into the field, providing the experientialopportunity necessary to develop a more in-depth global perspective.

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286 L T. McCabe

The researcher wishes to express thanks to all those students who participated in thisproject and provided the data necessary to successfully complete this study.

Correspondence: Dr Les McCabe, Institute for Shipboard Education, University ofPittsburg, 811 William Pitt Union, Pittsburg, PA 15260, USA.

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