CHAPTER THREE
THE PERFORMANCE OF CULTURAL ASSUMPTIONS
IN THE STUDENT TRAVEL INDUSTRY
By cross-referencing Pacanowsky and O'Donnell-Trujillo's (1983) "heuristic list" of cultural performance types — specifically, storytelling and repartee, e.g., Performances of Passion — with Phillips' (1990) typology of cultural assumptions (see Figure 2-1), this chapter (1) describes assumptions that are shared by members of the student travel industry; (2) notes the apparent source(s) of these assumptions, and (3) reveals how this industry's culture may have evolved through its unique continuum of time and space. In addition, discrepancies found in these data are noted and explicated.
It is perhaps helpful to recall that because "each organization has its own way of doing what it does, and its own way of talking about what it is doing" (Pacanowsky & O'Donnell-Trujillo, 1983, 128), analyzing this "talk" (e.g. storytelling and repartee) is one key to understanding the "meaning of work" (Eisenberg & Goodall, 1993, 131) — a.k.a. the "webs of significance" (Geertz, 1973, 5) that are "spun" thereby. As the informants' "own ways of talking" came under scrutiny, several of Phillips' (1990) original categories and sub-categories seemed to realign themselves within and across their original categorical associations; as well, it became necessary to add an eighth category — The Practice of Work — to the Phillips' (1990) model. Thus, the discussion of categories will proceed in the following order:
The reader should therefore remain aware of the proverbial "big picture" as this discussion evolves and should consider that the various details and discussions thereof are meant to serve the end goal of painting an holistic portrait. Phillips predicted that future research would "flesh out [her] typology's subcategories and dimensions" (1990, 222); indeed, examining the informants' use of language in this context seems not only to have enriched this process, but also to have pointed towards "the source of extant cultural assumptions" (Phillips, 1994, 223).
To describe how this culture's web of significance has been spun (has evolved), as well as to "unearth" its cultural "spiders" — e.g. those forces that are responsible for spinning the web — this report will not only examine the language informants use to perform current assumptions, as recorded in 743 pages of transcribed text, but it will also juxtapose these contemporary performances against those gleaned (1) from informants' own accounts of the culture's formative years, and/or (2) from historical documents circa that same era. Five of the informants interviewed were "present at the creation" (Y, 1-1) of the culture — and indeed, of the industry itself — and therefore proved to be valuable sources of both contemporary and historical data.
Brief History of the Student Travel Industry
To understand the industry's culture, it is necessary to have a sense of its history. Therefore, relying upon various members' web sites and their links, as well as upon interview data, contemporary documents, and data retrieved from the historical archives made available to the researcher, a brief history of the industry — i.e. perceived facts that represent an important "strand" in the "web" of culture — was constructed.
The American student travel industry has its roots in the Mormon tradition of sponsoring travel overseas for missionary purposes. In 1964, two Mormon businessmen, Hilton & Debry, took advantage of their connections in this regard and created "the progenitor of American student travel companies," the Foreign Language League, later to be re-named the Foreign Study League (FSL) (ALSG, 1989, 5). The FSL experiment was duplicated the following year in Cincinnati, Ohio, by three Proctor & Gamble breakaway executives who organized the American Institute for Foreign Study, AIFS. According to one source, "AIFS experienced "exponential growth" (Z, 4-3) taking students on six-week summer programs that located them in various university or quasi-university residence situations for a combination of travel and (mostly) academic/language studies. These two enterprises, FSL and AIFS, dominated the market throughout the remainder of the 1960s, until FSL was acquired by Transamerica, Inc., and later by Reader's Digest, which subsequently withdrew its interest and suspended operations of FSL in the late 1970s. During these early years, several companies came and went.
According to its founder, Dr. Gilbert Scott Markle, the company called American Leadership Study Groups (ALSG ) was already in the offing by 1965, at which time he approached AIFS for "help and advice" in the endeavor. AIFS suggested that he "abandon his plans to organize a competitor company and sign on with AIFS instead" (Markle, 1995, 5). Markle declined, and his subsequent decision to forge ahead with the new company "helped solidify AIFS's competition" for the next quarter-century.
According to its Company Profile, the Cultural Heritage Alliance (CHA) entered the industry in 1969:
The year 1970 proved nearly fatal for the fledgling industry, however, when an earlier entrant in the industry,
Nonetheless, student travel "caught on" during the 1970s, culminating in 1975. That year saw, in the words of one informant, " a watershed of Biblical proportions" when the ALSG entity
Three years later, in 1978, several of ALSG's core executives, led by Michael Eizenberg, bolted the parent company and formed the American Council for International Studies (ACIS). As one informant recalls:
This "defection" is described by yet another observer as an "event . . . that shaped the course of the industry for years to come."
Another company, now known as EF Educational Tours, entered the market in 1981. According to its current President, Olle Olsson, EF initially purchased a company called Interstudy, which formed the "nucleus for what today we call EF Educational Tours."
In the early 1980s the industry's expansion continued, notably in the form of American Educational Travel (AET) founded by Desmond Maguire, a former ACIS executive whose career in educational travel had begun at ALSG, and by David Stitt, a former executive at ALSG and co-founder of ACIS. One informant described this event in familial terms: "ACIS itself became a 'parent' company, and ALSG became a 'grandparent.'"
The mid-eighties were said to have been "hugely successful" years for student travel, perhaps influenced by the dollar's strength and "media reports on 'Europe at bargain prices." In fact, by 1985 — described by several informants as a particularly lucrative year — at least one company "thought we had topped out . . . that we had captured the most [of the market] that we could capture." However, the boom was not to last.
With the American bombing of Libya in 1986, following on the heels of the 1985 Rome airport massacre, the student travel industry sustained "enormous" cancellations by students who had pre-paid for tours, raising concerns about "the industry and our [company's] future. We didn't know what would happen in 1987, what would happen to the industry as a whole" (B, 2-14). This event was described by another informant as "the biggest problem I've seen in all the years that I've been involved" (L, 1-10). Most of the cancellations came at a critical time, within 45 days of the summer tours' first departures, and were characterized by hysterical travelers (or more accurately, their parents) demanding that companies provide full refunds for canceled trips. One executive said that parents "seemed to think it was a suicide pact to let their kids travel." The industry limped into the 1987 travel year, to rebound somewhat once it became apparent that no major terrorist incidents had, in fact, marred the 1986 travel season. It was at this time that AIFS, who had "diversified, so they were able to weather the storm in that way" bought ACIS "as a growth company" that subsequently "became the 'student travel division' of AIFS — but we [ACIS] kept our own identity, our own offices, and not much changed." Thus, AIFS ceased to be a nominal member of the industry, even though it actually owned ACIS from this time forward. EF, also diversified, was able to survive 1986, as did CHA and AET.
However, ALSG — the company that had "engendered" several of the industry's other entities — was not so fortunate. Dr. Gilbert Markle, founder and then-CEO of ALSG, explained:
In the end, ALSG's assets were seized by its insurer and sold at auction in 1991 to an Englishman named Christopher du Mello Kenyon.
Upon leaving ALSG in 1991, Markle founded another student travel company, passports — whose existence put him in the rather unique position of having been his own father, insofar as the "genetics" of the student travel industry are concerned. However, ALSG,
Here, it should be noted that Kenyon's ALSG/Milestone (as it was called) had also subsumed AET, which it purchased from founder Desmond Maguire and its other owners in 1991. Thus, both AET and ALSG disappeared from the industry with Kenyon's demise.
Throughout this relatively turbulent era — roughly between the years 1986 and 1995 — other members of today's industry came into existence. Voyageur was founded in 1992 by Paul Colella and Joseph Cancelmo, both former employees of ALSG and later of Kenyon/Milestone. In 1993, the National Educational Travel Council (NETC) was co-founded by Desmond Maguire, a former employee of ALSG and ACIS and president of AET; and by David Stitt, who had also been an executive with all three previous corporate entities. Thus, in terms of industry genealogy, Maguire and Stitt (like Markle before them) became their own fathers; as well, executives at ACIS became "grandfathers," and Markle (albeit not ALSG) became a "great-grandfather" — as it were. Also in 1993, Travel by Design was founded by Elizabeth Lalos, who had worked for both ALSG and ACIS. Finally, Global Vistas was founded in 1995 by James Gibson, who had been employed by both ALSG and passports.
From the informants' individual viewpoints, several minor details regarding this industry's evolution are in some dispute, particularly regarding circumstances surrounding the "births" and "deaths" of current or former member entities. However, the story constructed here is accurate in both its chronology and in its depiction of the details as described by the majority of participants most intimately involved in each event. The industry's "genealogy" is pictured in Appendix E.
The Root Metaphor: Work as Religion
In their collective tendency to describe their work in spiritual terms, informants reveal the root metaphor of the industry's culture: they talk about work as if it were a religion. In fact, one informant actually said, "We really believe in the value of [what we do] . . . to the point of it being a religion" (A, 1-10).
In what do the informants believe? One reply was succinct: "It's education, stupid!" (B, 2-2). Another was more descriptive: "[Our mission] is to continue promoting international understanding amongst the world's people, and our modest contribution to that is to offer [educational] programs to high school students and teachers . . . it's a fantastic service . . . the impact . . . we have on young people's lives, the very positive impact" (C, 1-16).
More subtle, but perhaps more powerful than outright statements, are the metaphors informants used to characterize their work. One explained that it was the company's "mission" to "go the extra mile" — allusions that hail from the Christian faith, in particular. Other informants talked about how their work made "wonders happen" (C, 1-10) or "miracles" occur (A, 1-12). Still others spoke in terms of being "totally committed to the magic and wonder of it all" (B, 2-17). Along the same lines, and with striking consistency, informants described how their work (as manifested in the tours themselves) serves to "open" the travelers' "eyes" (P, 1-4, et.al) or to help them "see . . . other things" or to have more "foresight" (R-1-6) or even to "help realize dreams" (B, 2-1).
Likewise, informants describe a dedication to their work in terms that would suggest an "evangelistic" zeal: "we really, really believe . . . have dedicated our lives [to our work]" (B, 1-15); "you take it seriously, you take it to heart" (M, 1-12); "You just don't ever want to do anything else" (P, 1-4). Still others use Maslovian metaphors: "This kind of work connects you to the peak experiences people have. You help make those happen, and somehow they work for you too . . . a self-actualization that works in two ways" (A, 1-17), or "I am fortunate in my life that I have been able to make my vocation and avocation one" (Y-1-22).
Although the use of religious metaphor is not universal, the preponderance of evidence is compelling: Informants' stories and repartee (including their unique jargon, vocabulary, constructs, and metaphors) are characterized by transparent religious overtones and allusions; moreover, where references to religion are not made explicit, they are nonetheless implicitly present. Thus, the industry's culture is pervaded by religious symbolism and embodied in the root metaphor.
Historically, and as will be discussed further, these themes appear to have originated within the founding and early formative years of the entity founded by Markle, the American Leadership Study Groups (ALSG). For one thing, documents analyzed from entities that existed previous to ALSG did not employ this "language of religion" that is evident in ALSG's earliest documents. Moreover, when one compares contemporary performances of the religious metaphor with comparable performances that recall ALSG's early culture, the similarities are more than merely interesting; they are remarkable.
For example, one erstwhile member of ALSG's early culture describes its "mindset": "We were all in it together, like a mission of some kind. It wasn't like a job. We were in love with the whole scene." Similarly, there are claims that ALSG's early culture
Still another striking description of that culture is metaphorically related to the ancient Greek religion, Epicureanism:
And finally, one informant says very simply, "We were young gods."
At least one historical explanation for this phenomenon was offered:
Another agreed:
It is also interesting to look at evidence from a somewhat different perspective. One informant from the early culture declared that the "idea of this industry as having something comparable to a religious mission is like blowing up a kernel of truth into a bag of popcorn;" nonetheless, the same informant described that "kernel of truth" in the following terms: "The truth is that you're exposing young people to the world and that does have some life-changing impact that accomplishes a social good . . . if you change 100 lives, no one life, that makes a difference." Thus, it seems that even those who might reject outright the conscious notion that the industry "is" a religion nonetheless use the language of religion to describe the industry's mission and purpose, both historical and contemporary. Furthermore, this same informant also declared: "I don't think the industry's changed much over the years [from the early ALSG days]. It's the same basic product as in the beginning, the same basic mode of delivery, the same reasons for doing things. That's remarkable."
In sum, informants' repartee, particularly, reveals religion to be the root metaphor of the student travel industry; moreover, performances of this theme seem to have been engendered within the early years of the ALSG/Markle culture.
Relationship between Group and Environment
In analyzing performances within this assumption set, it became apparent that two rather different sets of data emerged. Thus, what Phillips (1990) had subsumed under one category, this study splits in two. Her original category, Relationship between Group and Environment, seems to relate, in this data set at least, only to elements in the external environment. Creating another category, The Practice of Work, seems to be the more appropriate venue for framing performances of assumptions about the nature of product itself and/or of product delivery practices. Thus, the following discussion of Relationship between Group and Environment will be confined to data regarding (1) membership and group boundaries; (2) competitive environment; and (3) critical elements, while work practices will be discussed afterward, in the context of a distinct category.
Membership and Group (Industry) Boundaries
First and foremost, it should be remembered that at least six of the eight member entities share "genetic ties" to each other. That is to say, the founders of these companies can trace common roots to the same "mother" company, the American Leadership Study Groups (ALSG); another way to visualize this phenomenon is that ALSG essentially split and re-split, generationally as it were, forming newer companies in the process. This complicated state of affairs is summed up rather succinctly by an informant who explains:
Thus, six of the eight companies included in the study (and deemed to comprise the industry) are "genetically related," while two are not.
Irrespective of these genetic relationships, there is evidence of an industry hierarchy: "You've basically got two big companies in the field . . . and a lot of smaller stuff" (Y, 2-45). On this point, there was near-total agreement, as there was in identifying which companies were the "big" ones and which comprised the "smaller stuff." At least two informants, however, identified three "anchors" but admitted to being uncertain as to whether the "third" (that is, the entity not labeled "big" by the other informants) was indeed as "big" as the other two. These data suggest that a hierarchical status is perceived among members of the industry, based upon size, as determined by number of participants enrolled in travel programs (loosely referred to as "apps" or "pax" ). When discussing the industry as a whole, informants consistently labeled and classified each other in terms of these numbers, even down to an inclusion of the "boutique" operation(s) who "take perhaps no more than 8-10 groups a year and [are] satisfied with that" (Z, 1-6). Interestingly enough, no one knows exactly how many participants any other company enrolls in any given year; as a result, even though there is near-universal agreement regarding the identity of two or three "big" companies, there is no consensus regarding the exact position in the hierarchy held by other entities.
There is also evidence of a perceived qualitative difference among the member entities, usually discussed in terms of providing "quality" products/services as opposed to those of a "budget" variety. One informant describes this phenomenon in terms of a "sociological divide:"
In fact, each informant interviewed not only raised the issue of quality but also claimed his/her affiliate entity to be the "quality choice" (or language to that effect). In general terms, quality seems to be defined as "caring" about the client, which in turn prompts a concern for excellence in the product and services offered. Perhaps the most succinct explanation of this phenomenon occurred as follows:
One interesting phenomenon that recurs throughout the data concerns a perceived correlation between an entity's size and the quality of its services:
Another informant explained,
As might be expected, these kinds of statements were made by the "smaller" companies, as a rule; however, the "larger" companies' informants acknowledged a potential problem in this area, but they discussed it in terms of how their companies successfully managed the issue. For example:
In sum, informants consistently identified seven of the eight entities included in this study as "competitors" or "members" of the industry. Companies not named consistently as competitors were of the "boutique" variety, although it should be noted that Travel by Design, included in this study as a representative boutique, was frequently perceived to be "the eighth" member of the industry. Both quantitative and qualitative hierarchies are perceived, and the common heritage shared by many of the companies is both acknowledged and discussed consistently. Moreover, and implicitly consistent with the root metaphor, the constructs and vocabulary informants use to rank each other are framed in terms of the service ideal; indeed, as one "historical" informant noted, "The personal touch has always been a factor in this industry. When you're a young teacher taking kids to Europe, you want . . . to feel that someone's holding your hand, as we say." The root metaphor, however, is more explicit with regard to "symbolic membership" in the industry, as discussed below.
Symbolic Membership
Beyond its historical and/or hierarchical groupings, and consistent with the root metaphor, membership in the industry is symbolically conferred upon those companies whose mission is both "educational" and, to a degree, apostolic in nature. Specifically, only those companies whose ultimate goal is something akin to "creat[ing] a better world" are most commonly perceived to be legitimate industry members — as opposed to their "being in it only for the money" — a generic paraphrasing of a sentiment echoed throughout the interviews. In fact, only one informant initially cited "making money" as the core corporate mission!
Industry members perceive themselves as being in the business of providing "educational" or "student" or "cultural" tours, terms that are used interchangeably throughout both the interviews and the documents. This distinction seems to be the essence of this industry's self-concept:
Although a few entities do not adhere strictly to the teacher-student mix, either in terms of marketing or in terms of clientele, elites in even those companies do seem to recognize the "necessity" of preserving an education/academic aura, at the very least. As one of them explained:
In fact, most informants tend to admit that members of the student travel industry have much in common, as this story illustrates:
These responses, articulated more than 30 years after the industry was founded, are especially engaging when compared to how industry pioneers portray the manner in which this educational emphasis or "slant" was originally visualized:
Thus, members perceive themselves to be engaged, metaphorically, in the "apostolic calling" of "creating a better world" through educational travel, a notion that seems to have been present at the industry's creation, and certainly was an important concept in the early ALSG culture, based on data gleaned from contemporaneous documents. The Purpose of Work category notes additional variations on this theme.
Competitive Environment
When one considers the competitive environment of an entire industry as opposed to that of a single entity, a holistic approach is more conducive to addressing the different issues and perspectives that arise as a result. This study's informants perceive the industry's competitive environment as a continuum that may be described as ranging between the extremes of hostility and collegiality. Generally, and most consistently, informants describe the environment in terms of being "competitive" but "collegial":
In articulating this idea, most informants tend to either contrast themselves to other, more hostile industries, (e.g. "We're not like Coke or Pepsi where they don't speak of one another" [M, 1-6] ), or to compare themselves, generally, to a family:
As well, collegiality was evidenced in other, we're-all-in-this-together type comments, particularly those surrounding the topic of the explosion of TWA's Flight 800 in July 1996:
Regardless of any perceived similarities and/or collegial behavior, however, a rigorous intra-industry competition does exist. One informant simply said, "We've been the recipient of a lot of nastiness, which I can't quite understand." Another shook his head and said, "I think it's extremely competitive out there . . . a lot of mudslinging" even as he acknowledged, in the same breath, "but we've got relationships . . . I think [other companies] kinda look at us and wish us well" (O, 1-8). Another described competition in terms of "bashing" other companies, but concluded that although "we started out very hostile and negative toward certain companies . . . we've mellowed with age and there are still some [companies] that practice [bashing, but] it just doesn't work" (Q, 1-12,13). Competitive language was most in evidence within several web sites, many of which regularly pointed obvious fingers at competitors. For example, one referred to a "formerly failed" competitor, while another cautioned clients against "falling for" a competitor's claims of "all-inclusive" pricing. Even so, the ties of their common "religion" seem to bind the companies together more often than not, as also evidenced by at least two additional "leitmotifs" in the language of this sub-category's data.
On the one hand, there appear several descriptions of something akin to the "family monitoring" of ethical practices. For example, several informants describe how elites in one company (CEOs in particular) may "pick up the phone and call" their counterparts in another, sometimes to discuss mutual problems or situations, but most especially to object when their company feels it has been "slandered" by the competition: "Sometimes we call them up and say, 'Hey, I heard you said this. ..and I don't like it,' and they'll usually respond, 'OK, we won't say it anymore' or 'No we didn't say it' or even 'Oops, you caught us' [likely] because we know each other" (N, 1-4).
On the other hand, some competitive practices are deemed to be so odious as to be "heretical," a phenomenon observed most often when a company "crosses the line" in terms of acceptable competitive behavior. In fact, this situation seems to have prompted the "symbolic ostracizing" of one member entity, whose sales practices are described in very negative terms by other industry members: "[They] sometimes just out-and-out lie. [They] will say that they've been in business [a certain number of] years but 'you'd better watch out for [informant's company] because they haven't been in business that long,' that type of thing . . . .We're not allowed to slam back, but sometimes I wonder about the wisdom of that policy" (P 1-17); "[Company Golf] is "quite ruthless . . . no real belief in the, you know, they lack that care, there's no belief in the education . . . they're quite aggressive on the telephones" (B, 1-9); "They lie, whereas our [telemarketers] are not allowed to lie [or] slam other companies" (S, 1-17).
Finally, the industry is widely regarded by its members as "mature" but dynamic, in the sense that there seems to be "room for everyone" (Z, 1-6): "We all probably realize that there are plenty of clients out there for each of us to make a very successful means of living" (L, 1-12).
In sum, the data suggest that a nearly universally acknowledged set of entities are perceived to "belong" to the industry, and that these "members" are bound together by the similarity of their "beliefs" even as they compete for clients — a theme explicated more fully in the Work Relationships category.
Critical Elements
Overwhelmingly, a discussion of "critical elements" in this industry boils down to the concept of control. In every interview, without exception, the issue of "control" was a dominant theme and was manifested either in terms of internal control (e.g. the ability to govern practices and procedures in the workplace) or of external control (direction and/or regulation of product delivery and related issues). While religious motifs are more subtle here, they nonetheless exist. For example, a major theme of the performances regarding internal control may be compared to the desire for "religious freedom" — or in this context, being empowered to practice the "faith" (educational travel) as one sees fit. One informant, in fact, admitted to being "a control freak. I like it when I can control everything!" (N, 1-12).
The desire for internal control most often emerged from descriptions of how/why new companies have been formed.
The desire for control is also manifested on an individual level:
Inherent in these comments is a desire for control of the product:
Just as the language of "being in control" is that of empowerment, language used to describe loss of control is the language of enslavement, as rendered in the form of impotence or loss of power. To put it another way, being out of control means losing one's freedom — and both are the consequences of ignorance (e.g. "not knowing"). This notion makes perfect sense when considered in the context of the industry's "religious" devotion to education. Thus, to be without knowledge in this culture is to be impotent, powerless, at Fate's mercy:
Many of the industry's "loss of control" stories surround the events of May 1986, when the U.S. bombed Libya, resulting in fears of reprisal and subsequent massive cancellations throughout the industry, just prior to the summer travel season. The following passages are exemplars.
In fact, the only way to deal with the unknown is to control it as much as possible, a theme central to this story:
Thus, being in control is a critically empowering element, while being out of control may be critically disabling, and is at the very least constraining. Here, the root metaphor is implicit in the sub-metaphor of "religious freedom" and, as in most categories, is further suggested not only by the informants' use of language, but also in their apparent assumption that "it is neither right nor safe to go against conscience; here [they] stand" (Luther, quoted in Greene, 1967, 190).
Likewise, and to summarize The Relationship between Group and Environment category in its entirety, assumptions that emerge here are manifested in unique metaphors and constructs that in turn reveal and/or reflect the root metaphor (religion). Apart from the language surrounding symbolic membership, manifestations of the root metaphor are implicit more than they are explicit. Likewise, discovering the antecedents or sources of these assumptions in the early ALSG culture is an exercise in subtlety but not definitely in futility: They most certainly exist — further suggesting that this set of assumptions was engendered in that time and place.
The Practice of Work
To continue in the context of the root metaphor, every religion has its liturgy (practice), whose ritualistic ways of doing things are normally described in very singular language. In analyzing informants' descriptions of rituals common across the student travel industry, it became apparent that a number of them were not only strikingly similar, and in some cases identical, but were also denoted by very unique, often poetical language. In fact, one observer noted the significance of this industry's distinctive jargon: "It's the one thing we all have in common. . . . [I]n using language, you mess with the mind, you create a mindset" (Z, 1-22). To identify and explicate this unique language set, the discussion that follows first describes the language of sales and marketing and then describes operations-and-logistics-related language.
The Language of Sales and Marketing
Many of this industry's constructs are naturally attached to its common product. The most prominent example is the term educational travel itself, used profusely throughout both the interviews and the individual companies' marketing documents. In fact, when a non-identical term such as cultural travel is used, it is in tandem with educational travel. Likewise, clients are often referred to as teachers, regardless of their profession; in fact, one informant noted, "We call our clients teachers, whether they are or not," (Z, 1-15). Although there is almost an even split in the use of teacher and/or group organizer/ leader, even those entities whose public literature use the latter tend to actually talk about group organizers as "teachers." For example, one very revealing comment was, "We have a teacher handbook that we send to our group organizers &# we don't call them teacher-counselors" (P,1-12). The term teacher-counselor was used originally by ALSG, who "thought that [term] sounded more appropriate in the beginning, the picture of teachers huddling with their groups and having philosophical discussions of everything over a drink in the Latin Quarter . . . .The label just stuck, probably because it made so much sense, or maybe because "TC" just had a quick flip of the tongue. Anyway, it's part of the lexicon. Other companies use it, or something similar" (Z, 1-17). That, they do. In fact, an informant whose corporate literature uses the labels group leader or group organizer never actually used those terms in the interview itself, preferring instead the word teacher; moreover, that same informant referred to teachers nearly twice as much as any other informant.
Sales efforts are conducted primarily via telemarketing efforts by in-house sales or admissions staff . "In fact," surmises one informant, this industry "may be the country's first real telemarketers, who knows?" (Y, 1-15). Traditionally, sales and marketing efforts are directed primarily at high school teachers, using no intermediaries such as travel agents; in fact, teachers are the intermediaries or agents between the company and the end-user, who is the individual traveler, often described as a student. These sales efforts are initiated by mailing annual catalogues of tour selections to well-honed and well-targeted client mailing list. Most of the "boutique" companies do not consistently offer a catalogue, but instead design exclusive itineraries for each client. This exclusivity option is offered by the other companies as well, and is normally managed by a special department. At the very least, one employee is normally designated to coordinate custom itinerary design.
Finally, the teachers travel free ploy, offered universally across the industry, rests at the core of sales and marketing. In fact, all companies offer essentially the same pro rate to teachers; that is, teachers earn one free trip for every six students enrolled. Alternatively, teachers may choose to receive an experience bonus (essentially, commission payments) for each student over and above the six required to earn a free trip. One informant claims that although this incentive has been an essential motivator from the beginning, it was nonetheless "perfected within an academic context by ALSG" (Z, 3-1). Even so, today's 1:6 pro-rate did not originate with ALSG; this innovation may be laid at the feet of EF, one of whose informants opined that "this move helped us get ahead in the market, and the other companies followed suit the following year . . . a fantastic concept . . . for a teacher who has not done this before." Still another informant claims that this innovation ignited the "the pro-rate wars" and declares that "trip costs went through the roof after that." Regardless, free travel for teachers is a mainstay of the industry's sales and marketing efforts.
Regarding actual itineraries, European destinations are by far and away the most common, although most companies offer a smattering of tours to North America, the Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa. Tours range generally from nine days' to four weeks' time, and those of fifteen or fewer days' length are the most popular choice (making up some 80 per cent of total travel, according to one of the "big" companies' informants). All tours are accompanied by full-time "couriers" or "tour directors," terms used interchangeably to denote roles that are an integral element of the industry's educational focus (or, in terms of the root metaphor, its religion). One very interesting remark revealed the synonymy of these labels when an informant declared, "We call our couriers 'tour directors'" (P, 1-16). Interestingly enough, historical documents suggest that ALSG's early culture used the terms interchangeably, at least by the early 1980s when something called a Tour Director/Courier Manual was published. In older documents, courier was used almost exclusively.
Yet another of these term-sets is hometown group or hometown counselor, used commonly to denote the definitive group of students or participants traveling with individual teachers/group leaders. Participants themselves are most often referred to either as that, or as "students," sometimes interchangeably, although the current trend seems to be toward the former. Historical documents show that ALSG's early culture used these terms interchangeably, and in fact shortened participants to the word "pax," as will be discussed in the section below.
Another group of common constructs — and these are merely a subset of the whole set — are used to denote specific charges incurred by travelers. The membership fee is probably the most antique of these, having had its origins in the days when charter flights required that passengers be members of a discrete group. From the documents available, it was not clear whether ALSG's predecessors (e.g. AIFS, FSL, or the World Academy) charged a membership fee; however, it is certain that ALSG did so (ALSG, 1970). Today, most companies do charge membership fees but a few do not. Likewise, an adult supplement is often charged adults who travel on these tours, presumably because they are designed as student tours. Again, it is not clear who originated this term; however, it is used throughout the industry today, as is the term surcharge, which one company explains as follows: "NETC's published program fees are based on exchange rates, prevailing rates for trip services and administrative costs . . . and are subject to increase" (NETC, 1998, 111). Companies who levy surcharges — and that includes most of them — nonetheless offer "plans which enable you to avoid possible increases in your program fee" (111). These "surety" plans, also known as Guaranteed Price Plans, Early Bird Payment Plans, and the like are said to have originated with ALSG, as described in the following story:
In this context, the "bonus trip" was conceived, a perk that most companies offer today.
Here, it should be emphasized that except for the bonus trip, none of these practices is universal; however, those who employ these practices describe them in similar language, most of which had its origins in the early ALSG culture. As well, of special linguistic interest is one company whose corporate literature declares that participants will not be charged " fees for membership or adult surcharges" (Voyageur, 1998, 1).
Another subset of common language includes references to what one informant calls "academic artifacts" (Y, 1-6). Those artifacts mentioned most often and commonly, in both the interviews and the documents, are unique to this industry. Three of the most representative are detailed below.
Teacher handbook/group organizer's guide
Although a variety of titles is used to denote this document, the topics and the language used within the various "guides" is very similar. Basically, this handbook is a soup-to-nuts instruction manual that walks teachers/organizers through the organizing process. In fact, on the front of one company's handbook was once printed, "Whether you're on your first trip or your twenty-first, this handbook has all you need to get you started!" (ACIS, 1996).
Historical documents indicate that the first such handbook was published by ALSG in 1978 and addressed the following topics: (1) how to organize for success; (2) the ten-day [recruiting] plan; (3) sample announcements and letters, including an invitation to a parent meeting; (4) sample questions and answers about overseas travel; (5) an outline of the teacher's role overseas; (6) hints for preparing the group; (7) fund-raising ideas; (8) suggestions for obtaining school approval for the trip; and (9) a guide for obtaining academic credit for the students (ALSG, 1978). Today, all but two of the industry members publish a similar guide, and with the exception of point (9), above, their contents cover, to a greater or lesser degree, virtually the same material. Perhaps the most striking inclusion is the "sample letter" inviting parents to an orientation meeting; this particular artifact appears in virtually every handbook. One informant described this "cross-pollination effect" in these terms:
A thematic content analysis of the original ALSG Teacher-Counselor Handbook (1977) compared with several current guides/handbooks, supports these claims.
Walking tours and/or city factsheets
Another common use of specialized language is used to denote the planned, on-foot sightseeing, mostly of inner-city areas; these are commonly known as "walking tours." One catalogue describes its walking tours thusly: "Because we know that most students don't like to sit still, our Tour Directors will frequently show you around on foot. Take in the sights and sounds, aromas and flavors as you stroll — EF walking tours provide a close-up view!" (EF, 1998b). Most companies publish a written guide to accompany these "walks," and these usually contain directions (how to proceed on the walk) in addition to commentary about the sites encountered along the way. At least one company, in fact, maintains a 3-inch binder of very artfully written and elaborately illustrated walking-tour guides. Walking tours are often supplemented by, and in some cases replaced by, "City Facts" or "City Factsheets" that contain a quick overview of important things to know about particular destinations (e.g. Paris, London, Rome, for example). Again, historical documents indicate that the first walking tour was a product of the ALSG culture, which devised both the practice and its name, circa 1970 (ALSG, 1970b).
Classroom motif
Yet another interesting and common use of academized language may be found in the "classroom" motif, still in use today. One of its earliest appearances may be traced to 1973, where ALSG's General Catalogue describes its European experiences as "not a 'tour' . . . or just a 'summer school' . . . but a truly open classroom" (ALSG, 1972, 5). This motif is woven throughout the history of the industry, has enjoyed various incarnations, and remains prominent in contemporary literature. Most conspicuous of these references is perhaps EF's full-page treatment of the concept — titled "Opening the door to the Global Classroom" — in its most recent General Catalogue:
Moreover, this is simply the way many informants often talk about the tours:
These passages offer interesting comparisons to how one informant described one of ALSG's "bedrock" contributions to the industry:
Operations and Logistics-Related Language
Although examples of commonly-used operations and logistics-related language are fewer than in the language of sales and marketing, what does exist is very distinctive — so much so that as one informant noted, the jargon would never be understood except in the context of this industry's culture (Z, 1-9).
One example is the term wave, which is used to denote all the groups traveling on a certain date, as well as a group's date of travel (e.g. "The Jones group is in the 6/13 wave). In fact, an informant in a "newer" company uses the term to train new employees, but reportedly not otherwise:
Found to be in wide (albeit not universal) use across the industry, the term is said to have originated in the ALSG/Markle culture, c. 1968:
Likewise, the term pax — meaning "peace" in Latin, of course — is also used extensively, and most especially in casual conversation, as an acronym for "participants." Although no one described (or indeed seemed to remember) the origin of this term, when informants who used it (some 80 per cent of the informants did so) were asked to define it, they articulated similar denotations. Moreover, one erstwhile executive noted that the term was "in use when I got there, and that was about 1974." Yet another example of operational jargon is the word fit, a term that to one informant
A rather fascinating characteristic of the industry's operational jargon is that a number of terms denote in the student travel industry just the opposite of what they connote in "real life." Even so, a good bit of this "counter-intuitive" jargon has made its way across the industry, when in fact newer expressions would no doubt be easier to communicate, especially to employees in newly forming companies. For example, the term broken is used almost universally in the genetically related companies to label those teachers/group organizers who have sent in applications and are therefore assumed to be actually traveling, as opposed to their being in the planning or "talking" stages. From a logistics point of view, the "broken" point is when the sales department relinquishes the teacher's file to the operations department. Obviously, the word broken normally has a negative connotation, but in student travel jargon, it is one of the most positive denotations that can be attached to a client. One informant acknowledged,
Another example of this counter-intuitive operations language is the word dole, a word normally used to denote "money or food given in charity" (Websters, 1993, 182). In the student travel industry, however, the definition of dole was summarized by one informant as "what we refer to in this industry as the money that is given to the courier at the outset of the trip, which is basically an approximation on a per day basis of what they will need to run the operation of the trip" (L, 1-16). Thus, it might be argued that the dole represents a conferring of power (in the form of money) upon the courier or tour guide, just the opposite of a need for charity. When describing the use of this term, another informant exclaimed:
Finally, exclusively designed itineraries that do not appear in the catalogue are commonly known as "specials" or SPITS ("SP-ecial IT-inerary," explained one informant).
Apparently, the continued use of the "old ALSG terminology" is common across the industry: " . . . a lot of the internal terms, it doesn't make sense to change because they're only used in-house and we all understand them. You use whatever terms you're comfortable with" (Q, 1-8), explained one informant, who also noted, "It's like calling a custom itinerary a SPIT."
The language described above, as might be expected, is most commonly used in the industry's "genetically related" companies. This study surfaced little, if any, evidence to suggest that these particular terms are used in the "non-genetic" companies, and in fact, they are not used universally in the "genetic" companies. Still, they are used widely enough to suggest that their performance is common to much of the industry-at-large. Moreover, among the informants who continue to use the terms, they are universally acknowledged to have originated in the ALSG/Markle culture.
Although it may be a cognitive "stretch" to argue that the root metaphor (work as religion) emerges from this category's data in any explicit sense, it is implicitly observed. In fact, it is plausible to parallel the industry's common language, e.g. the "core" of its "common mindset," with similar linguistic "cores" that exist within any "common mindset," including that of the church. Moreover, arguendo, it would be no more implausible to extend the metaphor by saying that linguistic variances across the industry are merely denominational differences rather than doctrinal ones — i.e. using slightly different language to perform virtually identical rituals, such as exist in the terms "baptism" and "christening" or "Lord's Supper" and "communion," for example. Be that as it may, there is no doubt that the industry's rituals and practices are "performed" in universally comparable fashion, and more to the point, they are described in very similar, if not virtually identical terms, not only in the genetically-related companies, but in all the member entities. Finally, and as one informant noted, language use is a "window to the mind" that not only "creates a mindset" but is also reflective of same; thus, this industry's unique jargon provides the framework, the liturgy as it were, for performing its "religion," for practicing its work.
The Purpose of Work
Upon close examination , it becomes readily apparent that in the student travel industry, assumptions about the purpose of work are performed in the wider context of the corporate and/or industry mission. Thus, descriptions of the corporate mission do not here appear to be a subset of The Relationship between the Group and the Environment, as Phillips (1990) originally proposed. In fact, in the student travel industry, work is perceived to be a mission — a quasi-religious, perhaps even evangelistic mandate to "educate" and thereby to "change the world." Although this metaphor emerges in performances describing the competitive environment, it is most evident and apropos to a discussion of why people in this industry do what they do — i.e., the purpose of work.
Responses were awash with phrases such as to foster the romance of learning or to promote international understanding or to make the world a better place — to list just three examples. Although each entity publishes a formally articulated mission statement in its publicly circulated literature, more pithy expressions were gleaned from the interviews:
In addition to the repartee they employed, informants told numerous corporate stories that revealed a reverence for their work, or more accurately perhaps, their company's raison d'être:
Several personal stories addressed this theme as well:
Similar stories, both corporate and personal, were framed in terms of the
company's responsibility to its clients:
Taken together, these descriptions are remarkably reminiscent of those found in quondam ALSG literature:
In sum, the root metaphor is both linked to the organization's mission and is clearly manifest in what informants perceive to be the Purpose of Work. Both the root metaphor and the rudiments of "industry mission" are traceable to the ALSG/Markle culture.
Nature of Work Relationships
Every religion is theoretically manifested in a "family of believers" — and it is this allegorical connotation that characterizes Performances of Passion as they relate to the nature of work relationships. Although this metaphor also appears in descriptions of the competitive environment, its richest expression is manifested in performances that describe work relationships, particularly within one's own company.
Using Phillips' (1990) original descriptors, the nature of work relationships in the student travel industry may generally be classified as a "collaboration within a hierarchy" — where the extent and relevance of the hierarchy correlates noticeably with the size and/or age of the entity. That is to say, the larger companies (who are now the oldest), tend to have more hierarchical layering (not surprisingly) and thus a more pronounced tendency toward "vertical" relationships than do smaller companies, who tend more toward collaborative, "horizontal" relationships. Granted, all companies are somewhat hierarchical, by sheer virtue of the fact that someone owns and/or founded the enterprise and thus assumes a leadership role. However, as a generalization, and even within the more "vertical" companies, informants tend to describe relationships as more collaborative than not. For example, an informant from one of the larger, more hierarchical companies explained, in what is perhaps the best articulation of this assumption:
These sentiments are echoed throughout the smaller companies:
Another informant described the forming of these relationships initially, and noted how the relationships tend to continue onward through time:
Performances regarding work relationships extend the religious metaphor in the sense that those who "believe" (in the industry's "religion") are deemed to be part of the "family":
This notion of family-as-fellow-believers is also prominent in the historical data, i.e., in performances that recall the ALSG culture:
As noted above, this "family of believers" is said to include both "teachers" (clients) and suppliers.
As well, some of the companies' catalogues refer to their suppliers in terms of a mutually focused relationship. For example, "We work closely with the airlines . . . [and] are proud of the strong relationships we have developed" (CHA, 1998, 142); "Our network of EF professionals . . . means that wherever in the world you choose to travel, a helping hand is always nearby" (EF, 1998b, 1); "Overseas, the company is aided by travel professionals . . . who have been known to us, in some cases, for nearly thirty years" (passports, 1998, 97).
Teacher "testimonials" are a traditional feature of annual company catalogues, and many of these support the notion of beliefs-in-common. Likewise, one informant talked about the company's teacher/clients as "partners" and noted that "we talk to teachers every day on the phone [to find out] what do they want, what are they listening to, what are they seeing" (B, 1-5). Another spoke of teachers in nearly every breath, as it were, using phrases such as "we ask teachers," "listen to your teachers," "maintain personal rapport with your teachers," "don't forget the importance of the teacher's needs" and the like (C, 1-8). Indeed, one company's literature notes, with obvious pride, that it is "still owned and operated by the same teacher who founded it, assuring a continual commitment to the company's original goals" (CHA, 1998, 145).
The notion of teachers and/or suppliers as part of the family is not addressed, per se, in the historical performances recorded, although there is some language to suggest that ALSG's "teacher-counselors" (as they were known) were motivated by values such as "extending their students' education . . . enhancing teaching: teachers wanted to take their students abroad."
Likewise, there is no mention of supplier relationships in the historical data. However, a "non-founding" informant offered this description of early ALSG-supplier relationships:
In sum, these performances suggest that "work relationships" are not only described in familial clauses, but that "family" is perceived of in terms of a "family of believers" — or at the very least, of "family members" as being those individuals those who are attuned to and/or participate in pursing the industry's "mission." Moreover, historical evidence suggests that this notion was very much a part of the early ALSG/Markle culture.
The Origins of Truth
In general — and although there are a couple of notable exceptions — this industry is characterized by its striking reliance upon "improvisation, brilliant improvisation, and fast footwork . . . a ballet act right as the meat cleaver [comes] down" (Y, 2-32), a "management by high wire" (Y, 2-38), that implies a premium upon individual intuition and self-reliance: "You have to be close to the heart beat, to the pulse of the organization and its clients; otherwise, you'll miss something important. Things can change quickly" (A, 1-4). There is a collective sense that "you don't create an excellent organization, no matter what you do, without knowing in your heart . . . the basic ingredients" (A, 1-5, emphasis added). In terms of enculturation for newer employees or members, this emphasis on self-reliance, improvisation, and "knowing in your heart" was described as follows:
This characteristic was also observed in descriptions of how companies were founded. For example:
As mentioned above, this quality is not universal throughout the industry, but instead seems to be attached, to a greater or in some cases lesser degree, to companies that are "genetically" related to each other. Indeed, nothing in the data supported the existence of "high-wire-ism" management in the non-genetic companies, which were described by one informant as "formal, conventional, white-collar, stiff-pressed-shirt type" (Y, 2-20), who are "very much the planning company; they would have a strategy . . . study the terrain, study the marketplace . . . a very conventional businessman's way of [doing] business" (Y, 2-34).
Even so, the value of learning-as-you-go, or of "improvisation" as a "source of truth" was acknowledged even in the non-genetic companies. For example, one informant explained that when his/her company started out, "Did we know at the time this would be such a success? No, I think we saw it as a test." As well, a major innovation for which this same company takes credit is described in terms of its being "an in-house idea [that] came from one of our staff members . . . probably in response to some kind of teacher request" (15). Still, the tendency to rely upon "pure improvisation" as a source of truth/knowledge best describes the genetically related companies in the industry.
More heuristic, perhaps, is the observation that throughout the industry, truth — perhaps a better term would be reality — seems to be a dual construct, that may be labeled as "historical" truth versus "contemporary" truth; these themes may be defined, respectively, as those truths that endure versus truths that change, either as the environment changes or when some other variable (for lack of a better word) fosters a "sea change" (Y, 1-15), such as the formation of a new company. Likewise, perceived sources of truth vary, and these variances are usually linked to the temporal constitution of truth, as noted above.
"Historical" truth was one of the more interesting concepts uncovered and was described by one informant as those values, modes of operation, and ways of thinking and behaving that were "present at the creation." That "creation" — whether informants view it as largely positive, largely negative, or relatively neutral — is consistently identified as having occurred in the company ALSG and more specifically, is "credited" to ALSG's founder, Dr. Gilbert Markle (and in part to its co-founder, Dr. Theodore Voelkel). This is somewhat a curious phenomenon, especially considering the fact that ALSG was not the first or even second company to engage in "student" travel. Nonetheless, with few exceptions, informants refer to ALSG when they talk about their own history, and few make reference to the companies who came before ALSG. Typical descriptions of the ALSG/Markle-Voelkel culture include the following:
Discussions of "historical truth" are layered in complexity, however, as a result of most informants' strong feelings with regard to Markle himself: some talk about him as if he were a god-like figure and some as if he were just the opposite. The most striking performances are those that describe both extremes, within specific temporal frames (e.g. "historical" vs. "contemporary" or "then" vs. "now").
However, the same informant also opined that
To extend the root metaphor, these performances — and others like them — describe Markle in language that suggest the eternal paradox, the embodiment of both truth and apostasy, a Miltonian view of good and evil, as it were. In fact, the very existence of these antithetical performances is reminiscent of Nietzsche's circulus vitiosus deus, of the buddic and astral planes, of heaven and hell, and of similar embodiments of the "eternal struggle" between opposing forces.
Other informants describe ALSG/Markle as the source and/or scourge of truth in somewhat more pragmatic language, that nonetheless retains religious overtones of the root metaphor:
Another informant is more explicit in using the deity-image:
Perhaps not surprisingly, "younger" informants (in terms of their companies' ages) tend to dwell upon the "dark side" of ALSG/Markle. Moreover, informants from all companies tend to describe their own "truths" and practices as exemplary of the "new testament" to truth or "new covenant" (as opposed to ALSG/Markle's "old covenant") with the client, using language that suggests a "redemption" motif, i.e., that they have "redeemed" themselves from ALSG's shortcomings.
Thus, each company tends to see itself as the most valid source of truth, per se, or to put it another way, as a model of contemporary business practice in this industry. One observer has labeled this attitude as illustrative of a tendency towards "self-delusion" on the part of industry executives; regardless, it is a theme that occurs throughout the data.
Finally, there are those who simply dismiss Markle's influence altogether:
While this perception is valid for those who hold it, the fact is that at least one of the non-genetic companies hired one of ALSG's former executives to — in the executive's words — "show them [the non-genetic company] how to market this student travel concept." Thus, bedrock cultural assumptions endemic to the ALSG culture may have been "adopted" by a non-genetic entity. At the very least, it is clear that the former ALSG executive had an opportunity to transmit ALSG's "special way of doing things," along with its "special way of talking about" (Pacanowsky & O'Donnell-Trujillo, 1983, 124) what it did, to a non-genetic entrant into the industry. A content analysis of this entity's early marketing documents suggests that if this is not the case, then another explanation must be found for the obvious and striking similarities found in the language used by this entity and by the rest of the industry at that time — all of which reflect the language used in contemporaneous ALSG documents.
In any case, the concept of historical truth leads inevitably to the concept of "contemporary truth" — commencing with the founding of any post-ALSG entity. In examining the data surrounding this issue, one is confronted once again with the notion of "improvisation" or "management by high-wire-ism" as a bedrock source of truth for most industry informants. In fact, one informant remarked, "I've always felt that there were those who went to Harvard Business School and then there are those of us who actually do what those guys sit around talking about" (X, 1-3).
More specifically, this improvisational motif may be articulated in terms of current truth's being engendered by collective corporate ingenuity, emanating principally from each company's circle of elites, but with welcome contributions from "worker bees" (N, 1-25) as well; thus, for most informants, truth is procreated by individual inventiveness, as opposed to its being reposit in "experts" or "theory" or even in "traditional practices" — which is an interesting paradox, in and of itself. In this regard, one informant described the early (ALSG) culture in virtually the same kind of language that most informants used to describe contemporary practice:
Note the juxtaposition to descriptions of "current" origins of truth:
Thus, "current truth" emanates from "improvisation," which is a modus operandi that seems to be rooted in ALSG's early culture. Moreover, and more to the point, it should be noted that with striking consistency, comments about contemporary truth are normally made to contrast the younger company with ALSG/Markle, to demonstrate that the new entity is "better" than its predecessor. Thus, it may be argued that the very fact of reference itself — of using ALSG/Markle as an "anti-benchmark" — is a de facto acknowledgment of ALSG/Markle as a source of truth, both historical and contemporary, whether that truth be perceived to be valid or invalid. Indeed, when taken together, the language of these performances suggests that the "dark side" of ALSG/Markle (synonymous to some with "historical truth") is in fact a Phoenix-like source of contemporary truth, regardless of the form in which the latter is manifested.
Finally, in discussing the application of these "contemporary truths," a few informants acknowledge the "gravity" of industry culture; that is to say, in their own company's "search for the truth," they have found it impossible to be too innovative, to stray too far from "home," because previously established industry assumptions and practices (e.g. historical truth) exert a compelling force on their own company's actions. This phenomenon implies, among other things, that some "truths" may be eternal, and that bedrock assumptions may remain basically unchanged, regardless of fluctuating perceptions, and perhaps regardless of the manner in which contemporary truth is made manifest. For example, one company tried to be very different from the rest of the industry, but it just didn't work:
While discussions of this nature may well be expected to take place within genetically related companies, even non-genetic companies acknowledged antecedent origins of at least some truths, especially with regard to assumptions about the external environment, marketing, and product-related issues. Unfortunately, these companies' informants cannot be quoted here, to preserve their anonymity. However, "industry gravity" is also evident when one compares the descriptive prose in current non-genetic catalogues, not only to that of "genetic" entities, but most interestingly, to similar prose gleaned from quondam ALSG catalogues. To repeat one informant's description of these similarities:
In sum, it seems clear that ALSG/Markle (and to some extent, Voelkel, who in fact is the author of a significant amount of ALSG's prose) are widely assumed to have originated what the industry today accepts as "truth" — even though in many cases they are not consciously credited with having done so. Moreover, the root metaphor is continued throughout these performances, in language that suggests (1) an "eternal struggle" between the "evil" of history and the "good" of the present time and place, as well as (2) "redemption" from the industry's historical transgressions, as evidenced in the younger companies' "new covenant" with their clients.
The Innate Nature of Human Nature
The language of redemption also plays a prominent role as informants perform their assumptions with regard to The Nature of Innate Human Nature. In fact, the industry's raison d'etre is itself redemptive in nature, in the sense that it
aims to "make a difference . . . [to make] changes in the world" (Z, 1-27). This being the case, human nature must be assumed to be "mutable" or "educable" — that is, "redeemable" from ignorance and unknowing. Phrases used consistently and frequently include changing lives, enhancing understanding, making a positive impact, and changing the world. More unique but in the same vein are those informants who said, for example : "We help realize dreams . . . and ignite the kids' interest in learning . . . we also develop teachers to . . . travel with us, then they become high!" (B, 2-various); "Teachers come back and say to us that their kids learned more the 10 days we were in Europe than I managed to teach them over the last year of school" (C, 1-5); "Each of these programs are little contributions to making people understand each other better, to overcome ethnocentricity" (C, 1-14); "I . . . contribute to that young person's future" (L, 1-31); "I'm most proud of the kids when they come back and tell you how [the trip] changed something for them, how it opened their eyes . . . it gets them to look at life in a different way" (P, 1-4); "The kids turn into a whole new person" (R, 1-6).
Additional and compelling evidence of this "mutability" motif — more specifically, of the possibility that one may learn and grow and thus change for the better (or even for the worse) — is bountiful; it is an ever-flowing stream that winds its way throughout transcripts and documents alike, including performances gleaned from various companies' General Catalogue statements:
But as poetic as these statements might be, perhaps no better description of "mutability" exists than in the following story:
Certainly, this perception of human nature as being "mutable" or "teachable" is directly traceable to the industry's founding. It will be remembered that "student" travel as a distinct industry "is traceable to the Mormons [whose] missionary zeal required their young to travel overseas for mission work" and who eventually "turned their experience with missionary work into a company called FSL, in the early sixties." Also, the company known as AIFS, founded in 1964, made its mark in "campus programs" and "hit upon the idea of teachers as group organizers" (Z, 1-15). Thus, the assumption of "human nature" as being "mutable" may be described as the proverbial "ground zero" in terms of assumptions held in common across the industry. However, according to one informant, the ALSG culture put a slightly different spin on this notion, and hence upon the concept of mutability, as perceived by this industry's members:
This notion of a "baptism" (as it were) into a "new world" resulting in self-discovery would have been unique to the ALSG culture; moreover, this language is still relevant to (and is reflected in the performances of) informants' perceptions of human nature today. Thus, it may be argued that ALSG's "version" of the mutability of human nature — "redemption" of self through education, as it were — undergirds contemporary assumptions.
Another very interesting incarnation of the assumption that human nature is "mutable" is reflected in informants' stories about their own "baptism" or initiation into the "family of believers" (e.g. the industry). To a person, informants described their initial "ignorance" of the industry, and explained how their association with it resulted from, as one informant put it, "a totally serendipitous falling-into" (L, 1-4):
Indeed, one informant observed,
Of special interest are stories the historical informants tell about their own "redemption."
Most striking of these "redemption" stories, however, may be Markle's own:
In sum, the root metaphor is enacted by and reflected in the informants' use of the "language of redemption" in describing their collective assumption that human nature is basically "mutable' — and the assumption of mutability, present from the industry's beginnings, was "spun" by ALSG/Markle as a self-redemption through cultural awareness. Indeed, these performances recall Underhill, who wrote in Mysticism: