Global Partnerships as sites for mutual learning: teachers' professional development through study visits
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Exeter
Department Name: Sch of Education and Lifelong Learning
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Fran Martin (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Fran Martin (Author)
(2012)
The geographies of difference
Fran Martin (Author)
(2012)
Global partnership as sites for mutual learning
Fran Martin (Author)
(2012)
Study visits as sites for transformative learning : education for development or development education?
Fran Martin (Author)
(2011)
Global partnerships as sites for mutual learning
Fran Martin (Author)
(2011)
Global partnerships for mutual learning : teacher development through north-south study visits
Fran Martin (Author)
(2011)
Insider-outsider : culture, identity and positioning in participatory, intercultural research
Fran Martin (Author)
(2014)
Transformative Learning: Indian Perspectives on a Global Partnership
in Indian Journal of Adult Education
Fran Martin (Author)
(2012)
The geographies of difference
in Geography
Fran Martin (Author)
(2010)
Intercultural understanding or neo-colonialism? : a critique of global school partnerships
| Description | Analyses of the data have led to findings unanticipated at the outset, specifically that the intercultural nature of experiences in educational partnerships and study visits requires a refocus on the 'inter', the space for learning between cultures. Commonly outcomes of intercultural learning and study visits are expressed in terms of learning 'about' people, places, cultures. The findings suggest that there is a need to include outcomes that focus on the relationships that are central to such activities. The findings therefore relate to two interconnected areas: 1. Intercultural learning Beliefs about cultural difference and intercultural dialogue are at the heart of activities informed by global education policy. A common belief is that communicative competence and a focus on commonalties are key to the success of intercultural dialogue. The findings show that while communicative competence is important, how people relate inter-culturally is strongly influenced by the socio-historical contexts of those engaging in dialogue. The findings also indicate that while a focus on commonalities is important for creating a sense of connection between people, on its own it avoids the more challenging work of learning about and from differences. Implications • Intercultural dialogue cannot be reduced to a set of skills and competencies. Knowledge of the histories behind the relationship of those in conversation influences what is 'heard', how it is 'translated' and what it is possible to learn from each other. • A deeper understanding of the concept of difference, informed by a relational ontology and epistemology, enhances understanding ones own and others' cultures and identities. • Pedagogies that aim for transformations in perspective therefore need to focus not only on object-based outcomes (knowledge of self and other), but also relational outcomes (self in-relation-to other knowledge). 2. Study visits The findings show that if study visits are to lead to transformations in perspectives and world views (Mezirow, 1985), there needs to be attention to not only to the process of transformation, but also the form that transformations take. At the heart of a study visit is the intercultural encounter, and this is a site of relation between the visitors and hosts, providing spaces in which difference is encountered and negotiated. Without an explicit focus on relational forms of knowledge about culture and identity, self and other, the potential for transformations is severely diminished. Implications • Study visits to the global south could be usefully framed by a transformative, relational pedagogy informed by postcolonial perspectives. • Work on deconstructing worldviews, through access to different models of culture and development, and an understanding of the colonial legacy, needs to be done during a preparatory phase in order to enhance potential for perspective transformation during the visit. • Facilitation of the visit, by experienced and 'differently knowledgeable' others is crucial to supporting people to make sense of their experiences from a variety of perspectives • Learning from challenging experiences can be extremely emotional. Undertaking visits as part of a supportive group that regularly and explicitly reflects on those experiences can enhance the potential for transformations. • Long-standing educational partnerships / links between visiting and host organizations enable deeper mutual, intercultural learning to take place. |
| Exploitation Route | There are three areas of school education that can potentially be informed by the research findings: 1. Global educational partnerships, such as promoted through the British Council's connecting classrooms programme 2. The Global Learning in schools Programme, a five year programme for Key Stages Two and Three, funded by the Department for International Development, run by a consortium led by Pearson publishing. The Geographical Association, with whom the PI has a long-standing professional relationship, is a member of this consortium. 3. Teaching about diverse peoples, cultures, places and religions through school curricula for citizenship, geography, and Religious Education. The findings can inform continuing professional development activity for all three areas, specifically the content and pedagogical approaches that might be employed. For example, the outputs identified in the exploitation routes could be used for initial teacher education and inservice-education. We are in the process of identifying professionals working in these contexts to collaborate with them on developing suitable pedagogies using our materials, and creating new materials relevant to a range of contexts. We believe that the findings can be put to use across a range of education contexts including: study visits, study abroad, service learning and other types of intercultural experiences Two resources currently exist that enable the findings to be put to practical use: 1. A Think Piece "Thinking differently about difference" written for a practitioner audience and available as a download from Think Global (the Development Education Association) website http://www.think-global.org.uk/resources/item.asp?d=7118. This short, eight page document, explores the difference between two major traditions of thought and considers some of the implications for global learning through study visits. 2. An online learning resource "Frameworks for Intercultural Learning" has been developed collaboratively with project partners at Canterbury Christ Church University. The site is a self learning resource, aimed at Western audiences, that explores a number of key areas that affect effective intercultural learning: relationships, development, culture, assumptions, identity, charity and footprints. This is under pilot during April - June 2013 at www.gpml.org.uk In addition, a network is being developed with Plymouth University, Canterbury University and Liverpool Hope University that has a focus on using the findings to inform the development of ethical approaches to global and intercultural learning. Seminars are planned for 2013-14 and will be advertised on the respective university websites. |
| Sectors | Education |
| URL | http://education.exeter.ac.uk/projects.php?id=450 |
| Description | Findings show that the intercultural nature of experiences requires a refocus on the 'inter', the space for learning between cultures. Work with stakeholders indicates that this shows rich potential for changing practices in the areas of intercultural learning and study visits. Informing best practice Think Global, a key mediator between policy and practice in the UK, used findings to inform their submission to the proposed new National Curriculum consultation. The PI's think piece for Think Global will be required reading for schools taking part in the Global Learning Schools programme, funded by DfID The European Commission consultation cited in Scientific Impact, will lead to outcomes informing future policy. Project findings surrounding transformational learning as they relate to cultural diversity are drawn on. Stimulating practitioner debate The PI gave a keynote for the practitioner network, Teacher Education for Equity and Sustainability, exploring conceptual ideas around knowledge, power and legitimation in global learning and partnerships Developing resources to enhance practice Drawing on findings and using a relational epistemology, an online learning resource, Frameworks for Intercultural Learning (FICL) was developed with Canterbury Christ Church University. This stimulates debate about issues at the core of global intercultural learning. The PI was invited by a school trailing the resource, British School of Brussels, to give talks to parents, students and staff. The school has developed a scheme of work based entirely on the resource; how they will deal with similarity and difference has changed due to the PI's input, and they are reviewing their partnership practices with schools in Ghana As consultant to the British Council, the PI advised on the development of an online resource, 'Education for Global Citizenship', for use by teachers in countries participating in the Connecting Classrooms initiative. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2013 |
| Sector | Education |
| Impact Types | Societal |
| Description | EuropeAid |
| Amount | € 56,351 (EUR) |
| Funding ID | DCI NSA-ED/2012/281-177 |
| Organisation | EuropeAid Funding |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | Belgium |
| Start | 04/2016 |
| End | 09/2016 |
| Description | EIHE |
| Organisation | University of Oulu |
| Department | NMR Research Unit |
| Country | Finland |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | I am a partner in the Ethical Internationalism in Higher Education project. I have gathered data; attended a collaborating partner meeting in St Catherines, Toronto; been part of a symposium at the Canadian CSSE annual conference 2014; and started working on a spin-off / tag project on international service learning. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The partners are University of Oulu and University of British Columbia who are leading the project. They gained funding from the Finish research council to run a project consisting of 20+ partners worldwide. They are responsible for liaising with partners, creating data collection tools, conducting interviews, developing analytical frameworks. We work together on data analysis and reporting findings through publications etc. |
| Impact | No outputs as yet |
| Start Year | 2013 |
| Description | Global Partnerships as sites for mutual, intercultural learning |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This seminar discussed the project findings which suggest that how such intercultural experiences contribute to understandings of culture, identity and difference is often based on a comparative approach underpinned by an object-based logic. The PI argues that this leads to views of the 'Other' (Said, 1985) that undermine attempts to challenge stereotypes and develop positive attitudes towards difference. A relational logic is proposed as an alternative, where difference is seen as a relation rather than a distinction (Burbules,1997).) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | Global partnerships as sites for interculutral learning |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Participants in your research or patient groups |
| Results and Impact | Invited presentation at the Intercultural Youth Exchange AGM to share findings from the research project. Section not completed |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | Global partnerships for mutual learning interim conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Invitation only interim conference held at the end of Year Two for 20 research participants and 40 delegates. Research participants consisted of the research team (UK researchers, Gambian and Indian research consultants) and teacher participants from Gambia, India and the UK. Delegates consisted of academic and non-academic beneficiaries and stakeholders. Interim findings were shared and discussed from the perspectives of the groups represented with a view to helping shape the dissemination and communications plan for Year Three and beyond. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| Description | Keynote for International Baccalaureate conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Talk sparked questions and interest in working with me in the future. I received business cards from 5 people, two of whom work for continuing professional development section of the IB Europe, Middle East and West Africa region and who are interested in my collaborating with them on some CPD materials for inservice teacher training. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| URL | http://www.ibo.org/ibaem/conferences |
| Description | Methodological and ethical issues in researching north-south study visits |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A presentation focusing on the methodological and ethical issues that have been encountered in the research project. Presented at research seminar at Bishop Grosseteste University, Lincoln |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| Description | North-south study visits for teachers : global learning or neo-colonial activity? Exeter. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | An overview of the research project process and theoretical foundations. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009 |
| Description | Postcolonial Spaces for Intercultural Learning: Deconstructing culture, identity and difference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This seminar discussed the project findings which suggest that how such intercultural experiences contribute to understandings of culture, identity and difference is often based on a comparative approach underpinned by an object-based logic. Fran argues that this leads to views of the 'Other' (Said, 1985) that undermine attempts to challenge stereotypes and develop positive attitudes towards difference. A relational logic is proposed as an alternative, where difference is seen as a relation rather than a distinction (Burbules,1997).) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Power and representation : ethical issues in [researching] north-south study visits |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presentation concerning the ethical issues encountered in research cross-cultural study visits, between the global north and south |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010 |
| Description | Professional development through study visits: Intercultural interactivity as spaces for transforming ideas about sustainability |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | In this seminar, the PI discussed the theoretical framings of the project, informed by postcolonial, intercultural and transformative learning theories. The study visits investigated took place within two broader, long-standing educational partnerships, one between organisations in the UK and The Gambia, the other between the UK and Southern India. This seminar focused on the UK-Gambian partnership as a context for professional learning about sustainable development and pedagogical approaches to teaching about sustainability. Following the presentation I was invited to become part of the research group as an associate member |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Same Old Story- An insight into intercultural learning |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A CPD event for parents and others from the local community which drew on the journal article of the same title to raise the following questions with the audience: Alternative traditions of thought. Why is one way of thinking not enough? How is culture constructed? Can it ever be really representative? How could relational pedagogy be used when teaching culture? What is the relationship between development and education? How can we prepare students for a future of uncertainty? |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | Sites for mutual learning? : the ethics and impacts of north-south study visits. Research seminar |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Interrogating the potential for study visits to become 'sites for mutual learning' between northern and southern participants. Presented at ESCalate workshop, University of Plymouth |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | Study visits to developing countries : intercultural learning or neo-colonialism? |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Study visits to developing countries are often reported to provide 'transformational' experiences for UK students. However, there are questions about what is meant by transformational, who is transformed, and the impact on the host country. Experience of leading and researching study visits for experienced and student teachers to The Gambia and Southern India suggest that unless work is done to deconstruct Western worldviews, the potential for intercultural learning is severely diminished, and activities in host countries can take on a form of neo-colonialism. These issues are the subject of a current ESRC project "Global Partnerships as sites of mutual learning: teachers' professional development through study visits". The project is framed within postcolonial theory and the research design has been developed as a direct response to the need to develop an ethical relationship with the 'Other' (Said, 1985; Andreotti, 2008). The project and its interim findings will be discussed. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| Description | Teachers' professional development through study visits: creating postcolonial spaces for transformative, intercultural learning |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | This invited research seminar discussed the findings of the project. The findings suggest that how such intercultural experiences contribute to understandings of culture, identity and difference is often based on a comparative approach underpinned by an object-based logic. We argue that this leads to views of the 'Other' (Said, 1985) that undermine attempts to challenge stereotypes and develop positive attitudes towards difference. A relational logic is proposed as an alternative, where difference is seen as a relation rather than a distinction (Burbules,1997).) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| Description | Thinking differently about difference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A webinar drawing on the Think Piece of the same title, giving a non-academic audience the opportunity to enter into dialogue with Fran about the issues that it raises. Section not completed |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | Thinking differently about difference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This presentation draws on the thinkpiece of the same title that was written for Think Global. The use of the words similarity and difference are often heard in the context of global learning. Drawing on academic theory, I explore 3 different ways of thinking about cultural similarity and difference, followed by a short practical example of a teacher study visit to the Gambia. I conclude by promoting a relational pedagogy for global learning, in which educators listen, relate to and learn from multiple perspectives. This would enable us to foster our own self-awareness and open-mindedness about difference before working with students to foster theirs. Section not completed |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |