Teaching and learning about the world in the classroom: Development education in culturally diverse settings Matthias Fiedler
This article discusses the importance of a global and social justice perspective when educating children about our rapidly changing and complex world. He states that knowledge should be viewed by teachers and students as a process or activity, rather than a product to be accumulated. Development education and intercultural education are presented as educational responses to the need to empower young children to think critically and independently about both local and global issues. He acknowledges the growing cultural diversity in Irish schools, and argues the importance of a global perspective in addressing some of the challenges of intercultural education.
Globaliation and the re-imagination of research: Teaching and learning in Irish higher education Su-ming Khoo & Orla Lehane
Irish Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are currently re-imagining their future research and education activities in response to complex processes of globalisation. The authors map out, and think through, recent trends that are pushing research much more to the fore in this sector. It contrasts two scenarios for globalised higher education - the ‘market-rational’ and the ‘democratic-deliberative’ and suggests that development education fits with the latter. As HEIs and research play a key part in a wider restructuring and re-imagination of the ‘knowledge society’, we suggest that development education can provide spaces within HEIs where critique, debate and diversity come into play to contest globalisation and promote alternatives. The article suggests that a revised interpretation of ‘accountability’ is needed and explores the possibilities for a development education programme to re-imagine a pro-development vision of globalisation that sees accountability through the lenses of human rights and health.
Institutional cultures and development education Maria Campbell & Niamh Hourigan
In this article, the authors outline the findings of a comparative study which interrogated the impact of institutional cultures on two undergraduate development education programmes. The perceptions, attitudes and beliefs of lecturers and students participating in development education modules at both St. Angela's College, Sligo and University College Cork were evaluated over a full academic year to explore how differing cultures inform both lecturers and students’ perceptions of development education issues. Using data gathered from reflective portfolios and questionnaires, this article identifies the dominant values which emerged from each student cohort and highlights how these values impact on learning outcomes. The study also provides a new route to examine how lecturers’ institutional career pathways impact on their beliefs, attitudes and teaching styles and perpetuate the institutional culture into which they have been initiated. The authors argue that an understanding of these contrasting institutional cultures can inform future plans for development education at third level in Ireland.
Young people, identity and living in a global society Douglas Bourn
In this article, Douglas Bourn aims to outline current debates, recent research and policy initiatives in the United Kingdom (UK) on young people and their identity, particularly in relation to the impact of globalisation. It acknowledges the recent shifts in UK government policy statements relating to the importance for young people to understand and engage with issues concerning the wider world. It also points out that for young people to make sense of their identity and develop a sense of belonging, establishing the relationship between global processes and local experiences is critical. The article finally poses some challenges for ‘global youth work’, especially recognition of the importance of identity and the role of the individual in making sense of the global society in which young people are living.
Researching, and searching for, international development in the formal curriculum: Towards a post-colonial conceptual framework Audrey Bryan
The author presents a selection of ongoing research that seeks to analyse how development education curricular content is communicated in recently produced textbooks designed for lower secondary students in the Republic of Ireland. Using specific examples extracted from selected texts, she demonstrates how development issues are often represented in contradictory ways. In response to these contradictions, she argues that in order to more critically engage with students in a formal educational setting, a post-colonial framework is necessary to better understand development issues and problems in a broader political economic context.
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