Southern perspectives revisitedAlison Leonard

GA University of Surrey, Guildford.April 2011

To understand how the school linking process affects schools in developing countries

How do Ghanaian and Ugandan teachers utilise these links in their teaching and learning? How do partnerships explore the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)? Is the Ghanaian or Ugandan students’ knowledge enhanced through the partnership?

Do local Southern communities benefit from their schools’ relationships with Northern partners? Are these links sustainable?If time: outline of Open Spaces for Dialogue and Enquiry (OSDE) methodology

TeachingOwn personal

experiencePedagogySharing practice, as

appropriate

As one of the staff members, there has (sic) been a very great relationship between the teachers who have always come from the link school with the teachers around here, and they’ve gone ahead to participate in the classroom teaching. So in other words, they’ve helped us to reduce on our load, and exposing the students to new approaches of teaching methods from London, so they’ve been comparing our methods of teaching here with those methods of teaching from, by the teachers from Lady Hawkins SchoolJO 25-30

TeachingAffordable, collaborative resources

Own personal experience

PedagogySharing practice, as

appropriateResources

If there are links they are also promoting facilities, infrastructure such as education, when a school is set up it helps in improving the economy and development. PFG 46-48

LearningESD: Ghanaian experiential learning and pupil collaboration

Transferable ideasPupil interaction

Learning

e.g. Ghanaian pupil

Transferable ideasPupil interactionPupil-led outcomes and

enjoyment

We know what is happening in here and they know what is happening. Last year when they came there were smiles all over their faces because when they came they got to understand that we blacks, we are weird, but getting to interact they saw that we are just like them. It is just the matter of the colour.

Pupil Focus Group (PFG) 47-51

LearningUgandan primary pupil focus group

Transferable ideasPupil interactionPupil-led outcomes and

enjoyment

When you request for a link it means that link will make to improve you. A link it will encourage, it will help someone to develop; it will expand someone’s expertise. PFG 39-41

Reflection: The overall impact of global partnerships in terms of global learning may not become evident until the current school population are much older and are parents themselves. Angela Cook (2010) p 21.

MDG specific

Gender equality

Ghanaian pupils

Ugandan experiencesWe are being taught that,

with being with girls, we are being taught that …“We are women and therefore there are certain things that we fall back at, that we cannot do”. But being in a single sex school has boosted most of us, our confidence…our capabilities. PFG 199-203

Those who are linking, with different people, they say that our children, for example, here are very much excited, with getting students from these different countries coming to them

Ministry of EducationYN 29-30

Visitor Exchanges

Ugandan experiencesI was very happy to learn that …one thing that excited me the most, is that they were emphasising so much about rights, the issues of Children’s Rights, Human Rights and that kind of thing. And to me that particular area alone is very important for teachers to compare notes and also learners to compare notes, with what is happening elsewhere.YN 38-43

MDG specific

Challenge of MDGs

Gender equalitySustainability/ESD

Other influencesOther prioritiesWhose definitions:

Intercultural awareness.

Knowledge

UnderstandingChallenging stereotypes:

gender equality

As at now I can stand tall with a boy and say I’ll compete with him. In …we are very proud to say that we went into this debate competition with a very compliant, most intelligent school in Ghana, … Boys, we went for a debate. And standing out tall, we won. So I would say that the empowering women, we’ve been able, it’s boosted the capabilities. We are able to stand out. PFG: 203-7

Yes Self EsteemMaterial gain- resourcesContinuing Professional

Development (CPD)Intercultural awareness

promotedLessons for Northern

participantsICT expertise and

resource provision enhanced

Self esteem

"Through being part of the student steering committee,

I have learnt courage"

http://www.planschoolslink.org/

testimonials

Yes

With cautionMaterial gain- resourcesContinuing Professional

Development (CPD)Intercultural awareness

promotedLessons for Northern

participantsICT expertise and

resource provision enhanced

Self esteem

Culture of dependency created?

Practicality of transferWestern hegemony can

be challengedEducational agenda

questionedSouthern school

endowment gap widensTransfer of personnel

Cook’s “Three dimensional impact model” (2010) p19

Outputs, outcomes and impact

Yes, if . . .

Risk of collapseAll parties contribute to

decision makingSouthern personnel

exposure to CPDOfficial sanction- S and

N Ministerial supportFinancially self-

supportingAgreed time-table

How are all parties engaged in decision making?

Opportunities accessible to Southern personnel

National agenda supportive of the S/NELP

NGO and school based support

Visitor Exchanges

Leonard’s ‘Simplified school linking-partnership continuum’ (2008) p71

Indicator Linking-process characteristics are shown in italics.

Time scale/sustainability

Short term or long term Long term

School Personnel

LimitedIntegrated cross teaching staff, School

Management and wider School community

A few key ‘missionary’ linkers

Pupils’ or students’ involvement

Limited awareness of Link Universally aware

Nature of activities

Project Integrated across School curriculum

Data sharing School Visitor Exchanges

Subject specific Joint resource creation

Resource donation

Reciprocity

Reciprocity and equality of decision making may be aspired to.

Reciprocity and equality of decision making aspired to.

Junior and senior partners.

School Link School Partnership

Yes: Ugandan response… Uncomfortable inequalities…

About the issue of mosquito nets. It is important that each child sleeps under a mosquito net but these nets don’t last long (sic) especially with children. Once not carefully handled, they develop holes easily and once that is done they are useless. They need to be replaced which some times is costly for when we have all other needs pending.

Sometimes we get well wishers who donate them to us. Last month we got a team …who donated to us mosquito nets for all children.

Director of Ugandan primary school and children’s centre: March 2011

Overview How could links contribute?Challenging fixed ideas about the self, the other and the world

Stages in process: based on Spivak’s ideas of ‘unlearning’

1. learning to unlearn; 2. learning to listen; 3. learning to learn and 4.learning to reach out (or engage with the other).

All contribute

New materials created to complement OSDE

Methodology adapted to suit Southern participants

Difficult challenging aspects of S/NELP explored:

as quoted by Andreotti, V. (2005), p113

Andreotti, V. (2005) The Other Worlds Educational Project and the Challenges and Possibilities of ‘Open Spaces’. 2005 ephemera 5(2): 102-115Andreotti, V. (2006) Soft versus critical global citizenship education. Policy and Practice, Issue 3 (Autumn): 83-98.Andreotti, V. (2007) An Ethical Engagement with the Other: Spivak’s ideas on Education. Critical Literacy: Theories and Practices Vol 1:1, 69-79Bourn, D. and Leonard, A. (2009) “Living in the wider world- the global dimension”” in Mitchell, D. (ed.) Living Geography. Cambridge: Optima PublishingBurr, M, Andreotti, V and de Souza, L. M. (January 2007) : Humanities Education Centre (London): Southern Voices – methodology designCook, A. (2010) - Global education: evaluation of the transfer of global education from partnership to pervasionEdge, K., Freyman, K. and Lawrie,J., (2009). The Influence of North South School Partnerships. Examining the evidence from schools in the UK, Africa and Asia. Final Report. London: Institute of Education, University of London. Leonard, A. (2008) ‘Global School Relationships: School Linking and Modern Challenges in Bourn, D.(ed)‘Development education : debates and dialogue.  London, Institute of Education.Leonard, A (2010) - The South/North Educational Linking Process (S/NELP): Learning from Linking 2 Martin, F (2007) ‘School Linking as a Controversial Issue’ in Claire & Holden (eds) The challenge of teaching controversial issues Trentham Books .Pickering. S (2008):“What do children really learn? A discussion to investigate the effect that School partnerships have on children’s understanding, sense of values and perceptions of a distant place”. GeogEd Volume 2, Issue 1 Article 3 www.geography.org.uk/geoged

http://www.dfid.gov.uk/Get-Involved/Making-a-difference/Dev-aware-Review http:// www.osdemethodology.org.ukhttp://www.planschoolslink.org