Dr Alison LeonardWestminster School, London

and DERC, UCL Institute of Education

GA Annual Conference 2015Reporting Research

Date:    Friday 10 April       Time: 13.50-14.15     

My abstractAs a geography teacher and Initial Teacher

Education (ITE) observer of beginning teachers’ classroom practice I am still conscious of the risks of oversimplification of complex, controversial geographical issues which can emerge. Such risks can occur when schools are engaged in the South/North Educational Linking process.

An exploration of practical themes for classroom teachersAbstract Today’s

presentation/paper1. How photos from my

research can engage school students and their teachers in critical thinking and Global Learning.

2. Examples of how my research informs my classroom Geography teaching of Development Issues

(If time allows)Practical tips for potential

research students

Examples from doctoral research, using ideas from Martin (2012) and Andreotti (2011). Hands-on ideas from conference delegates.Audit from Geography teaching episodes, 2014-2015 at Westminster School, London.

Suggestions for future research by fellow Geography teachers

Using photos to engage learners in Critical Thinking and Global Learning.Critical Thinking Global LearningWhat questions could be

asked about your images?

How can we encourage learners to accommodate a range of perspectives?

What advantages can these approaches bring to our students’ extended writing, at GCSE and A level?

Using photos to engage learners in Critical Thinking and Global Learning.Critical Thinking Global LearningHow can teachers move

their students’ thinking away from simplistic analysis?

Critical Thinking and Global Learning.Critical ThinkingHow can ideas from

Martin (2012) and Andreotti (2011) be applied to photos taken in the global South?

How might theoretical approaches from Martin (op cit.) and Andreotti (op cit.) aid the promotion of critical thinking?

Martin’s (2012) three concepts of difference and similarity Simple binary: starting from similarity determined by dominant culture

Similarity/difference understood as aspects of diversity

Martin’s (2012) concepts of difference and similarity

Relational concept:Starting point of

difference determines similarity- groups of purple shapes, and of four-sided figures, of triangles, or many other groups that are not visible (Martin, 2012, p119).

Your questions? A work in progress…Photo 1 Photo 2

Capacity building?

Martin and Andreotti: an A4 summary, for critical thinkingI have produced a version of Fran’s

difference and similarity ideas – her three ways of grouping the coloured shapes.

At the bottom is a brief summary of Vanessa Andreotti’s ideas, about how to shift a learner’s understanding of differences between the Global South and North.

My numbering of her ‘shifts’

Does Andreotti’s 3rd shift happen in our Geography classrooms? “He is praised and not punished for challenging his teachers” Adichie (2005, p301)

How my research informs by teaching of Development Issues

KS4KS5 and undergraduate preparation

AQA A Geography GCSEDevelopment Gap topicMini case studies from

visits to Ghana, Uganda and Tanzania

Photographic evidenceUndergraduate

preparation:Difficult choices in relation

to river basin management.

CIE International A level:Economic Transition and Global Interdependence modules at A2 (Human Options)Tourism: at A2Voluntary/NGO Aid to research my long list of NGOs working in Sub-Saharan Africa (Alive and Kicking, Nsumbi Trust, PEAS and Smile International, in Uganda and Apopo and Village Aid, in Tanzania)

“Sometimes there is an input of finances from the other side, usually when we have started especially, they do come with some finances. And that input is like something that helps, which actually catapults this other school in the South, to do something. So I feel that support from the Northern school goes a long way … so the other school can initiate something” (DB, 143-147)

Capacity building

“The projects… come from us, but I am beginning to think that maybe we have, we have to sit down and now with this experience I think I can suggest something which would work better” (JK, 146-148)

How my research informs my teaching of Development Issues

KS4: AQA Geography A KS5 CIE International A level

Water supplies: from AQA, Development GapQuality and quantity of waterAlso:Sustainable food suppliesDifficult choices for young orphaned pupils and schoolsIndicators of ‘development’/HDIAccess to modern infrastructureExpected years of education

Tourism:Small scale eco-tourism

developments vs resort-style hotel developments.

Why some ecotourism developments may not be sustainable?

National Parks in Tanzania:To what extent is tourism

sustainable?Accommodating economic

aspirations for locals and environmental concerns

for the blind

A final photo stimulus:Capacity building

7 very practical tips for potential research studentsAt the beginning

At the end of a researcher’s journey: Jenny Moon’s “housekeeping” (2004)

Work on only one document and save your work each time using the date

Use an external hard drive automatically backing up all your work

Make sure you note the page number for any direct quotation you might later use

Use Endnote software: I didn’t and regret it!

Seize any chances to share your findings with others; critical friends can be invaluable.

Invite critical friends to read and comment on drafts of your work

Follow up their recommendations for supporting literature

Thanks for listeningFill out a post-it to help me with future research Contact details

Alison.Leonard@westminster.org.uk

What I would still like to know about the process of South/North Educational Linking is …

(Contact email: PTO)

How geography teachers might explore the effects of their School Links in the Global SouthWhat do we still need to know?

How could you do the research?

Why links/the South/North Educational Linking Process may not evolve or become sustainable?

How a dying link can be rejuvenated?

How reliant some school links are on external funding: how to become self-reliant?

Identify opportunities for short-term links, which can promote students’ awareness of social justice issues.

Share advice, if this applies to your links; what was done to revive a flagging relationship?

Bibliography: Adichie, C. N. (2005) Purple Hibiscus. London: Harper Perennial. Andreotti, V. (2006) Soft versus critical global citizenship education, Policy and Practice, Issue 3, Autumn 2006, Belfast:

Centre for Global Education. Andreotti, V. (2011) Actionable Postcolonial Theory in Education. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Bourn, D. (2008) (Ed.) Introduction, in ‘Development education: debates and dialogue, pp1-17, London: Institute of

Education Bourn, D. and Bain, M. (2012) International school partnerships: Contribution to improving quality of education for rural

schools in Uganda, Development Education Research Centre Research Paper No 6, London: Development Education Research Centre in partnership with Link Community Development

Bourn, D. (2015) The theeory and Practice of Development Education A pedagogy for global social justice. London: Routledge

Friere, P. (1996) Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Translated: Shaull, R and Bergman Ramos, M. London: Penguin Kwack, H.S. (2011) ‘An Analysis of Children’s Development Awareness: The Impact of Global School Partnerships between

the North and the South and on Development Education’, Unpublished MA Thesis, University of Sheffield, Sheffield McNicoll, (2013) Do students benefit from North/South School Partnerships? Thesis Submitted for Master of Arts Degree

in Development and Emergency Practice, Oxford Brookes University, Centre for Development and Emergency Practice (CENDEP)School of Built Environment

Martin, F. (2012) The geographies of difference, Geography vol 97, Part 3, pp116-122 Mishler, E.G.(1986) ‘Research interviewing: context and narrative’. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press Moon, J. (2004) A Handbook of Reflective and Experiential Learning: Theory and Practice, London: Routledge Falmer Quist-Adade, C. and van Wyk, A. (2007) The role of NGOs in Canada and the USA in the Transformation of the Socio-

Cultural Structures in Africa, Africa Development, Vol. XXXII, No 2, 2007, pp66-96 council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa, 2007

Websites: OSDE www.osdemethodology.org.uk Danger of a single story http://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story?language= en Shape the Future 2014! http://globaldimension.org.uk/news/item/19188 and http://vote.myworld2015.org

My own work: 2012-2014 Leonard, A. (2012a) The ‘Aston-Makunduchi partnership’: South-North School link, In depth Case

Study, Development Education Research Centre Research Paper No.8, London: Development Education Research Centre. Accessible at http://www.ioe.ac.uk/Aston-Makunduchi.pdf

Leonard, A. (2012b) “A Southern perspective on the South/North Educational Linking Process (S/NELP). Early stage analysis from Zanzibar” research paper and presentation at “Development and Development Education” conference, 23 January, Institute of Education, University of London

Leonard, A. (2012c) “The south-north educational linking process: comparing southern perspectives”, research paper and presentation, at April GA Annual conference, 14 April, University of Manchester, accessible at www.geography.org.uk/download/GA_Conf12LeonardRR.ppt 

Leonard, A. (2012d) “School linking: young people’s perspectives from the Global South”, paper and presentation, FRI-S7B-91 Session 7B, paper at “A Child’s World conference; working together for a better future”, 29 June, University of Aberystwyth.

Leonard, A. (2012e) “The south/north educational linking process: a southern perspective, 2012”, paper and presentation at “At the Crossroads, Jubilee Conference-new directions in teacher education”, 17 July, Canterbury Christ Church University 

Leonard, A. (2012f) “Effects of linking in Ugandan schools”, presentation, at ‘School Linking: Where Next?’ DERC and LCD conference, Institute of Education, University of London, 23 November Accessible at: http://www.lcdinternational.org/sites/lcdinternational.org/files/user-uploads/Documents/alisonleonard.pdf

Leonard, A. (2014a) The South/North Educational Linking Process: young people’s perspectives from the Global South, chapter in, Thomas, M. (ed.), A Child’s World, Contemporary Issues in Education, pp 288-314, Cardiff Centre for Educational Studies, University of Wales.

Leonard, A. (2014b) School Linking: Southern perspectives on the South/North Educational Linking Process, from Ghana, Uganda and Tanzania. Doctoral thesis, Institute of Education, University of London. Accessible at http://www.leonardmorrison.org