Module2:
Educational Anthropology 2
MA in Anthropology of Education and Globalisation
Tutors:
Gritt B. Nielsen, Karen Valentin, Susan Wright, Sally Anderson and Iram Khawaja
Gritt B. Nielsen is coordinator and contact person:
Course description
Educational Anthropology 2 brings the key educational concepts from Educational Anthropology 1 into the context of contemporary globalisation processes. It explores different anthropological approaches to globalisation and focuses on central topics and issues in the contemporary world like e.g.: modernization, mobility and (mass) education (e.g. issues of citizenship, social and physical mobility, integration/migration, development in the third world);diversity and categories of social distinction related to educational issues; organisation, governance and transformation of the self (organisational change and self management as pedagogical tool). The exploration of these various contemporary issues provides the student with a basis for defining an area of specialisation that s/he wants to pursue through the following semester’s specialisation modules and the subsequent fieldwork.
Aims
On completion of this module, and based on an academic (i.e. a critical, systematic and theoretical) foundation, students can demonstrate:
-Knowledge of anthropological theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of globalisation.
-knowledge of contemporary key issues and concepts within the interdisciplinary field of anthropology and education.
-knowledge of different theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of contemporary political/practical issues of formal and non-formal learning in a cross-cultural perspective.
-skills and abilities to understand and critically evaluate applied anthropological studies in contemporary educational practice and analyse the relation between large scale (global/political) processes and particular (local) practices.
-skills and abilities to concisely communicate and present research-based knowledge and discuss professional and scientific issues with peers from various cultural, linguistic and national backgrounds.
-competences to relate anthropological knowledge and methodology to current political and public debates in the field of education and identify relevant issues for further exploration and problem solving.
Teaching methods:
A combination of lectures, tutorials, student presentations.
Language of instruction:
English
Examination regulations
A written essay of 15-20 pages (36,000 – 48.000 characters) with oral defence.
If written in a group of two students the essay must be between 20-25 pages (48.000- 60.000 characters). If written in a group of three students the essay must be between 25-30 pages (60.000-72.000 characters).
No more than 10 pages of the essay must be of joint authorship and the rest of the essay is to be divided equally between the group members. It must be made clear which group members are responsible for which sections. The sections which are to be assessed individually should appear as relatively self-contained units but the essay as a whole must appear coherent.
The oral presentation/defence is given individually. Based on the topic of the essay the candidate makes a presentation of maximum 10 minutes. The presentation is followed by a discussion of maximum 20 minutes between examinee, internal examiner and external examiner.Graded according to the Danish 7-point grading scale.
The exact deadline for handing in the essay will be announced on course start.
WEEK 1
Session 1
Title: Globalisation – political buzzword and analytical concept
Tutor(s): Gritt B. Nielsen
Time and location: Tuesday 29 Oct., 9-12, room A210
Aims:
To critically reflect upon the concept of ’globalisation’ and discuss different anthropological approaches to studying and understanding globalisation.
Themes/content:
Since the 1990s ’globalisation’ has become a popular buzz word, among politicians and researchers alike. On the one hand, notions of globalization and a global competition on knowledge underpin a great deal of the reforms instigated in societies worldwide – not least within the education system. On the other hand, anthropologists have used the notion of ‘globalisation’ as an analytical concept to understand and discuss issues of increased mobility of humans, commodities, ideas etc across national, cultural and linguistic borders. A key concern has been to explore if such mobility lead to a certain kind of global cultural homogeneity. In this session we focus on different and contrasting approaches to globalisation and relate this to issues like e.g. modernisation, center-periphery, global system theory, global-local, glocalisation etc.
Literature:
Tsing, A. (2000). The Global Situation. Cultural Anthropology 15(3), 327-360.
Friedman, J. (2008). Global Systems, Globalization, and Anthropological Theory. In I. Rossi (Ed.), Frontiers of Globalization Research. Theoretical and Methodological Approaches.(pp. 109-132). New York: Springer.
Immanuel Wallerstein 2004 Ch. 1 “Historical Origins of World-Systems Analysis” and Ch. 2“The Modern World-System as Capitalist World-Economy” in World-Systems Analysis: An Introduction. Durham: Duke University Press, pp. 23-59
Preparation :
Before reading the texts make a brief brainstorm of the word ‘globalisation’ (write it down): what does globalization connote and mean to you? How/where have you come across the concept? Is it used in a particular way in your home country? Bring the piece of paper to class.
Read the texts, write down three main points of each text andprepare one question you would like to have discussed in class.
Session 2
Title: From World-Systemsto Globalisation and Global Assemblages
Tutor(s): Gritt B. Nielsen
Time and location: Thursday 31 Oct, 9.15-12.00, room A104
Aims:
To critically reflect upon the concept of ’globalisation’ and discuss different anthropological approaches to studying and understanding globalisation.
Themes/content:
In this session we continue the discussions from the previous session and explore different (older and newer) ways of approaching the core questions related to processes of globalization. In particular we focus on 1) Appadurai’s influential and by now classic notion of ‘scapes’ as a way of grasping and analyzing global flows (building on Appadurai some researchers have developed the notion of edu-scapes); and 2) more recent approaches to global processes exemplified by Aihwa Ong and her focus on ‘assemblage’ whichemphasizes the situatedness and contingent and emergent aspects of global connection.
Literature
Appadurai, A. (1996). Disjuncture and Difference in the Global Cultural Economy. In Modernity at Large. Cultural Dimensions of Globalization. (pp.27-47). Minneapolis, London: University of Minnesota Press.
Collier, S. J., & Ong, A. (2005). Global Assemblages, Anthropological problems. In A. Ong & S. J. Collier (Eds.), Global Assemblages. Technology, Politics, and Ethics as Anthropological Problems (pp. 3-21). Malden, Oxford and Carlton: Blackwell Publishing
Ong, A. (2005). Ecologies of Expertise: Assembling Flows, Managing Citizenship. In A. Ong & S. J. Collier (Eds.), Global Assemblages. Technology, Politics, and Ethics as Anthropological Problems (pp. 337-354). Malden, Oxford and Carlton: Blackwell Publishing.
Preparation
Read the texts, write down three main points of each text and prepare one question you would like to have discussed in class.
Session 3
Title: tutorial: globalization and methodology
Tutor(s): Gritt B. Nielsen
Time and location: Friday 1 Nov. 9.15-11.00, room A303
Aims:
To explore how processes of globalization as an analytical interest in anthropology has influenced and generated debate over anthropological methods and field work.
Themes/content:
The theme of this tutorial session is methods and methodologies related to issues of globalization. In groups, students will be engaged in presenting, discussing and opposing the arguments and fieldwork methodologies/methods in selected texts.
Literature
Marcus, G. (1986). Ethnography in/of the world system: the emergence of multi-sited ethnography. Annual Review of Anthropology, 24, 95-117.
Hage, G. (2005). A not so multi-sited ethnography of a not so imagined community. Anthropological Theory, 5(463), 463-475.
Ambrosius Madsen, U. (2008) Toward Eduscapes: Youth and Schooling in a Global Era. In K. Tranberg Hansen (ed), Youth and the City in the Global South. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press
Preparation
Read the literature with specific focus on the methodologies presented. Prior to the session, you will be divided into three reading groups, and each group will be assigned one of the abovementioned texts to read, reflect on and briefly present at the tutorial session. Consider how the approaches described in the text are (or are not) useful for studies you might have in mind (e.g. if you have a preliminary idea for your field work – if you don’t, then think of contemporary issues/problems in your home country or elsewhere that you find interesting and worth exploring further.
WEEK 2
Session 4
Title: Mass-schooling, nation-building and the ‘educated person’
Tutor(s): Karen Valentin
Time and location: Tuesday, 5 Nov. 9-12.00, room A210
Aims:
To discuss the historical link between the expansion of formal education and nation-building and thus question the taken-for-granted character of formal education as a universal model
Themes/content:
One strand in the field of educational anthropology explores the relationship betweenformal schooling, nation-building and locally constructed ideas of the ‘educated person.’ Takingits point of departure in Bradley Levinson and Dorothy Holland’s notion of ’the educated person,’ and through a cross-cultural perspective, thissession will focus on the impact of the massive spread of formal schooling in the last century on local institutional forms, ideas and practices of education.
Literature
Anderson-Levitt, K.M. (2003). A World Culture of Schooling?. In K.M. Anderson-Levitt
(Ed.), Local Meanings, Global Schooling. Anthropology and World Culture Theory (pp. 1-
26). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Boli, J. & Ramirez F. (1986). World Culture and the Institutional Development of Mass Eduaction. In J.G. Richardson (Ed.), Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education (pp. 65-90). Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press.
Rival, Laura (1996) ‘Formal Schooling and the Production of Modern Citizens in the Ecuadorian Amazon’. I: B. A. Levinson, D. E. Foley & D. C. Holland (red.) The cultural production of the educated person: Critical ethnographies of schooling and local practice. Albany NY: State University of New York Press.
Preparation
In addition to the literature mentioned above re-read Levinson and Holland’s introduction toThe cultural production of the educated person: Critical ethnographies of schooling and local practice.
Session 5
Title: Schooling, development and the post-colonial critique
Tutor(s): Karen Valentin
Time and location: Thursday, 7 Nov. 9-12.00, room A210
Aims:
To critically examine the relationship between education, planned development and power through post-colonial critique.
Themes/content:
Processes of planned development in most developing countries tend to be dominated by technocratic, instrumental thinking that implicitly equates the notion of development with progress and modernization. Considered both a means to and an end of planned development, education is instrumental in such processes. Hence, promoted by foreign-funded development projects and a global rights-based discourse, schooling is given a high priority in national and international planning and has come to be seen as a universally inherent part of a modern childhood. Taking its point of departure in post-colonial critique this session will discuss this session will focus on global relations of dominance, which inform contemporary ideas of education, development and rights.
Literature
Gardner, Katy and David Lewis (1996) “Anhropology, Development and the Post-modern Challenge.” London: Pluto Press:
-Chapter 1: “Anthropology, development and the crisis of modernity” p. 1-25
Fazal Rizvi, Bob Lingardand Jennifer Lavia (2006) Postcolonialism and education: negotiating a contested terrain. Pedagogy, Culture & Society, 14(3): 249–262
Spivak, G. (1988) Can the subaltern speak? C. Nelson & L. Grossberg (Eds) Marxism and the
interpretation of culture (Basingstoke, Macmillan), p. 271–313
Preparation
Read the course literature
Session 6
Title: Tutorial
Tutor(s): Karen Valentin and Nana Clemensen
Time and location: Friday 8 Nov., 9.15-11.00, room A212
Aims:
To discuss linkages between dominant ideas of the ‘educated person’ and the global power relations, which produce particular ideas of education and schooling.
Themes/content:
This tutorial will bridge discussions from session 4 and 5 through a critical reading of development / policy documents. These will provide the basis group discussions and student led presentations.
Literature
Clemensen, Nana: Children in Ambiguous Realms. Copenhagen: Danish School of Education.
-Chapter 5: The distant magic of school: Concepts of school in classrooms and local homes.
Preparation
Approximately one week before the class the students will be divided into groups and assigned their particular tasks for the tutorial.
WEEK 3
Session 7
Title: A transnational approach to (educational) migration
Tutor(s): Karen Valentin
Time and location: Tuesday, 12 Nov. 9-12.00, room A210
Aims:
To discuss the role of education in migration practices through a transnational perspective on social and geographical mobility
Themes/content:
Anthropological discussions of the relationship between processes of migration and educational practices have mainly been addressed through studies on the incorporation of migrants, often from the perspective of children and young people, into host societies, and on the role of educational institutions in processes of in- and exclusion. These studies tend to focus on migrants as immigrants and on institutionalized learning taking place in schools in receiving countries. This session will take its point of departure in a transnational framework and a broad notion of education in order to shed light on the multiple and changing meanings ascribed to education as part of processes of geographical mobility.
Literature
Levitt, Peggy and Ninna Glick Schiller (2004) “Conceptualizing Simultaneity: A Transnational Social Field Perspective on Society. The International Migration Review 38(3):1002-1039.
Salazar, Noel B., 2011. The Power of Imagination in Transnational Mobilities. Identities. Global Studies in Culture and Power, 18(6), 576-598.
Valentin, Karen, 2012. The Role of Education in Mobile Livelihoods: Social and Geographical Routes of Young Nepalese Migrants in India. Anthropology and Education Quarterly, 43(4), 429-442.
Preparation
Read the course literature
Session 8
Title: Internationalization of education and global hierarchization
Tutor(s): Karen Valentin
Time and location: Thursday, 14 Nov. 9-12.00, room A212
Aims:
To critically reflect on internationalization of education through a perspective on student migration.
Themes/content:
From an interdisciplinary approach, and supplemented by empirical examples about Nepalese students in Denmark, thissession will focus on student migration and internationalization of education. Debates on ‘brain drain’ / ‘brain gain’ and education-work transitions will be linked to broader discussion of globalization and to internationalization of education as a fundamentally differentiated and uneven process, which is inextricably linked to both immigration and labor policies. Analytically, the lecture will expand on ideas of comparativity that are built into processes of internationalization.
Literature
Fazal Rizvi (2005) “Rethinking “Brain Drain” in the Eraof Globalisation”. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 25 (2): 175–192
Brooks, Rachel and Johanna Waters (2011) "Student Mobilities, Migration and the Internationalization of Higher Education". Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan
- Chapter 6 "Geographies of Student Mobility" p. 114-135
Pan, Darcy (2011) "Student Visas, Undocumented Labor, and the Boundaries of Legality: Chinese Migration and English as a Foreign Language Education in the Republic of Ireland". Social Anthropology 19 (3): 268-287.
Preparation
Read the course literature
Session 9
Title: Tutorial
Tutor(s): Karen Valentin
Time and location: Friday 15 Nov., 9.15-11.00, room A212
Aims:
To critically discuss transnationalism as an analytical approach through which to approach contemporary forms of student migration
Themes/content:
Taking its point of departure in the students’ own experiences this tutorial will discuss the analytical and methodological implications of a transnational approach to student mobility. The tutorial will be based on group discussions and student presentations.
Literature
To be circulated later
Preparation
Approximately one week before the class the students will be divided into groups and assigned their particular tasks for the tutorial.
WEEK 6
Session 10
Title: Processes of minoritization and integration
Tutor(s): Iram Khawaja
Time and location: Tuesday 19 Nov, 9.15-12.00, room A210
Aims:
To give an overview of and insight into the field of integration in regard to processes of minoritization and othering.
Themes/content:
The session will focus on defining and analyzing key concepts such as integration, minoritization and Otherness as processes that are historically embedded and embodied by subjects living in diverse societies. Integration as a concept will be presented, and discussed in regard to the discursive figure of the Muslim, or ethnic/racialized Other in educational settings as for example the school. The concepts of minoritization and majoritization will also be presented as an alternative to static models of minority-majority relations.
Literature
Abbas, T. (2007) “Muslim Minorities in Britain: Integration, Multiculturalism and Radicalism in the Post-7/7 Period in Journal of Intercultural Studies, 28, 3.
Mannitz, S. & Schiffauer, W. (2004) “Taxonomies of Cultural Difference: Constructions of Otherness” in Civil Enculturation – Nation-State, School and Ethnic Difference in The Netherlands, Britain, Germany and France. Edited by Schiffauer, W. & Bauman, G. & Kastoryano & Steven Vertovec. Berghahn Books.
Olwig, K.F. & Paerregaard, K. (2011) “”Strangers” in the Nation” in The Question of Integration: Immigration, Exclusion and the Danish Welfare State edited by Olwig, K & Paerregaard, New Castle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Preparation
Read the literature. Start of by reading the text by Olwig & Paerregaard which gives an overview of the field of integration. Then proceed to the text by Abbas which discusses integration and multiculturalism in a specific and historic context. The text by Mannitz & Schiffauer is useful in regard to an understanding of the construction of Otherness in a pedagogical context such as the school.
Session 11
Title: Diasporic minorities, belonging and home
Tutor(s): Iram Khawaja
Time and location: Thursday 21 Nov, 9.15-12.00, room D165
Aims:
The aim of this session is to explore the concept of belonging in regard to the heightened tendencies of diasporic and transnational constructions of home amongst minoritzed subjects.
Themes/content:
The main focus will be centered on the question of, how belonging and home is constructed amongst minoritized subjects and in which ways it is connected to the formation of communities and new identities. Relevant theoretical perspectives and concepts such as diaspora, homing desire and belonging from the postcolonial and social anthropological field will be presented alongside empirical examples from current research. The latter will serve as means to analyze how belonging and home is constructed in multiple ways transcending national, geographical and local boundaries.