Diversifying Institutional Teaching and Learning Cultures in Transnational Higher Education

Description

European Conference on Educational Research ECER, University of Glasgow, UK, 22-25.8.2023
Paper presentation 
Network: 22. Research in Higher Education - Special Call: The role of diversity in bringing about organizational transformation of higher education institutions

This research project explores teaching and learning cultures in transnational higher education by examining three pedagogical development programmes organised by a Finnish university in universities in Palestine, Brazil, and Thailand. As a part of transnational cooperation of these institutions between 2016 and 2019, three programmes were organised as pedagogical development training for university teachers. The research datasets were compiled from texts produced by the participants during the three case-study programmes and analysed using poststructuralist discourse analysis.

Aiming to understand the cultural change processes engendered by the transnational cooperation, the research is led by two main research questions: (1) What are the features of teaching and learning cultures in higher education institutions (HEIs) located in three national contexts (Palestine, Brazil, and Thailand)? (2) What kinds of change processes are introduced by the transnational pedagogical development programmes and how are those manifested in the (institutional) teaching and learning cultures?

Theoretical and methodological framework of this qualitative inquiry draws on conceptualisations outlined in the previous research into international/transnational education, institutional cultures, and poststructuralist discourse analysis.

Transnational education (TNE) – also called cross-border education or internationalisation abroad – refers to movement of people, programmes, policies, or other educational activities across national or regional borders (Knight, 2012). Finnish HEIs have recently increased their TNE activities mostly by offering commissioned programmes and training packages to partners globally. Generally seen as beneficial for HEIs, TNE may widen the opportunities for intercultural exchange, economic development, and modernisation of higher education systems (Korhonen & Alenius, 2018). However, TNE programs have been criticised as profit-seeking endeavours of HEIs in developed countries providing education in developing countries (Djerasimovic, 2014). The economic rationale of TNE raises concerns about equal opportunities and access to education resulting with unequal power distribution between the “producers” and “consumers” of TNE (Pyvis, 2011). Previous studies question transferability of pedagogical ideas in different national contexts and call for greater cultural contextualisation to make learning relevant for the learners (Allen, 2014; Bovill et al., 2015; Jordan et al., 2014; Leask, 2008). More research is needed to better understand the dynamics behind this process of cultural contextualisation in TNE.

Our three case studies have been implemented as inter-institutional transnational cooperation; therefore, we focus on teaching and learning as one analytical aspect of institutional cultures in higher education. Our approach draws on the fragmentation perspective (Martin, 1992) and anthropological approaches (Alvesson, 2002; Trowler, 2008) to institutional culture. Characterised by ambiguity, pluralism, and contradictions, culture is constructed and enacted through community’s meaning-making processes. Following the poststructuralist perspective, we see institutional cultures as discursively constructed (Berti, 2017; Foucault, 2002). Thus, we define teaching and learning cultures as discursive meaning-making processes that guide the ways in which educational processes are understood and organised at an institution.

The presentation will give an overview of this ongoing research project and discuss the findings of two case studies: Finnish–Palestinian & Finnish–Brazilian cooperation. The role of diversity (in sense of increasing variety) is particularly visible in discursive construction of institutional teaching and learning cultures during a transnational collaboration. The findings of the two case-studies show that teaching and learning cultures are fragmented and constructed by diverse and often contrasting discourses in and around HEIs. As it introduces additional alternative discourses into the institutional meaning-making, transnational collaboration diversifies the ways in which educational processes are understood and practiced at a HEI. In other words, diversification of (pedagogical) perspectives in TNE enables discursive transformation and pedagogical development not only on the level of individual university teachers but also on the level of community and institution.

Period	24 Aug 2023
Event title	ECER 2023 Conference
Event type	Conference
Degree of Recognition	International