Becoming Globally Competent Through Inter-School Reciprocal Learning Partnerships: An Inquiry Into Canadian and Chinese Teachers’ Narratives

This study explores how a Canada–China Sister School Network provides school-based professional learning opportunities for in-service teachers to grow their knowledge and capacity to educate for global competence and citizenship (GCC). In particular, it presents the story of a Canadian teacher and a Chinese teacher who had found ways of educating for GCC through carrying out intercultural and international reciprocal learning in a researcher-supported inter-school reciprocal learning partnership. By inquiring into the Canadian and Chinese teachers’ growth narratives, this study highlights four lessons teachers, educators/researchers, and policy makers may learn from the two teachers. It concludes by highlighting the potential of a relationship-oriented, open-ended, and non-hierarchical international school network in supporting teachers to become more globally competent, foregrounding reciprocal learning and collaboration among school practitioners and researchers.

Dialogic assessment in the context of professional recognition: perspectives from the canoe

This paper seeks to spark a conversation as it concerns dialogue as an assessment tool and the processes which may be needed to support it. While its context is specific, focused on the use of dialogic assessment in HEA Fellowship schemes, it is suggested that the metaphor which emerged from a collective autoethnographic study has the potential to be of value more widely. Data from this study indicated that dialogic assessment might be likened to a canoe trip which requires careful planning and skillful execution. The five phases identified - designing the vessel, getting aboard, settling in/ settling down, navigating the space and forward-wash – are overviewed with the intention of provoking discussion in the academic practice community, drawing into the conversation individuals who are concerned with assessment for learning generally, and those who have particular interest in the potential of dialogic assessment which culminates in a summative judgement. As such it adds to the literature focused on assessment in higher education by drawing to the fore the conditions in which dialogic approaches can thrive for the individual being assessed, while also facilitating reciprocal learning.

Manager in coaching role and reciprocal learning

Purpose The purpose of this manuscript is the presentation of: (1) a reciprocal learning process for coach and employee, and (2) a practical implementation guide. Design/methodology/approach Various search tools were used to explore the areas of manager in coaching role, learning orientation, reciprocal learning, integrative pedagogy (IP) and experiential learning. Coordination and integration of the areas examined resulted in a guide for manager application. Findings A method (guide, action plan) was created for use by a manager in a coaching role and the employee being coached. The method serves the information and learning needs of both participants. The collaborative relationship is grounded in mutual support, and participants help each other grow and change. Research limitations/implications Following completion of one action plan, research may be conducted to address areas such as coach self-perception of competence and self-efficacy; and employee perceptions of coach’s interest, helpfulness and effectiveness. It is also possible to study perceptions of participants with regard to the quality of the coach–employee relationship. Practical implications Application of the proposed method/approach is intended, in part, to stimulate employee engagement and motivation, and it provides the manager with some new platforms to interact with employees in the coaching role. Originality/value The role of manager-as-coach has been wedded to the possibilities of reciprocal learning in which both, manager and employee, gain knowledge, skill and personal development from a focused approach. In addition, the approach or method presented combines elements of IP with experiential learning.

A Paradigm Shift in International Service-Learning: The Imperative for Reciprocal Learning

The US-based authors argue that the practice of what we currently call “international service-learning” does not generally achieve its most important goals in the context of the global South, especially those based on the development of mutually beneficial relationships with host communities. The primary impediments to achieving this goal in any interaction between students and vulnerable peoples are: (1) the belief that a student’s reflection on their experience is sufficient, both to evaluate community impact and to promote student learning; (2) the assumption that service always has positive results; and most critically; (3) the concept of service itself. While something new and positive can be created to replace international service-learning, the changes required to do so are so fundamental that the result will be something completely different from the way that international service-learning is conducted today. We argue for the need to reframe international service-learning with a focus on reciprocal learning or risk continuing to function as a neocolonial practice with likely harm to communities and to our students as we engage in practices that reify global inequality.

Reciprocal learning: il confronto interculturale come dispositivo per la formazione degli educatori - insights da una ricerca tra Italia e Stati Uniti

Il tema della formazione a una “postura interculturale” fin dai servizi per la prima infanzia è al centro della riflessione contemporanea su come sostenere gli educatori impegnati in contesti educativi multiculturali. Cambiare prospettiva, decentrarsi, provare a vedere i fenomeni educativi da un altro punto di vista, vedere altrimenti sono competenze oggi necessarie per garantire la qualità del lavoro educativo in contesti educativi complessi e multiculturali. Come formare gli educatori che già lavorano nei servizi per l’infanzia a una cultura pedagogica aperta al dialogo interculturale e capace di cogliere nello spiazzamento culturale un’occasione di formazione e di allenamento al pensiero critico-riflessivo?A partire dai dati emersi da una ricerca sulla formazione degli educatori che ha coinvolto alcune educatriciin Italia e negli Stati Uniti, l’articolo propone una riflessione su come i processi di dialogo, confronto e scambio interculturale, mediati da video, possano essere dispositivi interessanti per promuovere lo sviluppo di una postura e non solo di strumenti per l’azione educativa in contesti multiculturali.