Co-teaching and co-research in contexts of inequality

Using networked learning to connect Africa and the world

Edited by Phindile Zifikile Shangase, University of the Free State, South Africa et al.

There has been a recent surge of interest in the concept of co-teaching and co-research across institutions of HE locally and globally, as a response to limited international mobility due to COVID-19. We see co-teaching and co-research as teaching and research that connects educators and learners across different institutions and different contexts, be it across South Africa, Africa or the world. Co-teaching and co-research is linked in this book to the term ‘networked learning’, following the Networked Learning Editorial Collective’s emphasis on relationships and collaboration rather than technology and foregrounding our strong commitment to social justice. Our collective experiences have shown that co-teaching and co-research are not easy endeavours, especially when they involve differently positioned and differently resourced contexts, students and academics. While these collaborations are enriching and exciting, they need careful support, preparation and time for sustained relationship building – topics that we find are not necessarily discussed in the literature around co-teaching and co-research. This book is an attempt towards closing this gap in knowledge by providing a range of chapters documenting personal experiences of academics and practitioners engaging in co-teaching and co-research across the African continent and beyond, facilitated by various networked learning tools and technologies. Framed by a spirit of sharing and connection, the book provides insights into the benefits and challenges of such collaborations, affordances of technologies to bridge unequal divides, emerging practices of continental collaboration and beyond. Additionally, the book provides an unusually honest and nuanced view on co-teaching and co-research across contexts of inequalities, foregrounding relationship- and community-building rather than technology and emphasising the importance of sustained connection and reflection in these collaborations. Applying a wide range of critical theoretical frameworks, these evidence-based but also reflective and reflexive contributions are a unique and important reminder that behind and through our screens, we connect as humans who yearn to learn from each other, but also need to learn how to learn from each other, when we do not share the same world views.

Project(ing) Human: Representations of Disability in Science Fiction

Edited by Courtney Stanton, Rutgers University-Newark

This edited volume examines representations of disability within popular science fiction, using examples from television, film, literature, and gaming to explore how the genre of science fiction shapes cultural understanding of disability experience. Science fiction texts typically grapple with concepts such as transhumanism, embodiment, and autonomy more directly than do those of other genres. In doing so, they raise significant questions about the experience of disability. More broadly, they often convey the place of disability in not only the future but also the world of today. Through critical research, the chapters within this interdisciplinary collection explore what science fiction texts convey about the value of disability, whether it be through disabled characters, biotechnologies, or, more broadly, conceptions of an idealized future. Chapters are grouped thematically and include discussions of the intersections of disability with other identity groups, the interplay of disability and market/capitalist value, and how disability shapes current and future definitions of human-ness, agency, and autonomy. This full volume builds on current research regarding the relationship of disability studies to the science fiction genre by exploring new themes and contemporary media to aid as an instructional tool for scholars in fields of disability studies, science fiction literature, and media studies.

Ignite: A Decolonial Approach to Higher Education Through Space, Place and Culture

Edited by Laura M. Pipe, University of North Carolina at Greensboro and Jennifer T. Stephens, Elon University

Social justice frameworks and pedagogical practice have become popular concepts within educational settings. However, these approaches stop short of the direct action required for true social change and often overlook the impacts and importance of space, place, and culture in the learning process. Through an exploration of justice-forward approaches that call for a blend of equity and culturally-responsive pedagogies with experiential approaches to learning, this edited book will examine the process of unlinking colonizing structures from teaching and learning through honoring the context of space, place, and culture in the learning process. Framed by the Toward a Liberated Learning Spirit (TALLS) Model for Developing Critical Consciousness, this book will be of interest to students, scholars, and researchers in higher education as well as critical and cultural studies, apart from program administrators and educators. 'Ignite: a Decolonial Approach to Higher Education Through Space, Place and Culture' will carry the reader through a learning process beginning with academic detachment and moving through a process of unlearning toward embodied liberation.

Languaging Class: Reflecting on the Linguistic Articulations of Structural Inequalities

Edited by Claudia Ortu, University of Cagliari, Italy and Francesco Bachis, University of Cagliari, Italy

This volume explores the issue of social class from the point of view of its linguistic articulations. Indeed, as Machin and Richardson (2008) stated, “discourses may be variously approached as (often simultaneously) reflecting class structures, as a site of class inequalities, as expressive of class identities or class consciousness and/or as a constituent part of more performative class action.” Some of the contributions that make up the volume were presented at a conference held at Cagliari University, Italy, in 2017 and responded to the call for analyses on the role of language in reflecting, maintaining, enacting, and inculcating ideas on social class in literary and non-literary texts and discourses in any cultural or linguistic setting. This volume aspires to encourage scholars in disciplines and academic fields that have shied away from reflections on structural inequalities in favor of studies on ethnic, gender, and cultural identities in the last decades to take back on board the concept of social class and to engage with it in a novel way. The variety of approaches – ranging from the more traditional sociolinguistic one, anthropology, to literary and discourse studies – and cultural settings – with case studies coming from 3 continents – represented in the chapters show that social class is a productive and illuminating concept for trying to (re)make sense of social reproduction and change.

Developing Effective International Education Experiences: Preparing Pre-Service Teachers for the Classroom

Edited by Sara Tours, University of Pennsylvania and Jeremy M. Lynch, Slippery Rock University

Globally, and within the United States, we continue to progress toward a more diverse and inclusive culture. This fact is perhaps reflected nowhere better than in the public school system in the United States, where, by 2029 (NCES, 2020), non-white students will outnumber white students in classrooms. The challenges that the current system of education confronts in ensuring equitable access and equal achievement are also well-documented (Darling-Hammond, 2015). A key component in the re-shaping and development of a more equitable and inclusive system are the pre-service teachers enrolled in our college and university teacher preparation programs across the country. As we prepare for the diverse classrooms of the future, we need to prepare the teachers of the future to not only be able to teach all students but to also have the cultural competencies to ensure the same access and opportunities are provided to all students. It has been well documented (Cunningham, 2015; Lupi & Turner, 2013) that international education experiences, or international field experiences, have a positive effect on both the professional development and cultural competencies of pre-service teachers. Across a wide range of performance outcomes, pre-service teachers with international field experiences are better equipped to enter the field (DeVillar & Jiang, 2012) and may even persist longer in the profession (Egeland, 2016). However, not all international experiences provide the same positive outcomes. In this book, we will explore the importance of developing culturally competent educators in the United States education system, the research that supports the benefits of international education experiences, and how to develop effective international education experiences that will prepare pre-service teachers for the classrooms of the next decade and beyond.