Transcript Slide 1

Accepters, Converts
and “Resisters” on
the road to Globo
sapiens
Dr Patricia Kelly
Centre for the Enhancement of
Learning, Teaching &
Scholarship (CELTS)
University of Canberra
Australia
Outline
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Context: what did I do?
Survive or fail?
3 graduate visions
Accepters, Converts and Resisters - impacts
on teachers and students
From Resisters to “resistings”- how does
this help?
Examples of change and transformative
learning
Countering criticisms of “soft skills”
What did I do?
Professional Studies: Core teaching and
assessment strategies
Reflective journals (online)
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Lectures/readings (sustainability, environment,
personal growth, cultural sensitivities and international
responsibilities, ethics etc.)
Group work
Peer Interview
Formative assessment
Summative assessment
Competencies
Abilities/Qualities
Stern real-world test
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Destructive criticisms of “soft skills”,
intercultural work
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“wishy-washy…drain on resources” (Thaman)
“waste of time”, “what do we have to do this for?”
“everyone hates it”.
We can make a difference
How do I know?
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Pre-post questionnaires
Reflective journals
Sense-Making interviews
Survive or fail?
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A planet in danger
UN Decade of Education for Sustainable
Development
Education hitched to dying star of “limitless
growth”
But how?
Clash of values when we challenge the status
quo
Act as if we are “choosing to survive” not fail
(Diamond, 2005)
3 visions: globally portable, globally
competent or Globo sapiens?
Globally Portable:
Homo economicus
We do any job!
Globally Competent:
Homo globalis
‘Wise’ Global Citizen:
Globo sapiens
We do it smarter!
“We do better things- see things
differently”
Gendered - male
Gendered - male
Gender inclusive
Attributes
Attributes (subsumes those of
Global Portability + )
Attributes (subsumes those of Global
Portability and Global Competence
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S/he will be “…sensitive to the
different ways we learn from each
other and know the world” and able
to “feel for and with the other”
2.
S/he will show evidence of global
consciousness
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S/he will be able to contemplate
changes to their current way of life
4.
S/he will be capable of transgenerational thinking
5.
S/he will be a person of courage /
“critical being”
6.
S/he will work towards healthier
futures, from the personal to the
spiritual
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Leadership skills
Fluency in English
[current]
Ability to work with
others
Depth of work
experience
Communication skills
Creativity
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Substantive knowledge
Perceptual understanding
Capacity for personal growth
Ability to develop
international, interpersonal
relationships
Ability to act as a cultural
mediator
Preferred vision: Globo sapiens (wise,
global citizens)
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Reflective, reflexive professionals united by a
common sense of global responsibility.
“enables…enobles” (Inayatullah)
Wisdom
The evidence
Accepters, Converts, Resisters
ACCEPTERS
~65%
“ Positive”, “Hope” , “Try”,
“Success and happiness”
“Prepared to give it a shot”
“Going to try my best”
RESISTERS
~10%
“Waste of time”, “Hypothetical
garbage”, “Annoying”
“Pain in the neck”, “A joke”
CONVERTS
~25%
“I must admit that I was a sceptic
at the beginning of the semester, but I
have been converted. Hallelujah! “
From Resisters to resistings
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Sense-Making:
Brenda Dervin et al.(2003)
methodology, methods
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Meta-theory,
“S-M assumes that people have gaps in
situations, that they bridge these gaps, and
that they put their new sense to work in
guiding their behaviour” (uses).
The “how” of change
Uses (HELPS)
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“got respect”, “got connected”, “got insight”,
“got inspired”, “got courage”, “got healing”,
“got transformation”
We need to heal ourselves in order to heal
local and global environments (Inayatullah).
Got Healing
Interviewee
Example
What was healed
Geoffrey
“I can now try in writing or in person to consider other
people’s feelings…. I CAN do it… it will make people
like me as a person not just my work. Help me as a
person and an engineer.”
Self – able to acknowledge feelings, his
own and those of others
Lady Arwen
“I can’t express my feelings…I can’t find the
words…I gained so much [from the Peer Iinterview].
Mine were low, his were heart level…I wrote journals
to try to get in touch with what I was feeling… I learnt
about myself”.
Self – able to get in touch with feelings
Gir Bob
“I was picked on at school…[the lecture] got
it through…that their way isn’t the only
way…helps me cope, I see them as a
minority group now…helps you move on…”
Pain from the past - racism
Yamaha
“I wouldn’t speak up, limited my comments.
I was racist, that leads to conflict...I didn’t
realise I was.. I got stuff off my chest.. made
me think about the way I am and how others
perceive me... I became a better person…
I’m not so frightened to learn to know
someone else.. they become a support for
you.”
Self - of racist thinking. More
open to others, more open to being
vulnerable.
Self – of fear
Relationships with others
Interviewee
Odysseus
Transformation
Incremental: “Uncertain of my
true voice, true emotions and feelings
…my home life is better now…more
able to ask for help, less likely to need
it”
“Came out with different ideas..
changed my view of how I
communicated and my views on it”.
Fiza
Epochal: “… it hit me as a person,
it hit me as a Pakistani, it hit me as
an engineer, as a student , you know
like, hey, I might be able to make a
difference to the world”
Globo sapiens’
Qualities
Q.5: Courage (to feel, to be
to do)
Q.2: Global Consciousness
“sustainability is necessary
for survival”
Q.1 Sensitivity/awareness:
“I have a lot more respect for
the world…
Q.2 Global Consciousness
I have a responsibility to the
world…
Q.3. Changes to my life
I can’t have a long shower”.
Wishy-washy, waste of time”? Where’s the
evidence?
Expressed Doubts /
Myths
Reported Reality
1. Waste of time, Crap, Touchy feely
“Waste of time” [Lady- Arwen, Bo]
Transferability
“Airy-fairy Fluffy subject” [Bo]
”Oh this will be a pain”. [Yamaha]
“Took the ‘hoodoo’ [from my bad
experiences in Nursing] on the word
Reflection away”[Bo]
“It helped me with my other subjects”
(Yamaha)
Approach to learning
“They took up time but freed up space.
Frees your mind up...uncluttered my mind”.
[ Yamaha]
“It changed my idea of what Engineering
was. I was really excited about becoming
an engineer” [Lady Arwen].
Wishy-washy, waste of time”?
Expressed Doubts /
Myths
Reported Reality
“Engineering is a tough
course…great
responsibility…I always
think Engineer is working
alone”. [Harry]
“How am I going to
graduate?” [Harry]
“Engineer is always
working with other
people…people is very
important to Engineer”
[Harry]
“How do I contribute
to people as an
engineer?”
Walking the talk
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Lessons for Higher Education
Break-down or break through, we need
Globo sapiens
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How prepared are educators?
Evidence + courage + support
Thank you
[email protected]
•Australian Digital Theses (2007)
•Towards Globo sapiens:
transforming learners in Higher
Education, (2007) Sense
Publishers, Rotterdam
http://www.sensepublishers.com/
(Forthcoming)
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Extra slide follows: if question
Statement 10: Engineers working in teams
must be sensitive to gender and ethnicity
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