about this project

In recent years, strategies and initiatives that aim to build global and development awareness have proliferated in the educational sector in the European context. Educators are encouraged to ‘bring the world into their classrooms’ by addressing global issues such as social justice, interdependence, diversity, human rights, peace, and international and sustainable development. However, very often, approaches to this kind of education address the agenda for international development in a manner that leaves assumptions unexamined and ignores how the agenda itself is re-interpreted in other contexts. Not addressing these different interpretations may result in the uncritical reinforcement of notions of the supremacy and universality of ‘our’ (Western) ways of seeing and knowing, which can undervalue other knowledge systems and reinforce unequal relations of dialogue and power.  

Through Other Eyes (TOE)  is an international initiative that offers a free online programme of study to enable educators:

Based on postcolonial and poststructuralist theories, TOE focuses on indigenous knowledge systems as epistemologies (or ways of knowing) that offer different ontological choices (or choices related to the ways we see reality and being) to those of the so-called ‘Western’ mainstream cultures.

TOE offers four learning units comparing indigenous and mainstream perpectives on education, development, poverty and equality. TOE also offers extra resources for the primary and secondary classrooms.

TOE's primary target audience is student teachers in England, however, the resources have been piloted and used in several contexts, including: in-service teacher education, adult education, language classes and higher education courses in several disciplines.

The programme of study is available in two formats: online and in print. The online course is free of charge: participants need to register to use the course and they can send their electronic learning journals to their lecturers by email through the website. The printed classroom sets (of 10 books or more) can be purchased from Global Education Derby using a  purchase request form.

TOE was authored and is coordinated by Dr Vanessa Andreotti (University of Canterbury, Aotearoa/New Zealand) and Prof Lynn ario T. M. de Souza (University of Sao Paulo). A reflection on TOE's theoretical framework and the development learning journey can be found in the article:

Andreotti, V., Souza, L. (2008) Translating theory into practice and walking minefields: lessons from the project ‘Through Other Eyes’. International Journal of Development Education and Global Learning, 1(1):23-36 [available here].

For more information:

• Read the PREFACE by Prof Konai Thaman
• Read about the course METHODOLOGY
• Read the FAQ
• Read the TOE BIBLIOGRAPHY

Reviewers' comments:

In an increasingly globalised world, it is becoming essential that educational policies, programmes and practices recognise the importance of equipping learners to engage with a range of voices and perspectives and, most importantly, with one’s own perception of the wider world. Through Other Eyes has been a key initiative in promoting this critical reflection, which needs to be more widely understood and supported by both policy makers and practitioners. Dr. Douglas Bourn -  Development Education Research Centre, London Institute of Education, UNITED KINGDOM.

The regular encouragement to question, reflect, and reconsider in Through Other Eyes should assist student teachers to unlearn many personal and professional assumptions and to make new understandings not only of the “remote indigenous people” but also of their own communities and educational practices. Prof. David Hollinsworth, University of Queensland, AUSTRALIA.
 
Through Other Eyes provides an venue for global citizens to critically engage with the increasing cultural diversity and complexity faced in today’s global societies, and to negotiate the complexities of engaging with difference in a thoughtful and considered way. Dr Kathleen Quinlivan, University of Canterbury, NEW ZEALAND.

Through Other Eyes provides essential tools to rethink knowledge, culture and power, through our own reflection and in dialogue with others. These processes can help us to re-imagine ourselves, our cultures and our relationships with others in order to bring about the genuine changes that are needed for us to play our part in an interdependent world, regardless of where we are located within it. Dr. Su-ming Khoo, National University of Galway, IRELAND.

Through Other Eyes is designed to create a space open to the divergent forms of knowledge and perspectives each participant brings from their formative locations, life histories and sociopolitical contexts. It asks learners to consider a dissonant range of arguments on particular topics and helps learners move from entrenched universalist perspectives towards an openness to other forms of seeing, living and being in the world. Dr. Lisa Taylor, Bishop’s University, CANADA.

Engaging with difference requires an interrogation of the origins and implications of taken-for-granted assumptions (ours and others), which implies a profound respect for and interest in what we engage with (otherwise, why even bother to consider it?). Through Other Eyes supports this kind of engagement and helps learners to actively build provisional meanings, construct knowledge constantly in the move, and thus learn to renew their identities in dialogue with different perspectives. Dr. Clarissa Jordao, Federal University of Parana, BRAZIL.