educational institutions
Through Other Eyes offers a study programme of 4 learning units that explore 'mainstream' and 'indigenous' perpectives on development, education, equality and poverty. These learning units aim to promote reflection and support learners :
- to develop their understanding of how language
and systems of belief, values and representation affect the way people
interpret the world
- to identify how different groups understand
issues related to development and their implications for the
development agenda
- to critically examine these interpretations -
both Northern and indigenous - looking at origins and potential
implications of assumptions
to identify an ethics for improved dialogue, engagement and mutual learning
- to transfer the methodology developed in the programme into school classroom contexts through the analysis and piloting of sample school resources
Strategies that have been piloted include the use of the units: as a classroom activity where the tasks are performed in small groups; as a classroom activity where learners perform the tasks individually and have discussions at specific points; as a mixture of class activity and ‘homelearning’, where one unit is modelled in class and other units are set as distance learning or when students are asked to complete the units on their own and bring their journals to the class for discussions; as distance learning where learners send their learning journals to their tutors or lecturers; as examples of adult level enquiry processes that can inspire different classroom practices; or as ‘extra activities’ for those learners who are interested in these issues.
Although TOE was designed with student teachers in England in mind, its learning objectives can match educational programmes in several disciplines, including sociology, politics, history, development studies and health.
This course can also be used in conjunction with other resources to prepare students for field work or service learning.
The programme of study is presented in two formats: online and in print form. 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. 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). Global Education Derby can offer training support for the use of this study programme in different educational contexts. For more information, please contact Linda Barker at linda(at)globaleducationderby.org.uk or +44 (0)1332 298185.
For more information:
- Read the PREFACE by Prof Konai Thaman
- Read about the course METHODOLOGY
- Read the FAQ
- Read the TOE BIBLIOGRAPHY
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].
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.
Paintings: Mereana Taki
