DERC Seminar Series: "Development education for ‘the privileged’: exploring power and pedagogy in a gap year programme in South America"

Introduction

Development education (DE) and its derivatives (e.g. global citizenship education) typically take place with learners from the Global North who can, in many cases, arguably be described as ‘privileged’ in several ways - not least in relation to people from the Global South who are often represented within DE’s focus on global social justice. Yet there has been insufficient attention in the DE literature to the specific pedagogical implications of teaching privileged learners, and to the associated and important concept of ‘power’ in this context.

In this seminar Dr Pablo Dalby will discuss aspects of a critical ethnography he conducted within the setting of a highly structured, instructor-facilitated gap year programme operated in Bolivia and Peru by a US-based organisation. The programme attempted to transform privileged young adults from the Global North into critical global citizens, willing and able to challenge social injustices after spending three months participating in a form of experiential DE. The seminar will explore how power and pedagogy shape what happened during the programme and address some of the broader implications for DE and related forms of education.

Intended audience

The intended audience for the seminar is primarily academics, educators, students, researchers and NGO staff working in development education or related areas, but it may also be appealing to anyone interested in education, pedagogy, international development and social change more broadly.

Speaker biography

Dr Pablo Dalby is a Lecturer and a Learning Enhancement Tutor (for Widening Participation) at the University of East Anglia (UEA). His specific interests are in transformative pedagogy and development education and he has 25 years’ experience teaching in various capacities and contexts in the UK and abroad. More about Dr Pablo Dalby

Photo credit: Isla del Sol, Bolivia by Pablo Dalby

Seminar Series

As part of its mission to provide learning and networking opportunities for professionals and students of development education, global learning and global citizenship, the Development Education Research Centre runs this ongoing seminar series. Events are held around the Bloomsbury campus, and are free and open to staff, students, alumni and the public. All are welcome to attend. You can view details of previous seminars, including some videos, here

Isla del Sol, Bolivia Pablo Dalby