Quality learning environment for education in emergencies: Findings from toolkit development and exploring intersections with Indigenous methods and contemplative inquiry

• In Event: Practitioner Panel: Notes from the Field

Proposal

Since 2016, Save the Children Norway has been developing a toolkit to assess and improve the quality of learning environments in emergencies through empowering school communities to lead this improvement process. The Quality Learning Environment for Education in Emergencies (QLE for EiE) toolkit responds to a gap in data collection and measurement in the EiE (Education in Emergencies) sector owing to lack of rigorous needs assessment and implementation plans, poor in-country cooperation between different education stakeholders, insufficient analysis of existing assessment data, poor real-time data and absence of baseline data in emergency situations (Nicolai et al, 2016:13).
The QLE for EiE toolkit pilot and its underlying theory of change link to several sub-themes of the CIES 2018 including “Indigenous approaches to knowledge and learning”, “South-South Collaboration, Theories and Practice”, and “Contemplative Inquiry for Compassion and Social Justice”. These linkages are further elaborated on below.
Currently piloted in two different contexts: the protracted crisis in northern Syria, and the South Sudanese refugee response in Uganda, the toolkit is developed to be flexible and adaptable to different contexts. Central to this adaptability feature is the understanding of local power dynamics, values and attitudes in the targeted community. Through analyzing power and stakeholders in the school community, the QLE for EiE process challenges existing hierarchies, encourages inclusive and equal participation and creates a room for the often-marginalized voices in the community to participate in the discussion. As such, the QLE for EiE toolkit speaks to indigenous views to knowledge as it seeks to influence policy and structural change (Kinchloe and Steinberg, 2008) through collaborating with the community, capitalizing on local knowledge and trickling up change from the school/learning space level.
In fact, indigenous philosophical and methodological stances are among the major contributors to the discussion around learning environments. Indigenous scholars advocate for a collaborative research and design of learning environments to inform school managers, teachers and families on how they can align schools with the life, culture and aspirations of the community (Bernard, 2012: 26). This collaborative process is one of the key pillars of the QLE for EiE toolkit.
During the pilot period, Save the Children Norway is constantly refining the different components of the toolkit based on feedback from Uganda and Syria where learning generated from one pilot is actively informing developments in the other. By so doing, the pilot is built to encourage south-south dialogue.
In parallel to the toolkit development, Save the children Norway is exploring the relevance and effectiveness of the toolkit as seen by the beneficiaries who are the ultimate users and co-developers of the toolkit. This parallel reflective process accompanying the toolkit development aims to learn from the perceptions and attitudes of local communities in order to ensure that the toolkit is responding to their needs. Learning from program managers, filed officers and school communities are taking place through periodical “learning sessions” applying different qualitative methods with the overarching aim to refine the toolkit considering the suggestions and opinions of the school community.
A clear departure from the dominant paradigm in the aid sector which assumes superiority of Eurocentric knowledge and often comes with “one-size-fits-all” solutions to the global south, these learning sessions question the mainstream model of information flow from north to south and re-position the local communities as experts in their own affairs.
This paper presents the findings of the toolkit testing and development phase in addition to the key findings of this parallel learning process. Using various qualitative methods including interviews and focus group discussions, the paper reflects on how the QLE for EiE pilot has activated certain components of indigenous approaches to knowledge. In addition, the paper explores the potential of incorporating notions from critical pedagogy and indigenous methodologies on the EiE sector. Therefore, the three research questions that guide this paper are:
• What are the results of the QLE for EiE toolkit development in the two pilot countries?
• What are the key perceptions and attitudes of the users and co-developers (school community) of the toolkit which emerged during the learning sessions?
• How can these results and perceptions offer insights into the intersection of indigenous methodologies and knowledge and the EiE sectors? And how can these insights inform openings to tap into contemplative inquiry of social justice, compassion and hope?

References
Bernard, J., 2012. A place to learn: Lessons from research on learning environments. UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Montreal, Quebec.
Kincheloe, J.L. and Steinberg, S.R., 2008. Indigenous knowledges in education: Complexities, dangers, and profound benefits. Handbook of critical and indigenous methodologies, pp.135-156.
Nicolai, S., 2016. Education Cannot Wait: Proposing a fund for education in emergencies. May. Overseas Development Institute, London.

Author

• Zeina Bali, Save the Children - Norway