Reflecting on Transitional Experiences as Early Career Scholar-Practitioners: Insights from the MSU Bolashak Project

• In Event: Roundtable Session 7
  In Refereed Roundtable Session: Case studies of teachers in diverse contexts: integrating digital tools and competencies, and early career transitions

Proposal

This paper examines the transitional experiences of early career scholar-practitioners engaged in the MSU Bolashak project, with a specific focus on self-reflection and the affective dimensions of cross-cultural work. Our aim is to explore how reflective practice can provide a deeper understanding of global partnerships and contribute to professional and individual growth. We seek to understand the emotional and cognitive dissonance that accompanies such work and to use these insights to enhance our practices in future collaborations.

The MSU Bolashak project represents a significant partnership between Michigan State University and educational institutions in Kazakhstan funded by the Government. As facilitators of this program, we have encountered a range of challenges that required us to constantly reflect on our professional practices, knowledge and positionalities. These experiences have prompted us to delve into the discomforts and uncertainties inherent in global partnerships and to consider how these reflections can be leveraged for professional development.

Our analysis is situated within the literature on self-reflection, affect, and global partnerships. We are particularly interested in the concept of "unsettledness," which captures the emotional and cognitive challenges that arise when working in unfamiliar cultural contexts. By exploring the affective dimensions of our work, we aim to understand how emotional responses, such as discomfort, can be harnessed to foster deeper professional growth and insight. This approach is informed by our previous work, where affect was utilized as a critical lens to examine educational practices in global contexts (Shahjahan & Grimm, 2022).

Methodologically, our study adopts a dialogic, reflective approach inspired by autoethnography. However, rather than focusing solely on individual narratives, we will engage in reciprocal interviews centered around two key questions:
1. Why are we doing this work, and what is uncomfortable about it?
2. How can we make sense of what has happened to improve our future practices and engagements?

These interviews allow us to collaboratively explore our experiences, with a focus on the affective and emotional dimensions of our work. By analyzing these dialogues, we aim to uncover the layers of affect that shape our experiences and inform our approach to global educational collaborations. This methodology enables us to not only reflect on our personal and professional boundaries but also to examine the broader emotional landscape that influences our work.

We propose this roundtable as a space to share our reflections and methodological insights with other scholars and practitioners. Through this discussion, we hope to refine our understanding of the complexities involved in global partnerships and to explore how reflective practices can be integrated into the work of scholar-practitioners. The roundtable will also serve as a platform to gather feedback on our approach, which will inform the next steps in our research and practice.

This proposal contributes to the discourse on the role of affect and self-reflection in global educational partnerships, offering insights that are both methodologically rigorous and practically relevant for early career scholar-practitioners.

Authors

• Adam Grimm, Michigan State University

• Aliya Bizhanova, Michigan State University