The politics of knowledge production in international partnerships: Ethical dilemmas in North-South research

Session Submission Type: Group Panel

Description of Session

As part of the effort to humanize education, the field of Comparative and International Education is struggling to diversify participants and epistemological perspectives, even as it works to enhance knowledge production. Yet neither goal is easy, and the goals may, at times, produce friction.

One response to this tension is to develop global research partnerships. Such well-meaning efforts aim to develop research capacity among all members, expand epistemological perspectives, capitalize upon the historical, social, and cultural knowledge and the linguistic resources of partners located outside the U.S., and stretch small pools of resources for maximum impact.

However, these projects pose a multitude of challenges. What constitutes quality research? Whose knowledge is privileged in academic and applied work in the field of CIE? How do socioeconomic factors influence research design, research training, and levels of participation? What communication structures foster greater equality in partnerships? What approaches to data analysis might best foster diverse epistemological approaches? What conflicts arise in the representation of data collected by diverse teams? How can global research partnerships foster transformational social and educational change?

Engaging critical theory and discussions of the ethics of North-South research, this panel seeks to explore the power dynamics of knowledge production in global partnerships. Participants will discuss the sometimes predictable, sometimes unexpected challenges they have faced in their own efforts to form international research partnerships. The panel will consider issues including: selection of participants, mobility, funding, designing collaborative research, mentoring and research training, co-developing expectations and goals, navigating diverse needs and social locations in the research process, reciprocity, timing in the research process, communication, data analysis, presentation of findings, efficacy of partnerships, and the extent to which collaborative research can be said to be transformational.

The panel contributes to the field of Comparative and International Education, and specifically to the conference theme, by taking up core questions regarding how to multiply worldviews, epistemologies, and ideological schools of thought. The panel addresses fundamental questions regarding equity in partnerships when race, gender, professional status, sociopolitical location, socialization in knowledge approaches, and other factors come into play. The panel seeks not only to critique existing efforts but also to advance different ways of conceptualizing and 'doing' partnerships.

The panel is organized so that each presentation will last 10 minutes, saving plenty of time for discussion. We will then ask the audience members to talk amongst themselves for five minutes and develop a question to pose to the entire group. After each question is posed, we will have a final round of reflection, in which anyone in the room can participate.

Sub Unit

• General Pool

Chair

• Lesley Bartlett, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Individual Presentations

• Transnational Knowledge Production and the Ethics of North-South Research - Frances Vavrus, University of Minnesota

• Partnerships, Friendships, and the Research-Practice Divide - Nancy Kendall, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Madalo Samati, CRECCOM

• Reflections on Research Partnerships in Mixed Methods Impact Evaluations - Erin Murphy-Graham, University of California-Berkeley; Bita Correa, Fundacion para la Enseñanza de las Ciencias (FUNDAEC)

• International Partnerships: Key Challenges, Tensions, and Possibilities - Lesley Bartlett, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Allen Rugambwa, Mwenge University College of Education