Minority-World Preservice Teachers’ Understanding of Contextually Appropriate Practice While Working in Majority-World Early Childhood Contexts

Minority-world professionals in majority-world early childhood contexts: How do international field experiences promote intercultural competence or reinforce “professional” ethnocentrism?

“…Establishing long-term connections with local overseas partners. Our research with minority-world educators in Nepal and Kenya confirmed that multiple and frequent interactions with faculty, peers, and cultural mentors seem to have a positive effect on students’ ability to develop ethnorelative reflection (Madrid Akpovo, Nganga, & Acharya, 2018; West, 2013).…”

“…These strong emotional reactions also lead them to conclude that these “less advanced, needy, and uneducated” majority-world teachers and children simply need to be taught the “correct” way to be with each other in early care and education spaces. Analyzing data from our two long-term research projects in Nepal and Kenya, we found that most pre-service and in-service teachers positioned the early childhood customs and norms found there as deficient, outdated, and not child-centered or progressive (Madrid Akpovo, Nganga, & Acharya, 2018). Consequently, a privileged position was constructed by assuming that teaching practices and the curricula of the host communities in Nepal and Kenya could be “fixed” not only through monetary resources, but also by adopting Euro-Western policies and pedagogies.…”

Glocality, Reflexivity, Interculturality, and Worldmaking: A Framework for Critical Global Teaching

“…Alternately, students are all locally situated, even when we are teaching about the world. As such, each of us is located in a particular time, place, and context from which we view the world (Assié-Lumumba, 2017;Banks et al, 2016;Madrid Akpovo et al, 2018). For example, we know that schools are rooted in local histories and good teaching responds to local realities and enacts curricula that are responsive to the cultures embodied in our classrooms (Lee & McCarty, 2017;Slapac, this issue;Smith, 2017;Tabulawa, 2013).…”

Art in my world: Exploring the visual art experiences in the everyday lives of young children and their impact on cultural capital

“…In terms of art experiences in schools, the literature presents a breadth of experience which is impossible to generalise due to the majority of the research being small‐scale, qualitative, short‐term and conducted in minority‐world countries (Madrid Akpovo, Nganga, & Acharya, 2018). Some highlight key differences in visual art experiences at home and school (Greenwood, 2011; Haanstra, 2010; Melnick et al, 2011; Pavlou, 2006; Rose et al., 2006).…”