2015
DOI: 10.1080/03098265.2015.1084499
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Teaching and learning in the tropics: an epistemic exploration of “the field” in a development studies field trip

Abstract: Development studies, with its focus on the human condition in the global south, employs theories, analytical tools and teaching methods often found in geography, including the international fieldtrip which is taken to a 'developing' country. In 2013 and 2014 I led a two-week trip to Ethiopia with 60-70 students on a UK masters programme. In 2013, a worrying yet fascinating conversation with a student (recounted below), prompted me to reflect on epistemologies of 'the field' in international fieldtrips (especia… Show more

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Cited by 14 publications
(16 citation statements)
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“…However, "it is perhaps time to see fieldwork less as a recording science and more as a performing art" Cosgrove & Daniels (1989, p.171), introduced the idea of fieldwork as spectacle, with the learners as players in a kind of theatre, sometimes in post-colonial or other roles with important political or ethical positionalities (Abbott, 2006;Sultana, 2007;Patel, 2015). The deep Eurocentric roots of Cosgrove & Daniels (1989) who considers the problems that result because learners tend to "interact with those who are culturally akin to themselves than those who are not" and McMorran (2015), who worries about the tone of field study visits, comparing pan-glossian 'fan-pilgrimage' with 'Dark Tourism' that focuses on negatives.…”
Section: Mode 7: Reflective International Fieldwork ('Experience and mentioning
confidence: 99%
“…However, "it is perhaps time to see fieldwork less as a recording science and more as a performing art" Cosgrove & Daniels (1989, p.171), introduced the idea of fieldwork as spectacle, with the learners as players in a kind of theatre, sometimes in post-colonial or other roles with important political or ethical positionalities (Abbott, 2006;Sultana, 2007;Patel, 2015). The deep Eurocentric roots of Cosgrove & Daniels (1989) who considers the problems that result because learners tend to "interact with those who are culturally akin to themselves than those who are not" and McMorran (2015), who worries about the tone of field study visits, comparing pan-glossian 'fan-pilgrimage' with 'Dark Tourism' that focuses on negatives.…”
Section: Mode 7: Reflective International Fieldwork ('Experience and mentioning
confidence: 99%
“…It is, therefore, important that students understand their roles as ‘facilitators rather than implementers, and knowledge conveners rather than knowledge providers who work in the privileged position of listener, learner and guest’ (Hammersley, : 858). Patel (: 587) refers to the impulse to decolonise and diversify representation by attending to power relations and drawing on a range of local voices and experiences often ‘missing in the thinking and production of field trips’. Indeed there is an increasing emphasis on community collaboration, through which WIL and international study tours strive to model research relationships in which communities are equal partners if not directors or co‐directors (see Beck, ; Wright et al, ; Hyatt et al, ; Menzies and Butler, ).…”
Section: Preparing Students For Different Ways Of Seeing Thinking Dmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…The experiential learning benefits of a fieldclass to the global south are vital for instilling research skills, developing higher‐level critical thinking skills, building empathy and developing deeper understandings of material and social factors within development (Patel, ). This requires space for students to learn‐by‐doing through self‐reflection, with space for mistakes, contradictions or ambiguities in data collected.…”
Section: To Do No Harmmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…In other words, instead of focusing on routinised performances of directly giving back research findings, recognising the more indirect and diffuse relational changes that can be fostered through a fieldclass. What we mean here is the need to work to get students to view ‘the field’ as a site of political engagement and questioning, and to understand and critically reflect on how ‘knowledge production and consumption are political activities mediated by unequal power relations within a political, social and cultural context’ (Patel, , p. 586). From experience, such practices are vital in encouraging students to understand the difference between ‘doing development’ and ‘doing development research’, to build skills in intercultural understanding and communication, explore questions and philosophies around ethics and care for others/at a distance and provide the foundations for a more sustained, longer term engagement with social justice.…”
Section: To Do No Harmmentioning
confidence: 99%