The making and transforming of a transnational in dialog: Confronting dichotomous thinking in knowledge production, identity formation, and pedagogy

Abstract

This article, through autoethnographic narrative and reflection, in-depth interviews, and focus group discussions, explores how the transnational academic mobility experiences of a Muslim scholar of Islam based in Brunei may influence his identity, research, and teaching. It pinpoints how transnational academic mobilities could (re)produce, sustain and endorse East/West, local/global, and religious/secular dichotomies and binary thinking. Likewise, it shows that transnational academic mobilities often generate ambiguous and divided spaces concerning knowledge production, pedagogy, and identity formation. The article also maintains that contextualizing and engaging (with) the specificity and particularity of place and academic discipline are pivotal in studying transnational academic mobilities. Methodologically, it highlights the role of autoethnographic reflection in bringing out complex experiences and accounts that academics undergo but rarely acknowledge and conceptualize in scholarly work. Such accounts and experiences serve as reminders of the importance of humility, trust, ethics, and reflexivity in academia. Transnational academic mobilities, after all, must not be privileged.

How does framing influence preference for multiple solutions to societal problems?

“…Some interventions, such as reducing the time spent on social media and news can help reduce polarization, and therefore dichotomous thinking, as well as improving emotional well-being [ 62 ]. However, changing dichotomous thinking may ultimately require more than behavioral interventions, starting with changes in the education system to include a more multifaceted and diverse curriculum in schools [ 63 , 64 ], improving science communication regarding complex and often counterintuitive issues [ 65 ], systemic changes to improve equality and inclusivity [ 12 ], as well as reducing political polarization [ 66 ]. These larger system-level changes could contribute to a less dichotomous sociopolitical environment where people are more open to different perspectives, emotionally balanced, and have less motivation to think dichotomously [ 67 ].…”

“…The dichotomous frame of solutions is partly driven by dichotomous thinking, that is, the tendency to categorize things, people, and events into two contrasting categories [8][9][10]. Dichotomous thinking is pervasive in all sectors of society: the two dominant political parties corresponding to left and right-wing political ideologies in many countries [11], the characterization of cultures as either Eastern or Western [12], and the scientific tendency to classify results as significant or not, based on an arbitrary threshold, the p-value [13]. Dichotomous thinking simplifies the complexities of reality (many shades of grey) into two discrete opposing categories (black versus white), which reduces cognitive load and allows humans to make decisions more efficiently [10].…”

The Epistemological Chain: A Tool to Guide TNE Development

“…Stein and colleagues develop this point and draw attention to how privileged Western perspectives in research, teaching, and learning are perpetuating global power relations, normalizing inequalities, and minimizing the potential contribution of local, and indigenous knowledge (Stein, 2016; Stein et al, 2021). Indeed, Phan and Mohamad (2020), built on this concept further when they highlighted how TNE provision can sustain and reinforce the traditional unequal East/West, local/global, and religious/secular dichotomies and binary thinking in scholarship, pedagogy, and teaching.…”

“…Reflecting this shift in economic power, the dominance of the West as international education provider and controller is also being challenged by China and East Asia. The old dichotomy of West / quality, East / incompetence (Phan & Mohamad, 2020) being most obviously reconfigured by China's growing role in contributing to global knowledge, principally via its HE sector.…”

High Quality Online Education-The Next Sustainable Development Frontier

“…Online education is inherently sustainable because of its core flexibility, allowing for rapid and sustained expansion, negating the need for travel, accommodation and additional buildings (Pavelka, 2020).…”