What to expect from Research in Education: internalization in teaching practices for doctoral students

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Abstract

Since 2018, I have been responsible for teaching the Research in Education course in the Graduate Program in Education at Universidade Tiradentes. Every offering, I update the topics and readings to provide a consistent learning process that enables doctoral students to understand educational research extends beyond their specific research object. Based on my postdoctoral experience in Boston during the 2017-2018 academic year, I realized the importance of curriculum internationalization and that students need the opportunity to broaden their perspectives on educational research at the local, national, and global levels. Thus, topics such as educational research, critical pedagogy, globalization, critical image analysis, comparative education, decoloniality, teacher education, and teaching practice are addressed. To offer students the opportunity to deepen their reflection on the contributions of previous research, I have listed these objectives: to analyze academic texts, deepening and broadening the understanding of theoretical and methodological perspectives that are relevant to the development of educational research, based on their results; to embody the educational philosophy of the Brazilian scholar Paulo Freire and critical pedagogy; to develop a global and comparative perspective on education in broader contexts. So, this paper aims to present the internationalization process of the Graduate Program in Education at Universidade Tiradentes, in Sergipe/Brazil, based on the readings and activities proposed for students enrolled in the Educational Research course. To provide a robust and meaningful learning experience I seek the generous support of colleagues from my Program and other countries. To help students understand the learning process they are undergoing, one of the activities I propose asks them to answer the question: what comes to your mind when you think of Educational Research? For this, I use an easily accessible technological resource. After discussion, I tell them that I will save the results and conduct the same activity at the end of the course so that we can identify if there were any changes, to what extent they occurred, or if the initial choices were reinforced. I also request they complete an activity that, for many, is disruptive: recording a video up to 5 minutes long regarding the lecture given by Ph.D Gerardo Ramirez-Blanco on “Trends in Higher Education Internationalization”, available on an accessible platform. This aims to immerse them in the topic of internationalization, including its challenges, possibilities, and dilemmas. The texts for discussion cover diverse topics such as decolonization, network society, globalization, critical pedagogy, comparative education, analysis of images in teaching practice, among others. They read research developed in Brazil, Tanzania, Syria, Italy, Portugal, Argentina, United States, among others. The collaboration of researchers for this course has been essential to foster the development of students as transformative intellectuals (Giroux, 1997). Some participated by sending videos or via Google Meet, such as Felicia Wilczenski (UMass/Boston), Gerardo Ramirez-Blanco (Boston College), Anna Kaiper-Marquez (UPenn), Tricia Kress (Molloy University), Julia Mironova (ISMA/Latvia), and Fernanda Kray (American Institutes for Research). The theme of comparative education is highlighted in the course proposal because I believe that by addressing aspects of this topic, doctoral students can expand their understanding of this field as a research possibility, considering theoretical, methodological, and practical aspects including its illusions and disillusions (Nóvoa, 2017), actors and purposes (Bray, 2015), quantitative and qualitative approaches (Fairbrother, 2015), educational activism (Selvik, 2021), interculturality (Novaro; Padawer; Borton, 2017), etc. Thinking about the training of researchers is to think about critical thinking, epistemological curiosity, and autonomy (Freire, 2014). By discussing these themes and the international legacy of the Brazilian philosopher Paulo Freire (Steinberg, 2023; Manfredi, 2022; Zaldívar, 2020), in addition to decolonization and the pedagogy of solidarity (Gaztambide-Fernández, 2019), among others, has the intention to broaden their epistemological understanding. At the end of this process, students read and discuss image analysis and are introduced to the Critical Pedagogical Analysis Framework (Amorim; Kress, 2020). It has 7 steps: Accessing; Describing; Reflecting; Developing; Grounding; Connecting and Expressing. After selecting an image, they analyze it and write scientific articles based on the framework discussions. One of the paths to reimagining the future of research is the training of new researchers who can broaden their perceptions on diverse topics with epistemological foundations, allowing them to understand phenomena involving society at the local, national, and global levels. Thus, there will be an increasing possibility of creating, and not only imagining, inclusive global spaces, with equity and diversity, expanding the boundaries of knowledge as the borderlines become increasingly wider through research. References Bray, M. (2015). Atores e finalidades na Educação Comparada. In M. Bray, B. Adamson, M. Mason (Orgs.), Pesquisa em Educação Comparada: abordagens e métodos (pp. 45-74). Brasília: Liber Livro. Fairbrother, G. P. (2015). Enfoques quantitativos e qualitativos na Educação Comparada. In M. Bray, B. Adamson, M. Mason (Orgs.), Pesquisa em Educação Comparada: abordagens e métodos (101-126). Brasília: Liber Livro. Freire, P. (2014). Pedagogia da autonomia: saberes necessários à prática da autonomia. São Paulo: Paz e Terra. Giroux, H. A. (1997). Os professores como intelectuais: rumo a uma pedagogia crítica da aprendizagem. Porto Alegre: Artes Médicas. Gaztambide-Fernández, R. A. (2019). Descolonização e a pedagogia da solidariedade. Revista Teias, 20(59), 8-38. https://www.e-publicacoes.uerj.br/index.php/revistateias/article/view/4… Novaro, G., Padawer, A., Borton, L. (2017). Interculturalidad y Educación en Argentina desde una Perspectiva Comparativa. Educação & Realidade, 42(3), 899-918. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/2175-623668636 Nóvoa, A. (2017). Ilusões e desilusões da educação comparada: Política e conhecimento. Educação, Sociedade & Culturas, 51, 13-31. https://doi.org/10.34626/esc.vi51.82 Manfredi, S. M. (2022). Cruzando fronteiras: as obras e o legado de Paulo Freire na Itália. Comunicação & Educação, 26(2), 195-209. https://www.revistas.usp.br/comueduc/article/view/187487 Selvik, K. (2021). Education Activism in the Syrian Civil War: Resisting by Persisting. Comparative Education Review, 65(3). https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/714606 Steinberg, S. R. (2023). 100 years of gratitude: what I learned from Freire. Cult Stud of Sci Educ, 18, 291-297. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-023-10167-2 Zaldívar, J. I., Uceda, P. Q. (2020). Los viajes de Paulo Freire a España (1984-1994) y la consolidación del ámbito académico de la pedagogía social a partir de los años noventa. Práxis Educativa, 16, 1-18. https://revistas.uepg.br/index.php/praxiseducativa/article/view/15143

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Programme
Track
  • Thematic Area 12: INNOVATION REFORM IN EDUCATION FROM A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE
Keywords
Higher Education, Graduate Program, Education, Research, Internationalization.