Diaspora Working to Transform Education in Fragility and Conflict

 
Article cover, “What I Believe Can Rescue That Nation”

Summary

This research article explores diaspora-led education development work in conflict-affected settings. It demonstrates that this work is distinct from most international education development, which often reinforces inequalities, and from diaspora-led development in other sectors (e.g., business), which is often privately oriented.

The authors find that in the education sector, diaspora engage in work that is publicly oriented and aimed toward systematic transformation of the content and opportunity structures of education. Diaspora-led education development work also seeks to transform conflict dynamics by addressing historical inequalities and persistent drivers of conflict.

Key Takeaways

We offer the following practical steps and actions based on this research below (click to expand).

+ For Policymakers


INSIGHTS ACTIONS
In their educational development work, diasporas are uniquely positioned to engage with often-unequal power dynamics in their countries of origin, interrogating colonial histories and highlighting the role of education in disrupting cycles of fragility and conflict. ➟ Engage with diaspora-led efforts that break persistent cycles of conflict. Initiate conversations about how power shapes educational development. Explore how groups can work together on goals of increasing educational opportunities and mitigating conflict.
Diaspora were able to couple their sense of responsibility for the country of origin with a claim to their rights to social and political participation in that country, but they often had no state support for their efforts. ➟ Support diaspora to engage in systemic educational development work toward conflict transformation.
Strong relationships with government ministries can enable engagement with public systems. At the same time, distrust may make it difficult for diaspora to engage in educational development. ➟ Facilitate diaspora-led educational development through relationships built over time and on trust, leveraging both insider sense of responsibility for conflict transformation and outsider access to resources.

+ For Educators


INSIGHTS ACTIONS
Participants universally described relationships of trust and reciprocity with communities in the country of origin as central to the kind of education development they pursued, involving connecting, talking, listening, and integrating feedback. ➟ Prioritize communicative, meaningful community relationships in initiatives designed to break cycles of conflict.
One participant credited a relational, participatory approach to her long-term work in her country of origin as allowing her NGO to grow from a program offering adult literacy classes to one that integrated health and microfinance with educational opportunities. ➟ Construct educational opportunities that reach beyond short-term models, allowing for a higher degree of collaboration, impact, and sustainability.
The relationship and position of diaspora as both insiders and outsiders can allow for development work in rural areas that the government may not reach. ➟ Strengthen initiatives that identify areas and needs that governments and donors are not focused on.

+ For Researchers


FURTHER RESEARCH IS NEEDED TO EXAMINE:
  • Strategies for building the financial sustainability of diaspora-led organizations that are “closer to the people” than those led by outside actors, reducing the need to pass on ownership to these outside actors to continue the work;

  • How diasporas engage in teacher training and curricula development that encourage critical thinking, address historical inequalities, and upend persistent drivers of conflict;

  • Experiences of diasporas and outside actors of engaging in conversations about power and collaboration toward goals of increasing educational opportunities and mitigating conflict.
Additional reading

Citation (APA): Dryden-Peterson, S. & Reddick, C. (2019). “What I Believe Can Rescue That Nation”: Diaspora Working to Transform Education in Fragility and Conflict. Comparative Education Review 63(2), 213-235.

 
Conflict TransformationSarah Dryden-PetersonFor Researchers, Globalization, Conflict Transformation