GLACIER Network Seminar Series: Seminar Series Difficult decisions in comparative and international educational research: Practices, dilemmas, and strategies

About the series

This research seminar series is aimed at researchers/academic staff as well as PGR and PGT students interested in the fields of comparative and international education, policy studies, and international development.

We seek to create a space for academic exchange on the practices of comparative and international education (CIE) research, probing into the dilemmas and tensions that arise throughout the various stages of a study - from the initial identification of research questions, through fieldwork, to the selection of dissemination outlets and impact activities. The seminar series aims to encourage reflection on critical and ethical decisions made in CIE research, highlighting challenges and ‘difficult decisions’ along with the strategies used to navigate them – as well as the roads not taken and missed opportunities. The series thus aims to foster an inclusive space to discuss real-life experiences with the messiness of research practices, and the lessons learned from successes as well as setbacks.

The research seminars have a duration of 1 hour. Each session will feature an invited speaker delivering a presentation for a maximum of 30 minutes. Presenters are encouraged to discuss a specific study or research project they have been involved in, identifying one or two critical decisions, dilemmas, or tensions they encountered over the course of the research. A PGR student will then make a connection to the presentation and ask the first question, after which we will open it up to the audience for Q&A.

This research seminar series is organised by GLACIER – the Glasgow Comparative and International Education Research network – with support from the School of Education.

The GLACIER seminars will take place on Wednesdays from 15.30 to 16.30 in Room 234 of the St. Andrew’s Building. All seminars will occur in person and will not be recorded or live-streamed. Details of each seminar and registration links can be found below.

22nd January 2025: Making academic writing more equitable: some messy realities

Wednesday 22nd January 
15:30-16:30
Room 234 (St Andrews Building)

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Professor Simon McGrath: Making academic writing more equitable: some messy realities

This presentation reflects on experiences in trying to ensure greater equity in academic writing and publication in an unjust and hyper-busy academic environment. Drawing particularly on a paper in progress on this topic and the experiences of leading a collectively authored book, I reflect on the academic debates about making research more equitable, and how these interact with messy realities. Here I include the responsibilities and constraints of project leadership, considerations of career development needs for researchers internationally, and the effects of research funding regimes on partnership. 

Simon McGrath holds the established chair in Education and is the College Associate Dean for Research Culture. He has published extensively on international education and development,  has edited both the International Journal of Educational Development and the Journal for Vocational Education and Training, and has been a scientific advisor to both the British and South African governments and a secondee to UNESCO. In the context of this presentation, he has co-authored with nearly 200 colleagues, the majority of whom are from the global South.

Professor Simon McGrath

29th January 2025: Difficult decisions when doing research on sensitive issues in complex contexts: Researcher positionality, Ethics, and Outputs

Wednesday 29th January
15:30-16:30
Room 234 (St Andrews Building)

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Dr Yulia Nesterova: Difficult decisions when doing research on sensitive issues in complex contexts: Researcher positionality, Ethics, and Outputs

While I have worked on peace-related research projects across the world and in very complex contexts of violence and conflict, it is the research on peace and education in Russia that has created major ethical and security concerns. In this presentation, I will present these issues, how they affected my research, what consequences they (might) have, and how I am revising my current and future research based on these complexities. The presentation will be divided into three key components:
 
1. Positionality – in ICE, we often talk about the binary of insider/outsider positionality or the spectrum between insider and outsider. Insider is often presented as more knowledgeable and sensitive to the context. I will show that positionality is more complex than what we tend to believe and discuss what dangers it may present.
 
2. Ethics – while the research team in this project is knowledgeable of a range of ethical issues and mitigation practices, we failed to consider and mitigate some risks. I will present what risks we missed and what consequences this has had on the project and people involved. This will focus on (a) security, livelihoods, and mental wellbeing of various people (researchers, participants, people who helped promote the research) and on (b) research design (e.g., what can we do logistically and ethically? What should we do? What can’t we do?)
 
3. Outputs – dissemination of research is key for academia, especially when we want to contribute to bettering the world. I will discuss what considerations have to be made when we seek to publish or share our research from such contexts, including to mitigate any security concerns and legal actions.

Yulia Nesterova, Ph.D. is a Lecturer in International and Comparative Education at the University of Glasgow, Scotland. She is interested in politics of education. Her current research focuses on peace education; the role of education in reconciliation and trust-building in inter-group relationships; community and youth engagement in peacebuilding. Her current projects investigate securitisation and militarisation of education, intergenerational engagement and learning for peace, and the implementation of youth, peace, and security agenda. Prior to joining Glasgow, Yulia co-led the development of a strategy on youth engagement in Preventing Violent Extremism through Education for UNESCO MGIEP and of a framework for Together for Peace programme for UNESCO Asia-Pacific. She is a member of the International Working Group on Youth, Peace, and Security at FBA, the Swedish Agency for Peace, Security and Development; a co-chair of Peace Education SIG at CIES; and a trustee of Scotland’s International Development Alliance.

Dr Yulia Nesterova

5th February 2025: Negotiating Spaces: Balancing Funders' Expectations and Contextual Relaities in TVET Research

Wednesday 5th February 
15:30-16:30
Room 234 (St Andrews Building)

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Dr Joyceline Alla-Mensah: Negotiating Spaces: Balancing Funders' Expectations and Contextual Relaities in TVET Research

In this presentation, I will draw on Luukkonen and Duncan’s (2016) concept of ‘’negotiated space’’ to reflect on my experience working with an external funder on a TVET study. I will discuss the negotiation process which included managing their interests, while adapting to and responding to their requirements, the compromises made to balance the broad scope the funder envisioned, with the contextual depth required by the study’s focus. The presentation will highlight the challenges encountered during data collection, including how this shaped the research questions. Finally, I will reflect on the implications of these negotiated decisions for the study’s outcomes and their connection to key themes in international and comparative education, such as the role of context.

Joyceline Alla-Mensah is a lecturer in Education at the School of Education. She researches vocational education and training in formal and informal contexts. Her previous research projects explored the extent to which vocational education and training systems support young people’s well-being, access to, retention, and progression in education, training, and the labour market. She obtained a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Nottingham, an MSc in Development Studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a BA in Political Science and Sociology from the University of Ghana. 
 
Dr Joyceline Alla-Mensah

12th February 2025: Reflections on data collection and analysis on controversial topics

Wednesday 12th February 
15:30-16:30
Room 234 (St Andrews Building)

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Professor Michele Schweisfurth: What does an ethic of respect mean if you don't respect interviewees' views? Reflections on data collection and analysis on controversial topics

As researchers, we all hold values that are important to us, and these can themselves be motivators for researching particular themes. If we want an easy life, we will design research in which participants are likely to share those values. However, sometimes it is important to understand the views of people with whom we disagree. This creates a number of ethical dilemmas around, for example: creating rapport; being transparent; respecting local cultures; and verification of findings. It also has the potential to influence the validity of our research, depending on understandings of validity and how we manage the interview situation, data analysis, and reporting. In this seminar I will reflect on instances in my own research in different cultural contexts where participants’ expressed views were in conflict with my own values, and how I, rightly or wrongly, managed the dilemmas this created.

Michele Schweisfurth is Professor of Comparative and International Education at the School of Education. Originally from Canada, Michele has lived and worked in six different countries and conducted research in twelve different national contexts. She is former Chair and former President of the British Association for International and Comparative Education, former editor of the journal Comparative Education, and former Chair of Trustees of UKFIET, the Education and Development Forum. She was based at DFID/FCDO as a Senior Research Fellow from 2018-2021. Her primary research interest is comparative pedagogy, situated within global crisis narratives and travelling ‘best practice’ solutions.

Professor Michele Schweisfurth

26th February 2025: The messiness of data analysis deriving from fieldwork and data collection

Wednesday 26th February 
15:30-16:30
Room 234 (St Andrews Building)

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Dr Sihui Wang: The messiness of data analysis deriving from fieldwork and data collection

"Beginning qualitative data analysis can seem like exploring a new territory without an easy-to-read map" (Silverman, 2011, p. 57). This is especially true in longitudinal qualitative research, which often yields large volumes of diverse data, posing unique challenges for novice researchers. Yet, many methodological discussions present a streamlined, linear process—from designing the research and gathering data to analysing and presenting findings. Confronted by the neat outset of most published studies, I initially found myself lost in the complexities of my own dataset. This presentation reflects on my doctoral research – International Students’ Classroom Participation Patterns at a UK University, exploring the messy realities of data analysis in fieldwork and considering what might have been done differently before and during data collection to make the process more manageable. I will also discuss corresponding solutions and strategies, highlighting potential implications for other new researchers who may face similar challenges. The aim is to share insights I wish I had known earlier, offering practical guidance for others navigating this complex terrain.

Sihui Wang is a Lecturer in Educational Studies at the University of Glasgow, with international experience working and studying in China, Australia, and the UK. She holds a PhD in Higher Education, with an interdisciplinary background in English Applied Linguistics and TESOL. Sihui’s research centres on internationalisation in higher education, focusing on linguistic, intercultural, and transnational issues. Her expertise lies in learning and teaching practices involving international students and she has published on classroom participation patterns among international students and edited a book on the reconceptualisation of international students. Previously, she served as Deputy Programme Director for the MA in Education and TESOL at Keele University and led the Ethnography Stream for Methods North West, a regional research hub based at the University of Manchester. Passionate about fostering inclusive, impactful learning experiences, Sihui is dedicated to advancing learning and teaching practices in higher education through her teaching and research.

Dr Sihui Wang

5th March 2025: First encounters with ICE fieldwork: negotiating power, knowledge, and voice in cross-national research settings

Wednesday 5th March
15:30-16:30
Room 234 (St Andrews Building)

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Dr Ellen Vanderhoven: First encounters with ICE fieldwork: negotiating power, knowledge, and voice in cross-national research settings

Conducting international fieldwork for the first time represents something of a rite of passage moment for would-be ICE researchers. My own first experience came through doctoral research examining the youth transitions of apprentices in northern Mexico. For the first time, I was collecting data in a country of which I had no prior, and certainly no lived, experience. Working in an (overtly) cross-linguistic and cross-cultural research setting required a deeper reckoning with my place in global structures of relation and inequality. As a result, intersecting gender, race, and age-based identities became fundamental to my experiences of preparing for and encountering ‘the field’.
 
Many of these experiences are common for early career ICE researchers, though manifested in different ways and perhaps not always frankly discussed. In this talk, I use my doctoral journey to unpick what effects this first encounter produced, what decisions I faced, and what choices I made, for good and for bad. In particular, I use the themes of power, knowledge, and voice to grapple with the ethical and positional challenges posed in ‘becoming’ an ICE researcher through cross-national fieldwork.
 
Ellen Vanderhoven is a Research Associate at the School of Education, soon to become a Lecturer in Education Studies. Her research interests lie in international and comparative perspectives on education policy targeting youth in transition. In recent years, this has centred on international policy interest in apprenticeships and dual models of vocational education, from global cooperation to implementation in low- and middle-income country contexts, particularly Mexico. In her current role, she is researching the role of private Catholic providers in the public education systems of France and Spain. Ellen has worked on several transnational research projects funded by Horizon 2020, GCRF, and the British Academy, among others. She was awarded her PhD in Education from the University of Glasgow, supported by an SGSSS Student-Led Doctoral Studentship.
 
Dr Ellen Vanderhoven

2nd April 2025: Variable-oriented approaches: strengths and limitations for comparative analysis

Wednesday 2nd April
15:30-16:30
Room 234 (St Andrews Building)

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Professor Ellen Boeren: Variable-oriented approaches: strengths and limitations for comparative analysis

This session will dig deeper into the differences between case- and variable-oriented approaches in comparative research (see Ragin, 1987). It will provide examples of relevant datasets that can be used to undertake large N variable-oriented comparative work, e.g. the PISA and PIAAC datasets from the OECD. Strengths to be discussed include the focus on generalizability, large sample sizes and the identification of relevant relationships between variables. Drawbacks will be discussed too, including the need for alternative scenarios that include contextual background information to help with meaning-making. This will also be backed up by discussions about conceptual misalignments and the difficulties in standardising variables across different country contexts. The session will also touch on the need for more rigorous longitudinal datasets to better judge on causal events.

Ellen Boeren is Professor in Education at the University of Glasgow. She is interested in the wider field of post-compulsory education and training, skills development, and lifelong learning metrics. She is currently PI of an ESRC project on the statistical evidence base on adult learning in the UK and Ireland and sits on the European Commission’s Expert Network on Adult Education and Training. She is a previous editor of Adult Education Quarterly and won the Cyril O. Houle award for Outstanding Contribution to the Adult Education Literature in 2017. She edited UNESCOs 4th Global Report on Adult Learning and Education and undertook a secondment in the OECD's Directorate for Education and Skills as part of a Thomas J. Alexander fellowship.

Professor Ellen Boeren