The ELP Seminar Series with Alison Buckler due to take place on Wednesday 16 February 2022, 16:00-17:00, has been cancelled and will be rescheduled at a later date.

Creative, digital story-based approaches in international education research

Using storytelling as a methodology to understand how people make sense of their world is increasingly presented as a panacea for international education and development challenges. Through a case-study of a UK-Aid-funded research project with adolescent girls who are enrolled on an alternative education pathway in Zimbabwe, this seminar will highlight insights that were made possible through this methodology. However, storytelling research also carries risks in relation to participant and facilitator well-being and the reproduction of static and potentially problematic ways of knowing. Drawing on experiences from across a wide range of storytelling research projects, the seminar will propose some empirical, epistemological and ethical issues that may arise when using story approaches in ‘development’ contexts.

About the speaker

Dr Alison Buckler is Senior Research Fellow in International Education at The Open University, where she is the Deputy Director of the Centre for the Study of Global Development. She is also the Vice-Chair of the British Association for International and Comparative Education (BAICE). Her work focuses on experiences of inclusion and belonging in teaching and learning, including the use of technology and through alternative education pathways. She is particularly interested in creative and innovative research methodologies and is the co-founder of the AHRC-funded Ibali/Story Network which connects and supports people who are interested in using story-based research approaches.

First published: 24 January 2022

<< Events