Images of hope for intercultural empathy and dialogue

These slides were presented by keynote speakers Dalya Saleh and Prue Holmes, both from Durham University, at the UNESCO RILA Spring School: The Arts of Integrating 2024 (Word Springs) on 21 May 2024. For more information about the event, please visit https://www.gla.ac.uk/research/az/unesco/events/springschool/

1. Glasgow Spring School Images of hope for intercultural empathy and dialogue Dalya Saleh Prue Holmes Durham University 21 May 2024

2. We are addressing these two themes Silence, words of comfort and finding words Intercultural communication through the arts

3. Understanding Intercultural Empathy Through Photography: A Comparative Study Among University Students in Palestine and England

4. Aim of the study Intercultural empathy A tool for Intercultural dialogue and Peacebuilding

5. Questions of the research The research aims to answer the following questions: RQ1 . How do immobile students facing occupation in Palestine and mobile students in England conceptualise intercultural empathy? RQ2 . In what ways can intercultural empathy and peace building be understood and enhanced via virtual intercultural dialogue stimulated by photographic exchange?

6. Theoretical framework    This study builds on Freire’s understanding of intercultural empathy and dialogue, and Mac Ginty’s (2021) everyday peacebuilding through the online intercultural communication activity of photographic exchange ( Karaköse & Yaylacı , 2023) and intercultural dialogue (Holmes & Corbett, 2023).

7. According to Freire, empathy and dialogue allow individuals to listen to others and work with them, which helps contribute to the construction and deconstruction of history (Ferron, 2022). Freire’s approach supports refugees and internally-displaced people to reach their potential. Freire’s ideas contribute to ‘quality education’ as a UNESCO sustainable development goal 4 (SDG 4) —which seeks to promote a culture of peace, participation, responsibility and appreciation of cultural diversity.

8. Mac Ginty (2021) highlights the transformative power of ‘everyday peace’. He suggests that peace could be achieved through small acts of everyday interaction at individual levels, where usual patterns of conflict can be disrupted.  The study aims to explore how photography can serve as a tangible expression of everyday peacebuilding efforts, providing insights into the ways participants contribute to peaceful coexistence through their daily experiences

9. Methodology Photography as visual methodology The photos reveal: activities or celebrations infrastructure that contributes to a safe environment opportunities for employment education that fosters a sense of quality stories of resilience when they overcome challenges.

10. PhotoVoice (2023) https://youtu.be/kAszQx62XxE

11. Impact of the study Policymakers Vulnerable communities and international relationships sectors The participants

12. References Mac Ginty , R. (2021). Everyday peace: How so-called ordinary people can disrupt violent conflict . Oxford University Press. Karaköse , G., & Yaylacı , F. G. (2023). International migration and integration: Turkish immigrants in Poland. Migration Letters , 20 (2), 155–169. Holmes, P., & Corbett, J. (2023). Critical intercultural pedagogy for difficult times: Conflict, crisis, and creativity . Taylor & Francis. Ferron, B. (2022). A Dialogue with Paulo Freire: Reflections on the Social Conditions of Hope and the Problem of Equality of Expression. Freire and the Perseverance of Hope. Exploring Communication and Social Change , 43 , 51–56.

13. Building an intercultural pedagogy for higher education in conditions of conflict and protracted crises AHRC (AH/J005037/1) https://biphec.wordpress.com/ How can critical pedagogy support the decentring of higher education? How can it promote intercultural dialogue and youth participation for peace building?

14. Theoretical focus Critical t heory (Connell, 2007; Freire, 1968) Ecology of the research context (Smith, 2012; van Lier, 2004; Levine & Phipps, 2012) Cultural and personal identities – how they are reshaped and renegotiated into new forms of being and alterity under different power relations (Spivak, 1999; Holliday & Amadasi , 2017) that both promote and hinder intercultural dialogue (Ganesh & Holmes, 2011) New materialism – the exploration of cultural knowledge and forms of representation that are reinvigorated and reinvented in new cultural contexts (Barad, 2007; Frimberger, 2016; Harvey et al. 2019) Co-construction of intercultural pedagogies that are interactive, relational, ethical explore the consequences in communities where languages are under pressure and pain through forced migration and trauma (Imperiale, Phipps, Al-Masri, & Fassetta , 2017) foster the knowledge, skills, values, attitudes and behaviours that support young people in proactively facing and resolving local and global challenges (Crosbie, 2014; Nussbaum, 2006; Walker & Wilson-Strydom, 2017) Translanguaging – ( Li Wei), language and power (Cummins, 2021)

15. Methodology Organised around the theme of  inclusion and intercultural dialogue. Peer-to-peer learning with students and refugee youths (young people) who had been excluded from education Non-formal learning to generate local, context-specific intercultural pedagogies, developed in and responsive to the conditions in each case study site Aim of workshops : To facilitate the meeting of students from Durham University with young people of Syrian and Iraqi background who have recently moved to the Durham area.  Focus of the workshops: To share life narratives and educational experiences between Durham students and young people through: photo exposes learning a song together walk-along (a walking tour of Durham University campus) building an ideal university

16. Workshop 1: Making connections Ice breaker - Marshmallow and pasta building activity Photography exchange - Learning about ourselves and others Sharing a song Small group discussions What did I enjoy? What did I learn?

17. Workshop 2 – Introducing the university A walking tour of the campus - encouraging students/young people to share their understandings of the university as a learning space. (Inspired by Badwan & Hall, 2020; Najar, 2016) A shared meal/sharing Eid Post-it notes session What did I enjoy? What did I learn?

18. Workshop 3 - My education experiences The purpose of this workshop is to continue to dialogue and share educational experiences. Building your “ideal” university - art activity in small groups Post-it notes session A reflection about their understanding of young people being excluded from education.

19. Activity: Building my (ideal/dream) university 1) Participants in groups discussed what their dream university would be like: What would the place look like? What kind of facilities will be included? How would different types of learners be engaged? How would all students be challenged and be prepared for work? What would students’ and teachers’ interactions look like? What would the culture/ language be like? What beliefs and attitudes would be prevalent/ mainstream? What kinds of activities, schedules would be in the university? 2) After coming up with ideas, groups chose one goal from their dream university and brainstormed ways to achieve that goal. 3) Groups shared their dream university with larger group

20. Conclusions As a research approach, critical intercultural pedagogy (CIP) allows for the transformation of Eurocentric epistemologies by drawing on local and geopolitical contexts, and local knowledges, languages, and practices (Walsh & Mignolo , 2018). CIP empowers learners to co-construct knowledge alongside their teachers (Freire, 1970), and to develop participatory and responsible actions towards others in society (Corbett & Guilherme, 2021) CIP is transformational in that it creates conditions that support individuals to enter into a dialogue or aesthetic intercultural encounter, develop an understanding of one another’s realities, and (re-) engage within their shared and unshared communities ( Ladegaard & Phipps 2020; Smith, 2012). CIP decentres language and power: language, especially colonial languages, are no longer in their dominant position in the hierarchy of knowledge (Harvey et al. 2019). Creative arts approaches, alongside CIP, enable people to engage through aesthetic, affective and performative forms of communication (by languaging and translanguaging), enabling communication beyond a reliance on language (Li Wei, 2018; Phipps & Kay, 2014; Ros i Sole, 2018).

21. Impact of our work Through ESRC IAA impact funding: In HE (informal learning that is interdisciplinary, multilingual, multimodal) Among our research participants (young people) In the community: Giving back to participants’ communities (refugees and asylum seekers who are displaced or excluded, and who have limited or no access to education Supporting and learning with/from community groups (NGOs, charities, and other individuals who support them) Community workshops (with students, young people and their families, community support groups)

22. Thank you Dalya Saleh [email protected] Prue Holmes [email protected] Holmes, P., & Corbett, J. (2023). Critical intercultural pedagogy: Conflict, crisis,and creativity. Routledge.