Thirteenth International Conference on e-Learning & Innovative Pedagogies

Abstract

In this presentation, I will discuss my current research and film project that investigates ideas around knowing. The film is both an investigation of international and cross-cultural knowledge perspectives as well as a questioning of Western influence and domination Through interview footage with students and educators the content of the film addresses the experience of non-Western immigrant and native-born students studying in the US. Additionally, I use various mediums to include the voices of students I teach online. Through creative editing, layering of sound and disruptions of time the structure and form of the film will address questions of Western ideological and methodological domination. This film is an extension of my doctoral work, which explores Western ideological dominance by addressing epistemological authority and methodological dogma in education through a multi-layered text that is both written in academics as well as narrative autobiography and incorporates art, music, web links and poetry to question and comment on Western ideas about knowing and being (Cole, 2018). I have developed a praxis called border zone pedagogy, which seeks to open up and expand the ways in which we know and the ways in which we seek out knowledge. In the early production phase, I have extensive interviews with four international students and shorter interviews with other students and educators. The goal is to understand what it means to be educated from a variety of perspectives, what an inclusive global knowledge is and how educators create inclusive international spaces online and in their classrooms.