This blog consists of a short written interview with Professor Manisha Pathak-Shelat, Centre for Development Management and Communication, MICA, Ahmedabad, India. It is part of a cluster of blogs that present perpectives on Global Education and Learning in the Asia Pacific Region by prominent figures working in countries across the region, and supports an ANGEL webinar on the 16th of February. Find out more here
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The Indian ethos and history have been characterized by cultural assimilation through exposure to multi-directional global ideas, many a times willingly and at times through violent imposition. Indian ancient text of Rigveda (composed between 1300-1500 BC and written down in 300 BC) has a hymn that says, let noble thoughts come to us from all directions. True to this ethos, Nalanda, Takshshila, Vallabhi, Vikramshila and Sharadapeeth were ancient Indian universities that served scholars from all over the world for hundreds of years and generated vibrant intellectual exchange until they were destroyed by Islamic invasions. India experienced almost 100 year -long British colonization that also shaped the education system in India and brought British and European influence in epistemology, ideas, and practices. India’s independence movement was led by Indian and foreign-born visionaries, many of them with education abroad in countries such as UK, US, and Japan. Historian Prof. Sugata Bose has documented global exchanges during India’s independence movement and calls it ‘colorful cosmopolitanism’ (against the colorless cosmopolitanism of the West), where patriotism and foreign influences were not seen as antithetical). Soon after India got independence in 1947, education was given key importance in the process of nation building and universities and foundations from the USA became influential collaborators. USSR also became an important ally and global NGOs such as UNESCO played a powerful role in bringing global education and learning to India. The nineties heralded another powerful era with globalization and economic liberalization that saw the emergence of private educational institutions with faculty educated abroad, schools offering international curricula such as IB, institutions with multi-country campus and dual-degree programs, study abroad initiatives and internships abroad. This was also the time when increasing number of Indian students chose to study in countries such as US, Canada, UK, and Europe. Gradually, Australia and New Zealand also became attractive study abroad locations. Indian educators gained global respect and spent time at universities abroad as visiting experts spurring a vibrant exchange of ideas. Although, I must say that many of these exchanges focused on developing technical expertise and global competencies and did not consciously attempt to address intercultural understanding though such an understanding was often an indirect consequence. Finally, the rapidly expanding digitization has brought new forms of global education to India. MOOCS offered by Coursera, MIT etc., different edtech platforms, and social media, especially YouTube have become the new sources of global learning for young people and professionals alike. At the same time these platforms have also responded to a growing desire of Indians to share their cultural values, ideas, and knowledge systems with the world.
Earlier the predominant partnerships in GEL were South-North eg India with the US, UK, and other countries of the global North. Now several South-South partnerships are happening and new partnerships are also being explored; India and Australia, for example, have forged a strong partnership in recent years. These are mostly career driven but some universities and institutions also partner to give their students a wider international cultural exposure. Digital media have helped in forging inter-institutional partnerships and pursue joint teaching or research collaborations at a much lower cost. Virtual classrooms, webinars, remote mentoring, study abroad, and international immersions are some ways in which partnerships are operationalized.
GEL is only going to get more momentum in India. The Indian government is keen to develop global interconnections and aspires for India to become a valuable global participant. The government has introduced scholarships for Indian students, travel grants for faculty and researchers, and programs such as GIAN and SPARK to invite international experts to India. Global businesses demand global competencies and Indian institutions and students, not forgetting other stakeholders, will embrace these opportunities. At the same time, India will advocate for Indian experts to be equal participants in global exchanges. For securing a hopeful future for and through GEL, we will have to guard against countries of the world succumbing to narrow nationalism and resurfacing of historic conflicts between regions and countries. In the times of globalization, political, religious, and socio-economic currents in other countries will shape the Indian context and ideology. The reverse is also equally applicable. Narrow nationalism, rigid ethno-centrism, and ignoring larger well-being will adversely affect GEL. For our future to be hopeful, we have to collectively remember that human and planet health, peace, and justice are the ultimate goals of education, specifically GEL.
I see two important areas where these communities can influence the future direction of GEL. The first is making GEL polycentric instead of Eurocentric. Starting approximately 17th century, the world saw a dominance of Eurocentric vision of education, that of course advanced some great ideas, practices, and scholarly traditions. At the same time, gradually other traditions and knowledge systems got erased or sidelined. ANGEL and other international communities can help revive these erased traditions and retrieve exemplary practices and ideas from them. Second, they can help establish truly egalitarian global and multi-directional networks and collaborations that strive to keep world peace, human well-being, and planet health in focus. If these communities can raise adequate resources for nurturing such networks and offer collaborative initiatives, it will be a huge contribution to GEL.
India is full of cultural, linguistic, and ideological diversity. Most conventional GEL programs, however, foreground the hegemonic upper class, upper caste, and elite voices. Indigenous cultures are recognized as an object of exotic interest and despite some efforts, have not become part of mainstream narratives. As English became the lingua franca of global education, only those voices that could express their knowledge in English and interact with ease with their global counterparts found voice in the global venues. Financial and cultural capital also play important part in getting representation in global initiatives. There has been a rising argument in favor of inclusivity where indigenous epistemologies are accorded their due respect and there have been government and non-profit supported programs that focus on identifying and disseminating indigenous practices related to social justice, sustainability, and health to global learners. Let’s hope we will see positive impact of these in the coming years.
I am happy that my institution, MICA, is keen on supporting Global Education & Learning in its curricula as well as in all its academic and outreach initiatives. MY GEL work closely aligns with the institutional vision and that makes this an exciting time to focus on GEL work.
At theoretical level, I am working on refining the reconciliatory approach to global citizenship and peace education which is a post-critical transformative pedagogical approach. Using this approach, we strive to reconcile our intergenerational memory of conflict-ridden and traumatic pasts with our hope for a peaceful future. It involves two key steps- reflexive and critical remembering and selective forgetting. I would love to empirically test this approach in a real-world setting.
I am also examining young people’s meaning making of global cultural flows within their local contexts and the role of digital spaces and communities in expression of living heritage. Transcultural citizenship and culture-centered design ethics are at the core of my ongoing work.
At an applied level, I have designed and offered for the first time a graduate course on Global Communication Management that has a significant emphasis on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity; Environment, Social, and Governance dimension of a business, and corporate global citizenship.
I am looking forward to collaborating with fellow ANGEL members on meaningful GEL programs.
Manisha Pathak-Shelat, Ph.D.
Professor, Communication & Digital Platforms and Strategies
Co-Chair, Centre for Development Management and Communication
MICA, Ahmedabad, India
Manisha Pathak-Shelat believes in a scholarship that is socially engaged, accessible, and global in scope. She considers her work in academia a way to make meaningful contribution towards a better world through teaching and writing. She holds a PhD in Mass Communication from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA, and a PhD in Education from the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, India. She has taught and worked as a media consultant, communication trainer, and researcher in India, Thailand, and USA. Manisha’s special interests are young people’s media cultures, media and information literacy, communication for social change, transcultural and digital citizenship, global education, and gender. Broadly, her research over the years has addressed the question of how ordinary individuals engage with media to experience agency, to explore identities, and to participate in social change. She is the editor of the Journal of Creative Communications that MICA publishes with Sage. Manisha has been part of several international collaborations with researchers from Australia, UK, Finland, Netherlands, Canada, Egypt, and USA among others. She represents MICA at UNESCO’s Media and Information Literacy and Intercultural Dialogue University Network and as a member of the Global Kids Online and Femlab research networks. She has led several capacity building programs for non-profits, various state governments, corporate sector, and international organisations. Manisha has shared her research on several international platforms and her work has been published as books as well as in journals of repute. Awards and fellowships include The Soviet Land Nehru Award, Shastri Indo-Canadian Faculty Research Award, The Salzburg Seminar Fellowship, TATA Fellowship for the Study of Contemporary India, MICA AGK Award for meritorious service, the lifetime achievement award for contribution to media and communication education by the Global Media Education Council and the Sharon Dunwoody alumni award for research and teaching excellence from the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Webinar presenting research results of an international project examining the role of higher education institutions in integrating Global Education, with a particular emphasis on teacher education.
Be part of a session on the theme “Teacher Education for Global Social Justice” at June's International Conference in Berlin.
Carousel image attribution: "panoramio (2525)" by William “Patrick” Ma. Under CC 3.0
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