The theme for the NERA conference 2024 in Malmö was "Educational Encounters: Desires, Adventures and Differences". For the NoZa-project (Intercultural Mobility Project) this theme fit very well with our work to enhance the student teachers’ intercultural competence. We embark on educational adventures through our project and encourage students to discover their desires and differences through our joint course and exchanges. With a total of 920 participants from more than 25 countries represented, the path was paved with a myriad of insights into cultural and educational adventures.
Roundtable discussion
For the conference, we decided to conduct a roundtable discussion where all project members could shed light on the most meaningful part of the project, according to them. The overall question for the discussion was “How can ideas of decolonisation be implemented, or affect, the multicultural classroom?
To delve into this, project leader Gunhild Brænne Bjørnstad (HiOF) provided a short introductory film about the project, before Andrew John Thomas (HiOF) guided the panel into a few responses to the movements of “Decolonising the curriculum” and “Why is my curriculum white?”, that have involved adding to and changing the literature and stories available to students. He argued that in the seminal “Soft versus Critical Global Citizenship Education” of Vanessa Andreotti, she distinguishes between inclusive and more critical approaches to future educational frameworks. In his presentation, Andrew identified the pluralisation of storytelling in education as “soft” global citizenship education, and the work of Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak as an example of “critical” global citizenship education. As a continuation, Said Juma (SUZA) and Mwanamrisho Gora (SUZA) gave insights into their research regarding the experiences that the Zanzibari students have had during their stay in Norway, which they believe could be transferred to their respective societies, especially in their teaching profession.
The pre-liminary findings indicate that the intercultural transfer needs time to process. The student teachers’ African culture and life in the Global South, living with solid religious affiliation, is being challenged but also affirmed through the educational encounter with the multicultural society of the Global North. The participants were then challenged by Ragnhild Louise Næsje (HiOF) and Gunhild Brænne Bjørnstad (HiOF) through a short interactive session, to explore narratives of culture with the use of storycards, as one example of how storytelling may be utilised to enhance inter-literary competencies. To round off the discussion Maryam Ismail (SUZA) highlighted how the NoZa-project challenges traditional teacher education paradigms by introducing international experiences and perspectives, fostering an inclusive and culturally responsive learning environment.
Coming together over food and culture
The participants were invited to a reception at Malmö City Hall and was welcomed by the mayor of Malmö. Providing an insight into Malmö as a proud multicultural city, she emphasised the importance of international networks and education in a global context.
One of the highlights of such conferences is the official dinner, where the participants come together to share a meal and celebrate the power of the academic network. This year’s conference dinner at Slagshuset was no exception – with delicious foods and drink and interesting conversations. By the end of the evening some even more interesting dance moves were explored on the dance floor, keeping the tradition of music and dance at NERA conferences alive.
New friends, insights and networking opportunities
Being in conferences always provide opportunity for broadening horizons. Meeting others with similar interests may lead to future collaborations or inspiration to explore new grounds. When we exchange contact cards and emails, the hope of connecting and making joint international project emerges. We become inspired and are assured that what we do make a difference.
The keynotes speakers of the conference raised some important topic such as the importance of indigenous knowledges (Eve Tuck, New York University), youth health and learning (Lisa Hellström, Malmö University) and performing her questioning of binaries and conformity (Anne Pirrie, University of the West of Scotland). We return to our home institutions filled with new insights!
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