Research with ‘other’ disciplines and ‘other’ countries
Professor Geri SmythSchool of Education
University of Strathclyde
Queries and a Case Study
Why?How?Problematising the conceptConceptualising the problemsCase Study – Refugee Integration project
Why?
Funder imperativesSharing of knowledge base and research skillsCreative approach to specific issueDevelopment of existing collaboration (not research based)Do these reasons conflict; produce different outcomes?Are there other reasons?
How?
Internally funded project
– Bridging the GapExternally funded project
– NordForsk– FP7
Unfunded collaboration
– Teachers in TV projectJoint supervision of research students
– Formal / informal
• And other models?
Problematising the concept
If we are convinced of the need to work with ‘other’ disciplines, what is ‘our’ discipline?
– What is your academic identity?– Is a project multidisciplinary if there
is a collaboration between a sociologist and an educational sociologist? / between a Department of Linguistics and Linguists in a Department of Education?
What does Education bring to the collaboration?
– Are there specific fields of expertise?
– Why do ‘other’ disciplines want to work with Education?
Which country are you representing in an international collaboration?• Europe; UK; Scotland ---
What are the languages of the collaboration?– Formally and informally
Where do you position yourself in the collaboration?– UK centric; UK peripheral;
Eurocentric
Conceptualising the Problems
What is most important: the outcome; the process; the future engagement?
How is mutual understanding gained?How are differing perspectives acknowledged as offering added
value?How are conflicting imperatives addressed?
Conceptualising the Problems in 2013 UKWho owns the research?Where do you publish?Joint authorshipFuture ImpactIs the UK one country?Which collaborations count?
Refugee Integration: a case study
Funded by Institute for Advanced Studies• Now Insight Institute
Multidisciplinary
– Education; Law; Business; Sociology; Human Geography;
• Modern Languages; Creative ArtsMultinational
– Scotland, England, Sweden, Slovenia, Croatia, Australia, Canada
Multi-sectored
– University, EU, UK, Scottish and local government, 3rd sector agencies
Refugee Integration: a case study
Not an empirical research projectSeminar based
– Hosted by different partnersRange of outcomes
– Performance– Annotated bibliography– Special Issue Journal of Refugee Studies– Continuing collaborations
Best Practice
What are the key issues in effective multi-disciplinary/multi-national/multi-agency research?
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