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The International Study Circle project is a new education initiative of the European Workers' Education Association (Euro-WEA) in collaboration with the International Federation of Workers' Education Associations (IFWEA). The establishment of the project took place during the current period September 1996 - August 1997 with financial support from the Socrates Programme of the European Commission, IFWEA, and the regional government of Andalucia. It is due to be followed by the implementation of a pilot programme in the period September 1997 - August 1998.
The main aim of the International Study Circle seminar in Seville, Spain was to plan intensively the first pilot international study circle. The seminar took place from 31 May to 8 June 1997 and was attended by the study circle facilitators from thirteen countries in which Euro-WEA and IFWEA has affiliates. The seminar was facilitated by Alana Dave, the International Study Circle Project Co- ordinator. She was assisted by Celia Mather, who has been commissioned to prepare and edit education materials, and Jouko Raatikainen from Euro-WEA's affiliate TSL in Finland, who is responsible for the maintenance and development of the project's web-site.
The basic conception of the project was given shape by Euro-WEA's Annual Conference in 1996, and the IFWEA General Congress held in Belfast in the same year. Delegates supported the setting up of international study circles with the aim of facilitating a global education programme on issues concerning economic, social and cultural globalisation. Experiences of globalisation world- wide has pointed to the need for organisations and communities to develop an understanding of local problems within their international context. This understanding can most effectively emerge if working people in different countries are able to share ideas and information, leading to common strategies and activities. Workers' education therefore can be regarded as an essential tool in developing the capacity of those most affected by globalisation to respond effectively.
The potential to conduct global education has been strengthened enormously by new information and communication technologies. The international study circles could explore how to make use of the technology in such a way that participants in different countries are able to engage in meaningful international dialogue. We hope that the technology will facilitate a truly global education process whereby local experiences of the effects of globalisation can be communicated and discussed by participants in different countries. We hope to conduct this in such a way that the best democratic traditions of the workers' education movement are retained.
In many countries around the world, study circles have been formed by workers' education bodies to encourage and build collective learning. However, most experiences of study circles have been limited to the local or national level. Our vision of an international study circle consists of bringing together groups of participants based in several countries who work according to a common curriculum, set of materials and education method. Each study circle would have a facilitator. Between meetings, each group would have access to materials on the Internet including the results of discussions and work completed in previous sessions by other participants.
The project plans to run two pilot international study circles between October 1997 and April 1998. The main focus of the pilot programme is on transnational corporations. Since transnational corporations are the single most powerful actors in the world economy today, their activities in different parts of the world need to be understood. Most importantly, however, trade unions and communities need to strengthen their responses to transnational corporations and devise new strategies.
Prior to the seminar, suitable participants from amongst Euro-WEA and IFWEA affiliates were selected. In the selection process, the following factors were considered:
The following organisations have been selected to participate in the pilot programme:
European Union:
ABF, Sweden
Centre Socialiste d'Education Permanente, Belgium
Culture et Liberté, France
DGB-Bildungswerk, Germany
Fédération Nationale Léo Lagrange, France
Fundación Francisco Largo Caballero, Spain
Transport and General Workers' Union with the Workers' Education Association, England
Other countries:
Barbados Workers' Union, Barbados
Confederation of Independent Trade Unions, Bulgaria
Information Centre for Labour Education, Taiwan
Kenyan Women Workers' Organisation, Kenya
Open Education Association, Estonia
Programa Laboral de Desarrollo, Peru
Trade Union Library and Education Centre, South Africa
International Labour Resource and Information Group, South Africa
Masabelani, South Africa
Each country has selected a study circle facilitator who attended the seminar in Seville. Study circle facilitators tend to be experienced worker educators and will be responsible for the co-ordination, servicing and support of study circles in individual countries.
The aims of the Seville seminar can be summarised as follows:
The content of a global education programme on transnational corporations was discussed in-depth by seminar participants. Discussions included participants giving a fairly detailed report on the activities of transnational corporations in their national economies, and how trade unions and communities are responding. These reports were useful in establishing the context in which participants are working, and identifying the common issues and problems which need to be addressed at an international level. Seminar participants then drew up collectively an outline for an international course on transnational corporations.
Please see the attached document for a copy of the course outline and examples of education materials. The course materials have been based on a course originally developed by Celia Mather for the International Labour Resource and Information Group in South Africa.
The following key decisions were taken with regard to the education programme:
Target Audience
The programme will be implemented at a grassroots level with the aim of reaching rank-and-file activists in different constituencies. Participants felt strongly that both trade unions and community organisations (consumer, environmental, women and youth groups) need to be targeted. An outcome of this approach might be an increased awareness of the particular but complementary roles which different kinds of organisations could play in response to transnational corporations. Ultimately it is hoped that such an awareness could result in sustained joint activity and campaigns between trade unions and other groups with similar concerns.
Given the differences between countries, there will be variations in recruitment strategy. For example, some countries will work with one trade union, others will recruit from several trade unions, whilst others will attempt to recruit from different kinds of organisations (for example, from both trade unions and community-based organisations).
Course Structure and Methodology
The education programme shall be run for a period of eight weeks. Study circles in each country will meet for about two hours on a weekly basis. Each session of the programme shall focus on a selected theme and include both information and activities for course members. Activities will include a component which is directly aimed at facilitating international communication using the Internet. Between sessions, study circle members will be given various research and/or educational tasks, thereby encouraging people to become confident in collecting information independently and contributing to the process of collective learning.
Whilst the methodology of the course will be consistent with that of general study circles methodology which is aimed at generating participatory learning, there are significant variations between countries. Thus the way in which information is conveyed will be different. In some cases, this might be in the form of a presentation. In other cases, participants might work collectively through a reading, or be given material to read between sessions. It is important to remember that all participants will be dealing with the same information and therefore addressing the same issues.
Education Materials
Education materials will be prepared for use in each session. The core materials will include the information and activities which each study circle would use and discuss for the purposes of the international programme. However, it was decided by participants that there also needs to be flexibility allowing individual study circles to introduce information/case-studies which are of particular relevance to their local circumstances. In this way, a clear link between the local and international could be made. The availability of the materials on the project's world-wide web site also allows for flexible usage by participants. The materials will be organised in a way which enables participants to download additional information from that provided in the core material. Thus if one study circle has a particular interest in an issue, it will be possible to access materials which treat the subject matter in more depth.
Learning Outcomes
The participants identified a number of learning outcomes which we should aim for in the course. These can be summarised as follows:
In particular, participants stressed the need for the course to be action- oriented and therefore also identified the following possible outcomes:
In order to give a more concrete picture of the above, participants spoke of the possibility of a network of trade unionists emerging out of the pilot programme who co-operate on collective bargaining issues in transnational corporations, or in a single company. Another possibility would be for a smaller group of trade unionists and environmentalists to continue using the Internet in order to plan a response to the environmental impact of transnational corporations. These are just a few possibilities, and it is likely that more will emerge as the course progresses. Session 7 (see course outline) is designed to facilitate this process, and is regarded as essential to the overall evaluation of the course.
The success of the international study circles to a large extent depends on the creative use of the Internet for the purposes of international communication. A full day of the seminar was spent exploring the potential of the Internet for conducting global education. We were fortunate to have a highly skilled computer technician and trainer from Euro-WEA's affiliate TSL in Finland who was able to assist participants in planning and conceptualising their use of the Internet.
Decision-making regarding the role of the technology in the project needed to take account of the differences which exist between participants. There are some participants who have already made extensive use of new information and communication technology in the organisation and implementation of their work. Others have made much less use of it and are therefore lacking in confidence and experience. A related issue is that several organisations have invested in new high capacity equipment whilst others only have access to older, less efficient technology. The seminar therefore needed to make decisions about the technology which took into account these differences, and maximise the possibilities for all countries to participate easily and equally.
An extremely interesting debate took place amongst participants regarding the project's web-site and whether it should be open to other users outside of the project. There were some participants who felt strongly that the strength of the Internet lies in the free, unrestricted flow of information and the freedom of association which it allows. According to this perspective, the web-site should be open so that other users could benefit from the information and discussion generated by the international study circles, and add their experiences. Other participants argued that the web-site should be closed, allowing participants to develop a dialogue and relationship which is uninterrupted by outside users. It was felt that in order to have meaningful international discussion, it was necessary for the process to be focused and therefore not overloaded with the comments and ideas of many other users. The final decision of the seminar was to have a closed web site for the duration of the pilot programme but to allow selected organisations access in order to observe and monitor the process.
This debate was fascinating in revealing the tension which exists between computer-driven education, where technological possibilities direct the nature of the education process, and education which uses the technology as a tool but is primarily determined by a set of broader aims and objectives. This balance is likely to be a dynamic which we will have to deal with on a regular basis.
The eventual aim would be to have as a concrete outcome of the project an open web site which could be used by like-minded organisations interested in globalisation and its effects on local workplaces and communities. The web site itself could be used as an educational tool for others involved in study circles, whether at a local or international level. We see the web site as constantly evolving to incorporate the experiences and discussions of related projects.
The seminar participants also held extensive discussions about the structure of the project's world-wide web site. The web site will include the following pages:
The first pilot international study circle is scheduled to take place in October/November 1997. In preparation for the pilot programme, study circle facilitators will be recruiting study circle members, and ensuring that education materials are translated into local languages where necessary. The project's world-wide web site will be adapted and finalised, and the preparation of the education materials completed.
The first pilot programme will be followed by an in-depth evaluation by study circle facilitators. This will first take the form of national reports. Facilitators will then come together in a three day international seminar in January 1998 and evaluate the process thus far, culminating in a full transnational report. Arising out of the evaluation, we will then plan the implementation of the second pilot programme due to take place in March/April 1998.
The second pilot programme will be followed by a comprehensive transnational report covering the first and second phases, and the writing up of an international study circle handbook. The handbook will provide others interested in global education with a full account of how we went about setting up and running international study circles
Since a range of organisations have already shown considerable interest in the project, we hope to initiate further international study circles with those interested once the pilot programme has been completed. Possibilities thus far include working with international trade union organisations in linking up workers in the same transnational corporation or region or industry, and together with the Women Workers' Education Programme of the Euro-WEA in running an international study circle with women workers. There have also been discussions with the International Falcon Movement regarding a joint programme on child labour.
The results of the international study circle seminar were evaluated by the affiliates of the Euro-WEA at its annual general conference held immediately after the seminar itself. After a detailed report-back from the seminar participants to the conference plenary, including a practical demonstration of the project's web site, working groups were convened which enabled affiliates to evaluate the results of the seminar with regards to course content, education materials, methodology, use of the Internet and future activities.
In the subsequent discussion, the principal comments of delegates focused upon the unintended but nonetheless possible cultural impoverishment which a monolingual project such as this could engender. The question of languages used, and thus of cultural diversity, led to a general feeling that the issue of cultural relevance should be very attentively monitored. There was a strong recommendation that consideration should be given to publishing the education materials of the project in different languages. It would be ironic if a project concerned with addressing issues of globalisation reinforced that process by imposition of language hegemony.
There was also debate regarding how the Internet should be employed. One opinion was that by merely using the Internet as a means of communication, the project would not benefit from the full potential which the technology offers. Others emphasised that the international study circles were primarily about conducting global education and the Internet was simply a tool to achieve this objective. The discussion reflected the interest which exists in the potential of new information and communication technologies for the workers' education movement. However, the nature of the international study circle project is such that certain communication infrastructures will be made use of to further the education process, but will not be an exercise in the manipulation of these infrastructures for their own sakes.
The debate was lively and positive, underlying the prevalent opinion that the project was a very exciting opportunity which deserved great care and protection.
Throughout the seminar and conference, issues and problems emerged which raise extremely interesting pedagogical and political questions about the process we have undertaken. As mentioned previously, there was a continual tension regarding the extent to which technological possibilities drive the education process. Some participants were keen to explore more fully the use of the Internet for distance education in a more flexible way which went beyond a single international study circle. Whilst we need to be open and explore the range of possibilities which the Internet offers for global education, we have chosen a model for this stage of the project which is based on bringing groups of people together physically in a learning situation locally where they can use the technology to communicate with others in a similar learning situation elsewhere in the world. This is different from a computer-based model where individual students engage with each other on-line. We would like to explore the possibility of this model, perhaps for continued work and dialogue amongst study circle facilitators.
In conducting global education, language is obviously a crucial factor. Our short- term solution of using English as the language of international communication is far from adequate. Participants pointed to the significant cultural limitations which this imposes. It also puts study circle facilitators in a more powerful position, as the rest of the study circle is dependent on them for the international communication. We hope however that by the end of the course, we will have a multi-lingual web site. The education materials translated by facilitators in individual countries will be available on-line, and any other resource material relevant to transnational corporations in whatever language they might be available. It is necessary though that a more long-term perspective on the issue of language is developed, and this will be one of the key issues which we would need to evaluate during and after the pilot programme.
An important challenge of this project is developing an education programme which has a strong international focus and coherence. This requires an integrated approach to both the preparation and delivery of the course itself. Throughout the seminar, we grappled with how to achieve this objective but at the same time ensure that the course is appropriate for each individual country. Given the often vastly different political, economic and cultural circumstances in which people live, work and learn, this indeed is a big challenge and one which we can only hope to understand better as the process unfolds.
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This site was developed with financial assistance from the European Commision's Socrates
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