Twelve organisations from Euro-WEA and IFWEA were selected to participate in the ISC. However, due to being unable to attend the facilitators' preparatory seminar in Cape Town, Asociación de Promotores de la Cultura from Nicaragua and Työvaen Sivistyliitto (TSL) from Finland withdrew. In addition, the Center for Trade Union and Workers' Services in Egypt were unable to implement the ISC given the restrictions placed on NGO activity by the Egyptian government. Thus, the ISC involved organisations from nine countries.

Seminar participants included:

• Ina Atanassova, Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) - Study Circle Facilitator, Bulgaria

• Margit Bik, Arbertarnas Bildningsforbund (ABF) - Study Circle Facilitator, Sweden

• Piera Carreras, Programa Laboral de Desarrollo (PLADES) - Study Circle Facilitator, Peru

• May-Britt Christensen, Arbeidernes Opplysningsforbund I Norge (AOF) - Study Circle Facilitator, Norway

• Alana Dave, International Federation of Workers’ Education Associations (IFWEA) – International Study Circle Co-ordinator

• Bente Gyp-Wilhelmsen, AOF – Euro-WEA Women Workers’ Network

• Mylene Hega, Labour Education and Research Network (LEARN) – Study Circle Facilitator, Philippines

• Thoko Mcmunu, South African Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers’ Union (SACCAWU) and representing Trade Union Library and Education Centre (TULEC) – Study Circle Facilitator, South Africa (Johannesburg group)

• Riina Nei, Estonian Food and Agricultural Workers’ Union and representing Open Education Association (AHL) – Study Circle Facilitator, Estonia

• Netsai Nyamande, Ishmael Nedziwe College of Labour (INCLS) – Study Circle Facilitator, Zimbabwe

• Chris Scarlett, Workers’ Education Association (WEA, England and Scotland) – Study Circle Facilitator, England

• Anne Stringberg, ABF – Euro-WEA Women Workers’ Network

Euro-WEA, IFWEA and all the facilitators and course participants in the ISC were deeply saddened by the tragic death of Farnaaz Majiet from TULEC, South Africa and facilitator of the Cape Town group. Her commitment to democracy and workers’ education in South Africa will always be remembered.

The aims of the seminar were as follows:

• To evaluate the experience of implementing the ISC at a national and international level
• To identify the strengths and weaknesses of ISC methodology
• To suggest how ISC methodology might be further developed
• To consider future activities at a national and international level

These aims were informed by the needs of the facilitators to: understand the difficulties and problems in implementing the ISC at a national level; assess how learning took place in the ISC; assess recruitment problems; learn from other experiences; and discuss how to reproduce the ISC method in other contexts.

When looking at learning outcomes, a central question which guided our assessment is: How did the global dimension of ISCs contribute to what was learnt? In other words, what value do ISCs add to the learning process?

In the individual local group evaluations, a widely reported outcome for most of the course participants, was gaining a global perspective.

"We are aware that we are not the only ones, that other women all around the world are facing the same problems and challenges, which is a surprise for us". (Local group in Peru)

"The ISC was an eye opener to use. We now know that women elsewhere in the world face the same problems like us. Also we really know who are the TNCs and how they operate in different countries. The workers are now aware". (Local group in Zimbabwe).

"I learnt about global issues affecting Kentucky Fried Chicken and Coca-Cola. I realised that the global issues workers face are the same". (Local group in Cape Town – South Africa).

Many course participants commented that they had not only learnt about common problems, but also about responses and solutions.

There was a clear sense that this perspective was developed as a result of having contact with other foodworkers whom could describe their situations. This made the interrelationship between countries more real and concrete than otherwise would have been possible.

"It must us really see the importance of working globally and with global issues. It made us how small we are – but at the same time how important we are and can be if we work together to gain knowledge. It was extremely important for us to get the inputs from all the other countries – and on some questions – especially from the countries who suffered from SAPs, and to learn more about what powerful organisations the WTO and World Bank really are. We gained a lot that we can make practical use from!" (Local group in Norway)

"We learnt that working conditions of women whether in developed or developing countries are bad. It is suprising and shocking to know that working conditions of women in some developed countries are worse than in developing countries". (Local group in Johannesburg – South Africa)

In addition to learning more about global issues, some countries reported that individual course participants perceived themselves to be more confident as a result of the ISC.

"Another also said that with this study circle she gained confidence in herself and learned how to assert her rights as a worker and as a woman, specially at work". (Local group from the Philippines)

"We can get into the international discussions in our organisations in a better way now that we have better knowledge about the issues. We know how important it is to look at our union work globally". (Local group in Sweden)

A range of issues emerged from the evaluation regarding the role of the facilitators, including:

 

Skills and knowledge

The main role of the facilitator is to implement the ISC at a local level. It was evaluated that this responsibility requires a set of skills, which many facilitators only became aware as the ISC progressed. Necessary skills, include:

• Knowledge of the topic
• Report-writing experience
• Translation skills
• Pedagogical skills to conduct global education
• Internet skills

Margaret Bik, facilitator from Sweden commented: "I felt that I didn't have the basic knowledge on the issues in the course….The participants expected me to have the answers for them at our meetings. They thought I was some kind of expert in this field. Of course, I told them that I was not an expert but at the same time I was trying to live up to their expectations. I'm telling you that I read everything that I got my hands on in this subject, and I learned a lot…I spent so much time preparing for this, sometimes 20 hours just to have a session in three hours". Others felt that the facilitator is not meant to be an expert, but should be equally part of the process of finding new knowledge.

Most facilitators felt that co-ordinating the ISC was extremely time-consuming. For those countries where reports were translated from English into another language, this was particularly the case. Margit expressed it as: "I had the sessions under control but when the reports started to come, I almost panicked. I started to sweat everytime I checked my email and I saw a bunch of reports from all over the world. There was just no time to translate all of them".

Several proposals were made for future ISCs:

• Facilitators should have an on-line mechanism to discuss problems and their solutions for the duration of the ISC (facilitators' forum); this would help to overcome some of the pressure on facilitators when working alone.

• Facilitators should go through the education materials beforehand and discuss collectively, the kind of questions and issues which might be raised by course participants in each of the sessions. This would assist in dealing with the content of an ISC.

• The facilitator's international preparatory seminar should have skills training component included; for example, report writing and using the Internet for education.

• The facilitator's international preparatory seminar must also have a focus on the topic, in order to build the expertise of the facilitators. It should not be assumed that facilitators have sufficient knowledge of the topic to conduct an education programme.

Power of the facilitators vis-ŕ-vis the course participants

A common experience of most facilitators, is that they have a more powerful position in the ISC in contrast to the course participants. This is expressed in several ways:

• It is the facilitators who access the Internet and therefore have the direct contact with other countries.

• Facilitators write the group reports, which means that the voices of the course participants are often absent. This results in facilitators communicating with each other.

• Facilitators have met each other in person, and therefore have a more personalised feel for who they are linking with in other countries.

The outcome of this unevenness is that course participants often do not feel as involved in an ISC. The seminar recommended that it was necessary to enhance the direct and active involvement of the course participants through the following possible means:

• Integrate the Internet into ISC sessions (discussed in more detail below);

• Create an on-line "chat" mechanism for participants to make direct contact with each other;

• Reports should be written less abstractly, and give a voice to different people in the local group;

• Photographs of the local groups should be put on the web or exchanged between the groups;

• If possible technically, there should also be some video conferencing;

• Each participant in a local group should have responsibility for reporting on the discussions from one country; this will create a deeper level of familiarity and involvement.

• An exchange of personal and organisational fax and email addresses could encourage direct contact.

The overall assessment of the Internet was positive in terms of the cost-efficiency, speed and ease which it offers for international education.

The bulk of critical discussion, however, focused on how the Internet is used in the context of ISCs. The majority of facilitators felt that it was problematic that the course participants were not involved in the use of the technology. Course participants themselves were interested in this aspect of the project, yet were not directly involved. As described above, this contributed significantly to an unequal power relationship between the facilitators and course participants. There was overwhelming support for Internet training to be integrated into ISC sessions. The approach would not be intensive training, but rather provide an exposure to the possibilities of the Internet as an integral part of ISC educational activities.

More confidence to use the Internet would then allow course participants to make direct contact with each other (through an on-line "chat" mechanism).

Whilst developing direct contact between course participants is a desired outcome of the education process, facilitators also acknowledged the limitations of the Internet. As Mylene Hega reported: "They were happy to have virtual friends but nothing can replace face-to-face contact". Language and cultural differences, lack of personal direct contact, make long-term links between organisations difficult to sustain.

The facilitators in the ISC would like to thank Jouko Muuri from TSL, Finland for all his hard work, advice and efficiency in managing the web site.

IFWEA has not yet developed a structured mechanism to evaluate the long-term outcomes of an international study circle. This would require linking with organisations from which the course participants were selected, and evaluating how the ISC impacted on organisational policy and practice. However, facilitators were able to report on outcomes which reflect the potential of an ISC to stimulate new organisational links and activity.

• As a result of their participation in the ISC, PLADES in Peru is initiating a regional Latin American ISC on the same topic.

• In the Philippines, ISC course participants have now become involved in a regional programme on women workers initiated by LEARN and the International Union of Foodworkers (IUF).

• In the Philippines, participation in the ISC led to women workers attempting to set up women's forums in their unions.

• In Norway, a course on globalisation has been developed for trade unionists as a direct result of the ISC. The local group will also continue to meet.

• Through the ISC, Nestlé workers in Bulgaria and South Africa exchanged collective agreements and established links.

• Through the ISC, Kraft workers in Bulgaria and Norway established links.

• National study circles on globalisation will be developed in Zimbabwe, South Africa and the Philippines.

• In Zimbabwe, the Federation of Food and Allied Workers has agreed that the women who participated in the ISC should be educators in their different sectors. They will run study circle programme in their workplaces, conduct general membership education, get more women involved in union activities, and run an education programme in the Federation.

• In Zimbabwe, the local group managed to win an agreement with two companies concerning women’s rights in the workplace:

"Our third session was very exciting. This was because we achieved something very big. During our first session, three women reported that at their workplaces there was no breastfeeding hour, and women with babies worked night shifts.

We are happy to tell you that after writing a letter to the two companies, now the women have the one-hour breastfeeding, and they will not work on night shifts for the first six months. These two companies have over 200 women workers. We feel very great for having done this. These women have been suffering for a long time."
[Netsai Nayamande, facilitator.]