Linda Strubbe, Kansas State University

I organized a collaborative session on 'PER in "Developing" or "Non-Western" countries: Connections and Ideas.' The rationale behind the session is that the majority of work visible within the US-based PER community takes place in ‘Western countries.’ However, the educational systems, cultural contexts and histories in other parts of the world can be very different from those in Western countries -- and stronger connections between researchers and research across the world can strengthen our understanding of physics education everywhere. The intention of the session was to discuss questions like, What researcher connections across cultures already exist, what could be strengthened, and what could be created? How do goals of physics education and PER, the role of physics in society, equity and inclusion issues, etc., vary between different parts of the world? What are new things people are interested in trying in their teaching across the world? Would they like support, and what kind?

And — how do we connect and learn from each other without imposing our own cultural ways of thinking about science and education on other cultures?

We had a brief discussion about the term "developing countries." Several of us had concerns about the implication that there is a hierarchy and trajectory of societies from "developing" towards "developed," or "non-Western" towards "Westernized," which we did not want to endorse. However, the term "Western" isn't geographically accurate or full well-defined either. I'll keep using the term "developing" here for simplicity but with this caveat.

About a dozen people attended the session. Almost all participants were either from outside the US or had experience doing education work in a developing country (or both). My own background in this area is that I am the co-founder and Co-Director of a bi-annual program called the West African International Summer School for Young Astronomers, which I lead with my astronomy colleagues Bonaventure Okere (from Nigeria) and Jielai Zhang (from Australia). I also have been an educational consultant and led workshops and curriculum development for the University of Central Asia in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Learning from and building partnerships driven by local educators is especially important to me. Other session participants also had a variety of international experiences, including leading physics teaching workshops, teaching students from disadvantaged backgrounds, and attending university and engaging in research in Latin America, Africa and Asia.

The format of the session was a whole-group discussion, where everyone sat in a circle and shared interests, ideas and perspectives. Participants expressed interest in learning new perspectives, and discussing decolonization, including how to (if one can) share ideas from US-based PER in culturally sensitive and appropriate ways. Mostly people shared anecdotal stories, and it was a chance to build interest and community for potential future collaboration, rather than a working session.

One of the main topics was power. Some participants shared stories about how being an outsider, particularly being a white outsider, led to their being viewed as an expert even when they didn't want to be or didn't feel that was appropriate. There was a sense among several participants that (US-based) PER has valuable ideas to share with teachers in other countries, but that sharing needs to happen with humility, creativity, and an understanding that ideas from one context often do not translate well to another context. As a conversation, we went further, discussing the importance of valuing teachers' agency and building partnerships -- potentially offering ideas and collaboration while trying to learn from each other rather than imposing ideas on others. The group also mentioned challenges around lack of physical resources, and a desire to view this in an asset-based (rather than deficit) framing. We also discussed that while there may be a desire to push against structures that may be colonial or oppressive, there is also a sense that it's important to support students and teachers within the structures that do exist.

After the session, several participants expressed interest in continuing the conversation into the future, perhaps via regular Zoom meetings. I held a Dine & Discuss at PERC in Provo a month later on this same topic, building from my experience holding this session and ideas that we discussed at FFPER. There is interest in building some kind of document or product to share ideas with the wider community about this topic, that could potentially be hosted by PhysPort. Attending the World Conference on Physics Education in Hanoi, Vietnam, in 2020, was another important suggestion for continuing to build connections with the international PER community.

Dr. Linda Strubbe is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Kansas State University, researching faculty teaching and professional development in conjunction with the website PhysPort. She is Co-Director of the West African International Summer School for Young Astronomers and has been a consultant for the University of Central Asia.

Disclaimer – The articles and opinion pieces found in this issue of the APS Forum on Education Newsletter are not peer refereed and represent solely the views of the authors and not necessarily the views of the APS.