The Irish development agency Trócaire’s post-primary development education (DE) programme involves the participation of teachers and students in thirty schools on the island of Ireland. Each year participants engage with a specific human rights or development issue, raise awareness and promote action within their community. Teachers perceive involvement as particularly beneficial in engendering student interpersonal, communication, presentation and media literacy skills. However, they also find teaching about complex development issues challenging. In 2007 Trócaire restructured the DE programme, with the inclusion of a study or ‘exposure’ visit to one of the organisation’s programme countries in the ‘developing’ world, thus placing greater emphasis on teacher professional development. In this article, Mella Cusack and Aoife Rush set out the main research findings from two study visits involving eighteen post-primary teachers from both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in 2008 and 2009. The article discusses findings relating to the effectiveness of short term study visits as a professional development opportunity; the changes in teacher understandings of development towards perspectives emphasising the interdependency and complexity of issues; and the impact of the study visit on classroom practice. The authors articulate the need for longitudinal research into the impact of teacher study visits as a means of assessing the role of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) as teacher education providers, particularly relevant in the current context of contracting state-funded continuing professional development opportunities.

Introduction

Trócaire was established in 1973 as the official overseas development agency of the Catholic Church in Ireland. The organisation currently has 127 programmes across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. Trócaire’s mandate includes awareness raising and mobilisation of the public (Ireland and internationally) to achieve changes in policies, programmes and behaviours which impact on poverty and injustice. To this end the organisation’s Education Unit aims to embed development education (DE) across all education sectors. Trócaire defines DE as ‘an active and creative process which facilitates critical thinking in relation to global inequality and engages with a variety of perspectives’.  This understanding is informed by the ‘values of solidarity, participation, perseverance, courage and accountability’.  DE is ‘built on awareness, analysis, reflection and action for justice and change’ (Trócaire, 2009).

Trócaire’s post-primary DE programme was established in 2003 and currently involves thirty schools on the island of Ireland. Each academic year participating teachers and students engage with a specific human right/development issue, raise awareness and promote action within their community (Smith, 2007). Schools are provided with case studies and country statistics and students are involved in media literacy, presenting and campaigning training. A visitor from one of Trócaire’s programme countries also visits schools, giving insights into their lives, work and country. In some schools the DE programme is run on an extra-curricular basis, with senior cycle peace and justice groups meeting to plan and execute their campaign projects. In other contexts the programme has been allocated a dedicated time period in Transition Year or is delivered through complimentary curricular areas, such as religious education, geography, economics or civic, social and political education (CSPE). 

In 2005 a small-scale survey found that participating teachers perceive involvement in the programme as particularly beneficial in engendering student interpersonal, communication, presentation and media literacy skills. However, a number of teachers pointed out that the complexity of the themes of focus, combined with the action-orientated nature of participating young people and of the structure of the programme itself, at times resulted in a superficial engagement with the development themes (Cusack, 2005). It was obvious that those best placed to bridge student’s ‘knowledge gap’ are the teachers themselves. However, the teachers surveyed in 2005 indicated that they sometimes found it difficult to teach about complex development issues. This echoes findings from research carried out by Gleeson, et al. (2007) into the development education levels of knowledge, attitudes and activism in post-primary schools which found that teachers’ knowledge of development and aid issues was ‘quite low’. Only 18 per cent regarded themselves as well informed about ‘Third World issues’. Despite this, ‘their sense that they value and engage with development education is quite high’ (Gleeson, et al., 2007:27-28, 60). 

In 2007 Trócaire restructured the DE programme placing greater emphasis on teacher professional development. A study visit to one of the organisation’s programme countries in the ‘developing’ world was integrated into year two of the three year cycle of involvement for participating schools, to provide teachers with ‘a firsthand learning experience about another country’ (UNICEF, 1995). Trócaire recognises teachers as key multipliers who could benefit from ‘exposure’ or ‘study’ visits. The study visits are therefore motivated by a desire to equip key multipliers with the knowledge, skills and confidence to be effective development educators. Over the course of their careers participating teachers potentially impact on large numbers of students, communicating how development happens, what works or does not work in development, how financial contributions are spent and why a long term, human rights based approach to development is needed.  

Trócaire staff also hoped that the professional development opportunities provided in the restructured DE programme would facilitate a greater sense of ownership amongst participating teachers. Supported by teaching/learning materials, teachers would then be able to facilitate the annual programme – training, research, campaigning and hosting the visitor – with less direct support from Education Officers. As participating schools progress through the three-year cycle of involvement they would therefore become increasingly self-sustaining. 

This article begins with a summary of the literature relating to short term study visits and the research methodologies employed in two study visits involving eighteen practising post-primary teachers from both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, organised by Trócaire in 2008 and 2009. Findings and recommendations related to study visits as a professional development opportunity; the changes in teacher understandings of development towards perspectives emphasising the inderdependency and complexity of issues; and, the impact of the study visit experience on classroom practice are discussed throughout.

Literature review

The first decade of the twentieth-first century saw a rapid increase in the pace of overseas ‘linking’ from Ireland. The term ‘linking’ encompasses a range of possible contacts between people, from non-travelling to immersion activities. Although a number of guides for organisations involved in linking have been produced, only a limited amount of research has been carried out tracking the impact of linking on organising institutions, Irish participants/volunteers or on partner participants/host personnel (UNICEF, 1995; Comhlámh, 2005; O’Keeffe, 2006; DICE, 2009). 

The development education community in Ireland, led by the Irish Development Education Association (IDEA), has initiated a much needed debate about the relative advantages of engaging in linking activities (IDEA, 2007). Until now this debate has tended to focus on identifying good practice in post-primary sector school-to-school linking but has not yet emphasised the need to interrogate linking activities specifically targeting teachers in initial teacher education (short term voluntary placements usually organised by the teacher education provider) or in continuing professional development settings (short term study visits usually organised by a non-governmental organisation). 

Limited literature on short-term volunteering placements by primary and pre-service student teachers is available. This research highlights that international cross-cultural experiences, which adhere to recognised good practice, can impact upon participants, their intercultural understandings, and the content and methodologies which they subsequently employ in their teaching (Willard-Holt, 2001; Purves et al, 2005; Martin, 2008; and, O’Dwyer, 2009). However, there continues to be a marked absence of research into the impacts and effectiveness of short-term visits by practicing post-primary teachers to the global South. This article represents an attempt to begin to fill this research gap.

Research Methodology

The first study visit process organised by Trócaire involved a residential training session in January 2008, an eleven-day stay in Malawi in February, and a debrief meeting in April 2008. In keeping with Trócaire’s 2008 Lenten Campaign the study visit had a climate-change focus. A researcher (the first author) attended the pre- and post-events and accompanied the eleven participating post-primary teachers and two members of Trócaire’s Education Unit during the study visit. The research element aimed to produce a collaborative record of the experiences of participating teachers and inform good practice in future study visits. 

The second study visit process involved a residential training session in October 2009, a week long stay in Zimbabwe at the end of October, and a debrief meeting in February 2010. This study visit had a broader focus than the first, involving visits to projects representing a cross-section of Trócaire’s work with partner organisations. The researcher attended the pre-event and worked with the Education Officer (the second author) to integrate a research element across the Zimbabwean schedule. 

This article draws upon findings detailed in a research report on the first study visit. The article includes quantitative baseline/profiling data but, in keeping with the experiential nature of the study visit, emphasises qualitative findings. Final reports from the eleven participants involved in the first study visit together with outputs from the participatory video (PV) employed on the two study visits, photography, observational notes, extracts from reflective journals, and three semi-structured interviews with Trócaire staff, constitute the qualitative elements of the research process.   

Study visit destinations

Malawi and Zimbabwe were chosen as study visit venues for a number of reasons. Trócaire has been working in Malawi since the late 1990s and in Zimbabwe since the early 1970s. The choice of Malawi for the first study visit meant that the pilot process encompassed an element of North-South reciprocity, with the teachers first welcoming a number of Malawians from Trocaire’s partner organisations to their schools during the 2007 Gender Equality Lenten campaign. A determining factor in deciding on study visit destinations is the willingness of Trócaire’s staff and partners on the ground to facilitate and engage with the group and their capacity to deal with the logistical implications of short term study visits. 

Study visit participants

In total eighteen post-primary teachers took part in the two study visit processes. Good practice in the organisation of study visits demands that they are part of a multi-dimensional, experiential learning process. The pre-training and debrief events are necessary for the avoidance of an experience which otherwise could engender or reinforce negative stereotypes or a charity-based approach to development. Eleven teachers participated in the first study visit process and seven in the second. The decrease in participant numbers was a direct result of a recommendation from the first research report which found that too high numbers of participants posed additional logistical challenges. 

The majority of the eighteen participants are female (n=12; 66.7 per cent). Four are under thirty years old (n=4; 22.2 per cent); eight are between thirty-one and forty (n=8; 44.4 per cent); three are between forty-one and fifty (n=3; 16.7 per cent) and the remaining three are over fifty-one years old (n=3; 16.7 per cent). They are all experienced teachers, with all except four having taught for more than five years. Ten currently teach religious education as their main subject but other subject areas include, in order of teaching hours, English, CSPE, history, geography, music, French, mathematics, computer studies, leaving certificate applied (LCA), social and environmental studies (ESS), resource learning support and learning for life and work.