Equitable partnerships for mutual learning or perpetuator of North–South power imbalances? Ireland–South Africa school links

Abstract

This study examines how various components of a school-linking programme between Ireland and South Africa either support Development Education’s goal of sustainable, equitable partnerships that enable mutual learning between Northern and Southern countries or, instead, promote power imbalances that reify stereotypic images of weak, needy Southerners being cared for by powerful, benevolent Northerners. Ethnographic data from schools in both sites suggest that divergent assumptions about and priorities for Development Education in Ireland and South Africa, disproportionate exchange visits, socio-economic differences and an ‘inward’ South African focus versus a ‘global’ Irish focus set the stage for power imbalances within the linking programme. Recommendations for a conjointly conducted revision of the agenda for school-linking programmes are made. These centre on helping learners understand how issues of power and power imbalance function at the local, national and global levels.

Keywords:

• development education
• global education
• comparative education
• post-colonialism
• South Africa

Notes

1. Leonard (2006, 3) challenges the language used to describe links, for example questioning if ‘partnership’ is an appropriate word to describe a relationship with an unequal distribution of power. Throughout this article, the Irish–South African relationships are simply referred to as ‘links’.