How can Multicultural, Multidisciplinary Research Teams Work

Together and What are the Pitfalls?

Margaret MeredithCatalina Quiroz Niño

Erasmus Mundus Social Economy Project3rd June 2013

With the support of the Erasmus Mundus Programme of the European Union

During this presentation we aim to:1. Set the context – five day face-to-face

planning meeting within a project.2. Explain the importance of a dialogic and

consensus-based approach3. Explain how a dialogic approach informed

the planning meeting. 4. Share team members’ evaluations of this.

Objectives

1. Context: The project

• What is the project about?• What issue are we aiming to address?• Who is involved?• What is the proposed outcome?

www.yorksj.ac.uk/socialeconomy

• “Higher education institutions bear a profound, moral responsibility to increase the awareness, knowledge, skills and values needed to create a just and sustainable future”

(Cortese 2003 cited in Kreber 2013)

Social Justice in Higher Education Social Justice through Higher Education

How can this multicultural and multidisciplinary team construct and negotiate knowledge?

2. Why is a dialogic approach important?

Whose contributions count most? Whose perspective is the most valid?

• Our practice as country house?• Our practice as home we build together?(Sacks 2007)

What is dialogism?

Dialogism “Looks upon knowledge as constructed, negotiated, and (re) contextualised in situ and in socio-cultural traditions; and in dialogue with others.”

(Linell 2003)

3. How the approach informed a meeting of a multicultural and multidisciplinary team

Five day, face-to-face strategic planning meeting:

• Expectations clarified and agreed upon• Criteria for theme of project defined

Cohesion of the group

“The 4 seasons”

Unification of concepts

“I can see clearly

now”

Action plan

“Kind of Blue” (Jazz)Administration &

Management

“La Patética”

External Team

“Cumbia Colombiana”

Define mechanisms for communication between team members

Know what social economy is from others’ perspectives.

Develop methodological instruments to gather data about the social economy

Clarify the administrative aspects

Determine on behalf of the team who should participate and under what conditions

Sing in harmony as a groupReach consensus and clarify criteria about social economy

Do the planning and start to work.

Establish the criteria for the logistics and administration of the project

Recommendations from the team about the role of external assessors

Strengthen communication and good relations between members of the group.

Hear about the experiences of others about social economy in the countries of the participants

Define the objectives for each year

Work to consolidate the group as a team

Unify criteria for analysis for social economy in our project

Define methodological aspects

Define concepts Define methodological criteria for the research

Reference framework, ethical considerations, regulations, planning

Establish goals and timetable

Get consensus about concepts

Reach common agreement about the development of the Project each year

Integrate conceptsBetter understanding of the objectives as an overall team

Define what the Consortium understands by social economy

Distribution of responsibilities between the consortium

Systematise empirical information Define the project tasks in detail

Have a clear vision of the next steps

When is consensus important?

• And when should consensus not be sought?

Criteria to define the concept of social economy by geographical regions

Latin America: UNSAAC and Africa: CEAUP Europe: YSJ and Mondragon, Spain

Free association structured around collective enterprise focused on the achievement of common goals

Primacy of work over capital. Capital is a means not an end.

Collective ownership of the benefits accruing from enterprise

Democratic governance (participation in management, objectives, use of capital)

Based on human capital and the generation of self-employment

Sense of belonging and solidarity amongst members

Respect for private property Distribution of benefits

Based on democratic and participative principles

Employment – generation and protection

Fair distribution of the products of the enterprise Autonomy in management

Groups regulated by common law, based on the establishment of rules, values, solidarity, reciprocity and respect for traditional knowledge, human and ecological diversity

Social transformation

Intelligent, sustainable growth

4. Comments from evaluations

• “The unification of the team around specific goals.”

• “Very good methodology of work: participative and dynamic …. bring opinions together and arrive at a consensus.”

• “… we have achieved consensus about criteria.”• “It gave me clarity about the project and I

committed myself to it.” • “Engaged participation from the participants”

How can we maintain team work and common understanding? ……

• Some issues affecting following agreed action plan:– Pace of work– Work needs adapting– Availability of third parties– Unexpected opportunities which take up time – Some things taking much longer than expected– Flexibility of national groups – ability to work effectively

within own parameters– Relationships within sub groups

….at a distance?

• Google docs for meeting agendas and for developing research methodology – very limited engagement

• Group meetings via Skype• Other video conferencing software• Individual meetings

(phone/videoconferencing) to get deeper understanding

References• Kreber, C. (2013) Authenticity in and through teaching in higher education.

London. Routledge.• Linell, P. (2003) What is dialogism? Linköping University, SwedenDepartment of Communication Studies (available www.umass.edu/.../llc/.../Linel

l%20Per%20what%20is%20dialogism )• Sacks, J. (2007) The home we build together: recreating society. London.

Continuum.

Comments and ideas please