Online Dialogue and Critical Reflection - In An International Inclusive Education Context

Abstract

This action research project was designed to structure and model critical pedagogies in international perspectives on education and human rights issues. An online learning environment was designed in which self-directed dialogue and web based investigations provided a framework for final year education students to interrogate the nature of inclusion and diversity in international contexts. This authentic, enquiry based approach was negotiated in a collaborative partnership between the unit coordinator and the liaison librarians to ensure students were able to locate and critically analyse a variety of international sources of information. To achieve this aim, the team designed a series of online information literacy seminars and complemented these with discussion forum activities. The aims of the discussion forums were to promote the establishment of collaborative learning communities, to provide students with the opportunity to interrogate the issues and findings of their research and to maximize the potential for critical reflection.