Revisiting Insider/Outsider Perspectives in International and Comparative Education: A BAICE Thematic Forum

BAICE Thematic Forums
BAICE Thematic Forums

Project Directors:  Elizabeth McNess, Michael Crossley (University of Bristol), Lore Arthur (The Open University)

Project Administration: Terra Sprague, University of Bristol

Project Origins and Aims: This is the first BAICE Thematic Forum (BTF) to be launched and supported by the Association. While the concepts of insiderness and outsiderness have a long history of discussion and debate within the fields of anthropology, philosophy, psychology and sociology, we argue that the various disciplinary perspectives have rarely been drawn on holistically to inform contemporary activities within international and comparative research.  New affordances created by technical advances in global communication, increased mobility for both academics and research students, the development of new international partnership modalities, together with an increase in multi-disciplinary research teams engaged in cross-cultural studies mean that the time is right for a more nuanced understanding of how these concepts can be theorised and applied.

The aim of the two-year BTF project to is bring like-minded colleagues together to engage in critical thinking and writing around these concepts in order to contribute both theoretical and methodological insights which can enhance the work of researchers in the field of international and comparative education.  One of the outcomes of the project will be a book of collected papers to be published in 2014/15.

Project Events:

  • BTF Launch  and Day Workshop: Friday 10th February, 2012: Research Centre for International and Comparative Studies, University of Bristol
  • BAICE Conference Symposium: Sunday 9th September, 2012, University of Cambridge
  • BTF Day Conference and Book Publication Workshop:  Monday 24th February, 2014, Research Centre for International and Comparative Studies, University of Bristol

Insider Outsider BAICE Thematic Forum interim report – July 2013

Insider Outsider Baice Thematic Forum Day Conference report – March 2014

For more information or to join the Project and be added to our database, please contact: insideroutsider@baice.ac.uk