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Discourse of 'Helping the Poor': Rethinking Global Poverty and Its Pedagogical Possibilities in Higher Education

Authors :
Cai, Xiuying
Source :
Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education. 2021 42(5):765-779.
Publication Year :
2021

Abstract

As the global community strives for the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, particularly, the first goal of 'ending poverty in all its forms everywhere', university students' learning experiences and understanding about global poverty remain comparatively unexplored. This in-depth qualitative study examines how university students in the USA understand global poverty and what it means to 'help the poor' in a year-long international interdisciplinary experiential education program at a Midwestern American university. The program is dedicated to teaching students about global poverty and to problem-solve for people living in subsistence contexts in the USA, India, Uganda, Tanzania and Argentina, through experiential learning projects such as sustainable product, services and business design. The study shows, despite students' expressed intention to help the poor, they draw upon a variety of understandings of global poverty and what it means to help the poor. Contrasting these different understandings, I suggest a dialogic pedagogy with some conceptual tools and theoretical resources for students to better understand their bottom-up experiential learning experience.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
0159-6306
Volume :
42
Issue :
5
Database :
ERIC
Journal :
Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
EJ1312519
Document Type :
Journal Articles<br />Reports - Research
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1080/01596306.2020.1843115