Education and Training and the New Public Diplomacy

Eleanor J. Brown, W. John Morgan and Simon McGrath

UNESCO Centre for Comparative Education Research

University of Nottingham

The Changing Nature of Public Diplomacy

• Traditional Diplomacy few – few style• Open Diplomacy few – many style• New Public Diplomacy many – many

style• Demos Report on Cultural Diplomacy

Cultural Exchange and Partnerships in Education

• Language Teaching• Academic Exchanges• Professional development links• Teaching of the global dimension in

schools

International Education Aims

• Build tolerance and understanding• Communication• Developing relationships between nations• Recognize and appreciate diversity• Prepare young people for life in a global

community and economy

Aims of this paper

• Examine connections between international education and training and new public diplomacy

• Consider implications for policy at national and international levels

• Look at the traditional relationship between education and cultural relations to see if it has changed in light of new trends in public diplomacy

Public Diplomacy

• Propaganda• Nation branding• These are “about the communication of information and ideas to

foreign publics with a view to changing their attitudes towards to originating country” (Melissen 2005: 16)

• Cultural relations• This “has traditionally been close to diplomacy, although distinct

from it, but recent developments in both fields now reveal considerable overlap between the two concepts” (ibid: 16)

• There is now a shift toward the cultural relations and away from propaganda

The Hierarchical Nature of Traditional Public Diplomacy

• “Work aiming to inform and engage individuals and organizations overseas, in order to improve understanding of and influence for the United Kingdom in a manner consistent with governmental medium and long term goals.” (Carter 2005)

The Changing Environment• Multi-actor international environment• Civil society organizations

- NGOs- Trans-national advocacy networks

• International Organizations• Cyber literate public• More international travel and business This leads to a demand for public diplomacy

that is not so bound to the raison d’etat and which acknowledges the advantages of mutually beneficial and equal partnerships

New network based public diplomacy

• “A network based model that is more than a bilateral mechanism for the dissemination of a particular agenda can benefit from engagement with participants from various civil societies, each contributing to common, beneficial outcomes” (Fisher 2006: 4)

New Public Diplomacy

• Mutual benefit• Equal participation• Network based• Not hierarchical• Cooperation• Shared values• Two-way street• Listening as well as telling

From hierarchy to network

• There seems to be more support for the idea that the future of international cooperation for peace and development can only truly be achieved through genuine cooperation and shared values and these can never be enforced successfully in a hierarchical way.

Power and Cooperation

• Hard power Soft power New public diplomacy: Cooperation and Facilitation

• Telling Listening• New network based public diplomacy will

be better received because it is a “two-way street” (Melissen 2005: 18) unlike propaganda it listens as well as tells and is therefore more likely to build trust and respect than the traditional models.

The importance of Education and Training

• In the new many-many environment of public diplomacy education and training is vital because the general population’s attitude to international issues and cultural affairs is key to projecting a positive image of the country.

The Internationalization of Higher Education

• International students• Global partnerships• Links and collaborative projects• Campuses overseas• Educational exchange

Britain and Brazil

• Study of links between Britain and Brazil• Set out to replace the traditional North-

South relationship of donor and recipient with genuine academic partnerships

• Do partnerships help maintain and perpetuate colonial links?

• Use of language• Understanding strengths and weaknesses

Education and Neo-colonialism

• Neocolonialism is “the deliberate policies of the industrialized countries to maintain domination” (Canto & Hannah 2001: 28)

• “Education is one essential element of the neo-colonial structure. It helps to maintain and to some extent perpetuate colonial links.” (ibid: 29)

Equal Partnerships

• Existence of previous knowledge of the other partner to establish realistic expectations

• Genuine sharing of each others’ experiences

• Application of each others’ knowledge rather than a one-way transfer

• (Canto & Hannah 2001: 32)

Conclusion of the Canto and Hannah Study

• In “each of the case studies examined, vertical or traditional elements continue to exist alongside horizontal or advanced elements, representing neither a neo-colonial nor an equal partnership, but elements of both.” (Canto & Hannah 2001: 37)

School links and Partnerships

• Global citizenship• Links and the international school award• Ambassadors of the future• Global gateway• British Council, UNESCO ASPnet,• The meeting of cultures

The importance of global citizenship

• “We are no longer represented just by our leaders. Knowingly or not, we are all representatives of our countries and we have the tools to make an impact. We are all diplomats now. It is therefore critical that we ensure that our British citizens – especially young people – have the skills and capacity to cope with this new era of global cultural connections (Bound et al 2007: 76).

Global Citizenship

• Important part of the curriculum• Taught across a range of subjects• Equipping young people to be good

ambassadors• Seeing things from a world perspective

Key Concepts of the Global Dimension in School

• Global Citizenship• Conflict resolution• Diversity• Human Rights• Interdependence• Social Justice• Sustainable development• Values and Perceptions

International Linking• Partner schools all over the world• Conduct projects with students in far away

places• Take an interest in developments in parts of the

world where there is an international connection• “asking questions and developing critical

thinking skills, … acknowledging the complexity of global issues, revealing the global part of everyday local life, … understanding how we relate to the environment and to each other as human beings” (Oxfam 2006: 3)

Cultural Sensitivity

• Cultures are “meeting mingling and morphing” (Bound et al 2007: 19) and we must all, as citizens, be ready to adapt to this. For this reason the international dimension in education and training is vital to the new public diplomacy.

Aims of the Study

• Does the experience of international partnerships in education provide a setting for greater cultural awareness and understanding of international issues?

• Are such partnerships are a neo-colonial or an equal relationship, why this is the case and where can improvements be made?

• Are equal partnerships are indeed more successful?

Hypotheses

• Educational partnership projects are far more likely to succeed and build positive attitudes and cultural sensitivity if they are genuinely mutually beneficial, horizontal and equal partnerships. Countries, particularly former colonial powers, need to be careful when claiming to support mutual links that in practice may be neo-colonial activities, serving to maintain the status quo. Recommendations on the future of academic partnerships will be based on this premise.

Research

• This will focus initially on British Council partnerships in education and training

• It will also be a comparative study of projects in Serbia and Jordan

Contact details

Eleanor J. BrownResearch Associate

UNESCO Centre for Comparative Education Research,School of Education, University of Nottingham,

Nottingham, NG8 1BB.Tel: +44 (115) 95 14467Fax: +44 (115) 95 14397

E-Mail: eleanor.brown@nottingham.ac.ukwww.nottingham.ac.uk/education/centres/uccer