Distance Education under Oppression: The Case of Palestinian Higher Education

Abstract

This paper draws from both empirical research on an EU-funded project in Palestine and from the lived experiences of Palestinian HE educators. The geopolitical situation is precarious at the best of times in Palestine, where Israel monitors and controls the Palestinians’ right to travel, live and work—even more so if they wish to accomplish these activities abroad—and their access to the internet is never free from surveillance. In these circumstances and under these conditions, distance education has played a crucial role in supporting Palestinian students to develop a global voice. This paper captures some of the educational challenges encountered by Palestinian students and teachers generally in their daily contexts and, more specifically, in their experiences of learning and teaching, and the methods used to overcome these barriers. It draws on multiple sources and on studies recently carried out in the field by Palestinian colleagues and will discuss the challenging aspects of learning online from a range of perspectives in each of these studies before offering conclusions and recommendations/implications for other areas of study in situations of oppression. Initial findings indicate that distance education enables a form of continuity in regions exposed and accustomed to extreme and regular disruption. We were also inspired to see throughout responses the values attributed to pursuing education by Palestinian educators and their students. The persistence and perseverance reflect a determination that underlines the importance of education as a fundamental human right, national identity and sovereignty, personal source of hope and strength, and opportunity to open one’s world. In our conclusions, we argue for the importance of digital literacy among educators to facilitate the continuity of distance education and finish with some recommendations as to how technologies can ease disruption to ordinary educational service.

Methodological Insights for Decolonising Research and EdTech

“…They note that Open Educational Resources "provide opportunities to diversify the curriculum and challenge the dominance of Eurocentric and Western knowledge" and "promote the democratisation of knowledge by removing barriers to access and participation in education" (p. 2) by allowing educators to adapt content for their own contexts, allowing for communities and individuals who have been "historically excluded or underrepresented in formal education systems to engage with educational resources (and) contribute their knowledge". However, as with Morgan [29] in addition to Smith and Scott [31], they note the vital importance of mentoring and guidance, peer collaboration, and effective learning resources and tools, as well as insightful and supportive assessment and feedback. OERs have elsewhere been critiqued as instruments of digital neocolonialism [36], but Farrow et al aim here to demonstrate how Supported Open Learning (SOL) can support researchers and communities to try to break the interlinked and "mutually reinforced" (p. 5) trifecta of the coloniality of power, of knowledge, and of being.…”

“…Smith and Scott [31] describe a method that itself can be critiqued through a decolonial lens, in that although they were expressly seeking answers from their participants, who had all been partners on a joint project in Palestine, the questions were posed by the authors rather than eliciting data from the participants in a purer form; however, in rebuttal to this charge, it must be noted that there are two uncredited authors: local Palestinian academics whose names have been removed for their own safety. The questions were, therefore, created and supported by local actors, which [32] notes enables participants to produce accounts that are representative of and meaningful to the actors within the research and the setting, and to "use naturalistic data, critical discourse analysis and phenomenography, because (they are) 'culturally literate'" (op.…”

Implementation of Learning Management Systems (Moodle): Effects on Students’ Language Acquisition and Attitudes towards Learning English as a Foreign Language

“…Even in virtual classrooms, the instructor is the only one speaking [2], while students remain seated, listen mainly in silence, and take notes to commit to memory in a non-interactive manner. Numerous detrimental effects on students' language proficiency may result from this teacher-centered learning environment [4][5][6]. In traditionally didactic teacher-led learning, there are few opportunities for authentic classroom interactions; as a result, students rarely utilize their language skills in real-world contexts [7].…”