Teaching at the Intersection:

Transfer of teaching styles: Teaching social work in Iraqi Kurdistan as a Swede

“…The narratives given by the teachers indicate the implementation of what Tunney (2007) calls a ‘three-culture approach’ to teaching, giving recognition to the host as well as the visitor culture, and to social work as a profession, yet simultaneously retaining humility about the situation using Hessle’s agency mindset. All three approaches are required for the export of teaching social work to be labeled as international technology transfer.…”

“…Tunney (2007) describes a model she developed while teaching social work as an American in Lithuania. She pictures her situation as complicated on occasions, since social work is cultural as well as contextual, and crossing the border as an expert on the one side does not automatically make you an expert on the other.…”

“…The experience of teaching social work in developing countries has revealed language and cultural problems to be quite common, and that sufficiently thorough planning is often lacking (Jukes and Vassel, 2009; Tunney, 2007). Kragh and Bislev (2005) point out the risks, or in some cases actual examples, of international schools or departments developing into cultural enclaves, belonging to a subculture with values differing from the surrounding society.…”

“…On the one hand, students need to appreciate joint values that are not negotiable, whilst on the other hand an openness is required to develop models and methods grown from cultural variations, and really take them into account. Tunney (2007) describes a model she developed while teaching social work as an American in Lithuania. She pictures her situation as complicated on occasions, since social work is cultural as well as contextual, and crossing the border as an expert on the one side does not automatically make you an expert on the other.…”