Cultural Hegemony: How can it be mitigated in Educational Exchange?

The global expansion of professional social work has been significantly influenced by global exchanges, particularly by Western developed approaches. There are arguments for the recognition of a universal view of social work... [ view full abstract ]

The global expansion of professional social work has been significantly influenced by global exchanges, particularly by Western developed approaches. There are arguments for the recognition of a universal view of social work knowledge, skills and values as a process in finding a common base from which to talk about social work as a single entity, in widely different local contexts. Conversely there is a concern that increasing convergence and homogenisation of values and practices leads to cultural imperialism with a dominance of Western values, producing international like-minded elites as professional imperialism (Midgley 1981). Concepts such as indigenization, the adaptation of concepts to make them more relevant to local circumstances, and authentication, as the creation of local practice models, of social work practice need to be developed as a ground up culturally relevant social work practice rather than a top down imposed model based on Western concepts and ideas (Askeland and Payne 2005). Drawing on research undertaken in Russia in relation to practice learning, as a critical factor for professional formation in social work, the author seeks to identify the opportunities and challenges that international exchange reveals. Theoretical frameworks and approaches will be examined that can support exchange between international partners and identify factors which seek to ground developments in local practice. This aims is to locate practice learning with a social structure in which participants work towards a common goal. Analysis will be extended to identify a range of factors that interact with each other and influence productive learning, recognizing that actions are goal directed processes that are mediated by the context, setting and situated activity. Finally a conceptual model will be presented that highlight the potential processes and actions to support the debate and development of new meanings in a local context.