Introduction: The International Diffusion of Liberalism

Political scientists, sociologists, and economists have all sought to analyze the spread of economic and political liberalism across countries in recent decades. This article documents this diffusion of liberal policies and politics and proposes four distinct theories to explain how the prior choices of some countries and international actors affect the subsequent behavior of others: coercion, competition, learning, and emulation. These theories are explored empirically in the symposium articles that follow. The goal of the symposium is to bring quite different and often isolated schools of thought into contact and communication with one another, and to define common metrics by which we can judge the utility of the contending approaches to diffusion across different policy domains. For helpful comments on an earlier draft of this article, the authors wish to thank Barry Eichengreen, Lisa Martin, and John Meyer. Nancy Brune and Alexander Noonan provided excellent research assistance. The authors also wish to acknowledge and thank the Yale Center for International and Area Studies, the UCLA International Institute, and the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University for funding conferences at which this collection of symposium papers were discussed.Governmen

Exploring learning development from the perspectives of black students

There has been little research into student perceptions of learning development tutorials despite learning development having existed in most institutions for over twenty years. Analysis from annual demographic data from tutorial attendance at the University of Northampton shows that over 25% of tutorials are attended by students identifying as Black. More Black women use the LD provision than Black males and even fewer Black males under the age of 20 use the service. This mirrors the findings of Coulson and Loddick (2020) who acknowledged, in research on learning development and student attainment, that students from a Black ethnic background, particularly females, were more likely to attend tutorials. However, there has been little research into the reasons for this.This presentation concluded the findings of an internally funded collaborative project to explore the perceptions of Black students and learning development.Due to the nature of investigating a sensitive topic, it was deemed essential that a project assistant was employed who has lived experience and identifies as Black. The project assistant predominantly conducts the research with Black students and gains their perspectives during focus groups or interviews. The project has been planned to ensure that the project assistant influences the research by offering autonomy to design the project and recruit participants. It is hoped that this project will offer a unique perspective to inform learning development practice and provision. By the time of the conference the project will have finished and we will be able to offer an insight into the findings.<br/

Conclusion

The diffusion of markets and democracy around the world was a defining feature of the late twentieth century. Many social scientists view this economic and political liberalization as the product of independent choices by national governments. This book argues that policy and political changes were influenced heavily by prior actions of external actors: not just other governments, but international organizations and communities of experts. Drawing together insights from economics, sociology, political science and international relations, the contributors focus on four mechanisms by which markets and democracy have diffused through interdependent decision-making: coercion and the impact of powerful countries and international actors; economic competition for markets and investment; learning from experiences of other countries; and emulation among countries. These mechanisms are tested empirically using sophisticated quantitative techniques in areas as diverse as capital account and investment policy, human rights and democratization, and government downsizing, privatization and taxation.GovernmentSociolog

Introduction: The Diffusion of Liberalization

The worldwide spread of economic and political liberalism was one of the defining features of the late twentieth century. Free-market oriented economic reforms – macroeconomic stabilization, liberalization of foreign economic policies, privatization, and deregulation – took root in many parts of the world. At more or less the same time, a "third wave" of democratization and liberal constitutionalism washed over much of the globe. Most economists believe the gains to developing countries from the liberalization of economic policies to be in the hundreds of billions of dollars. But they also acknowledge the instability and human insecurity sometimes left in liberalization’s wake.GovernmentSociolog

Digital Learning Across Boundaries: Augmented and virtual reality supporting changemaking in an international context.

Digital Learning Across Boundaries: Developing Changemakers is a three year Erasmus+ project involving ten schools and universities across five European countries. This research focuses on one strand that involved English and Danish partners collaborating on the theme of using technology to support physical activity, or exergaming, during designated ‘international days’. • Can digital technologies such as VR and AR help school pupils to develop changemaker attributes? • How is changemaking demonstrated in practice by pupils through the use of digital technologies? • Does technology-supported changemaking support the development of intercultural awareness? We present emerging evidence to support the use of VR and AR tools with mobile devices for I. developing empathy and intercultural awareness through collaboration and immersion in different spaces II. developing an understanding of the changemaker process through blending digital and physical learning environment

Reflecting upon teacher identity, self-efficacy and teaching physical education in primary trainee teachers

This article discusses the findings of Beth’s undergraduate dissertation which investigated teacher identity in trainee primary school teachers, specifically focusing on their identities as primary teachers who teach physical education (PE). The dissertation, although small-scale, has some interesting refl ections to consider on trainee teacher identity and how initial teacher training (ITT) providers might support self-effi cacy in the teaching of PE. Beth used a mixed methodology approach; this included a questionnaire, interviews and focus groups to gather data from a sample of 65 trainees in their final year of a three-year undergraduate primary education degree with qualified teacher status (QTS)

Digital Learning Across Boundaries : Using digital technologies to innovate digital collaborations and develop changemaking in student teachers.

This poster will summarise the work we have been doing in the DLAB2 project this year. The project combines key themes of developing changemakers, social innovation and the use of innovative digital learning tools to blend physical and digital learning environments and provide powerful opportunities for international collaboration. The research aligns with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 4.7 (2015) by promoting sustainable societies and global citizenship through education, and developing intercultural awareness through the use of digital technology and pedagogies. This year the project is focusing on crossing personal boundaries which seems particularly salient given the social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The DLAB participants, who total approximately 200 individuals, are not only looking at how technology can be used to innovate learning in school itself but how it can be used more widely to collaborate with children and schools across countries and produce resources collaboratively. Whilst last year’s research explored how to project promoted changemaking activities in school children, this year’s research, and this poster, will detail how the project has supported and developed changemaking in the student teachers, with a particular focus on crossing personal boundaries. The research uses an ethnographic methodology, focusing on the experiences of the students teachers; it applies a participatory action research framework whereby all participants contribute to the research through methods such as photo elicitation and reflective vlogs. Emerging evidence suggests that the ways in which student teachers have crossed personal boundaries, and encouraged children to cross personal boundaries, have revolved around the changes to working practices seen in schools due to COVID-19. This includes uses of technology, approaches to teaching and reflecting upon the children’s needs and experiences during the pandemi

Digital Learning Across Boundaries : Augmented and virtual reality supporting effective international learning

The Digital Learning Across Boundaries (DLAB): Developing Changemakers project is a three-year Erasmus+ funded project, currently in its first year. The project addresses the need to align European education-al practice with ways in which digital technology is changing how and what we learn, and how we apply this in education. It also draws inspiration from the changemaker movement, which seeks to build the skills and attributes for individuals to find innovative solutions to society’s challenges. Participants comprise around fifty university lecturers, student teachers, and school teachers, together with their school pupils across five European countries: Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Spain and England. Key themes, then, are developing digital literacy and using digital skills to foster cultural literacy as teams of school pupils, student teachers, teachers and lecturers from partner countries work together to prototype solutions to issues they have identified together

Digital Learning Across Boundaries: Immersive technologies supporting changemaking in an international context

The Digital Learning Across Boundaries: Developing Changemakers (DLAB) project uses immersive technologies in education to explore three challenges across three years: physical, personal and environmental. This paper focuses on the first of these, bringing together the themes of digital making and changemaking to cross physical boundaries by raising awareness about physical inactivity in 11 and 12 year old school pupils. Immersive technologies such as augmented and virtual reality enabled the development of empathy and intercultural understanding among participants, fostered an understanding of changemaking, and created environments for sharing prototype exergames. Research data is analysed to seek evidence of the development of changemaker attributes and impact within a sample group of 60 English school pupils