"That's the world standard": a critical ethnography of "Universal" knowledge

This paper analyzes how knowledge is reproduced as "universal" in contemporary higher education and how this production of universality influences the application of knowledge. Using a case study of clinical psychology, it describes the results of over two years of ethnographic fieldwork in a university and professional settings in Singapore with short comparative field studies in Australia and the Netherlands. The results provide critical insights into the cultural effects and knowledge contestations within transnational higher education

Globalisation and deterritorialisation: an example of an academic discipline in the Malay Archipelago

Understanding the cultural effects of the globalisation of knowledge is of central concern in higher education research. This reading maps an analytical space for research on cultural negotiations in academic disciplines. It re-reads Appadurai's theory of global imaginaries (1996) through Deleuze and Guattari's notion of deterritorialisation (1983; 1994; 2005), and applies it to the study of clinical psychology education in the Malay Archipelago. Deleuze and Guattari's deterritorialisation concept provides insights into the cultural subtleties of transnational education and the dynamics of change in academic disciplines. The case study illustrates that disciplines are themselves territories, changing from within, as well as with geographical movement. This analytic inquiry provides a preliminary mapping of clinical psychology territories in the Malay Archipelago through an anthropological approach, it concludes with directions for further research

Culturally competent practice: experiences of students, academics, and alumni of clinical psychology degrees in Singapore

This is the first research in Singapore into preparation for culturally competent practice in professional clinical psychology training programmes. It analyses experiences of multicultural clinical psychology training and practice and asks how well current programmes are meeting the needs for cultural competency. These questions were explored with qualitative data from interviews about multicultural practice with five students, five academics and five alumni of clinical psychology. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis revealed four themes: highlighting the culture of clinical psychology, the cultural context of training and practice, cultural competencies, and pathways for developing cultural competency. These outcomes demonstrate that the training programmes are considered valuable for improving psychological service provision in Singapore, although improvements to these programmes are desired for cultural competency development. These findings point to the need for particular competencies to be developed, as well as at directions for further research that may benefit clinical psychology training

Shifting landscapes in higher education: a case study of transferable skills and a networked classroom in South-East Asia

The rapidly changing workforce of the C21st places increasing demands on higher education institutions to produce graduates who possess sound academic credentials and key skills, and who furthermore demonstrate the ability to transfer knowledge and skills from their studies to the workplace. This paper begins with a definition of key/core skills, followed by a discussion of how they relate to transferable skills. A review of literature regarding the transference of skills from tertiary settings to workplaces in South-East Asia reveals that most literature of the region addresses key competencies rather than the transferable skills that employers value. Transferable skills are further analysed in the context of networked spaces of learning and the theory of connectivist learning. A case study of one networked classroom (NC) of an Australian university in Singapore is presented, highlighting how engagement in problem-based and project-based learning contributes to the development of transferable skills. Results indicate that the spatial and material resources of the NC intersect with practice-based learning experiences assisting students in skills acquisition by providing a teaching and learning space in which to apply transferable skills. Implications of this study point to the need for further research regarding embedding transferable skills within higher education curricula

Cultural Competence in Clinical Psychology Training: A Qualitative Investigation of Student and Academic Experiences

Objective: Recent years have seen a marked increase in attention to cultural competence in clinical psychology practice in Australia. While the body of literature on the need for cultural competence is expanding, this is the first study that analyses how cross-cultural training and practice is experienced and related to standardised models of cultural competence. Method: Twelve participants (8 students and 4 academics; 9 females and 3 males, ages 22-57) in two Australian universities were interviewed on their experiences with cultural competence during clinical psychology training. Each semi-structured interview took about 30 min and focused on identifying the training experiences and needs for cultural competence. Results: Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of the transcripts delivered three master themes: experiences of culture, strategies for culturally competent practice, and experiences of cultural competence development. Conclusions: Students and academics experienced a "western" bias in training, and consequently adopted a variety of strategies to adapt their practice with culturally non-western clients. These findings draw attention to the need for structured cultural competence development in professional training programs