Abstract
Migration has been controversial in society at large, and in adult education it has far-reaching and underexplored implications for adults’ professional learning. In this symposium we draw on an open conceptualisation of migration which encompasses the physical movement of people across regions and regulatory frameworks, and migrations in professional knowledge effected by changes in policy, and changing conditions of work. The migration of knowledge refers both to the way knowledge is carried by individuals and groups to new locations, and the way knowledge itself migrates to different professional and ethical places. We examine migration critically from four different perspectives that are competing as well as complementary. The symposium papers are connected by a concern with the context of globalisation, late capitalism and the capitalist economic crisis: conditions associated with intensification of migration. Different perspectives produce a rich and diverse analysis of our theme, through engagement with empirical data and theoretical critique. While there are creative tensions in the theoretical stances adopted, there are synergies across the four papers in our objects of interest. We are concerned with the impact on professional knowledge of time and space, of how and why certain knowledges are validated; we are also interested in the ambiguity of professional knowledge, and the use of power, care and responsibility.
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Recommended Citation
Malcolm, I.,
Colley, H.,
Fenwick, T.,
&
Slade, B.
(2011).
Symposium: “Migrations in Professional Knowledge”.
Adult Education Research Conference.
https://newprairiepress.org/aerc/2011/symposia/4
Symposium: “Migrations in Professional Knowledge”
Migration has been controversial in society at large, and in adult education it has far-reaching and underexplored implications for adults’ professional learning. In this symposium we draw on an open conceptualisation of migration which encompasses the physical movement of people across regions and regulatory frameworks, and migrations in professional knowledge effected by changes in policy, and changing conditions of work. The migration of knowledge refers both to the way knowledge is carried by individuals and groups to new locations, and the way knowledge itself migrates to different professional and ethical places. We examine migration critically from four different perspectives that are competing as well as complementary. The symposium papers are connected by a concern with the context of globalisation, late capitalism and the capitalist economic crisis: conditions associated with intensification of migration. Different perspectives produce a rich and diverse analysis of our theme, through engagement with empirical data and theoretical critique. While there are creative tensions in the theoretical stances adopted, there are synergies across the four papers in our objects of interest. We are concerned with the impact on professional knowledge of time and space, of how and why certain knowledges are validated; we are also interested in the ambiguity of professional knowledge, and the use of power, care and responsibility.
