Discrimination Through Critical Emotional Reflexivity in Online Learning

Cultural Diversity and .o.n7/o,,,,3,,,3,3,http://aeq.sagepub.eom, hosted at Discrimination Through http://online.sagepub.com Critical Emotional Reflexivity in Online Learning Michalinos Zembylas Open University of Cyprus

The purposes of this article are to describe the adult learners' emotional experiences as a result of engaging with issues of cultural diversity and discrimination, and to interrogate the ways in which critical emotional reflexivity emerges in the online format. The analysis is done in the context of an online course on diversity, inequality, and multicultural education; this course is part of a distance education master's level program in Educational Studies and the participants are primary and secondary school teachers. The findings provide evidence of (a) how adult learners respond and constantly negotiate their learning practices and the ways they feel about cultural diversity and discrimination, and highlight the different ways in which they reflect critically on their understanding of cultural/ethnic/social differences; (b) how online learning, contrary to popular belief, can be a useful medium to express difficult emotions related to racism, prejudice, and discrimination.

Keywords: cultural diversity; critical emotional reflexivity: online education

ecetit research shows that educating about cultural diversity, discriminatioti, and Rinequality and embracing critical pedagogies can evoke a range of powerful emotions to educators and learners alike—from passion and anger to shame and intense emotional discomfort (see Berlak, 2004; Boler, 1999; Boler & Zembylas, 2003; Zembylas, 2007; Zembylas & Boler, 2002).' There is evidence that learners may undergo profound changes coupled with distress and other emotions; thus it is not surprising that this research indicates how emotions may inhibit or support leaming about cultural diversity and social justice. The interrogation of learners' emotional investments in specific assumptions and ideas is an important component of critical pedagogies (Boler & Zembylas, 2003).

Author's Note: Correspondetice should be addressed to Michalinos Zembylas, Open University of Cyprus, School of Social Sciences and Humanities, 5 Ayiou Antoniou str., Strovolos 2002, Nicosia, Cyprus; e-tnail: [email protected].

61 62 Adult Education Quarterly

Within adult education in particular, our understanding of the intersection between emotions and leaming about cultural differences is slowly growing (Ziegahn, 2005). However, we know very little about how adults from similar social and ethnic back- grounds negotiate relations to the Other and engage in emotional reflexivity, particularly in the online context. Because the interest in designing new pedagogical environments in online learning has increased, there is need to better understand adult learners' emotional experiences in the context of learning about cultural diversity and related issues. My interest in this article is to gain a richer understanding of how critical reflection on one's emotions—what I call critical emotional reflexivity—affects adult learners' experiences through participation in a year-long online course. This course. Cultural Differences and Social Inequalities, teaches about diversity, inequality, and multicultural education and is part of a distance education master's level program in Educational Studies at the Open University of Cyprus. Operating from the assumption that participants in this course belong to a homogeneous cultural, religious, ethnic, and class group—they are all Greek, Orthodox Christians, middle class teachers at the primary or secondary school level—I invited them to reflect systematically on their emotions related to the topics we encountered throughout the 30-week course. These topics included issues such as stereotyping, discrimination, and racism in Cyprus and abroad, cultural values, intercultural communication, interethnic conflict, and multicultural teaching models. Primary emphasis will be given here to the discussion and analysis of the learners' emotion journals and e-mail communication (i.e., the e-mail messages exchanged between the instructor and individual learners as well as the e-mail messages posted by the learners to class discussion board) aimed at encouraging these adult learners to open themselves to the difficult topics of the course by providing a safe environment for sharing their feelings and thoughts. This article's purposes are then (a) to describe the adult learners' emotional experiences as a result of engaging with issues of cultural diversity and discrimination and (b) to interrogate the ways in which critical emotional reflexivity emerges in the online format. The exploration of these two issues is important to the field of adult online education for two reasons. First, there is increasing recognition of the roles that emotions play in adult education (Dirkx, 2001; Yorks & Kasl, 2002), especially in relation to challenging issues such as cultural diversity and social justice (Callahan, 2004; Tisdell & McLaurin, 1994; Ziegahn, 2005). However, there has been no research on courses that looked at the intersection of criticality and emotional reflexivity for adult learners through a focus on cultural diversity and discrimination. Emotional reflexivity refers to the process of reflecting on the emotions and particularly on the emotional work conducted (Hochschild, 1979, 1983). The term critical emotional reflexivity captures more specifically how emotions can be engaged as critical and transformative forces. Second, with the exception of Ziegahn's (2005) study, we know very little about the confluence of critical emotional reflexivity, cultural diversity, and online learning. Knowing more about what Zembylas / Critical Emotional Rellexivity in Online Learning 63

adult learners experience emotionally in the online environment when they study about cultural diversity and discrimination is important to the design of relevant pedagogies. This article begins with a discussion about the role of emotions in critical pedagogy and adult education and analyzes the challenges and possibilities from seeking ways to promote critical emotional reflexivity in online learning.

Previous Research and Theoretical Framework

Emotions in Critical Pedagogy and Adult Education A pedagogical approach which focuses on issues of valuing cultural diversity and problematizing discrimination and inequality often requires learners to engage in demanding and discomforting experiences; these experiences involve both learning about others and confronting one's own emotional investments to various ideas such as race and ethnicity (Berlak, 2004; Boler, 1999). Such a pedagogical approach includes examination of one's emotional experiences, values, and perspectives about social justice and cultural diversity. Unavoidably, such an examination can threaten one's core beliefs and create powerful negative feelings such as anger, shame, or resentment that may inhibit or support transformative leaining^ (Boler & Zembylas 2003; Zembylas, 2007b). Feelings of discomfort may even be more intense in adults, because adults have already formulated their core beliefs in life (Dirkx, 2001). Attending to the role of emotions in triggering transformative learning, then, is important in adult education—even more so, when learning involves difficult issues such as cultural diversity and social justice (Yorks & Kasl, 2002; Ziegahn, 2005). The existing evidence from research on critical reflection and intercultural learning shows that under some circumstances adult learners may undergo profound changes (see Ziegahn, 2005). However, it is not unlikely that these changes are accompanied by ambivalent emotions, that is, both positive and negative feelings in the context of learning about such difficult issues (Guy, 1999; Jeris & McDowell, 2003; Tisdell & McLaurin, 1994). Any transformation begins with recognizing how one feels about social events (Callahan, 2004; Freiré, 2004). To reflect and even go against taken-for-granted assumptions and core beliefs is, then, an extremely discomforting process for adult learners. The reality of research in critical pedagogy and adult education, however, is that the emotionality of learning about social justice and inequality is generally marginal to discussions of critical pedagogies; or, at best, emotionality is regarded as an effect, rather than as a phenomenon that may have a constitutive role in the descriptions of what teaching and learning about these issues may imply for adult learners. However, if one of the goals of critical pedagogy is to facilitate the changes needed to support greater equity, then the role of emotions must be acknowledged in challenging the prevailing 64 Adult Education Quarterly norms (Callahan, 2004). In particular, a better understanding of the emotionahty of adult learning on issues of diversity and discrimination arguably can contribute to efforts that problematize taken-for granted perceptions of inequity both in schools and the society. Especially, when adult learners are educators themselves, an investigation into their own emotional demons (Dlamini, 2002) becomes paramount to such efforts.

Critical Emotional Reflexivity and Online Learning Given that the context of this study is online communication, I turn now my attention to this field. Studies have shown that one of the great advantages of text-based, asynchronous online communication is the time it allows for reflection, thoughtful interaction, and the possibility for refining before posting one's contributions (Johnson, 2006; Salmon, 2002; Vrasidas & Zembylas, 2003; Ziegahn, 2005). For online instructors and learners, this opportunity can be either liberating or intimidat- ing, or both, because online comments are written and thus tend to carry greater gravity than normal speech (Benfield, 2000). There are also concerns over whether the emotional aspects of communication that are paramount in face-to-face learning will carry over into the online environment given the absence of nonverbal cues such as facial expression, gestures, and body posture (Manca & Delfino, 2007). There have been studies of online learning in which the role of emotion has been acknowledged and some of the implications have been outlined (O'Regan, 2003). Studies on social presence, for instance, indicate that feelings of social presence are intertwined with the affective aspects of learning process (see, for example, Jones & Issroff, 2005; Richardson & Swan, 2003; Rovai & Wighting, 2005; Swan & Shih, 2005). In particular, Webb (1999) and Guy (2001) found that students in adult education courses discussing diversity have mixed feelings about the communication of interpersonal issues; some felt comfortable with more anonymous communication, others revealed that online learning did offer opportunities for communicating personal issues. Also studies that focused on learners' online reflective journals provide useful knowledge about the potential of promoting criticality in the context of adult online learning (see, for example, Andrusyszyn & Davie, 1997; Salmon, 2002). Ziegahn's (2005) study is particularly important because she investigated critical reflection as a key component of both intercultural learning and asynchronous computer conference. All of these studies show that learner reflections can indeed be promoted through online learning. However, no work has been conducted on the confluence of critical emotional reflexivity, cultural diversity, and adult online learning. The notion of critical emotional reflexivity suggests that reflections on the emotions related to the unjust systems and practices found in our schools and in our everyday lives inform and support the work of critical pedagogy. Given the unique role of reflective writing opportunities in online learning, it is valuable to examine the manifestation of critical emotional reflexivity in the online format. In general. Zembylas / Critical Emotional Reflexivity in Online Learning 65 critical emotional reflexivity reveals two important dimensions of the intersection among criticality, reflexivity, and emotionality. First, critical emotional reflexivity is grounded in a historical and political understanding ofthe role of emotions in power relations—both in the offline and in the online formats. In other words, critical emotional reflexivity consists in the ability to question emotionally charged, cherished beliefs exposing how privileged positions and comfort zones inform the ways in which one recognizes what and how he or she has been taught to see or act (or not to see/act), and empowering different ways of being with or for the other (Boler, 1999, 2008; Zembylas, 2007a; Zembylas & Boler, 2002;). It may be possible that under some circumstances, online formats can encourage this form of emotional reflexivity in ways that face-to-face learning cannot (Burbules & Callister, 2000). Second, critical emotional reflexivity translates emotional understandings into relationships and new knowledge that benefit learning about cultural diversity and discrimination. That is, it is not enough to simply acknowledge the role of emotion in learning about cultural diversity and discrimination; rather, transformative learning—at either the level of understanding and/or action—is the goal. In summary, a pedagogical approach that evokes ambivalent emotions to adult learners reveals an important aspect of critical emotional reflexivity because it uncovers and problematizes the deeply embedded emotional dimensions that frame and shape daily habits, routines, and unconscious complicity with hegemony. Attending to emotional habits as part of critical pedagogy draws attention to the ways adult learners enact and embody dominant values and assumptions in their daily habits and routines. By closely examining emotional reactions and responses, adult learners begin to identify unconscious privileges as well as invisible ways in which they comply with dominant ideology (Boler & Zembylas, 2003). Thus, sur- facing and interrogating emotions that are prompted by critical pedagogy can also be a critical tool to break the cyclical reproduction of injustices and hegemonic relations (Callahan, 2004).

Context of Study

As mentioned above, the aim of the present study was to describe and analyze the adult learners' emotional experiences in the context of engaging with issues of cultural diversity and discrimination in an online graduate course. In particular, the focus of this study was to interrogate the ways in which critical emotional reflexivity emerged in the online format. The course was offered to 22 in-service teachers during the 2006-2007 academic year, the first year of the Open University's estab- lishment in Cyprus. Most of the participants were women (17 out of 22) with an age range from 24 to 50 (M = 36.88, SD = 5A\). Two students (one male and one female) dropped out because of health reasons, after the first 8 weeks of the course. The majority identified themselves as intermediate (12 out of 20) or novice computer 66 Adult Education Quarterly users; however, no one had any prior experience with online education. More than half (12 out of 20) resided within an area of a radius up to 10 miles from the university, while 4 students came from other cities in Cyprus and 3 worked in rural areas; 1 student resided in Greece. The course. Cultural Differences and Social Inequalities, includes four large units—social identities or differences, social inequalities, bilingual education, and ethno-cultural differences and education—and is based on the following three assumptions: a) the examination of underlying premises—at the individual, institutional, and structural levels—regarding cultural differences and societal inequalities is an important aspect of critical multicultural education; b) social identity categories (race, gender, ethnicity) often contribute to the perpetuation of racism, nationalism, and social inequalities and thus need to be approached critically, although some emotional discomfort may be experienced in the process; and c) membership in marginalized groups significantly influences an individual's life experiences and beliefs; empathetic understanding is an important aspect of appreciating the other's experiences. An important component of the course involves the adult learners in the exploration of their own emotional investments in ideas and social categories and their views of others—through focus on theories and case studies relating to cultural identity formation, intercultural or interethnic conflict, discrimination and prejudice, intercultural communication and community building, and educational responses to these issues. The course was delivered entirely online (primarily through e-mail and asynchronous online discussions), with the exception of four face-to-face meetings (approximately once every 2 months), aimed at identifying and discussing problems and reviewing assignments and ongoing activities.' The students were provided reading materials (basically one textbook) that included especially designed activities for self-paced learning, discussion questions, and additional readings organized around various themes. The course syllabus was provided during the first face-to- face meeting and assignment instructions were given out in each subsequent face-to- face meetings; everything was also sent via e-mail to a listserv created specifically for the purposes of this course. Each week, the students were sent instructors' notes (in PowerPoint) and advice what to read, where to put emphasis, and so on. The course was taught by the author but the content, reading materials and activities of the course were developed by the Hellenic Open University. The usual activities in which learners and instructor were involved were the following: The learners used online communication to accomplish tasks such as, sub- mit assignments; respond to readings and assignments; address questions or comments to the instructor about the course or about technological problems; and, communicate with other learners in the course. The instructor used online communication to engage in activities such as, facilitate online discussions; announce assignments and deadlines; respond to questions and comments posed by the students; monitor online participation by students; announce grades; and communicate with individuals and groups. Zembylas / Critical Emotional Rellexivity in Online Learning 67

Method

The research questions that guided this study were the following:

Research question 1: What does critical emotional reflexivity about cultural diversity and discrimination look like in the online format? Research question 2: How do adult learners' emotional responses to issues of cultural diversity and discrimination change over time and how does online learning encourage or pro- hibit critical emotional reflexivity? And Research question 3: What are the implications of paying attention to critical emotional reflexivity in adult online education?

Data Collection The data of this study came from a year long action research project (see Elliot, 1991; Hubburd & Power, 1993; Noffke & Somekh, 2005; Nofflce & Stevenson, 1995), and aimed at developing strategies for helping participants in my course to face the emotional challenges of dealing with difficult issues such as discrimination, racism, and stereotyping, especially in the context of online learning. Another col- league from the university served as a "critical friend" (Merriam, 1998) so that my interpretations were cross-checked and triangulated. Our general concern was to find out how online learning could be used to promote critical emotional reflexivity on the issues covered in this course. We decided to use action research as the vehicle to investigate the aforemenfioned research quesdons because this methodology stressed the involvement of both the learners and myself in creating collaboratively a more meaningful learning experience. The cyclical nature of action research (Kemmis & McTaggart, 1988)— planning and action, observation and reflection—allowed us the opportunity to identify our concerns and goals for doing this, devise plans for action, evaluate the success of our efforts, and move forward to new concerns and questions. The data collection that seemed to fit more the action research methodology and its recurring cycles were the learners' monthly emotion journals, two face-to-face semistructured interviews (one interview at the beginning and one at the end of the course), all 867 e-mail exchanges that included the e-mail messages between the instructor and individual learners, as well as the learners' posdngs to "class discussion board" (i.e., e-mails to everyone), my own reflective journal, field notes from whole group or individual face-to-face meetings and phone conversations, documents of learners' work, and my planning related to the various aspects of teaching this course. The planning related to the various aspects of teaching this course took a different form than the normal adjustments an educator would make over the range of a course as a result of the ongoing analysis of the data collected. For example, the learners' asynchronous posdngs to the discussion board and the e-mail messages l\i\^ocii !liv' :i>n iichT .iiid ii!ili\ ¡diiul ^ludcniv were s\ ^kMikilic;i!l\ jiuK /^\\ .tiui I lu- lo.ii'nci •• 'Aci.. ^(>n\;,inll\ inloii!\\i jlnni! tlk'ii ¡X'ci--' i^'a^ihiiN. que^liciis, k'tMnn-.

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I1 tal Is we luukcd [or iiic v\av-- in wim ¡i learner--' cniuiiun-.. \u'!c heiri' -haped k^ 70 Adult Education Quarterly and shaping leaming in the online format. Building on this analysis, we interpreted the data by developing themes and categories. The themes that were developed in our analyses were explored in greater depth and were put into categories. The over- arching themes and the resulting categories began to illustrate various aspects of the adult learners' emotions related to the course issues as manifested through online leaming practices. This analysis narrowed down into the following three broad themes: (a) ethnic identity and social class as catalysts of critical emotional reflexivity; (b) the use of a range of tools for critical emotional reflexivity, such as recognizing negative emotions, critiquing one's own prejudices and discriminatory practices, and reframing previous beliefs; and (c) the contribution of online leaming in promoting (or not) critical emotional reflexivity. These themes were used as the basis of the development of my analysis and discussion presented here.

Findings

Ethnic Identity and Social Class as Catalysts of Critical Emotional Reflexivity Learners regularly asserted their own positionality, particularly in relation to ethnic identity and social class, in their analyses of issues on cultural diversity and discrimination. Given that all of the learners were Greek-Cypriots (except one who was Greek), many of them grounded their views on their Greek heritage. Initially, the leamers expressed their surprise and discomfort (see next category for more analysis) when they began to see the negative implications of grounding their views on their ethnic and cultural past while stereotyping others. Through their e-mail messages and written reflections, the majority of the learners expressed shock at realiz- ing how the systematic cultivation of "us versus them" dichotomies had negative implications both within schools and the society. The following excerpts from the first emotion journal are characteristic of the ways in which these leamers began to approach reflection on their feelings in relation to their ethnic identity:

I felt shock and surprise when I read the unit on nationalism, because 1 began to see things I wasn't seeing before. I have never realized that in the stories about us and them, we are always the good guys and the others are always the bad guys. You don't see this until you critically look into how you feel about your own group and about other groups. Honestly, this realization made me feel uncomfortable, because I always had a noble idea about my Greek heritage. Clearly, this is something I need to deal with emotionally. [. . .] I am thankful for having the opportunity to reflect on these feelings, yet I have to admit that this is a painful process. (Chris, primary school teacher, 35 years old. Week 4) Writing this emotion joumal is not an easy task. I constantly realize that I am forced to confront all my fears and all my feelings of shame for what I have been teaching all Zembyias / Critical Emotional Reflexivity in Online Learning 71

these years. My ethtiic identity itifluences who I am as ati individual. I have always felt proud for being Greek. However, I see now how uncritical was my history teaching. I always considered my duty to be the reproduction of knowledge written in school text- books. I never questioned the dominant ideology nor did I suspect that I was a medium of reproducing nationalist myths about a superior Greek nation. Reading about the guilty role of educational systems in perpetuating nationalism, especially in conflict- ridden areas such as ours, has truly shocked me. (Joan, secondary school teacher, 50 years old. Week 4)

Most of the learners established similar ambivalent positions when they wrote about their ethnic identity and the newly acquired knowledge in this course; at the same time, they tried to engage critically with the emotional implications of this new knowledge. Three learners wrote explicitly that they were not emotionally ready to question their previous story about their ethnic identity although they realized that this was unavoidable. As one of them wrote in an e-mail message to me, "Sooner or later I will have to sort things out. I am just not ready yet. I want to read some more and reflect on the issues more deeply" (Jenny, secondary school teacher 47 years old. Week 6). In addition, several learners, who grew up in economically disadvantaged families, asserted their past emotional experiences in their efforts to understand unequal educational opportunities in the educational system. As they gradually laid out their positions about social class and educational inequalities, they found themselves reflecting back on their own educational opportunities. The following excerpts come from the first interview:

Studying about inequalities in educational opportunities brought back many emotional memories... For years I have been telling my students that if they studied hard they would succeed. You see, I was always presenting myself as an example. I came from a poor family, my parents worked in factories ... I considered my example as the sim- plest to follow, you know? Yet, now I see through evidence from research how social inequality is reproduced through schooling and 1 feel so naive about my previous ignorance. Now I see that I was in the minority and that the majority suffered the conse- quences of unequal social and economic structures. [. . . ] I am sad and disappointed that I used to make so naive assumptions. (Lena, primary school teacher, 39 years old Week 5) Reading about social identity theory and discrimination surprised me and made me feel very uncomfortable ... I recalled my own racist behavior, especially against migrant workers . . . [pause] You see, I have constructed this image in my mind to jus- tify my behavior. 1 have adopted the social stereotype that saw migrant workers, and especially domestic workers . . . [pause] . . . women from Asian countries... as lower than other professionals. Although I came from a lower social class (my parents were poor farmers) I behaved in ways I never wanted others to behave towards me ... I used many stereotypes when I referred to these individuals. And I never saw what I was doing, until now. Until the moment I read about in-groups and out-groups .... I can't 72 Adult Education Quarterly

tell you how embarrassed I feel for tellitig you this ... it's easier to write about it in my journal than talking about it... but I guess I need to start from somewhere . . . (Nick, secondary school teacher, 50 years old. Week 5)

It is interesting to acknowledge that both forms of positionality—ethnic identity and social class—served as catalysts of empathetic understanding on issues of diversity and social inequality. Attempting to gain a different perspective about others worked in terms of both problematizing positionality and asserting some of its past manifestations.

The Use of a Range of Tools for Critical Emotional Reflexivity As it becomes clear, the majority ofthe learners wrote and spoke about their negative emotions after beginning to gain a different perspective on issues of diversity and discrimination through their readings, emotion journals, and discussions—that is, both in their e-mail exchanges with me and their asynchronous postings to class discussion board. The learners' analysis gradually moved from a description of their own positionality to a problematization of their feelings of discomfort. In terms of the ways the learners used to critically reflect on their feelings of discomfort, the following tools were identified (a) acknowledging negative emotions; (b) critiquing one's own prejudices and discriminatory practices; and (c) reframing previous beliefs. Evidence of these tools is provided below.

Acknowledging negative emotions. Most of the learners admitted some kind of negative emotion about the ways they used to see things. Their statements reflected an ongoing struggle to acknowledge and face their discomfort. Naming how they felt in writing was very difficult as shown in the following excerpts from journals.

Many times I felt ashamed of and angry at myself, because I had easily labeled students in one way or another. I am ashamed at the possibility that somehow I contributed to the construction of a negative identity for these kids. [. . .] I was surprised once when I met the parents of a bright kid; the father was a builder and the mother a housewife. Reflecting now on how I felt makes me uncomfortable, because I had made the assumption that this kid had come from a good (i.e., high class) family. Little did I know! [. . .] It may be helpful for us to write about our feelings in a journal, but this does not make me less ashamed when I confront my beliefs. (Elizabeth, primary school teacher, 40 years old, Week 16) Writing about our feelings on racism and discrimination is very difficult and I am not sure what will come out of this. [. . .] Reading and writing about these ideas make me feel disappointment and anger, because I realize that I lack basic knowledge and skills to deal with children who don't speak our language or who are somehow different. [. . .] I feel very angry at the ways that we, i.e., the educational system, deal with the children of migrant workers, the racism they often experience and the inability of our educational system to educate all children on the basis of their diversity. (Chris, secondary school teacher, 47 years old. Week 24) Zembylas / Critical Emotional Reflexivity in Online Learning 73

The practice of acknowledging negative emotions included the learners' critical reflection on themselves as well as on the society in general. It is interesting that these reflections were positioned in the context of the course readings and discussions and made conscious attempts to initiate links to the learners' own habitual perspectives. Large excerpts from the journals, especially in the first two months, were about intense feelings of discomfort, anger, shame, and guilt that often led to a sense of being paralyzed from the intensity of these feelings.

Critiquing one's own prejudices and discriminatory practices. Although many statements were initially descriptive—that is, they simply referred to describing the discomfort felt—they gradually became more critical of the nature and source of learners' prejudice and discriminatory practices. As someone wrote in a posting to the discussion board, "I feel agony and stress, shame and despair because our racist and superior attitudes here in Cyprus will continue to exist as long as we tolerate those; we don't want to challenge the status quo" (Nora, primary school teacher, 32 years old. Week 20). This finding became more evident after reading the unit on bilingualism and bilingual education. The following excerpts from journals show the learners' struggles to make sense of their own prejudices.

After reading the unit on bilingualism and bilingual education 1 had to confront a new set of uncomfortable feelings. I have to admit that in the past I behaved with prejudice towards children who didn't speak our language [Greek]. Reading about the research done in this area and the educational implications of this practice made me feel shame and despair ... I have been one of those teachers who diminish the value of minority children's language and culture, and I have made the assumption that children from lower socioeconomic status are unable to learn. I am extremely sorry that we [teachers] often act on such assumptions. (Yiannis, primary school teacher, 35 years old. Week 16) As a teacher, I felt great disappointment and even shame in relation to how we deal with immigrant children, children of migrant workers or children from poor families. It is true that many of us [teachers] often talk about these children with contempt and refer to them as inferior, because supposedly they don't have a culture or they don't speak the language correctly. [. . .] We tolerate others as long as they do what we want them to do, as long as they are not in our classroom or do not play with our kids. The parents don't want immigrant children or children of migrant workers in the classroom because they consider these children responsible for preventing the progress of their own children. [. ..] I blame the educational institution for not doing what it must do to support all children, but I also blame us, the teachers, who have such attitudes. (Dina, primary school teacher, 33 years old. Week 25)

One of the most powerful reflections came from a secondary school teacher, Anton, who struggled to grapple with his emotional ambivalence around prejudiced attitudes. Following are excerpts from two asynchronous online discussions we had, one at the beginning of the course and one toward the end. 74 Adult Education Quarterly

I know I make many assumptions about the Turks because of what we [Greek Cypriots] suffered from them during the Turkish invasion in 1974. My family has suffered a lot as a result of the invasion but I don't want to talk about this . . . These things are very painful emotionally ... So, I have a hard time understanding the other side of the story. It seems impossible to me that some day I will overcome my prejudice against them [the Turks]. (Week 3) After reading several books, discussing a lot with my classmates, and writing two papers on this topic, I am starting to see where this prejudice is coming from. I am sure you understand that I cannot completely erase my preconceptions but I think I may be able to work through some of my fears ...[...] It's strange how reading and writing about this stuff works in a therapeutic manner! (Week 28)

In general, the learners struggled to identify emotional bridges between their previous perspectives and their new insights. It is true that the majority of them seemed willing to take risks; shifting perspectives and seeing the world differently was not easy. In the context of long-held habitual perspectives, the issue that became clear was the amount of emotional labor demanded from adult learners to engage in such risks.

Reframing previous beliefs. The final strategy used by several learners was their efforts to reframe past beliefs. In this case, their emotional ambivalence became more evident because the learners struggled to link new knowledge and previous held beliefs. This is illustrated in the following excerpts; the first comes from the final journal and the second comes from the second interview.

1 truly feel empowered for making some sense out of all these tensions and dilemmas in my thinking. For example, learning about social identity theory helped me rethink the reasons we use us/them categorizations. Such ideas make me feel how careful I should be when I judge others and how unjust these judgments may be in light of the generaliza- tions that are made. (Andrea, secondary school teacher, 43 years old. Week 28) Dealing with issues of racism and nationalism in education was undoubtedly a very emotional process in this course. I was not always comfortable engaging with such issues and 1 have to admit that I still have a lot of work to do to accept some of the ideas we read and discussed. But I do feel that a process of redefining some of these ideas has begun in my mind. For example, with the knowledge I have now I can critique my previous beliefs about the right model of educating minority or bilingual kids. I can critique the policies of the Ministry [of Education] without fear or ignorance. [. . .] Overall, I have to say that 1 am pleased I abandoned some of my earlier prejudices. (Maria, secondary school teacher, 46 years old. Week 30)

Other leamers wrote about their increased sensibility regarding issues of educating tninority and bilingual children. Some of the leamers went a step further and analyzed how changing their beliefs influenced their educational practices. For example, in an informal conversation we had, Joan said that she thought she had become more Zembylas / Critical Emotional Reflexivity in Online Learning 75 sensitive to the needs of minority and bilingual children: "I am catching myself look- ing for these kids in the school, and I make a conscious efíbrt to talk to them, ask them if I can somehow help them adjust better . . . It's not about feeling sorry for them, but about struggling to empathize with them as much as I can. I am consciously trying to change my educational approach towards these kids" (Week 29). Another learner began to question current educational practices both at the individual level and at the level of the educational system. For example, he asked, "How do we teach these kids? Do they feel valued? Or do they feel they have to follow our norms, if they want to make it in our society? How respectful is this of their own culture and language? Do we end up further marginalizing them through the monocultural educational practices we use?" (Chris, primary school teacher, 35 years old. Week 24). Clearly, most of the evidence presented here takes the form of transformed "understanding"; in a future investigation it will be interesting to explore whether transformative leaming also occurs at the level of action (e.g., through observations of these learners' pedagogical practices in their own classrooms).

The Contribution of Online Learning in Promoting (or not) Critical Emotional Reflexivity The final category which emerged is related to the learners' perceptions about the contribution of online leaming in promoting critical emotional reflection. In almost every monthly journal, the majority of learners made references to the various opportunities they had for reflecting on their feelings about the course ideas. As pre- viously mentioned, initially many learners saw the requirement of writing an emotion joumal with skepticism. As Yiannis told me over the phone in the first contact we had, "I feel this is going to be a lot of extra work and frankly I don't see its value." Maria also sent an e-mail to the whole group during the second week of classes and said that the idea of keeping an emotion journal seemed strange to her and reiterated others' concerns that she could not see the relevance of reflection on her emotions in the context of an online program. By the end of the course, the majority of the learners acknowledged that reflection on their emotions was valuable but demanded a lot of emotional labor that they were not always ready to take on. As Joseph wrote in his last journal.

Now I see your logie behind asking us to write this joumal and reflect on our emotions. Sometimes I found the task interesting, other times, to be honest, I found it somewhat repetitive. In addition, writing about how I felt was a personal thing and I was not sure I wanted to share my feelings with anyone. On the other hand, 1 do see that writing about sueh feelings helps you deal with those emotions in different ways rather than simply talking about them. So in this sense keeping an emotion journal and submitting it online to you has certain advantages. (Joseph, 37 years old, primary sehool teacher. Week 28) 76 Adult Education Quarterly

The advantage of online submission of reflections on emotions was also acknowledged by other learners; however, there were also those who admitted that talking could never replace writing about one's emotions. In general, the learners were willing to express thoughts and feelings about difficult issues such as cultural diversity and discrimination within the context of online communication.

Discussion and Implications

The purpose of this study was to examine critical emotional reflexivity on issues of cultural diversity and discrimination in an online course exploring cultural differences and social inequalities. Results provide evidence of (a) how adult learners respond and constantly negotiate their learning practices and the ways they feel about cultural diversity and discrimination, and highlight the different ways in which they reflect critically on their understanding of cultural/ethnic/social differences; (b) how online learning, contrary to popular belief, can be a useful medium to express difficult emotions related to racism, nationalism and prejudice. These results call attention to the impact of critical emotional reflexivity on the ways adult learners navigate their learning strategies about how to respond to the emotional ambivalence of dealing with difficult issues. It is also shown how the emotional experiences of online learners set the context for how learning will take place in this format from the beginning of an online course to its end. Although it is unclear whether these learners will maintain some of the transformations experienced after this course is over, critical emotional reflexivity in the context of online education creates some openings to adult learners. Similar to Ziegahn's (2005) findings, this study confirms that critical emotional reflexivity was anchored in adult learners' prior emotional experiences with discrimination and diversity. These prior experiences set the context for the learning strategies these learners used to engage in critical emotional reflexivity. These strategies included embracing negative emotions, questioning their own prejudices, and reframing underlying assumptions about the Other. These strategies are particularly important in light of the political problem in Cyprus and the interethnic conflict between Greek-Cypriots and Turkish-Cypriots. As educators themselves, these learners linked their current personal and professional positionality to the political context as well as to the recent increase of immigrant and migrant population. The tendency to acknowledge the discomfort and the difficult emotions that go along with exploring personal positionality reinforces research suggesting that critical emotional reflexivity can indeed promote new leaming (Boler & Zembyias, 2003; Zembyias, 2007). In addition, this study highlights the importance of online leaming as a safe medium of engaging in critical emotional reflexivity, because adult leamers had numerous opportunities in terms of time and space to share their emotional struggles Zembylas / Critical Emotional Reflexivity in Online Learning 77 and reframe their beliefs (Andrusyszyn & Davie, 1997; Van Soest, Canon & Grant, 2000). The quality of writing and reflecting on issues of cultural diversity and discrimination improved from the beginning to the end of the course because the learners had a sustained period of time to critically reflect on their feelings. It is possible that the duration of the course (30 weeks) played an important role in this process; this is something that needs more investigation in the future. Certainly, the multiple opportunities learners had to refine their emotional reflexivity—for example, through e-mails, asynchronous online discussions, journals, and assignments—was an important factor highlighted by other studies as well (Salmon, 2002; Vrasidas & Zembylas, 2003). The online format served as a locus of exploration and emotional expression for most learners (Tisdell & McLaurin, 1994; Yorks & Kasl, 2002). Of particular importance is also the finding that linked the process of developing empathetic understanding to an enriched sense of the Other (see Zembylas, 2007a). The fact that many leamers shared their emotional experiences of being discriminated on the basis of their social class and then made a connection with other kinds of discrimination was an interesting finding. The priority given to social class (unlike Ziegahn's study in which priority was given to race) reflects its fundamental role in the particular (homogeneous) social context in which these leamers studied. In this manner, the learners acknowledged new forms of prejudice and discrimination against others—even when those had come from themselves—when they reflected on their own prior emotional experiences. Issues of skin color and religious beliefs did not seem as important as issues of social class; it would appear that social class and ethnic identity were the most meaningful to this particular group of learners, thus it is important to interpret these findings against the social and political back- ground of the study. Other leamers struggled to make sense of prejudice and discrimination from the position of embracing their own shame for misperceiving the Other in the past or in the present. The emotion of shame has become prominent in recent years (Frijda 1986, 1994; Markus & Kitayama 1994) as a mark of a pervasive sense of personal inade- quacy. Shame is significant in emotional experiences as it is fundamental in the formation of one's confidence and self-esteem. On one hand, the fact that these leamers openly expressed shame indicates their willingness to take risks and challenge their prior assumptions and beliefs. On the other hand, there are major ethical implications of a process that causes students to feel not only discomfort, but shame (Zembylas, 2007a). For example, the following questions may be raised. Are most adult educators equipped to handle these implications? What skills are needed, and what are the further implications of bringing students to the point of shame, but then leaving the situ- ation unresolved? A "pedagogy of discomfort" (Boler, 1999; Boler & Zembylas, 2003; Zembylas & Boler, 2002) precisely recognizes such issues and shows that there is no easy way out of the dilemmas that are created. A pedagogy that recognizes and builds on the emotions of discomfort can be used to analyze the leamers' emotionally embedded investments on some ideas. By definition, a pedagogy of discomfort requires that 78 Adult Education Quarterly individuals step outside of their comfort zones and recognize what and how one has been taught to see (or not to see). Certainly, this process is full of "emotional land- mines" and adult educators need to be extremely careful. However, the findings of this study indicate that an overt focus on the emotional implications of cultural diversity is critical to stimulating critical emotional reflexivity (Tisdell & McLaurin, 1994; Zieghan, 2005). Critical emotional reflexivity begins with the acknowledgment of the role of emotion in the unjust systems and practices that inform our everyday lives. Many learners demonstrated this understanding by constantly coming back to their core beliefs and negative emotions. Through critical emotional reflexivity, they began to examine the emotional implications of unjust systems and practices, that is, how emotions worked to make various categorizations—for example, social or ethnic—that included some individuals or groups and excluded others (see Ahmed, 2004). Once they acknowledged their own emotional experiences of being discriminated, they were able to open up and see social and ethnic discrimination against others. An important implication for adult education and critical pedagogy emerging from this study is the potential of online learning to provide a useful forum for encouraging critical emotional reflexivity (see also Merryfleld, 2001). Adult education would indeed be well served if learners were given multiple opportunities to engage in reflection on their emotional understanding of issues related to social justice and exclusion (see Darling-Hammond, 2004). Critical emotional reflexivity therefore invites the deconstruction of adult learners' cherished beliefs and comfort zones to challenge the ways in which they have learned to see, feel, and act. In particular, adult educators who are interested in teaching about multiculturalism and social justice must recognize in what ways learners' emotions define how and what one chooses to see, and conversely, not to see. Although painful realizations of shame and guilt are not transformative by themselves, Boler (1999) advocates for a critical pedagogy that problematizes taken-for-granted feelings. This process is emotionally discomforting and unsettling yet under some circumstances, discomforting learning creates openings for learners to engage in new affective relations with others. In addition, there are several complex issues involved in the nature of online discussions, including trust between instructor and learners and among learners, and power issues involved in sharing personal content online. Discussions of the type described in the context of this study depend on the development of trust between and among instructor and learners. The concept "swift trust" (Meyerson, Weick & Kramer, 1996) has been developed in the social presence literature and is important to highlight what took place in the various forms of communication we had in this online course. Swift trust is a concept relating to temporary teams whose existence is formed around a clear purpose and common task with a finite life span. Hiltz and Turoff (2002) suggested that swift trust is important in instructor-student interaction in online communities. Swift trust, for example, included my students' positive Zembylas / Critical Emotional Reflexivity in Online Learning 79

expectation that the discussions and activities would be beneficial (as this was evident from the written reflections in their journals). I believe that this is one of the reasons that, although the power relationships with the learners never ceased to exist, my students gradually opened up and shared highly charged personal content; the learners would never have shared such material if they had felt that the environment was threatening or disrespectful. This study has also some limitations that need to be acknowledged in thinking about the findings. One limitation is that most data come from asynchronous discussions and e-mails, and the learners' diaries. In future investigations, it will be important to include synchronous chats because in other online forums it has been highlighted that synchronous chats have powerful implications on the quality of online communities that are being developed (Corritore, Kracher & Wiedenbeck, 2003). Another limitation is that this study is essentially a small-scale action research investigation that includes fairly new users. For those who bave engaged in action research work, it is known that they often find themselves at a crossroad where they can go one way or another. For example, given that the users in my study were new and inexperienced, I repeatedly sent e-mails that the learners needed to actively engage with one another rather than just go through the motions of "posting something" witbout responding to others. However, I had not structured tasks and activities in ways that guided the learners to engage in group conversations. Next time I teach the course, I plan to insist on tbis component because in my experience most of the times students avoid to press hard and challenge tbeir peers—a role tbat falls on the instructor's shoulders with all the negative implications (e.g., a sense of moralistic teaching; more teacher-centered instruction). A large scale, mixed methodology approach of research that also takes into account a variety of experience in users will enrich tbe questions posed bere.

Conclusion

The most important contribution of this study is its finding that under some circumstances and for particular learning goals and audiences, online environments may enable participants to acquire reflective insights about challenging issues such as cultural diversity and discrimination. Although this study does not provide any definite answers to the questions raised, it does emphasize that critical emotional reflexivity can take a variety of forms in the online format. Adult educators can uti- lize the opportunities online communication offers to enrich the learners' critical reflexivity on difficult issues, by setting up conversations on the learners' own feelings and experiences about such issues. Future research in this area will need to investigate the possibilities of enacting a pedagogy of discomfort in the online format and compare it with existing results from face-to-face leaming (Boler & Zembylas, 2003; Zembylas, 2007). An analytical focus on critical emotional refiexivity raises new questions and modifies tbose that already 80 Adult Education Quarterly dominate the fields of adult education and critical pedagogy. How are adult educators and leamers enabled to engage with issues of cultural diversity and discrimination in the online format? In what ways can critical emotional reflexivity further deepen knowledge about critical pedagogy and adult education? How do the emotions affect the subjectivities and identities of the adult leamers engaged in critical pedagogy? Interrogating the role of emotion in critical pedagogy is an important challenge for adult educators. Thus explicit attention should be paid to the ways in which emotionality, reflexivity, and adult education intersect. Much work still remains to be done in this area.

Notes

1. Operating from a broad definition of cultural diversity, I use this term throughout the article to refer to race, religious, denominational, ethnic diversity, linguistic differences, or any other kind of diversity related to shared beliefs and values of a group. 2. Transformative leaming is a major theory of adult education that helps to consider how the study of intercultural education is particularly suited to stimulating personal change (Nagata, 2006). Discussions in the literature about the meaning of transformative learning occur at either the level of understanding and/or action. Ideally, a desirable component of transformative learning is to inspire learners to take action; however, this is not always possible because of various contextual and other constraints (e.g., duration of a course; practical difficulties; difficulties in the systematic investigation of the long- term effects of a course etc.). Thus my argument in this article focuses on the notion that transformative learning, which takes the form of transformed understanding, is possible in and facilitated by the online environment. 3. It is noted that there was an explicit decision made by the university not to use any learning man- agement platform during the first year, because of technical and other problems that made a platform's use impossible. 4. Pseudonyms were used throughout the article to preserve anonymity.

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Michalinos Zembyias, PhD, is an assistant professor of education at the Open University of Cyprus. His research interests lie in the area of exploring how discursive, political, and cultural aspects define the experience of emotion and affect in curriculum and pedagogy.