Learning Processes in Creative Industries Initiatives in Developing Countries

Learning Processes in Creative Industries Initiatives in Developing Countries: An Examination of Policy and Practice Corinne van Beilen (MSc Educational Sciences) CCI ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation Faculty of Creative Industries Queensland University of Technology Academic qualification: Doctor of Philosophy Year: 2012 1 STATEMENT OF ORIGINAL AUTHORSHIP “The work contained in this thesis has not been previously submitted to meet requirements for an award at this or any other higher education institution. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made.” Corinne van Beilen 7 December 2011 2 Abstract What does a dance group in Benin that mixes contemporary and ethnic dancing have in common with Mongolian felt producers that want to enter the design market in Europe? These are both examples of learning processes in Creative Industries initiatives in developing countries. Following the concept of sustainable development, I argue that the challenge for developing countries in contemporary society is to meet the very real need of people for economic development and opportunities for income generation, while at the same time avoiding unintended and unwanted consequences of economic development and globalisation. The concept of the Creative Industries may be a way to promote a development that is sustainable and avoids social exclusion of groups-at-risk. In line with this, I argue that the Creative Industries sector could, in fact, link economic development and the continuation and evolution of local traditions and cultural heritage. A pressing question then is: how can education and learning contribute to creating a context in which talent can flourish? This study aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the research problem of this thesis: what elements are conducive for individual learning processes in creative development initiatives? In this, I argue that it is crucial to determine what ingredients and characteristics contribute to making these initiatives successful, that is, to meet their specific goals, in a developing context. This is explored through a staged analysis: an overview of quantitative data, an inventory and comparative case studies and, finally, the description and analysis of two in-depth case studies – felt design in Mongolia (Asia) and dance in Benin (Africa), in which I was an observer of the action phase of the local interventions. The analysis culminates in practice-related outcomes related to the operation of creative development initiatives, as well as the contribution to the academic debate on issues like the cultural gap between developed and developing countries, transformative learning and the connection of learning spaces. 3 Preface In the early European spring of 2007, I went on holiday to Cambodia with a friend. In that period I was working in an administrative university job, but with future dreams of completing a PhD. Our main travel destination was the magnificent heritage site Angkor Wat and its surroundings. There, we visited a tourist shop called Artisan d’Angkor filled with arts and crafts that were of high quality. Curious about the origins of the products, we decided to visit the workshop in Siem Reap. Artisans d’Angkor turned out to be a fascinating training programme for talented young people, including orphaned and disabled children, and a company for revival and preservation of Cambodian traditional arts and crafts and craftsmanship. Their holistic approach of learning, creativity and economic opportunity interested me, because it was building on what they already have – talent and a history of excellent craftsmanship – and turning it into new opportunities by connecting to the new markets of the tourist industry. “This is what I want to do”, I said to my friend, “research how educational approaches can contribute to social and economic improvement”. At the time my frame of reference did not focus on the concept of the Creative Industries; I looked at this project from a point of view that had been instilled through my Master’s degree in Educational Sciences or “Andragogy”. At the Institute for Lifelong Learning and Social Intervention of the University of Groningen, I was part of a research tradition which views lifelong learning and active citizenship as a way out of social exclusion, whether it is due to low education, gender, ethnic background, poverty, sexual orientation, unemployment, or mental and physical disabilities. In this research tradition, the focus lies on the individual within the group and interventions are targeted at finding a personal way out. Characteristic of andragogy as a science of social intervention is the interchange between several levels of analysis. The late Professor Max van der Kamp stressed that those who are concerned with clarifying interventions in practice cannot pass by the policy context and institutional environment. In Max’s view the task of academics is foremost to carry out empirical research in the fields of education, employment, and assistance without avoiding a normative contribution to the public debate. Max asked himself questions such as, “How useful is our research really? Can fascination and doubt be servants to one master?” He once stated: “What is worthwhile about andragogy is that it has never been accommodated by the Ivory Tower of the Academia, but instead embarks upon undeveloped fields and isn’t above getting involved with the socially excluded, or those who don’t live in harmony with their environment”. Therefore, action research (Lewin 1946) has always been an important research methodology for the associated scholars. It is within this research tradition that I carried out my Master’s research into lifelong learning and sustainable development in 2005, supervised by Professor Max van der Kamp and Associate Professor 4 Jacques Zeelen, commissioned by the Dutch National UNESCO Commission. This topic fitted seamlessly with the recent focus of the research group on lifelong learning, globalisation and development, due to a number of development collaboration projects and a seven-year stay by Jacques as a visiting professor at the University of Limpopo (South Africa). In more recent years this focus has been further elaborated on by a collaborative research programme on Early School Leaving in Africa (Zeelen et al 2010), possibly to be extended into Asia as well (Goa, India), and an active exchange of Master and PhD students between the University of Groningen and a number of universities in South Africa, Mozambique, Uganda, and Tanzania. My Master’s thesis was contextualised by the UN’s Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, in which lifelong learning has been named a priority. I and another student, Stijn Tebbes, carried out eleven case studies on a variety of projects regarding learning for sustainable development, that is balancing economic, social, and environmental purposes, and it included formal, non-formal and informal learning and a great variety of learner’s backgrounds and ages. These case studies were mostly based in the Netherlands, but also included projects in Belgium, Australia, and Estonia. It was my first experience with case studies, and following the tradition of our research group, we used documents and interviewed people from different levels: policy, institutional, and individual. It was an approach that suited me well; I felt it gave insight into practical and organisational issues and into people involved in the projects. As these commonly intertwine, interact, and effect each other, I became convinced it was the most suited approach to researching a project or programme in practice. Following Max van der Kamp, in this approach there is still room for the academic debate; meta-analyses of these case studies on three levels holistically contributed to the academic debate and contemporary context it was set in. After the completion of my Master’s thesis, my research interests started to shift towards developing countries. This was fed by issues of globalisation and the world risk society encountered in my thesis and the needs of the developing world in the context of sustainable development. My familiarity with the activities of Dutch National UNESCO Commission also contributed to this interest, as did the recent focus on development of the research group I was part of. The interest in internationalisation in general, and development in particular, had a longer personal history. My international experience started in 1994 when I moved to Riverton, Wyoming (USA) for one year where I was part of a very international group of friends, followed by one year in London (UK), and three years in Brisbane (Australia). After returning to the Netherlands, I also worked in internationalisation at different universities, where I encountered a variety of international students from all over the world, including a great number of developing countries. It was in these jobs that I first gained practical experience in intercultural communication. This interaction with international students, as well as my experiences travelling through a number of Latin-American, Asian, and 5 African countries, prepared me more than anything else for the demands of carrying out research in an international context, or more specifically in a development context. My Cambodia trip in 2007 ended with a week’s visit to Brisbane, Australia. It was then I first spoke to Professor Greg Hearn about my dreams of finishing a PhD one day. Greg Hearn had been one of my lecturers during the bachelor’s degree in Communication that I completed at the Queensland University of Technology in 2000. We had stayed in touch during the years and through this contact I had heard about the new Faculty of Creative Industries that now included Communication programmes and scholars. I first became interested in this new concept through tours around the new Precinct and explanations on the developments. This increased when I visited a project in Stanthorpe for my Master’s research.

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