Kevin Kester
Seoul National University
About
Hi, I'm Kevin Kester. Assistant Professor of Comparative International Education and Peace/Development Studies at Seoul National University (서울대학교). I research educational responses to peace, conflict and development in local and global contexts. My most recent book is The United Nations and Higher Education: Peacebuilding, Social Justice and Global Cooperation for the 21st Century. I completed my PhD and postdoc at the University of Cambridge. Prior to moving to Seoul National University I was Assistant Professor of Education at Keimyung University (계명대학교) and Director of Studies for Education at Queens' College, University of Cambridge. I serve in various leadership capacities with the Comparative and International Education Society and the Korean Educational Research Association.Sessions
Challenges and Opportunities for Peace (or Conflict) in Higher Education more
Sun, May 1, 14:00-Tue, May 31, 23:55 Asia/Seoul
Universities have a role to play in supporting peacebuilding in all societies but especially in (post)conflict contexts. Yet such work has rarely been examined. This paper then looks toward the diverse approaches of higher education to support peacebuilding, from policy and philosophy to pedagogical practices, in (post)conflict contexts. Specifically, the paper examines the work of university educators in two institutions in Afghanistan and Somaliland. Data for the research was collected through qualitative interviews with 12 university educators across the two institutions. Findings indicate a number of challenges and opportunities -- associated with race/ethnicity, gender, and linguistic diversity -- that university lecturers and their institutions face in supporting peace in diverse societies, particularly as relates to the ‘two faces’ of higher education to support or impede peacebuilding processes. The paper ends with a discussion of implications for curriculum, teaching and learning.
Education and Prefigurative Politics: Six Pedagogies for Working Toward Peace/Justice Today more
Sat, Apr 30, 11:30-Tue, May 31, 23:55 Asia/Seoul
This study examines the contribution of university educators toward prefiguratively creating tomorrow today in the higher education classroom. Educators often teach explicitly for social justice and social change through a variety of normative pedagogical frameworks. Yet, this linkage of pedagogy and prefigurative politics in university classrooms is underexamined. Hence, this paper investigates the varied literatures related to pedagogy for social change in universities, including but not limited to: (a) democratic pedagogy, (b) critical pedagogy, (c) transformative pedagogy, (d) conflict-sensitive pedagogy, (d) peace/social justice pedagogy, and (e) decolonial pedagogy. The paper examines the literature through the lens of prefigurative politics/pedagogy, which is understood as a form of praxis that attempts to reconstruct through education a more fair society. This is complemented with data from interviews with university educators in Korea. New pedagogical possibilities and critiques will be discussed.