Recent poststructural and postcolonial critiques of service-learning projects have led to the call for a re-signification of service-learning and community engagement projects within higher education. This presentation will explore a postcritical pedagogical possibility which aims to reframe ethical relationality with the ‘Other’–beyond paternalistic and salvationist agendas–by suggesting the possibility that one may ‘be taught by the Other’ (Biesta, 2013). This presentation will share findings of a pilot research project where higher education students were invited to engage with young people who come from very different backgrounds to their own (the Other). This engagement took place in a local community setting, where notions of mono-epistemic universalism and paternalism were explored and challenged. Through the service-learning encounter, and by using a range of reflexive tools, students were encouraged to be open to the possibility of being taught by the ‘Other’ as a form of ethical relationality. Students divided their time between engaging with young people from different backgrounds in community organisations, and attending class workshops where ideas of difference were explored through an analysis of their experiences in the settings. Furthermore, as part of this project, I used a self-study methodology to reflect upon my own teaching methods while using this innovative approach to service-learning pedagogy. In this presentation I will discuss the ways in which this pedagogical approach was used to disrupt universalist and paternalistic understandings of cultural difference in a community setting. Postcritical perspectives will be considered which shed light on the complexities of north-south interactions evident in ‘local’ community settings.

Biesta, G. G. (2013). Receiving the gift of teaching: From 'learning from' to 'being taught by'. Studies in the Philosophy of Education, 32, 449-461.