Abstracts for Session 18

Tourism Education Methodologies for Inclusion and Emancipation in Precarious Times 

 

 

Title: The Interdisciplinarity of Tourism Education as an Opportunity for Emancipation.

Authors: Deisi Trindade Maricato and Jessica Aquino

Affiliation: Hólar University

 

This presentation will discuss a proposal for a teaching experiment that will be conducted over a one-day workshop in the fall 2021 semester master’s course held at Hólar University. The purpose of the teaching experiment is to develop and test teaching methodologies that uses a reflective process to help build student’s awareness and education as a form of social transformation. It is acknowledged that mass tourism is unsustainable and overtourism negatively impacts communities and environmental sustainability. Thus, we seek to better understand and develop teaching methodologies that utilizes a reflective process to help students prepare for the challenges they face developing a more sustainable and ethical tourism future. Based on the Freirean Pedagogy—which acknowledges education as the main democratic tool for building awareness about reality and its emancipatory power—we argue that tourism curriculum should be based on a critical and reflective approach that promotes the socio-transformative power of tourism. For example, by training professionals who are more aware of their role as social subjects and capable of transforming their realities and their communities.  Our research uses Critical Theory and the Freirean Pedagogical Theory as an approach to answer the following question: “What teaching methods can we use to better develop tourism studies curriculum that builds student autonomy, emancipation, and critical thinking?” The data collected during the teaching experiment will be used to develop teaching methods that help students cultivate a deeper understanding of different perspectives of concepts used in engagement and empowerment in community tourism development.

 

 

Title: Responsibility in tourism higher education: online teaching, student centered learning and university pedagogy in precarious times 

Author: Laufey Haraldsdóttir 

Affiliation: Hólar University 

 

University teaching and learning exists more and more online worldwide, either in blended learning environment or by distance learning with or without short on-campus sessions. Although this creates more equitable opportunities for learners, however teachers are left behind lacking necessary knowledge and skills for effective and inclusive online teaching. The ongoing covid-19 pandemic has magnified this situation to the maximum as almost every university in the world has had to go online with their study programs and academic teachers have been forced to adapt to online teaching.  

This study has three objectives: First, it aims to gather information and knowledge through literature review of on online teaching and learning—with focus on tourism related higher education. Secondly, it aims to gain an understanding of teachers and learners lived experiences of online education and what really works for an effective and inclusive teaching and learning environment. And thirdly, it aims to conduct a teaching experiment by the author, in two different student groups in fall 2021. Empirical data will be obtained through interviews with university teachers and learners and with an ethnographic study within the authors own online courses. This will include observations, reflection of my own teaching methods along with a dialog with the student groups. The presentation will reveal preliminary data from the study.  

 


Title: Benefits of knowledge triangles in tourism and hospitality education

Authors: Eva Holmberg, Jarmo Ritalahti, and Kaarina Tervo-Kankare

Affiliation: Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences, University of Oulu

 

During the last decades, governments throughout the world have emphasised that universities need to intensify their co-operation with industry.  This co-operation is referred to as the knowledge triangle when both university students and lecturers participate in co-operation projects with an industry organisation. The SUCSESS project, funded by EU’s Erasmus+ capacity building programme, aims to strengthen the knowledge triangle at 3 universities in South Africa. The project is mainly targeting programs in tourism, hospitality and service management. To understand the differences between the existing practices between European countries (Finland and UK) and South Africa, a GAP report was prepared in the beginning of the project.  The findings presented in this paper focus on the results of Finland.  

The aim of this study is to gain an understanding of benefits of the collaboration between the actors of a knowledge triangle. Data was collected by a student survey, interviews with university lecturers and industry representatives.  The results show that collaboration increases students’ employability, higher expectations to find an ideal job and decreases the stress to look for a job after graduation. For companies involved in knowledge triangles, students offer innovation capacity with their fresh ideas, creativity and a possibility for employer branding. From lecturers’ perspective industry collaboration gives options for knowledge transfer including up-ot-date industry content in courses as well as relationship building opportunities for research, development and innovation (RDI) activities.

 

 

Title: Teaching Wildlife Tourism Management: A Case Study of an Exploratory Course

Authors: Jessica Aquino

Affiliation: Hólar University 

 

This presentation describes a learning experiment undertaken with students at the University of Lapland during an elective wildlife tourism management course. This exploratory course focused on blending theories used in place-based education and nature pedagogy to help students better grasp and explore their philosophical understanding of culture, nature, and wildlife and how these affect management actions. The research used arts-based methodologies as a tool to document and facilitate individual and group reflection. Diagrams of Practice was used as a form of arts-based methodology to help visually see student’s reflection of their learning. Furthermore, experiential learning was used as a way to explore how managers can help to create sustainable places to live, work, and visit through the co-creation of more ethical management practices that benefits local communities, incorporates a sense of place, and protects the ecosphere. The main outcomes of the course were to inspire further learning about environmental philosophy outside of the classroom and to help students push the boundaries of their own philosophical understanding of culture, nature, and wildlife.