Can Finnish educational ideas and practices be transferred to another sociocultural context? – Previous studies do not give us a clear answer as they question the transferability of pedagogical ideas across cultures. Nonetheless, during the last decade there has been a growing number of international education programmes organised abroad by Finnish higher education institutions. These programmes are also called 'transnational education' or 'education export'. Export of Finnish educational expertise is seen as an engine for internationalisation and a source of revenue for higher education institutions in Finland. This PhD research project explores teaching and learning cultures in transnational higher education by examining three cases of pedagogical development collaborations between a Finnish university and universities in Palestine, Brazil, and Thailand. The project is designed as empirical qualitative multiple case study. Research datasets comprise of interviews and reflective texts written by university teachers in these three countries. Drawing on previous research into international/transnational higher education, institutional cultures, and poststructuralist discourse analysis, the project aims to understand the cultural dynamics and change processes engendered by the transnational cooperation. The research unpacks the criticised aspects of transnational education (and of Finnish education export), namely its cultural politics often seen through polarised 'provider-receiver' power dynamics and branded as 'cultural hegemony' through education. The hope is that the research opens new directions in overcoming such unproductive polarised perspective and improve our understanding of the ‘receiving’ side’s agency to transform foreign discourses towards spaces of empowerment.

2024