Dialogic research in a diverse globalizing world: Ways of valuing local voices in multi-partner design research including both developing and developed countries

ABSTRACT: The science education literature is by and large limited to cases in individual countries of which the majority is Western. Consequently, little is known of the actual practice of doing research in the 21st century science education for a diverse global community which includes both developing and developed countries. By drawing on our experiences in a global research project entitled Science Education for Diversity we aim at concretizing this practice. The purpose of this collaborative research project between the UK, the Netherlands, Turkey, Lebanon, India and Malaysia was to (i) understand how the partner countries address the issue of diversity and (ii) use the results to improve science education in terms of responding more effectively to the new cultural diversity of students and benefit students in Western and non-Western countries involved in the project. Particularly, in this contribution, we highlight the dialogic way according to which the project was setup and by which we are currently collaborating, that is, by valuing the local voices as they are in a project with both developing and developed countries. Furthermore, we identify several successes and challenges in this kind of multi-partner global research, and how they are related to social, cultural, and practical aspects of our research. In so doing, we develop a number of principles for the practice of doing research in the 21st century science education for a diverse global community.