Abstract
In the mainstream, national development is often defined in terms of economic growth that privileges
modernity, urbanization and scientific expertise. The promise of science, technology and innovation in
contributing to development is reified through practices in international aid and development (Conway
& Waage, 2010; Smith, 2009). In light of this, the “science for development” model (Drori, 1998) has been
internalized and reflected in a national focus on science—and recently STEM—education across the Global
South in the pursuit of development. Such a trend includes Malaysia, the focus of this paper.
Employing a postcolonial critique that foregrounds the ways of knowing and agency of actors side-lined
by the mainstream development discourse (McEwan, 2019), this paper highlights a participatory project
on “ecobricks” involving rural young people in one secondary school in Malaysia. Through preparation
and participation in a STEM innovation competition organized by a public university—where I served as a
their mentor—these young people engaged in enacting their capacity to aspire. As a tool for young people
navigating their lives, this is a capacity that can be strengthened through conscious exploration and practice
(Appadurai, 2004). Weaving ethnographic fieldnotes and interviews with the young people involved in this
competition, I construct narratives of place-based, participatory informal STEM education in a rural context,
engaging with Sellar & Gale’s (2011) new “structure of feeling” involving mobility, aspiration and voice.
Extending this conceptualization beyond participation in higher education with the Malay concept of rasa
(feeling, sensitivity, intuition), I thus portray an educative experience where rural young people grapple with
questions of development and the emplaced challenges in their surroundings. Through these narratives,
I argue that the future education of young people must (still) attend to the particularities of place and the
skills needed to act in/on such places. This calls for modes of education that exercise their capacity to aspire
through a participatory spirit, attention to lived experiences and exposure to novel encounters.
modernity, urbanization and scientific expertise. The promise of science, technology and innovation in
contributing to development is reified through practices in international aid and development (Conway
& Waage, 2010; Smith, 2009). In light of this, the “science for development” model (Drori, 1998) has been
internalized and reflected in a national focus on science—and recently STEM—education across the Global
South in the pursuit of development. Such a trend includes Malaysia, the focus of this paper.
Employing a postcolonial critique that foregrounds the ways of knowing and agency of actors side-lined
by the mainstream development discourse (McEwan, 2019), this paper highlights a participatory project
on “ecobricks” involving rural young people in one secondary school in Malaysia. Through preparation
and participation in a STEM innovation competition organized by a public university—where I served as a
their mentor—these young people engaged in enacting their capacity to aspire. As a tool for young people
navigating their lives, this is a capacity that can be strengthened through conscious exploration and practice
(Appadurai, 2004). Weaving ethnographic fieldnotes and interviews with the young people involved in this
competition, I construct narratives of place-based, participatory informal STEM education in a rural context,
engaging with Sellar & Gale’s (2011) new “structure of feeling” involving mobility, aspiration and voice.
Extending this conceptualization beyond participation in higher education with the Malay concept of rasa
(feeling, sensitivity, intuition), I thus portray an educative experience where rural young people grapple with
questions of development and the emplaced challenges in their surroundings. Through these narratives,
I argue that the future education of young people must (still) attend to the particularities of place and the
skills needed to act in/on such places. This calls for modes of education that exercise their capacity to aspire
through a participatory spirit, attention to lived experiences and exposure to novel encounters.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Proceedings of the Yidan Prize Doctoral Conference |
| Subtitle of host publication | Yidan Prize Conference Series: Europe |
| Pages | 192-205 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 2754-1215 |
| Publication status | Published - 2021 |
| Externally published | Yes |
