Comparative Education Bulletin - Faculty of Education - The ...

The Researcher as Insider and Outsider:
The Duality of Positions
Mitsuko Maeda
Introduction
This paper presents a brief look at some of the issues related to the
author’s research that places her in the dual role of an insider and
an outsider within the research site. The study identifies, illustrates
and analyzes power relations among actors involved in development
cooperation. International development cooperation is a global
enterprise that involves diverse actors, ranging from the micro- to
the macro-level. The actors include States, aid organizations, private
companies, and citizens in both the aid provider country and the
recipient country. While some people participate actively and directly,
others are even not aware of their indirect engagement. It is therefore
not easy to illustrate the complex overall picture of diverse relations
and interactions among actors, who have different motives, concerns,
interest and power – though numerous attempts have been made by
scholars to present an integrated overall view of the picture. This study
identifies some of the missing pieces, and also attempts to fit these
pieces into the wider picture.
The Context
Specifically, the study explores the intricate power relations among
actors with reference to a Japanese-assisted teacher training project in
Cambodia. Since the early 1990s, Cambodia has experienced diverse
and prolific interventions from foreign countries. Cambodia had
suffered from the chaotic situation created by the brutal Khmer Rouge
regime (1975-1979) and in the decade after this period it was largely
ignored by the International Community. However, in the 1990s,
many foreign actors rushed into this war-torn country and started
programmes of “development cooperation” that gradually involved
Cambodian actors as well. The Japanese-assisted teacher training
project was one of these programmes. This project was planned in
the early 1990s and implemented from 2000 to 2004. The focus of the
project was secondary school mathematics and science education.
The project involved diverse actors such as the two governments,
educational institutes, Japanese advisors, Cambodian teachers and
students. The author was a key actor – a science education advisor – in
this project.
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