Reflective practice as a research method for co-creating curriculum with international partner organisations

Within work-integrated learning (WIL), partner communities and organisations are increasingly seen as co-educators, but not often as collaborators of research inquiry (Hammersley, 2012; 2015). This paper reflects on the research methods employed to engage partner organisations in the co-creation of curriculum to support international WIL activities in a way that recognises the valuable expertise, knowledge and skills of international community partners. In particular, it focuses on the specific role of reflection as a research method that enabled participants from diverse cultural and experiential backgrounds to critically and collectively explore the co-creation process. This paper shares the different ways reflection was used to recoginse multiple knowledges and enable all participants to freely and creatively map and share their personal and collective experiences as co-researchers.