Exploring the Craft of the Educator: Reflections on the Winter 2016 IFDS in Buenos Aires
Transcript of Exploring the Craft of the Educator: Reflections on the Winter 2016 IFDS in Buenos Aires
AgendaIntroductions
Ana Maria Wiseman - Wofford College
Jan Jarrell - San Diego City College
Mehdi Moutahir - Johnson and Wales University
Christopher Sapp - University of Mississippi
Panel discussion - Q & A
Concluding remarks
The Craft of the Educator: Towards a More Interculturally Aware Pedagogy Share outcomes
Focus on students
Focus on personal transformation
Focus on faculty
San Diego City College● 16,000+ students
● 53% / 18-24 years old
● 93% / part-time
● 61% / financial aid
● 36% / first-generation college students
● 12% / active duty military, vets,
dependents
Intercultural Learning
● Self-Awareness & Identity● Focus on curiosity and inquiry;
use of ethnographic tools● Move to empathy, adaptability,
& ethnorelativism
Habits of Mind / Appreciative Inquiry
● Listening with understanding & empathy
● Thinking flexibly & thinking about your thinking
● Questioning & problem posing● Responding with wonderment & awe
Bringing the Buenos Aires IFDS Home
Deeper Learning 1● Describe● Interpret● Evaluate
CIEE Assignment:
-Pick a place/find a spot.-Observe and interrogate what you are observing-Ask questions-Interrogate yourself-Write a 200-word reflection on what you are seeing and feeling
Deeper Learning 2Revisiting a place, an object, or text:
● 1st draft: What did you notice?● 2nd draft: What additional
details do you remember?● 3rd draft: What message is the
author trying to communicate?● 4th draft: What connections
can you make?
Cf: Kelly Gallagher
Cf: Kelly Gallagher
Deeper Learning 3Track your Thinking Journal
○ I wonder…○ I was reminded of…○ I used to think ___, but now I think ___.○ I still think ___, but I’d like to add ___.○ Others think ___, but I think ___.○ The author (artist, architect) is
suggesting that…○ I was confused by ____.
Samples from my ESOL Intermediate Reading Class
● “I started to wonder… who cleans our classroom at night?” (Azzedine)
● “I was reminded of the horror of living every day in fear of not being able to go freely [on] to the streets.” (Susana)
● “This part makes me think that nationality and ethnicity do not define values.” (Emmanuel)
Cf: Kelly Gallagher
Educators & Artists: Tale of Personal Transformation
International service learning: Guatemala, China, Australia, Mexico ...
Johnson & Wales University - College of Business
Entrepreneurship, Management, and International Business
International exposure: Morocco, Sweden, France ...
Study abroad experience: Italy, England, South Korea ...
International Educator?
Faculty & Program Lead Roles
● Lecturer: Sage on the stage (content expertise and dissemination)● Discussion facilitator: Guide on the side (process manager)● Trip / Program manager: Logistics and safety
Knowledge ≠ Self Awareness
Knowledge ≠ Other Awareness
Student Role (IFDS participant)
● Self awareness as participant○ Letting go
● Empathy for student student experience○ Energy, time, hunger, autonomy
● Reflection & Assignments○ More work after long days
Facilitators and participants experience the same trip from ethnocentric lenses
-Pick a place/find a spot: Graffiti & murals throughout the city-Observe and interrogate what you are observing-Ask questions: What is art?-Interrogate yourself: What am I learning?
-Write a 200-word reflection on what you are seeing and feeling
CIEE Assignment
Walls
as
public media
Art - \ˈärt, ərt\
The expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.
Education - /ˌejəˈkāSH(ə)n/
is the process of facilitating learning, or the acquisition of knowledge, skills, values, beliefs, and habits.
Emotion - /əˈmōSH(ə)n/An affective state of consciousness in which joy, sorrow, fear, hate, or the like, is experienced, as distinguished from cognitive and volitional states of consciousness. ... any of the feelings of joy, sorrow, fear, hate, love, etc.
Cognition - /ˌkäɡˈniSH(ə)n/
The mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses.
Empathy - /ˈempəTHē/ The experience of understanding another person's condition from their perspective. You place yourself in their shoes and feel what they are feeling.
Be the change?International educators should fully understand and practice empathy prior to attempting to teach it to their students. Intercultural awareness and empathy cannot be achieved through cognition and knowledge acquisition alone. Emotional experiences derived from exposure to diversity complemented by continuous self reflection are necessary ingredients for successful multiculturalism.
Transforming from educator to peer mentorUniversity of Mississippi: state flagship research university with 24,000 students
Department of Modern Languages: 72 faculty in 11 foreign languages, ESL, and linguistics
Why (I thought) I went to Buenos Aires:
● improve my teaching of German culture● better understand the place of study abroad in the curriculum
How can I repay my department chair and college dean for this experience?
Transforming from educator to peer mentor
Paying it forward #1: professional development workshops
1. Workshop for instructors in the Intensive English Program on intercultural learning in class and on excursions
2. Workshop for my colleagues on the above, plus issues related to study abroad
3. Presentation at the MS Foreign Language Association
Example of how a colleague used this to teach Business English (and she will train her colleagues and graduate students in this method too) ...
Transforming from educator to peer mentorBefore the DIE exercise: a scavenger hunt (language practice only):
Using DIE: from Business English to intercultural learning:
Transforming from educator to peer mentor
Paying it forward #2: improving study abroad
Assembled a sub-committee on pre- and post-study-abroad experience:
1. Each program should hold pre-departure orientation: ○ Etiquette○ How to immerse in language and culture○ How to process cultural differences
2. Assess intercultural learning after re-entry: ○ Socratic interviews with each returning language major○ Co-opt an existing photo contest○ Change current scholarship $ from pre-departure funds to prizes for a video contest
Transforming from educator to peer mentor
Faculty:
● If you take students abroad, you should participate in an IFDS● Think about yourself as an educator not just to your students, but also
colleagues
Administrators:
● Fund professional development● But require faculty to share their experiences with their peers.
DiscussionWe welcome your questions and comments, now or after the presentation.
Ana María Wiseman - [email protected]
Jan Jarrell - [email protected]
Mehdi Moutahir - [email protected]
Christopher Sapp - [email protected]