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Richard Fay and Susan Brown

Language Teacher Education Language Teacher Education

School of Education, The University of ManchesterSchool of Education, The University of Manchester

richard.fay@manchester.ac.uk susan.a.brown@manchester.ac.uk

Our zones of teaching activity

Masters-level Undergraduate

MA TESOL MA Educational Technology &

TESOL

BA Language, Literacy & Communication ….

and more broadly … Study Abroad + Global Citizenship

Continuing professional development

Personal development

Internationally-oriented language teacher education for

experienced TESOL practitioners

Communication study; and Global Citizenship more widely

(all with non-teachers)

with specific focus on intercultural and technology-based interactions

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Mismatch?

Can we focus on …

teacher education?international placements?sustainability and global citizenship?transformative learning?pedagogic? professional? personal values?

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Where we fit in …… we are language teacher educators working in the international field of

TESOL… with interlinked specialisms in the intercultural and the technological

aspects of education and communication more broadly.These have prompted an ‘interesting’ set of curriculum design experiences… exploring intercultural communication (online and via study abroad sojourns),

global citizenship, sustainability education, and digital literacies.

Such curricular experiences reflect the complexities of organising international placements in a university equivocal about their value.

We began course development ‘in an institutional vacuum’ but there is now a more interculturally-nuanced institutional discourse

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Collaborative endeavourswithin our department …

– Diane Slaouti, Xiaowei Zhou …. Kate Sapin

within our institution (inter-departmental) …- Caroline Whitehand (Study Abroad Unit)

- Patrick Johnson (Equality and Diversity Unit)

- Manchester Medical School- ? Amanda Conway (Manchester Leadership Programme)

internationally (inter-institutional)

- Magdalena De Stefani (The Anglo, Uruguay)- Neny Isharyanti (Satya Wacana University, Indonesia)- Milena Katsarska (Plovdiv University, Bulgaria)- Rachel Lindner (Munich University, Germany)- Vida Zorka (Ljubljana University, Slovenia)

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The Manchester DegreeBy the time students graduate, they will:

be prepared for citizenship and leadership in the global community;

have learnt in, and benefited from, an environment committed to high standards of equality and diversity;

be highly employable and prepared for [their] future career;

be well-qualified in [their] chosen subject; be able to think independently and critically, and to

analyse problems; have advanced written and verbal communication skills; be able to make ethical judgements and have a sense of

personal responsibility; have broadened [their] personal, intellectual and

cultural outlook.6

The Manchester Leadership Programme (MLP)

The MLP aims to develop leadership skills and a greater awareness of social, economic and environmental sustainability.

Through it, students learn about key contemporary issues, contribute to community projects and meet high-profile leaders from different sectors …

It has twin concerns with volunteering and leadership.

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Going Global: Intercultural communication for international experience

This course unit aims to …

explore the nature of lifelong cultural learning as related to the challenges of living in unfamiliar cultural contexts;

explore the characteristics and challenges of interactions with individuals from differing cultural backgrounds and with differing cultural identities;

promote the value of reflection during and after periods spent in unfamiliar cultural contexts.

Being mothballed because …

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Computer-Mediated Intercultural Communication

This course unit aims to:explore the characteristics, complexities and

affordances of computer-mediated communication (CMC), and intercultural communication (IC).

explore CMC and IC in conjunction though a computer-mediated intercultural communication (CMIC) project.

explore the characteristics, complexities and affordances of the use of English as a lingua franca (ELF) in CMIC.

provide an experience of CMIC accompanied by: critical reflection on that experience; analysis of the data generated through that experience; and consideration of the communication skills required for appropriate and effective CMIC. 9

Becoming GlobalThis course units aims tocontribute towards the development of students’

intercultural awareness and its role in global citizenshipdevelop students' habit of, and skills in, approaching key

global issues from multiple perspectives.

To this end, the course unit:provides students with a multiple perspectives framework

for intercultural awareness;explores a diverse set of illustrative case studies addressing

different global issues;uses these case studies to consider multiple perspectives

on, and differing positions towards, the issues concerned; and

requires students to engage with one such issue from multiple perspectives and with critical attention to the positioning of self and others.

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Becoming Global -- Illustration 1What, in your opinion, are the key issues of our time?

Food production Sustainable aviation Consumerism 

The richest 2 percent of adults in the world possess more than half of the global household wealth, according to the World Institute for Development Economics Research of the United Nations University (UNU-WIDER). Not only is there obvious inequality in consumption throughout the world, but this inequality leads to a wider range of issues

Literacy Gender Inequality Digital Media RevolutionGlobal Poverty

There are 2.2billion children in the world.  1billion of these live in poverty.  A mere 12% of the world's population uses 85% of its water; this 12% are not in the third world.  The poorest 40% of the world's population accounts for 5% of global income. In comparison, the richest 20% accounts for 75% of world income …. 

etc

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Becoming Global -- Illustration 2aWhat are the top five groups with which you identify?

[1] I initially thought this list was going to be simple and

blagged it off, now I’ve been sitting here for 40 minutes trying

to figure out my groups. Something makes me feel like it

would be easier if there was a list of groups and we had to

pick 5 we belong to but interestingly, I feel that would

completely defeat the point of this exercise. Likewise I

wonder if you would agree that we could each pick 50 groups

we identify with. As an aside I feel like it’s quite a personal

thing and that some groups I pick I’d rather just think about

rather than write down…..maybe that puts me in an

introverted group??

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Becoming Global -- Illustration 2bWhat are the top five groups with which you identify?

[2] Am also thinking (and it's only half-baked), it's really

interesting how we've so far defined the groups we've

belonged to under the umbrella of nouns (in relation to

interests). What if we'd grouped ourselves in line with

something else like emotions or adjectives? So I tend to be 1)

pensive 2) considerate 3) enjoy challenging beliefs 4) am

spontaneous 5) can be moody.... And then I could place my

relationships in line with these traits. So I get on with my

friend because he is also considerate, appreciates my

spontaneity, can handle my moodiness, etc. It highlights our

shared capacity as human beings more?

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Becoming Global -- Illustration 3

Homelessness in Developed Nations (by kind permission of Helen Burnett)

http://www.slideshare.net/secret/1OWlnapy04

Ni1s

Altruism versus profitability: How do we get our drugs? (by kind permission of Lani Walshaw)

https://voicethread.com/?#u1654371.b1755459.i9232555

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Becoming Global – Illustration 4

Anecdotal transformative-suggestive feedback:

Mabel felt that the course unit fostered critical approaches to  global issues ( in a way to which she was not accustomed in her social anthropology course- this perhaps does not need to be said). She felt that this was a vital skill and one that should be fostered among all students. This being the case she felt this should be a compulsory course unit for all .....

Candace's message (MMS): "I have really enjoyed this module and think that there is a great fit between ‘Becoming Global’ and the communication skills curriculum employed by MMS."

Eva said that she had just never thought about global issues "in this way" before. She always felt that these issues were  too 'vast' for her to engage with. The approach taken on Becoming Global allowed her a way in to doing so without her feeling overwhelmed by their magnitude.

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Some course design considerationsStudy level Undergraduate Level 1, 2 or 3 // postgraduate?

Study modalities

face to face // blended learning (with elearning support seminars or sojourn experiences)

Student mix from within a Dept plus overseas epartners // cross-faculty

Experiential sites

Mcr classes + online resources //Mcr classes + online (CMIC project + resources) //international (sojourn) and online (resources and activities)

Interaction primarily with …

classmates and epartners // sojourn contacts / in the ‘field’ // classmates and key issue texts

Focus areas intercultural communication / experience / learning // global citizenship // sustainability education // digital literacy

Development impetus

horizontal (interdisciplinary) //vertical (extra-disciplinary)

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THANK YOUTHANK YOU

Contacts:richard.fay@manchester.ac.uk

susan.a.brown@manchester.ac.uk

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