International EFL Teacher Professional Development and Decolonization: Studying West China Projects at the Faculty of Education
Update
Watch a recording of the seminar: https://connect.uottawa.ca/pjsyzsr5gxco/
Date: January 29th 2018
Time: 3 p.m. – 4:15 p.m.
The presentation will be in English
On site: University of Ottawa, Faculty of Education – Room LMX 388
Online: https://connect.uottawa.ca/educlang/
Details
Since 2015, groups of English as a Second/Foreign Language (ESL/EFL) teachers from rural and remote areas in Yunnan Province have taken part in three-month professional development projects at the Faculty of Education. These teachers work on improving their teaching practices and English language proficiency while living in Ottawa for the summer. The teachers visit public and indigenous schools to see how secondary schools operate in Canada. The project has expanded significantly since its inception.
This coming May, we will welcome 105 teachers from rural China. It is one of the largest and most costly international projects conducted by the University. This session outlines how the project is organized and explains how you can get involved as a paid volunteer, researcher, lecturer or facilitator. Incorporating post-colonial approaches, critical lecture content and decentralized delivery, the curriculum has been developed in concert with the Chinese Scholarship Council, Beijing Language and Culture University and the Embassy of China in Ottawa.
The project has been delivered with the active participation of ILOB, the Catholic School Board and the Kitegan Zibi First Nation. Our session will also provide an overview of the research that is connected to this project. The data collected to date in Canada (surveys, interviews, focus groups, video-taped presentations and pre and post language testing) reveals very interesting findings that we would like to share.
In brief, these teachers face considerable challenges in terms of the application and usefulness of information technology, the adoption of communicative approaches in the Chinese context, student motivation, and lack of resources. Please join us and help us discuss the implications of this important project.
Speakers
Gloria Romero has a PhD in Second Language Education from the Faculty of Education at the University. of Ottawa. She has been a teacher of English and a pre and in-service teacher trainer for 20 years in Chile. Her research interests are: volunteering teaching, equity and SLE, novice EFL teachers’ experiences, international second language education, communities of practice, and knowledge mobilization through online communities of practice.
Douglas Fleming‘s research and teaching focus on ESL and critical notions of citizenship related to equity, multilingual communities and qualitative research methods. Prior to entering academia in 2007, Douglas taught for 20 years for the Toronto (Ontario) and Surrey (British Columbia) School Districts. He’s also past president of the Citizenship Education Research Network.