international education

George Mason’s English language teacher development program has worldwide impact

Sarah Holland — Wed, 13 Nov 2024 16:15:46 +0000

George Mason’s English language teacher development program has worldwide impact Sarah Holland Wed, 11/13/2024 - 11:15

English is a global language used in multiple international contexts, from science to economics to diplomacy. Because of this, many countries start English language instruction as early as kindergarten and continue mandatory instruction through grade 12.

Teachers from Uzbekistan visit Fairfax Campus on a Fulbright visitor's program. Photo Provided.

But to know English and to know how to teach English are two separate skills. That’s where the Global Online Teacher Education Center (GOTEC) in the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) at ��AV comes in.

“There are teachers who are proficient in English, who have studied it, but they don’t necessarily know how to teach children or teenagers using the most recent approaches,” said Joan Shin, associate dean for faculty success in CEHD and director of GOTEC. “Our goal is to provide education and tools to teachers on those critical pedagogical skills like children’s learning and development, classroom management, effective communication, developing lesson plans, and so on.”

After the Teaching English to Young Learners program receiving its first grant in 2017 from the U.S. Department of State, its continued growth allowed for the chartering of GOTEC in 2021. They have secured more than $4 million in externally funded projects, all focused on teacher professional development outreach to international communities. The program has served more than 42,000 teachers from 135 countries, providing instruction in how to teach children and teenagers, as well as integrating media literacy into English language teaching.

“The State Department is very familiar with the fact that George Mason has this specific expertise in these courses,” said Shin. “We develop projects that are going to be successful because they are culturally sensitive, relevant, and sustaining.”

That expertise comes from the diversity of experiences, backgrounds, and academic expertise amongst the team’s leadership, postdocs, and graduate students. “It allows us to build the best professional opportunities for teachers all over the world,” said Anya Evmenova, professor and associate director of GOTEC.

GOTEC offers a variety of professional development opportunities, from massive open online courses to country-specific seminars in places like Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, Greece, and, most recently, Turkmenistan. The courses are mostly asynchronous, using Canvas and interactive materials to build community across time zones and borders.

Some projects also include synchronous Zoom webinars, where GOTEC faculty and course participants are able to meet and ask questions.

“They come in with such enthusiasm and excitement, and you can see the lightbulbs go off as they connect ideas,” said Jered Borup, associate professor and associate director of the center.

One instructor, adjunct faculty member Ginny Doherty, noted that what she found participants needed most were examples of activities to keep their students engaged and practicing the language in the classroom. Along with discussion board posts where students can share ideas, techniques, experiences, and activities, videos are crucial to this: Participants can watch videos of Shin and other center affiliates demonstrating the techniques taught in the course.

All the modules are designed to encourage participants to consider how these pedagogic strategies and tools can be adapted and applied to their specific cultural contexts. And the content is meant to be shared. “Materials have been licensed through Creative Commons, with the hope that anyone to be able to access the content and to reuse, remix, and utilize it in a way that makes it as meaningful and relevant to all the teachers in their regions,” explained Shin.

They call this “cascading”—an intentional design choice that encourages participants to share and spread what they’ve learned. Their Uzbekistan project, for example, had core trainers and regional peer mentors participate in the full program. Those participants then engaged with teachers in their local communities, using both the content from the module and additional activities and professional development materials they created independently based on what they learned.

“We want them to learn from each other,” Shin said.

GOTEC’s mission to advance research and pedagogy in online teacher education extends to its own scholars as well. “Our graduate research assistants and postdocs are an integral part of the center,” Borup said.

George Mason alum Woomee Kim, PhD Education ’22, is one example of this. Kim, who began as Shin’s research assistant during her PhD program, is now a postdoctoral fellow with the center. “I got to learn so much from working hands-on on these projects, and I felt empowered to contribute my expertise and knowledge while having ample opportunities to learn and develop as an educator and scholar,” she said. “It’s a great model for what a graduate assistantship should look like."

Even though GOTEC serves educators from around the globe, the sense of George Mason pride and spirit is strong among participants. The courses are particularly popular with Fulbright students, who will often visit George Mason’s Fairfax Campus when in Washington, D.C. GOTEC participants have visited classes on Fairfax Campus to talk with current students about their experiences with international education. One of the coaches in the Uzbekistan program found the course so impactful that they proceeded to apply to CEHD’s PhD program.

Said Shin, “we want them to feel like they are still part of our George Mason community.”

One of the webinars with the Uzbekistan participants. Photo provided.

Discover more with GOTEC

Topics

College of Education and Human Development

international education

U.S. Department of State

Global Online Teacher Education Center

Campus News

International student stays adaptable during virtual learning

Anonymous — Fri, 26 Mar 2021 12:24:34 +0000

International student stays adaptable during virtual learning Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 03/26/2021 - 08:24

International student Nawaf Alshathri’s journey to ��AV and his college experience is unique in many ways. But he has remained resilient and appreciates the worldly perspective Mason has provided him.

Born in Saudi Arabia, Alshathri moved to northern Virginia as a sixth-grader. Only a few years later, his family returned to Saudi Arabia, but Alshathri couldn’t get Virginia out of his mind.

When it came time to choose a college, Mason was the easy choice. “I missed Virginia, and I still had friends here from a few years ago,” says Alshathri. “Also, Mason is a research university and close to DC. There’s a lot of potential here.”

A junior computer science student, Alshathri says adjusting to being so far away from family was hard. “What made it easier was calling my family every day,” he says.

But the pandemic threw a wrench in many of his plans.

Last spring, when Mason announced that all classes were going virtual, Alshathri was stuck on campus with no way to get home due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. His friend Brody Receveur and his family took him in, and Alshathri stayed with them until moving back into the dorms in fall 2020.

“It felt so sudden. I remember walking to a computer science class with a friend in January and talking about a new virus in China and how it could change life in the U.S. if it made it here,” says Alshathri. “But I don’t think anyone realized just how much.”

The Department of Computer Science faculty taught all classes virtually, so while Alshathri took all of his classes online, the Fairfax Campus was home.

After the fall semester, Alshathri returned to Saudi Arabia, and he has been taking all of his classes virtually. Alshathri then had to not only adapt to new classes in a still unfamiliar format, but he also had to change his routine completely.

“I start my days at 8 or 9 in the morning eastern time, which is 4 or 5 p.m. here. Often my classes run till 12 a.m., and I study till about 3 a.m. my time,” he says.

But to him, the adjustment is well worth being home. “I’ve liked being home, and I’m glad I was able to come home safely. But I do miss Mason, and I hope that I can go back before graduating,” he says.

Despite the challenges, Alshathri is glad he chose Mason as an international student. “Being an international student, in general, gives you a global perspective. It is a great opportunity to study somewhere new and meet people from different cultures, which you can definitely find at Mason.”