{"id":11018,"date":"2020-11-16T09:56:43","date_gmt":"2020-11-16T09:56:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lantern.humanities.manchester.ac.uk\/?page_id=11018"},"modified":"2020-12-15T14:56:15","modified_gmt":"2020-12-15T14:56:15","slug":"transforming-lives-transforming-practice-cornerstone","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/lantern.humanities.manchester.ac.uk\/?page_id=11018","title":{"rendered":"Cornerstone: Transforming Lives & Practice"},"content":{"rendered":"

Funded by: The University of Manchester, ESRC Impact Acceleration Account, Covid-19 Rapid Response Call May 2020<\/p>\n

Transforming lives, transforming practice: how technology shapes teaching, learning and well-being for vulnerable adults in a time of pandemic<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

[ August 2020- June 2021 ]<\/span><\/p>\n

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The University of Manchester<\/strong>: Gary Motteram, Richard Fay and Susan Dawson<\/p>\n

Caritas Refugee Education Project<\/strong>: Andres Mora<\/span><\/p>\n

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Relevant Publications<\/span><\/strong>:<\/p>\n

Dawson, S.<\/strong>, Mora, A., Motteram, G<\/strong>., Fay, R.<\/strong>, & Leoni, F. (forthcoming). Learning from volunteer experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown. In TESOL TEIS Newsletter<\/em> (special issue on volunteer teacher development).<\/p>\n

Motteram, G.<\/strong>, Al-Masri, N.<\/strong>, Hamouda, H., & Omarali, S.<\/strong> (2020). Exploring mobile support for English language teachers in a context of conflict: Syrian refugee teachers in Jordan. In G. Fassetta, N. Al-Masri<\/strong>, & A. Phipps (Eds.),\u00a0Multilingual online academic collaborations as resistance: Crossing impassable borders<\/em> (pp. 56-70). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.<\/p>\n

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Aims and Objectives: <\/b><\/span>Concern over the impact of Covid-19 in increasing the barriers refugee and asylum seekers face is growing (Saltmarsh, 2020). Accessing English language provision is vital for refugees\u2019 integration, employability and well-being (Doyle & O’Toole, 2013), and the evolving Covid-19 context demands innovative approaches to providing accessible and relevant language classes. The project focuses initially on a local Manchester charity, the Caritas Refugee Education Project, who we have been working with over the last year, whose transformative agenda is to increase the potential and quality of life of its clients (Caritas, n.d.). Through a longitudinal case study approach, we will explore how the sudden move online demanded in the lockdown stage of the pandemic facilitates and\/or constrains the transformative agenda of the charity as it moves forward throughout the next academic year. This project aims to document the innovative educational practices which emerge and are subsequently embedded in practice throughout the pandemic, strengthen Caritas\u2019 use of teaching and learning technologies to maintain and extend its transformative agenda, and support Caritas\u2019 ambition to become a beacon for creative and relevant online ESOL teaching and training in the region and beyond. The findings and the co-produced material outputs will be used to form the basis of training provided to other UK ESOL providers and to the broader field of Education in Emergencies. In order to achieve these aims, we will:<\/span><\/p>\n

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  1. Evidence the challenges and opportunities arising from the current context in relation to Caritas\u2019 transformative aims.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Document the role of technologies (e.g. mobile phones, Zoom, online learning platforms) in shaping Caritas\u2019 emerging teaching, learning and well-being practices.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Co-develop technological, pedagogic and other strategies to address the challenges and opportunities documented in objective one.<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Co-develop training materials and workshops to disseminate the good practice developed through objectives two and three.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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    Links to research undertaken<\/span>: <\/b>This project builds on and extends work being undertaken in MIE on the use of social media apps (e.g. <\/span>WhatsApp<\/span><\/i>) for teacher development in challenging contexts (BC ELTRA award, 2019, ESRC IAA grant, 2017) (Motteram & Dawson, 2019; Motteram, Dawson & Al-Masri, 2020). It also builds on ongoing conceptual work on educational ecologies and shaping influences (Fay & Stelma, 2016), and ecologies of well-being (AHRC large grant AH\/L006936\/1, AHRC GCRF AH\/P009786\/1) (Andrews, Fay & White, 2018).<\/span><\/p>\n

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    Expected Outputs<\/span>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n