{"id":2945,"date":"2011-09-24T13:34:44","date_gmt":"2011-09-24T12:34:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/edtechandtesol.info\/phd\/?p=2945"},"modified":"2014-11-24T14:21:52","modified_gmt":"2014-11-24T14:21:52","slug":"seminar-at-georgetown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lantern.humanities.manchester.ac.uk\/?p=2945","title":{"rendered":"Seminar at Georgetown"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>On the 22<sup>nd<\/sup> of September I gave a presentation at the Georgetown University Culture and Politics faculty seminar. It was called <em>Language, culture, education in a Qatari English classroom \u2013 exploring areas of dialogue and tension in the diverse environment of the Academic Bridge Program, Education City, <\/em><em>Doha, Qatar. <\/em>I posted the <a href=\"http:\/\/lantern.humanities.manchester.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/Ppt-for-GU-seminar.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">ppt\u00a0h<\/a>ere.<\/p>\n<p>I discussed the main parameters and background of my research which is centred on Qatari students\u2019 educational experiences during the two-semester English language university preparation course in a western foundation programme where I teach.<\/p>\n<p>The main points were:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u00a0My professional biography (initially: \u2018frustrated fascination\u2019, at QU =&gt; passivity in class, superior position of teacher, knowledge transmission; unquestioning attitude, e.g. copying incorrect sentences from the board)<\/li>\n<li>Story of my research (\u201cStarting big&#8230;\u201d \u2013 I started from <em>large culture constructs<\/em>, generalisations, anonymous letter by an American teacher, then other texts in a similar vein)<\/li>\n<li>Proposed PhD work \u00a0(experiencing education as a cultural other =&gt; an ethnographic study)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>\u00a0<\/em><em>It took me a while to channel my frustration into a more constructive approach and shift my research from generalisations <\/em><em>to more concrete, personal, experience-based descriptions of cultural encounters in an educational context. The proposed doctoral inquiry is a direct result of this shift of perspective as it<\/em><em> focuses on the small and local while also considering the wider social and institutional context. <\/em><\/p>\n<p>Why ethnographic? Brief explanation of methodology (constructing social reality, naturalistic, interpretive, advantages\/challenges of ethnography, thick description)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Fundamental questions framing my research<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>What happens to my Qatari students during their year of studying English in the ABP?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>a)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What is the nature and meaning of Qatari students\u2019 educational experience in the English course I teach here?<\/p>\n<p>b)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What are the main formative aspects of that experience?<\/p>\n<p>c)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 How can it be contextualised within the operational framework of EC\/QF?<\/p>\n<p>d)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What areas of dialogue and tension emerge in my students\u2019 educational experience?<\/p>\n<p>e)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What are most appropriate methodological approaches to maximise benefits\/dialogue and minimize (personal\/educational\/cultural\/social) tension in this complex setting?<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u00a0Context and background of my research: <em>language, culture, education<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Language issues (linguistic dualism, position of English vis-\u00e0-vis Arabic, pragmatic engagement with Eng-language education, nostalgia for the Arab \u201cgolden age\u201d &#8211; BUT: is English taking over?)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>a)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paradigms of teaching English in the ABP<\/p>\n<p>b)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 English replacing Arabic as the academic language (my Eng vs. Arabic writing project and background study)?<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Culture issues (Complexity =&gt; traditional system of values encountering modernity)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>a)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Historical\/social background (see extra info below)<\/p>\n<p>b)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Modernisation means material progress but also opening up to new ideas, views and lifestyle.<\/p>\n<p>c)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 When does modernisation begin to mean westernisation?<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Education issues (history of education, reforms, current situation)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>a)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 local educational traditions<\/p>\n<p>b)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 school system reform<\/p>\n<p>c)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 American\/western education<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Opposing forces operating in this context =&gt; resulting in areas of <em>dialogue and tension<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Macro-dialogue<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>a)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Qatar and the world<\/p>\n<p>b)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 QF and the world<\/p>\n<p>c)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 QF and western universities<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Micro-dialogue = at the intersection of four zones, territories, \u201clocalities\u201d: society, institutional complex, small classroom culture (Holliday\u2019s typology) =&gt; students\u2019 experience<\/li>\n<li>Areas of tension<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>a)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Socio-cultural (value systems, social forms and behaviours, including co-education + dress code, body language, position of women, etc.)<\/p>\n<p>b)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Institutional (procedures, styles of bureaucracy)<\/p>\n<p>c)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Educational (in terms of underlying philosophies =&gt; liberal arts, academic freedom, academic integrity, student motivation)<\/p>\n<p>d)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Methodological (classroom methods, interactions, requirements and expectations =&gt; teaching\/learning strategies and approaches)<\/p>\n<p>e)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Personal (all of the above) =&gt; combined in students\u2019 experience<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Strands of subversiveness<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>a)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Goals vs. Effects<\/p>\n<p>b)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Theory vs. Practice (search for perfection vs. daily academic grind)<\/p>\n<p>c)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The \u201cTHINK\u201d campaign<\/p>\n<p>d)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Liberal arts vs. pragmatic educational choices<\/p>\n<p>e)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Maintenance\/development vs. culture of acquisition and disposal<\/p>\n<p>f)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Arabic vs. English<\/p>\n<p>g)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <em>My teaching\/research biography (big =&gt; small) <\/em><\/p>\n<p>h)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <em>My students\u2019 educational experience<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u00a0Large cultural dimensions = \u201cblack abayas\u201d and \u201cwhite thobes\u201d =&gt; generalizations, impossible to capture and comprehend what really happens to individuals in an educational setting<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0Individual faces of my students mean individual narratives, diverse stories of the struggle to grow and comprehend changes around them, to respond to educational challenges which mould \u00a0their personal and social life<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0\u201c\u2026ending small\u201d =\u00a0 <em>Global<\/em> cultural paradigms need to be adjusted to fit the small, <em>local<\/em> size of my educational setting to facilitate a better informed and more action-oriented approach to (my) teaching.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The presentation went surprisingly well \u2013 it resulted in a rather lively discussion about \u00a0areas of educational dialogue and tension and a potentially subversive nature of western education here.<\/p>\n<p>I had been bracing myself for critical remarks concerning my proposed methodology, conceptual framework, research focus, etc. but, instead, \u00a0I had questions from the audience about some of the points I made about educational developments in Qatar and students&#8217; responses to them as seen in my classroom.<\/p>\n<p>What I thought was well received was my path of research thinking from large cultural constructs to small classroom cultures and the resulting methodology of ethnography\/thick description aiming at highlighting the personal, human dimension of &#8216;local&#8217; educational experience in an internationalised context, with its cultural, social and institutional complexity.<\/p>\n<p>It was rather unexpected that a couple of Qatari students from local high schools also attended my talk. They seemed very interested in what I was saying and even came up to me afterwards to ask me extra questions. They confirmed my observations concerning aspects of secondary education here.<\/p>\n<p>I must admit, I was quite tense &#8211; it really was the first time I had presented my research context, focus and methodology in its (their?) entirety\u2026 Once I realized it resonated with the audience I felt much better!<\/p>\n<p>Magda<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On the 22nd of September I gave a presentation at the Georgetown University Culture and Politics faculty seminar. It was called Language, culture, education in a Qatari English classroom \u2013 exploring areas of dialogue and tension in the diverse environment of the Academic Bridge Program, Education City, Doha, Qatar. I posted the ppt\u00a0here. I discussed the main parameters and background [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p865eh-Lv","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lantern.humanities.manchester.ac.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2945"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lantern.humanities.manchester.ac.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lantern.humanities.manchester.ac.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lantern.humanities.manchester.ac.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/58"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lantern.humanities.manchester.ac.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2945"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lantern.humanities.manchester.ac.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2945\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6876,"href":"https:\/\/lantern.humanities.manchester.ac.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2945\/revisions\/6876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lantern.humanities.manchester.ac.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lantern.humanities.manchester.ac.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lantern.humanities.manchester.ac.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}