Better Together: Fostering Student-Level Intercultural Competence Through Collaborative Online International Learning (Coil) And A Collaboratively Created Assessment Tool, Wes Armstrong

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

Many Japanese universities have been undergoing processes of internationalization to mitigate demographic realities that conspire against robust student enrolments. These internationalization initiatives often attract students from other Confucian-based contexts who are expected to move away from their homeland and fully integrate into an unfamiliar, Japanese environment. Resultantly, international student needs are often camouflaged by cultural similarities that favour group harmony and collectivism over more equitable approaches to learning. Therefore, this Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) aims to serve student needs by fostering the development of intercultural competencies through a pilot collaborative online international learning (COIL) project open to all students, and …

Increasing Collective Teacher Efficacy Through Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit And Coaching: A Community-Based Approach, Brenda Mercer

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

Abstract

Instructional coaching in one remote northern community focuses on teacher mentorship and professional learning and prioritizes the implementation of prepackaged literacy resources. This focus on the implementation of prepackaged programs and data collection, promotes neo-liberal priorities and the privatization of education, over the methods that support the inclusion of Inuit cultural knowledge. Kostogriz (2011) states that we should be cautious about accepting the neo-liberal discourse of the literacy crisis and standardized reforms, the author suggests that low levels of literacy are not a large-scale problem so much as a result of under-provision of a socially just education.

This Problem …