DUN-SIG: Intercultural Dynamics Workshop

The workshop on 27 January 2023 is co-designed by the Bias Aware Teaching and Learning BATL and the Teaching and Learning in the International Classroom TLIC Special Interest Groups hosted by the Danish Network for Educational Development in Higher Education DUN. 

This free workshop is hosted by CIP at the University of Copenhagen and is open to all interested in supporting intercultural teaching and learning in higher education institutions. The workshop will be in English. 

The online registration for the workshop is now closed, but late registration is possible by sending an email to cip@hum.ku.dk. 

Introduction

During this open workshop, we shall experiment with different tools and resources designed to support intercultural dynamics in teaching and learning communities at universities. In this context, intercultural refers to any diversity of cultural backgrounds, experiences, perspectives, and expectations through which a class interrelates, and dynamics refers to the professional interaction between teachers or instructors and students.

Rationale 
We know teaching and learning work best when communication between the students and the teacher is clear and reciprocal. Whilst all within a learning community can contribute to making communication accessible and inclusive, we tend to look to the teacher to steer the way. But even when the teacher is equipped with an array of pedagogical tools and skills, navigating intercultural dynamics in a learning community is challenging. During the workshop participants experiment with different pedagogic techniques designed to support intercultural dynamics and share their own intercultural experiences and practices.

Workshop design 

Part A introduces pedagogic techniques designed to nurture intercultural learning and interaction. We start by exploring tensions around identity, bias and privilege that can arise in multicultural classrooms. We then experiment with a selection of design tools that promote students’ peer learning and constructive collaboration, such as Speaking Rules, and reflect on how their use can create positive-sum learning environments where all students have equal standing and voice.

The workshop activities are designed by Florence Villeseche and Stina Teilmann-Lock from Copenhagen Business School. Their article on design tools is now available to read here.

Lunch and networking

Part B focuses on managing challenges within intercultural settings. In Part B, we engage with DOREEN, ‘a norm-critical story-telling game of provocations that displays women’s invisible experiences in computing to challenge barriers to inclusion’. Jenny Vej, one of DOREEN’s creators, will facilitate the game and our reflections on how we could apply and adapt it to our own contexts. Jenny and colleagues’ article on DOREEN is available here.

The workshop concludes with a review of our take aways and a discussion about the next workshop in the SIGs’ series Teachers’ and students’ experiences of equity and inclusive education at Danish Higher Education Institutions. 

More information

You can access information about the workshops from DUN Activities. DUN SIG members can access workshop resources and agendas from the MS Team for the relevant DUN SIG.  

If you are interested in joining one of the SIGs, you can read more about the BATL SIG and the TLIC SIG and here’s the link for applying to join a DUN SIG.