+
Exploring the role of cross-cultural mediators insupporting collegial development and professional capital intelecollaboration
Carolin FuchsTeachers College, Columbia University
Mirjam Hauck & Marie-Noëlle LamyThe Open University of the UK
+BACKGROUND 51 U.S.-based student teachers of ESL/EFL engaged in
telecollaboration 2.0 (Belz, 2003; Guth & Helm, 2010) with: - 2 TAs in the U.S., South African & Cypriot teachers (Phase
I)- 1 Chinese-American novice teacher (NT) and his EFL
learners in China (Phase II) Research Questions:1. What were the effects of the cross-cultural
mediators and their knowledge of contexts on the telecollaborations?
2. How did the mediators justify their participation and problem-solving?
3. How did they perceive their roles as mediators in these telecollaborations?
+Professional Capital and Collegial Development in Teacher Education Preparing future teachers of English for the varied
educational contexts by exposing them to this diversity (Vavrus, 1991), while fostering “multiliteracies and participatory cultures” (Pegrum, 2009, p. 38)
Honing student teachers’ professional capital (Hargreaves & Fullan, 2012) and their collegial development (Breen, 2006)
Focusing on networked potential; professional responsibility needs to entail access to other cultures to form professional learning networks (Breen, 2006)
Systematically developing and integrating “three kinds of capital - human, social, decisional – into the teaching profession” (Hargreaves & Fullan, 2012, p. xv)
+Telecollaboration in Language Learning and Teacher Education
Cross-institutional telecollaborations extend the physical classroom walls to reach social capital in different parts of the world
Telecollaboration for language study and intercultural learning (e.g., Belz & Thorne, 2005; Blake, 2008; Guth & Helm, 2010)
Potential to develop teachers’ intercultural communicative competence (Hauck, 2010; Müller-Hartmann, 2005) and autonomy (Fuchs, Hauck & Müller-Hartmann, 2012)
+Challenges in Telecollaborations Amplified cross-cultural misunderstandings and
reinforced stereotypes (e.g., Belz, 2002; Kramsch & Thorne, 2002; O’Dowd, 2003; Ware, 2005; Ware & Kramsch, 2005)
Logistical issues, lack of time, planning, (mis-)communications, cross-cultural issues, technological issues, electronic literacy skills (e.g., Fuchs, 2007; Lomicka, 2011)
3 cross-cultural mediators in this study to minimize challenges with regard to technology, commitment from collaborators, possible (intercultural) miscommunications
+RESEARCH DESIGN (see audience handout)
Exploratory case study (e.g., Nunan & Bailey, 2009) 51U.S. STs., 2 South African teachers, 8 Cypriot Teachers Main focus: 2 TAs (TA Cyprus, TA SA) in participating
Methods course and 1 Chinese-American Novice Teacher (NT) in China with 5 courses of 18-19 Interm./Adv. EFL learners (IT/telecommunications majors)
Author (researcher-instructor) as participant observer (e.g., Denzin, 1989); American teacher educator-researcher in Japan to provide outside perspective
Data triangulation: CMC data (Google Groups, emails), narratives, reflective Skype interviews
“Collaborative task” (O’Dowd & Ware, 2009, p. 178)
+Telecollaborative ExchangesPhase I: U.S.-SA-Cyprus Telecollaboration (Sept – Oct
2010) Analyzing and comparing differences in language learning
and classroom management U.S. STs and SA teachers wrote and critiqued each other’s
Language Learner Histories: commonalities/insights U.S. STs asked SA and Cypriot teachers questions about
classroom management (teacher role, use of L1, large classes, cheating, etc.)
Phase II: U.S.-China Telecollaboration (Oct – Dec 2010) 6 groups of U.S. STs designed and graded technology-
based tasks for the NT’s EFL classes U.S. STs were not directly interacting with the EFL learners
in China but with the NT
+FINDINGS (Phase I: U.S./SA/Cypr.)Exploiting Personal Connections
“Ok, so knowing the teachers in a personal context and as a student helps as they know you and are familiar with you as an acquaintance. Being in an academic role, however, meant that I was asking them to go beyond being an acquaintance and tap into their academic/intellectual/professional side and share that. […] The teachers seemed a little intimidated at first as [the graduate institution in the U.S.] is an Ivy League institution, however, because I was known to most of the teachers, they were willing and eager to assist.” (TA SA, Interview, 2/25/2011)
+Exploiting Personal Connections
“Originally the collaboration involved only South Africa but then I suggested that we can collaborate with Cyprus as well since I have many acquaintances currently working as teachers. […] I agree with [the SA TA] and would like to mention that if they didn't have this personal relationship with us they might have been hesitant in participating in the project.” (TA Cyprus, Interview, 2/25/2011)
+Exploiting Personal Connections
“[T]he idea was to contact a principal in a public school that I knew, so he would ask his teachers to answer the questions. The principal was willing to assist in the tellecollaborative project however the teachers were reluctant, only a couple of them were willing to do so. Therefore I thought of asking former classmates from the Department of Education of the University of Cyprus which are in-service teachers in public schools in Cyprus. My classmates were more than willing to help and answer in a very short amount of time.” (TA Cyprus, Narrative, August 2011)
+Determining tasks and procedures
“I knew that I would need to […] explain the collaboration in more detail as this was a unique experience for many of them. I specifically mentioned that responses needed to be emailed back to me well within the deadlines that I set.” (TA SA, Narrative, August 2011)
+Mediating the Exchange
“[Classroom management] is always a topic of discussion in South Africa as many languages, cultures and backgrounds are in one classroom at any given time and this often leads to classroom management issues. In this way I knew which questions applied more to the context of South Africa.” (TA SA, Narrative, August 2011)
“I knew that the teachers in Cyprus would have been interested in answering questions related to classroom management […] I knew which questions applied more to the context of Cyprus and would receive more elaborate answers.” (TA Cyprus, Narrative, August 2011)
+Linguistic Mediation“[A]s I knew that language can be a barrier sometime in
tellecollaborative projects I also provided the instructions in Greek, within the emails that I sent to the Cypriot teachers. Also, I could clarify any questions [about] the instructions. Even though that the teachers in Cyprus did not have a mediator there my knowledge of both contexts, US and Cyprus, made it easy for me to explain adequately the purpose of the project and made procedure far easier.” (TA Cyprus, Narrative, August 2011)
“My High School teachers all spoke English fluently and were computer literate, however, I knew that I would need to rephrase the LLH for the South African context […]” (TA SA, Narrative, August 2011)
+FINDINGS (Phase II: U.S. – China) Providing Information on Instructional Context
Questions about task design from the U.S. STs: nature of possible projects, timeline for presenting tasks and providing feedback, availability of different technologies
NT's responses provided U.S. STs with insights into his student population and instructional context:
“1. One project per class, and each class has 18-19 students. 2. I can devote 2 weeks of class time (2 45-minute periods per week) plus homework assignment.” (NT Email, 10/25/2010)
+Negotiating the Task Design
“Peer review won't be a problem. In fact, it'll be a good exercise for them to try.” (NT Email to researcher-instructor, 10/07/2010)
"There are no copying machines for teachers to use, so I will need to print out a copy of the student instructions to give to each class monitor (class president) to make copies for everyone." (NT Email, 11/24/2010)
+Technological Constraints
“Youtube and popular social networking sites like Facebook are all blocked. Even though many of my students are software majors, and probably have ways around the firewall, I wouldn't want to make these sites as part of the task.” (NT Email to researcher-instructor, 10/07/2010)
+Technological Constraints“QQ does have a blog, but not many students use it. They
use the personal space instead, which is more similar to Facebook. I believe we can use Blogger. I think blogger.com is blocked or partially blocked, but there's a Chinese version for China. I went through the sign up process tonight, and it's a cinch. The students won't need to sign up for a gmail account first, so it shouldn't be a problem for them.” (NT Email to all STs, 10/20/2010)
“They're also familiar with blogs (although not necessarily with Blogger or specific blog sites you have in mind), so they'd be able to focus on producing the content rather than struggling with the technology medium.” (NT Email, 11/2/2010)
+Providing Feedback and Appropriating Tasks
NT appropriated tasks in most relevant way for his learners He recycled the two most popular tasks the following term;
labeled only one out of six tasks “unsuccessful” (IKEA task): furniture and descriptive writing in marketing unexciting for IT/telecommunications, http://polldaddy.com/ too difficult)
STs graded his students based on their, NT also graded his students and gave learners both sets of feedback:
“[EFL learners] felt flattered that STs at an Ivy League school were not only designing tasks especially for them but that they were also grading them on their performance.” (NT Interview, 2/25/2011)
+TAs’ Reflections on Mediator Role
“What was beneficial was the fact that I felt comfortable sending the emails as I knew the context. I would perhaps have felt less comfortable sending them to a random school in South Africa. […] The teachers seemed a little intimidated at first as [the graduate institution in the U.S.] is an Ivy League institution, however, because I was known to most of the teachers, they were willing and eager to assist.” (TA SA, Interview, 2/25/2011)
“[…] I felt it would be easier for the SA teachers to respond to one email, mine, and that I would compile their information and then share it with the [U.S.] students.” (TA SA, Interview, 2/25/2011)
+TAs’ Reflections on Mediator Role
“Having cross-cultural mediators […] can prevent and minimize possible issues with the execution of the project.” (TA Cyprus, Narrative, August 2011)
“In conclusion, I feel that being a cross-cultural mediator, I was able to not only assist in the final product of comparing the educational experience in different contexts, but I was also aware of the difficulties and possible challenges that could prevent successful intercultural collaboration.” (TA SA, Narrative, August 2011)
+NT’s Reflection on Mediator Role
“The foreign teacher plays a crucial role in providing the necessary scaffold before the tasks, and in guiding the students during the tasks. […] The local teachers lack the cultural knowledge needed for these tasks. […] EFL learners, especially in China, are conditioned to learn for exams, not for practical use […] […] foreign teachers are crucial in providing the culturally authentic task experience.” (NT Interview, 2/25/2011)
+NT’s Reflection on Mediator Role“Adding China to the study added a new dimension to the
relational roles of the study participants primarily due to my unique position as the language teacher as well as the field observer, which enabled [the graduate institution in the U.S.] to have direct supervision and active participation in the end-to-end process.” (NT Narrative, February 2011)
“Once the curriculum design was completed by the [U.S. STs] and the lesson plans submitted for implementation, my role shifted from assessor and mediator to implementer and field observer as I provided immediate feedback to [the U.S. STs] for task evaluation. During and after the task, I took on the added role of a facilitator and mediator similar to the TAs while I engaged in direct communication with [the U.S. STs] regarding learners’ performance review.” (NT Narrative, February 2011)
+DISCUSSION Mediators had approached researcher-instructor about
new telecollaborations to take advantage of international connections (“teachers as cultural workers,” Breen, 2006, p. 218) and to put into practice what they had learned
“[A]llowed to be creative in [their] approaches to different contexts” and “to lead the part of the class that involved the collaboration” so answers and questions were not as “stifled and contained” (TA SA, Interview, 2/25/11) (feeling of empowerment, Hargreaves & Fullan, 2012)
U.S. STs received feedback from mediators and researcher-instructor (telecollaborative principles of reciprocity/writing for authentic audience, Egbert et al., 2007)
Mediators’ deemed intermediary roles necessary for success of the telecollaborations
+CONCLUSION Reasons for including cross-cultural mediators in
telecollaborative projects: Generating and selecting materials, participants, goals Establishing personal relationships with all participants Taking advantage of their contextual knowledge to
ensure technical and participant compatibility Taking advantage of their flexible identities across
contexts for faster negotiation when problems arise Providing input for participants based on prior
experience with telecollaborative projects 2 TAs’ role shifted to facilitator due to their knowledge of
the contexts (filtered participants/tasks, facilitated participation of all teachers, assisted with language barriers, promoted immediacy of response)
+CONCLUSION NT offered suggestions and feedback throughout the
process (mediator role), except when STs used own rubric and provided direct feedback and grades to his learners
NT gave instructional design feedback based on his experience of implementing the tasks
NT provided assessment of learner competency and interest to help with the task design
NT’s role shifted from assessor and mediator to implementer and field observer when he adjusted tasks as needed during implementation without having to confer with the U.S. STs and when he had final say in grading
+CONCLUSION Mediators’ ability to manage multiple identities and roles
effectively Appeared as project managers and more experienced tech
collaborators for the U.S. STs, and occasional informants about the other cultures when clarification needed
Mediators’ personal, cultural, linguistic, institutional, technical knowledge can facilitate project management
Their multiple identities allowed for playing multiple roles in the telecollaboration process (= positive impact on how they viewed their professional development)
Foundation to manage these projects independently using their knowledge
+IMPLICATIONS Mediators from contexts that have been on receiving end of technological expertise (e.g., Helm, Guth, & Farrah, 2012; Lamy & Pegrum, 2012) Similar to need for learner training in educational technology (e.g., Hampel & Hauck, 2006; Hubbard, 2004, O’Dowd, 2011), it is necessary to explore exact nature of mediator training Analyze individual experiences of telecollaboration to under-stand learning opportunities (i.e., impact of task design on future positions, contribution to collegial development) Look at actual tasks and learning outcomes for EFL learners Need to include researchers external to original project
+Thank you!
+Acknowledgements
Dr. Bill Snyder, Kanda University of International Studies (KUIS)
Pantelis Charalambous Shannon Bishop Bruce Tung
