On my way, some reflections

The day that our Dutch cabinet fell over the issue of the NATO mission to Afghanistan, was the day I flew out to Valencia. Months earlier I had applied for a grant from Europees Platform to finance a professional development course under the title of State of the Art CLIL. A term I didn´t know before but which stands for Content and Language Integrated Learning. This (Comenius) course took my interest as it focuses on the issue of how to teach and learn about particular subjects in a language that is not your native language.
A number of years before I had experimented with an international module (taught in English)for a few years in a row about trends and perspectives in culture & society. The approach was quite innovative in the way that our students attended an 8 week course in English, were provided with only English language study materials and articles and moreover, had to take turns in chairing the different sessions themselves (in pairs). Supportive materials in how to handle these tasks were provided and my role became one of coaching / tutoring the students to make sure they kept on the right track and tackled the subject matter in depth.
With each group that I coached at the time, it was fascinating to see how the proficient English speakers and the more communicative students dominated the first sessions.
In the breaks that we took I always tried to stimulate the more silent students and coax them gently into more active participation in the discussions that were taking place in class. It wasn´t as if they had nothing to say, it appeared.....
After some probing I found out that many of the silent students had been told (by their teachers of English at secondary school) that they were failures as far as English was concerned.
Once I´d found that out, I adapted my strategy a little. During the initial introductory session led by me, I specifically addressed this issue and asked them to support each other in expressing their views. I also recommended bringing along dictionaries to class and encouraged them to consult them whenever they felt they lacked the vocabulary to express themselves. These proved to be successful strategies, as I saw more and more students joining the discussions and just doing their best in using the English that they knew AND developing their English language skills !
Another barrier I identified was this: the students in the chair often tried to open up debates by asking open questions but got frustrated from time to time when there was little response. Gradually I found out that this was mainly due to two factors: one was the occasional, complicated phrasing of the question. It was often simply too difficult to start discussing immediately. Another cause was the length of the question and the time to ¨absorb¨ the question, which prevented students from responding.
Realising this, I sometimes decided to intervene to clarify the questions put to the group and pointed out the importance of asking clear questions to facilitate interesting dialogues on the issues that were raised and to take some time before inviting anybody to respond.
By doing this, I became aware that students were also learning things at a different level; they saw that the clearer you communicate yourself, the more you stimulate the group to join and contribute. And the better you involve a group, the more valuable the experience and the discussions become. Two beneficial side effects I would never have imagined before I started out with these sessions. Fascinating !
So when I saw what CLIl entailed, I felt straight away that this would be a very welcome professional development step for me.
Writing this on my way to Valencia I hope to contribute some of these experiences to the CLIL course tomorrow or any of the coming days.

2 social work field visits

Today we visited the Rotterdam Youth Information Point (JIP in Dutch) to hear in what way they provide information to young people. But more interestingly, we learned what information it is that young people are looking for when they approach JIP. The international students could listen to a staff member telling them about young people's specific issues, such as debt, homelessness, sex issues etc. As we were just a small group of 5 there was plenty of opportunity for interaction and for asking questions. All in all, we got a pretty good idea of JIP and the way it operates for young people in Rotterdam. After an hour or so it was time to move on to the next location.
A visit had been arranged at Herenplaats, a gallery with a difference !
Again we were warmly welcomed by some one from the staff who told us but most of all demonstrated to us what beautiful works of outsider art are produced there. We could have a look at all the workshops and even see a number of artists at work when we arrived. Two of them took the time to show us their work and we had some interesting communication with them. It was fascinating to hear that one of the artists present had recently visited New York to open an exhibition of his work there. More generally speaking, much of the outsider art produced at Schiedamse Vest travels outside the Netherlands and vice versa the Herenplaats gallery exhibits work from international artists as well. It was interesting to see and hear that going international can definitely work and is on the increase in this branch. The English version of the website is significant in that respect.
When you have a look at some of the works of art, it's hard to understand that people with an intellectual disability are not admitted to the regular art academies. Herenplaats does a wonderful job in offering them art training.
And then on my way back to Museumpark I was taken by surprise by an Andy Warhol slogan displayed on a wall at Witte de With street putting the visit in its right perspective: "in the future everyone will be famous for 15 minutes". Well, at Herenplaats these special artists have found the right spot for their talent development.

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Welcome international students

Today was the kick off for the international class. Although not all the students had arrived in Rotterdam yet, it was still quite a full group. A great variety of countries was represented, making the international class more international than ever. Students had come all the way from Ireland, Finland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Greece, Portugal, Spain, Turkey and England.
After a morning session with some introduction there was an informal lunch followed by a tour through the Museumpark location, accompanied by a number of Dutch international "buddies" from the teacher training college for primary education.

Introduction in International Class

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After introducing the "golden rules" drawn up by last year's students and a short introduction of Rotterdam University it was time to call it a day. After all, there's only so much you can take in on a first day full of new impressions and people. Here's a quick look:

Welcome meeting at Museumpark from Jane Traveller on Vimeo.

Sharing is multiplying

A super experience, you share a powerpoint on slideshare and the site points you to related presentations. I had seen it before, clicked on some, saw some interesting things, but today I was taken by surprise.
This is what I came across:

Teaching, learning and assessment communication skills with children and young people in Social Work education

View more presentations from foreman.

Spot on ! In our search for international perspectives on social work and international literature this is a fortunate find surprisingly presented by slideshare technology. A big thank you !

Library services !

Today was earmarked as one of the so-called professionalisation days with all the lecturers of our CMV study programme. One part of the day was announced as media library training. A good initiative as libraries have been developing themselves more and more into an information hub, a development that has escaped the attention of many.
One of the librarians showed us many of the services and opportunities that the library at Museumpark offers to students and lecturers. Especially one new and wonderful initiative is the subscription to a few databanks full of international journals and articles on all kinds of social topics, such as Jstore, but also the Directory of Open Access Journals.
In the past I had already been to a presentation of Library Press Display, an online paper databank covering news from all over the world, an enormously rich resource.
Since our international policy plan outlines our intention to include an international perspective in a substantial number of modules and make more intensive use of international literature, this easy access to a wealth of international information is most welcome.