Webinar April 8

In this third and final theme in the series The international classroom we focused on Insiders and outsiders in the classroom. At the webinar on the 8th of April three presentations were made on how students’ stories and experience can be an asset in building an effective and inclusive learning environment.

About the presenters

Rachel Forsyth (PhD in Physics, project leader at Lund University and former head of the University teaching Academy at Manchester Metropolitan University)
 

Sharing the classroom
 

During this international classroom series, presenters and participants have talked about the complexities of creating an effective learning environment with diverse learners. This short session introduced some materials developed to encourage discussion about the role of the teacher in reducing feelings of being inside or outside. The resources are based on research about student and staff attitudes to difference in the classroom. There were two short activities: the first prompted thinking about how we can all adjust the way we talk about difference, and the second considered individual responses to students' stories about their learning. Access to a wider range of resources was provided.
 

Therése Skoog (professor of Psychology at the University of Gothenburg)

Student life

This ongoing research project is about monitoring, documenting and drawing conclusions from how students experience their first five weeks as students. The students keep diaries about what they experience and learn about student life over a period of five weeks. The aim of this project is to work with the students to draw conclusions from the data generated (the students’ diary entries) and on how the structure and organisation of the Faculty and its departments – in a broad sense, the students’ learning environment – can be developed to support and promote the students’ mental health. 

Marta Kolankiewicz (PhD in Sociology and associate senior lecturer at the Department of Gender Studies at Lund University)

The Classroom as a contested space

The workshop The Classroom as a contested space has been created as a tool to attend to disruptive moments of tensions, uncomfortable silence and sometimes abrupt outbursts. The form of the workshop has been changing and developed over the years, as it has been presented and carried out in different settings. The main outcome of the workshop becomes an opportunity for rehearsing our future selves, as teachers or students as ways of reacting in these difficult moments in the classroom.

Workshop April 22

The follow-up workshop was open to staff at Lund and Malmö Universities.

Participants were encouraged to bring their own teaching dilemmas and challenges. The method used for this workshop was Reflective Teams. It is a structured method to receive and give appreciative and constructive feedback on dilemmas. It is also a method to practice active listening, and can be used with students (for example as a preparation for group work). Detailed instructions was sent out to all registered participants before the workshop.