Workshops
Workshop sessions involve extensive interaction between presenters and participants around an idea or hands-on experience of a practice. These sessions may also take the form of a crafted panel, staged conversation, dialogue or debate – all involving substantial interaction with the audience. [45 min. each]
Enlarging the Boundaries of Educators to Advance the Education of Border Crossers
Workshop Presentation Mubina Kirmani, Barbara Laster
Border crossing is awakening educators to new cultural and religious realities in classrooms. With the new wave of refugees there is a great need to understand the “other” and create inclusive learning environments so children and families feel safe and secure in their adopted new lands. We, as professors of education and as practicing members of Jewish and Muslim religion within majority Christian communities in the United States, understand what it means to be the “other.” We bring 25 years of collaborative professional experience having trained educators to support children and families from different cultural and religious backgrounds in public schools. We listen to and collect vignettes and life stories and use them to sensitize educators to the challenges that children/families from minority cultures and religion face and how educators can become allies and positive role models. This workshop includes a series of anecdotes, vignettes, activities, and questions to help participants understand the perspectives of refugees and new border-crossers. More specifically, participants in the workshop will: 1) Examine vignettes about culturally diverse students/families within educational settings. 2) Actively participate in a Carousel Brainstorming activity to help deconstruct different religious practices and see similarities through use of common themes such as water and light. 3) Voice critical and constructive higher order thinking to promote understanding across diverse students/families.
Build Professional Capacity, Impact Global Communities: Pedagogical Strategies for Successful Global Development
Workshop Presentation Kimberly Moffett, Jessica Lee
Local communities throughout the world are increasingly confronted by the impact of globalization and the influence of significant geopolitical and socio-economic forces. These constituents, especially marginalized groups, are facing unprecedented challenges such as refugee migration, poverty, human trafficking, disease, natural disasters, gender violence, and conflict. Organizations currently in place to address these global issues are endlessly grappling with concerns over priorities, resources, and policy/political implications in their efforts to meet unparalleled human need. It is essential that a pedagogical approach underscoring a rights-based discourse as well as a framework to address privilege and the dynamics of oppression be integrated into professional education preparing students to work effectively with communities and organizations in a global context. This interactive workshop will examine graduate social work curriculum that highlights diversity, human rights, and social justice while emphasizing didactic strategies designed to cultivate a comprehensive knowledge base, encourage cultural humility, and develop a wide-ranging worldview through a critical lens. The primary objectives of the workshop are to share cross-cultural backgrounds in relation to similar teaching experiences, deconstruct content to enhance instructional methods, and glean unique perspectives through participant reflection and dialogue. The facilitators will provide a brief presentation of the overall course content and evaluative data measuring student outcomes then participants will have the opportunity through guided activities to assess course assignments, observe student videos, and experience first-hand course exercises. The ultimate goal is that this workshop will result in professional capacity building as a way to affect positive change in global communities.
