Practice Reports

Social justice pedagogy: International perspectives on Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) through a World Café engagement

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21827/jve.7.41852

Keywords:

COIL, virtual exchange, global education programs, higher education institutions, IVEC 2023, participatory parity, social justice, World Café methodology

Abstract

The promotion of social justice pedagogy in Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) courses and virtual exchange (VE) programs has gained traction in the last decade, as opportunities for faculty and students to participate as equal partners in the internationalization of the curriculum have grown. This practice report highlights the processes and outcomes of critical engagement through an interactive World Café workshop at the 2023 IVEC conference in São Paulo, Brazil. The participants were a group of 45 international faculty and COIL coordinators from various higher education institutions. Nancy Fraser’s (2008; 2009) normative framework related to social justice was used to facilitate a critical discussion related to the economic, cultural, and political dimensions of their COIL courses in supporting participatory parity. Key trends, questions, and recommendations for enhancing social justice pedagogy were identified. These findings may provide a springboard to engage colleagues in further dialogue that could promote awareness around social justice pedagogy and participatory parity through COIL.

Author Biographies

Karen S. Collett, University of the Western Cape

Karen Collett is a senior lecturer in school leadership and management at the University of the Western Cape. Her work spans school development and curriculum leadership, teacher well-being, Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL), student academic literacies and social justice pedagogy. She co-initiated an Erasmus Plus project on teacher well-being and language diversity with partners in Norway, Denmark, and Ireland.

Alina Slapac, University of Missouri- St Louis

Dr. Alina Slapac is an Associate Professor of action research within the Department of Educator Preparation & Leadership at the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL), USA. Her research interests include virtual exchange/ COIL through social justice lens, global education, and culturally linguistically responsive teaching within teacher education. She has recently co-edited Encouraging Transnational Learning Through Virtual Exchange in Global Teacher Education (IGI Global, 2024).

Published

2024-12-12

Issue

Vol. 7 (2024): Special Issue IVEC 2023

Section

Practice Reports

Copyright (c) 2024 Karen S. Collett, Alina Slapac

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