Teaching in Diversity and Training from Diversity
A Translational Approach
| Today, teaching and learning paradigms seem to be under the magnifying glass of academic researchers and practitioners. Indeed, the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) has promoted an in-depth reflection on teaching practices for the construction of a common area of education, with shared principles and convergent tools. However, unity in diversity is a key principle in Europe, which is evident in the existence of divergent institutions, academic traditions and systems, and also different teaching practices and student behaviour. As a consequence, different teacher expectations or “lay theories” towards their own teaching (Holt-Reynolds 1992) may be found within the European context. On the other hand, mobility has encouraged students (and teachers) to move all over Europe in order to benefit from shared structures and common objectives in Higher Education. This is the background of the Temcu project (Training Teachers for the Multicultural Classroom at University) developed from 2003 to 2006 by a group of European Higher Education institutions in order to make the most of the presence of international student groups as a result of student mobility in Europe. This article will present the main results of the Temcu research initiative with the objective of promoting reflection on teacher training within the current academic convergent context. Interdisciplinary research and international cooperation will be highlighted as the key elements of success that this experience relied on. Finally, we will encourage further reflection and more definite support for quality teaching; we believe quality teacher training should be prioritized in the European agenda, given the new educational paradigm reform under consideration. From the implementation of the module, participants seem to value the opportunity to self-reflect and re-assess their own teaching practices. Future plans of the team include the implementation of initiatives to qualitative and quantitatively measure the impact of the project in university teaching so far. |
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