June 2012 Archives
Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies
Visiting Assistant Professor
The Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies in the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Texas at San Antonio, seeks a Visiting Assistant Professor in the area of applied linguistics/TESL for the Fall 2012 and/or Spring 2013 semesters, pending budgetary approval. We seek a scholar with expertise in one or more of the following areas: listening & speaking, computer assisted language learning, second language acquisition, language and content-area instruction, assessment, language teacher education, research methods, sociolinguistics, or other related areas.
The department offers a Ph.D. in Culture, Literacy, and Language, a MA in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL), a MA in Bicultural-Bilingual Studies with concentrations in bilingual education and bicultural studies, a graduate certificate in TESL, and a BA in Mexican American Studies. It also provides undergraduate and graduate programs for teacher certification as well as support courses for other programs in the University.
Responsibilities include: Teach 3 graduate and/or undergraduate TESL courses per semester, evaluate comprehensive examinations, supervise internships, and other responsibilities as needed.
Required Qualifications: Doctorate in Applied Linguistics, Educational Linguistics, Language & Literacy, Education or an appropriate discipline. University-level teaching experience. Evidence of research agenda in one of the areas listed above.
Preferred Qualifications: Demonstrated excellence in teaching at the undergraduate and/or graduate level, proficiency in a language other than English, ESL/EFL teaching experience, experience advising graduate students, and evidence of publications in one or more of the areas outlined above.
Appointment is Fall 2012 and/or Spring 2013, pending budgetary approval, at the rank of Visiting Assistant Professor. Teaching opportunities for Summer 2013 may be available.
Applicants must submit a letter of application, curriculum vitae, a publication or writing sample, and names and contact information of three referees to Dr. Wayne E. Wright, Chair, Visiting Assistant Professor Search Committee, via the following e-mail address: Sylvia.Hernandez2@utsa.edu. For hire at the visiting assistant professor level, ABD candidates must have completed the doctorate by time of appointment. A review of applications will begin July 15, 2012 and will continue until position is filled. Applicants who are selected for interviews must be able to show proof that they will be eligible and qualified to work in the United States by time of hire. UTSA is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. Women, minorities, veterans, and individuals with disabilities are encouraged to apply.
Spaces and Politics of Education
University of Helsinki, Finland (multicultural education)
Research Associate – ENSA Paris-La-Villette, GERPHAU LAVUE 7218
Research Associate – University of Geneva, Institute of Environmental Sciences – Globalization, Urban Planning, Governance
How should we learn to be prepared for a hypermobile world, where physical, mental and digital shifts become mainstream, where people from different horizons (are made to) meet and mix? What contributes to teach individuals how to adapt to unforeseen situations and to become innovative and influential in relation to the world’s interculturality, but also to its environment, knowledge and economy?
It is the intention of this volume to tell a narrative about what makes successful learning ecologies and thus education effectiveness. In the contexts of compulsory education, higher education, further education and lifelong learning, the design of spaces and the built environment matter as much as the politics of education. As such spaces and buildings do have social, political and educational functions, which cannot be ignored: they are never impartial. With the increase in online education, learning ecology becomes even more complex. What key aspects should actors involved in education (not) take into account?
Spaces of education need to perform and contribute to the larger agenda set by politics. For example, education should be provided by taking into account a diversity of actors (learners, educators, parents, decision-makers…) from different backgrounds and with different needs and power, whose points of view on what education is about might also differ. Today the notion of diversity pervades business, tourist, media and education discourses. Though it often signifies essentially the foreign other, in this call for chapters diversity is pluralized (diversities) and refers to diversities ‘within’ the Nation-State and from ‘outside’ the Nation-State. Diversities within can be based on language, geographical space (countries, regions, cities), but also gender, worldview, social position, and/or the combination of all these. Diversities concern people but also spaces and/or objects - any of which can become an actant of learning ecosystems.
In our times of accelerated globalization one may want to ask if there is such a thing as national learning ecology? If this is the case, what do we do with international/supranational exchange programs, educational institutions and online/distance learning? Another question could be: what about the “intercultural” and/or diversities, (how) are they represented in educational buildings/design?
The main interest is in the potential influences of diversities on how educational institutions are designed and constructed. For example, are migrant children or learners taken into account when designing or decorating a classroom (Shanon & Cunnigham, 2009)? What about ergonomics for the disabled (Martins & Freire Gaudiot, 2012)? Besides as delivering courses within online virtual worlds such as 3D Virtual Learning Environments (3D VLES) is becoming more and more common, how do diversities fare in these contexts (Saleeb, 2012; Ogan, 2012)?
As education is also becoming more and more transnational, a new trend in education is to export it. Can educational architecture and design be exported? If yes, can they just be transferred elsewhere or do they need to be modified?
Interested authors may wish to tackle any of the following issues:
-How can learning ecology contribute to the success of all learners?
-(How) do design and architecture for diversities in education affect learning (Fisher, 2010)?
-How can learning ecology contribute to a move from teacher-centeredness to student-centeredness? Can it allow more differentiation?
-Is there a link between classroom design, diversities and curricula?
-How do learners and teachers perceive diverse design and architecture in educational contexts? What are the potential impacts on their identities?
-Who decides who is represented in design and architecture? Parents? Teachers? Students? Decision-makers? Etc. Whose needs are taken into account?
-Is there a special link between e.g. special needs education, inter-/multicultural education and learning ecology?
-Does/can mobile education take into account diversities?
-What about learning and mobility/migration: mobile schools, the city as a classroom, distance learning, etc.?
-What is the history of learning ecologies? For example how did the open-classroom movement, which originated from Britain, fare? What is left of it?
1. Proposal to be submitted: September 20th 2012
Authors are invited to submit in English a proposal including a 300-word abstract, a basic bibliography and a short biography of the author(s). Please send proposals to both editors by September 20th 2012: email@example.com & firstname.lastname@example.org. The proposals should clearly explain the theoretical positioning and concerns of the proposed chapter and include a short description of a corpus – where applicable.
2. Full chapters to be submitted: January 15th, 2012
The collection of chapters will be published with Cambridge Scholars Publishing (series: Post-intercultural Communication and Education, cf. http://www.c-s-p.org//Flyers/series_24.htm)
MATEʼs 33rd Annual Conference - “Gender Issues in Language Teaching” - Marrakech
28th -31st January 2013
MATE is pleased to announce that it will hold its 33rd Annual Conference on
“Gender issues in Language Teaching” in Marrakech from Monday January 28
until Thursday 31, 2013.
Gender issues have been a neglected area in language teaching not only in
Morocco but elsewhere, too. MATE, which has been at the forefront of efforts to
enhance language education in Morocco, realizes the need for all stakeholders in
language education to come together to discuss and debate gender issues such
• Sexist language in the language classroom;
• Gender-neutral language;
• Sexism within textbooks;
• Empowering women through ELT/ELL
• Tales/ jokes as a source of gender stereotypes.
The conference will also be a forum to reflect on practices that aim to promote gender equity in education.
Being keenly aware that (i) gender issues cover such a broad range of social
theory and pedagogical practice and (ii) there is a pressing need for gender related
activities for classroom practice, MATE, one of whose aims is to empower
educators, females and males alike, invites all those interested in language
education and NGOs to contribute towards exploring the theme of the
conference in either English or French or Arabic.
The conference will feature:
Four keynote speeches, one every day
A book exhibit
Additional Information about submissions to come.
The Working Papers in Educational Linguistics (WPEL) is a student managed
journal that publishes data-driven research by students and faculty. WPEL is
abstracted on LLBA and ERIC databases and it is distributed to more than one
hundred universities worldwide. WPEL accepts submissions from all
members of the University of Pennsylvania community and beyond, in any
language for which we have editorial staff available (please contact us for
current information). WPEL is dedicated to exchanging ideas and sharing both
quantitative as well as qualitative research findings among scholars. For
further information, including submission guidelines, visit our website:
Topics of interest: second language acquisition, sociolinguistics, interlanguage
pragmatics, language planning and policy, literacy, TESOL methods and
materials, bilingual education, classroom research on language and literacy,
discourse analysis, linguistic anthropology of education, computer assisted
language learning, language and gender, language and the professions, and
language related curriculum design.
Submission Deadline for Fall 2012: July 1st, 2012
Send submissions via email & questions to: email@example.com
Juanita Ashby Bey, Ph.D., is an educator who has been an advent follower of spiritual teachers such as Iyanla Vanzant, Wayne Dyer, Rhonda Byrne, and many others. She has presented in many national forums, including at the University of Pennsylvania, as well as at conferences in Chicago, Illinois.
Read her article "Value in Awareness" here - http://www.examiner.com/article/value-awareness?cid=db_articles.