The whirlwind of the past few years has afforded little time to step back and reflect on where we are as a college in our efforts to embed intercultural learning into curriculum. As Mohawk College welcomes more and more students from around the world, faculty have done tremendous work developing inclusive learning environments and pedagogical practices.
Please join the International & Partnerships team as we welcome Dr. Kyra Garson from Thompson Rivers University on-campus to reflect on how we support students to navigate diverse communities with empathy, understanding and awareness. Engage with fellow faculty about strategies to connect across cultures, reflect on progress and be inspired by the journey ahead!
Join us for one or both workshops and lunch! This event will take place in-person at Fennell Campus. Attendees will be notified via email the room number of the event two days beforehand.
- RSVP for Workshop 1: Intercultural Learning in the Classroom: The What and the Why
- RSVP for Lunch
- RSVP for Workshop 2: Intercultural Teaching and Learning: The What and the How
Agenda
9:00am – 9:30am: Welcome and Refreshments
9:30am – 11:30am: Workshop 1 - Intercultural Learning in the Classroom: The What and the Why | Location: Fennell Campus - Room TBD - RSVP for this workshop!
Postsecondary institutions across North America have taken up intercultural understanding as a foundational approach to enhance students’ experiences of inclusion on increasingly culturally diverse campuses, and Mohawk College is no different. Join Dr. Kyra Garson as we explore how demographic shifts, current trends in intercultural learning and research supports an intentional approach to intercultural learning. In this session, you are invited to engage in discussion and activities that explore why intercultural learning is foundational to student success both in the classroom and following graduation.
Learning Outcomes:
• Explain how diversity and changing demographics require intercultural learning
• Identify current trends and research in intercultural learning
• Reflect on definitions of intercultural learning and how we use them to inform our work
Note: this workshop will be repeated virtually on March 15th for those unable to attend on Feb. 22nd.
11:30am – 12:30pm: Lunch - Refreshments and lunch will be provided! (You do not need to attend both workshops to join us for lunch). RSVP for lunch!
12:30pm – 2:30pm: Workshop 2 - Intercultural Teaching and Learning: The What and the How | Location: Fennell Campus - Room TBD RSVP for this workshop!
Our classrooms are increasingly culturally diverse, and our students are graduating into culturally complex communities and workplaces. No matter what your discipline, there is an opportunity for pedagogy and curriculum to support the development of intercultural capacities. In this session you will have the opportunity to engage in a relevant discussion of how revisiting curriculum and pedagogical approaches can enhance students’ abilities to engage across difference and apply their intercultural awareness in ways that demonstrate a valuing of diversity, a recognition of discrimination, and a commitment to inclusion! Whether you have been doing this for years are just beginning to think about the how’s and why’s, this workshop is for you!
Learning Outcomes:
• Describe intercultural teaching competencies and reflect on one’s own
• Explore critical intercultural approaches that align with broader social justice initiatives
• Identify resources to support intercultural approaches to curriculum and pedagogy
About Dr. Kyra Garson
Dr. Kyra Garson is the Intercultural Coordinator in the Faculty of Student Development at Thompson Rivers University which is located on the unceded territory of the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc within Secwépemc'ulucw. Kyra is an educator, faculty developer, and researcher interested in the opportunities and impacts of internationalization, intercultural development, inclusive pedagogies, and social justice education. Kyra’s doctoral study entitled “Are we graduating Global Citizens?” received the Canadian Society for the Study of Higher Education’s dissertation of the year award in 2014. In 2011, the Canadian Bureau for International Education selected her to receive the Internationalization Award for her work with faculty to interculturalize the curriculum. In 2017, she was awarded the Distinguished Leadership Award by the British Columbia Council for International Education and in 2020 she received the Excellence in Interculturalization award from her peers at TRU.