Preparing Teacher Candidates to Support K-12 English Learners through Digital ‘Me Mapping’
In this presentation, we will: (1) describe the Me Mapping workshop process for newcomer and refugee ELs, (2) present examples of the digital Me Maps created by ELs, (3) describe what teacher candidates in the Supporting ELs course learned from ELs’ Me Maps, and (4) explore the implications of the Me Mapping pedagogy for mainstream classrooms and teacher education.
Presentors
Dr. Antoinette Gagné, Associate Chair for Student Experience; Associate Professor, Department of Curriculum, Assistant Professor at OISE, University of Toronto
Dr. Shakina Rajendram, Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream in the Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning at OISE, University of Toronto
- Date: Tuesday, November 24, 2020
- Time: 4 p.m.
Summary
Me Maps are multimedia videos created using the Flipgrid application by newcomer and refugee English Learners (ELs) to document their plurilingual profiles, life stories, important milestones in their lives, multiple identities, experiences at school, and aspirations for the future.
The Supporting English Learners (SEL) and Supporting the Academic and Social Integration of Children and Youth of Refugee Backgrounds (SAIRCY) research teams at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), University of Toronto collaborated with teachers and NGOs to carry out Me Mapping workshops for diverse K-12 ELs in schools, NGO programs, and in learners’ homes in Ontario.
The Me Maps that were created by the ELs were then integrated into a teacher education course on Supporting ELs at OISE to support teacher-candidate learning. Engaging teacher candidates with the Me Maps created by ELs was based on Keet et al.’s (2009) notion of mutual vulnerability: teacher candidates opened themselves up in the same ways newcomer and refugee ELs did through the creation of their own Me Maps, and they engaged with the Me Maps of the ELs so as to view the learners holistically, not simply as “language learners.”