Integrating Peacebuilding into Language Education–NEW!
June 21–23, 2022
Synchronous* 3-day online summer institute
María Matilde Olivero
Rebecca L. Oxford
In this hands-on and reflective institute, language educators are invited to recognize themselves and their students as potential peacebuilders. Participants will look at the importance of embracing peacebuilding approaches in the field of language education and will discover the transformative capacity that peacebuilding has both for learners and teachers.
After an overview of the fundamental concepts of peace, participants will explore a multidimensional peace model to incorporate innovative peacebuilding activities into their language classes or language teacher education courses. The activities presented feature language used to reflect, express and/or expand peace in any of six dimensions, including inner, interpersonal, intergroup, intercultural, international, and ecological. After experiencing a range of field-tested activities, participants will learn how to use them to practice language skills and develop competencies for peace. They will also examine ways of adapting the activities for their specific teaching contexts. Participants will then discuss how they could incorporate peacebuilding activities into the regular curriculum and relate them to their overall teaching goals. In closing, the presenters and participants will share reflections on the need to foster peacebuilding in the institutions where they work.
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Program
Schedule (9 am–4 pm Central Time)
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After this institute, you will be able to:
- Recognize the paramount role language educators have in building peace;
- Use a multidimensional peace model to incorporate innovative peacebuilding activities into your language teaching contexts;
- Identify how peacebuilding activities fit into your overall teaching goals;
- Adapt classroom materials to incorporate peacebuilding into your language or language teacher education courses; and
- Understand the transformative capacity of peacebuilding.
Instructors
María Matilde Olivero holds a Ph.D. in Second Language Acquisition from the University of South Florida, U.S.A. She is a second language teacher educator and researcher at Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto, Argentina. Her main research interests include affective factors in second language learning and teaching, peacebuilding approaches in language (teacher) education, and teacher wellbeing.
Rebecca L. Oxford is a Distinguished Teacher-Scholar and Professor Emerita of the University of Maryland. She is an educator, psychologist, and speaker who has worked in 43 countries. Of her 15 books, five concern peace and spirituality with a focus on peace language, peace cultures, peacebuilding in language education, ecological peace, and spiritual research paradigms. She co-edits two book series: Spirituality, Religion, and Education (Palgrave) and Transforming Education for the Future (Information Age).
Drs. Olivero and Oxford are co-editors of the book Peacebuilding in Language Education: Innovations in Theory and Practice published by Multilingual Matters in 2021.
Target Audience
This institute is designed for language teachers of any language at the elementary through the postsecondary level as well as language teacher educators.
*IMPORTANT NOTES FOR THIS SYNCHRONOUS ONLINE INSTITUTE:
- This 3-day synchronous online institute will run from 9 am–4 pm (Central Time). The schedule includes many synchronous (real-time) presentations, group/partner work, and activities throughout the day. It also includes some off-screen time for independent work and a break for lunch each day.
- You must be available to participate for the entire day Tuesday–Thursday as all activities build on each other.
- Make sure you can meet the tech requirements for this institute.
Excellent presenters! I enjoyed how passionate and engaged the presenters were, and how much they allowed all participants to share and interact with each other. It was great to have time and space for that, so we could learn from the workshop participants as well. 
