Innovation in Language Learning

Key words: PhotoVoice methodology, global competencies, candidate teachers, workshops

This article offers reflection on the procedures and outcomes of PhotoVoice workshops, aligned with Global Cultures and Global Diasporas Curriculum, which were carried out in Slovakia in May 2023. The workshops were organized at Matej Bel University (MBU), Slovakia, and with other communities in the Banská Bystrica region. The workshops were conducted in cooperation with the University of Delaware (Delaware, USA) and Dickinson college (Pennsylvania, USA). These institutions were the main initiators and leaders of the PhotoVoice project, in close cooperation with the Idaho Museum of International Diaspora (Idaho, USA).The decision to implement the PhotoVoice method as part of ELT methodology courses at the Department of English and American Studies was made in order to integrate more innovative and active techniques in candidate-teacher education. It was hoped that these techniques would trigger students´ higher level cognitive skills, critical thinking, communication skills, and creativity, as well as other key competencies. Such competencies are important for candidate teachers so that they can transfer them to their middle-school and high-school learners in the future. The workshops were carried out at the end of the summer term of the academic year 2022/2023 with three communities: the Roma Community Centre in Povrazník, the Ukrainian student cohort studying at Matej Bel University, and with Ukrainian professors teaching or conducting research at MBU. The PhotoVoice workshops proved effective in enhancing participants´ critical thinking skills, creativity, interpersonal and intrapersonal competence. The participants were requested by the author of this article to reflect on their experience in the workshops via focus-group discussion and semi-structured interviews. In light of the project´s success, there is potential to showcase the products which workshop participants created locally, nationally, and globally through exhibitions and online platforms. 

References

[1] MANSILLA, BOIX, Veronica. 2016. How to be a Global Thinker? In Educational Leadership.

[2] HANESOVÁ, Dana, ZELENKOVÁ, Anna. 2021. Internationalization of Higher Education: Teacher´s Handbook. Brno.

[3]About PhotoVoice. 2023. Available at https://photovoice.org/about-us/

[4]Arrivals project. 2023. Available at https://www.idarrivals.org/creators

[5]Global Skills. Creating empowered 21^st century citizens. 2023. Available at  https://cdn.theewf.org/uploads/pdf/oup-expert-global-skills.pdf?mtime=20200106143256&focal=none