Supports the promotion of high-quality teaching in that it creates a sustainable solution for the integration of the plurilingual/pluricultural approach into international FL teacher education, which to date has been largely unsystematic, irregular or simply non-existent.
Teacher, Culture, Pluri (TEACUP) Ref. No. 2019-1-ES01-KA203-064412
The current dominant paradigm in language education is teaching languages (and cultures) in isolation, e.g. as separate subjects. Such a compartmentalized approach is far from optimal because it can lead to “limitations in terms both of learning capacity and space in the curriculum” (FREPA, 2010, p. 8), especially when aiming at increasing the number of languages taught, i.e. realizing the Barcelona Summit (2002) “mother tongue + 2” objective. This limitation is clearly visible in the relatively low average number of foreign languages (FL) learned per pupil in, for example, EU secondary education reported by Eurostat, which in 2012 did not exceed 1.6. At the same time, the European labor market shows a growing demand for effective multi- and plurilingual communication skills and (pluri)cultural awareness (ET2020, Languages for Jobs).
The project will deliver educational modules that highlight synergies in the teaching of various languages and cultures, thereby integrating the notions of plurilingualism(PL)/pluriculturalism(PC) into international training programs for FL teachers. The plurilingual/pluricultural approach to FL learning steers away from the conviction that an individual’s languages and cultures are kept in strictly separated mental compartments. Instead, it encourages the build-up of communicative competence to which “all knowledge and experience of language contributes and in which languages interrelate and interact” (CEFR, 2002, p. 4). The modules will be:
In doing so the project answers the call for «measures aimed at promoting multilingualism and enhancing the quality and efficiency of language learning teaching» (EC Communication on Multilingualism).
The primary target group of TEACUP are FL teacher educators, who use the modules in the teaching of FL pre- and in-service teachers (secondary target group). These two target groups are natural multipliers who have the capacity to transfer of knowledge and competences to the tertiary target group, FL language learners. The OECD (2005) points to a link between the quality of teaching/teacher education and student attainment: Effective teaching depends to a large extent on the expertise of teachers.
Therefore, in order to promote a more integrative approach to FL learning, to support the provision of a wide range of languages and cultures, and to value and make use of linguistic and cultural competences of citizens, teacher educators and pre-/ in-service teachers need to be equipped with innovative tools for teaching.
Prof. María-Elena Gómez-Parra
University of Córdoba
María-Elena Gómez-Parra earned a PhD in English Philology at the University of Córdoba in 2000, after being graduated in Anglo-German Philology by the University of Granada. Between 1993 and 2000 she obtained two research scholarships and started working at the University of Córdoba researching and teaching. She is a successful grant writer/manager of approximately 3.4 million euros in international funding. She has worked with English Language educators for decades. Her research lines are focused on bilingual and intercultural education. She teaches CLIL in English Teacher Education at Undergraduate level, and Intercultural Communication, Second Language Acquisition (ESLA), and Academic Writing at Master’s level. She has had some research stays in the USA (e.g. University of Berkeley; Bowdoin College and Texas Woman’s University, among others) and the UK (e.g. University of Manchester, Institute of Education of London and Canterbury Christ Church University, among others). She has coordinated the English and German sections of the Language Centre of the University of Córdoba (2000-2006), and she has been the Associate Dean for International Affairs at the Faculty of Education (2006-2014). She has been the IP of the project entitled ‘LinguApp’, funded by Centro de Estudios Andaluces (Ref. no. PRY208/17). She is the IP of a National Research Project funded by the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Economy and Competitivity (MINECO) entitled ‘BESOC’ (Ref. No. EDU2017-84800R). Regarding her participation in recent international projects, she is the Spanish coordinator of two projects: (i) KA201 DICO+ (Dispositifs Inclusifs de COopération, reference no. 2018-1-FR01-KA201-047904), and (ii) VInDOW (Ref. no. 2020-1-DE01-KA203-0056709. She is the coordinator of the KA203 TEACHERS, CULTURE, PLURI’ (TEACUP) (Reference number 2019-1-ES01-KA203-064412); and the Director of the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree (EMJMD) entitled ‘Play, Education, Toys and Languages – PETaL’ (U. of Córdoba, Polytechnic Institute of Lisbon and Marmara University). Last but not least, she is the Director of the Andalusian Research Group HUM-1006 ‘Bilingual and Intercultural Education’ and the President of the Ibero-American Network for Bilingual and Intercultural Education (IBIE).
Intercultural education is the most sensible approach to education in the 21st century, as it accomplishes the acquisition of knowledge, values and skills that nowadays can help learners live amongst a kaleidoscope of cultures (including their own), as well as interact with people from different cultural backgrounds. Beyond all this, intercultural education entails a positive change in the individual’s mindset.
Bilingual and plurilingual education must, in García and Flores’ (2012, p. 244) words “meet the language demands of the twenty-first century”. Thus, bilingual education is a broad term that designates the approaches, methodologies, processes, materials and actors that aim to form bilingual speakers, capable of accessing and mastering a complex linguistic and cultural code that is, at least, binary (that is to say, where elements that belong to a single semantic construct can be formalized through different linguistic codes).
TEACUP understands 21st century education as an inextricable compound of languages and cultures. Due to this background, TEACUP aims at producing a set of intellectual outputs that can provide both pre- and in-service teachers with the appropriate tools to face education at unprecedented and difficult times of globalization, pandemic and technological advancement. TEACUP understands that the specialized training of teachers (both pre- and in-service) must necessarily contribute to making learners understand that languages and cultures are the most accessible construct towards otherness, at the same time that powerful modifiers of the self.
Prof. Cristina A. Huertas-Abril
University of Córdoba
Cristina A. Huertas-Abril is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Córdoba (Spain). Her research interests are bilingual education, CALL, EFL and teacher training. She has participated in several national and international research projects. She is a member of the Research Group ‘Research in Bilingual and Intercultural Education’ (HUM-1006). She is the co-founder of the Ibero-American Research Network on Bilingual and Intercultural Education (IBIE).
Intercultural education is an essential dimension of education in the 21st century, as it focuses on key values including freedom, respect, acceptance of differences, and understanding of diversity. Consequently, intercultural education can help learners understand different cultures, as well as communicate successfully with people from other different backgrounds.
Although defining ‘bilingual education’ may seem to be a complex task, there is no doubt that nowadays speaking more than one language is considered as an essential requirement in numerous (almost all) contexts. In this light, the role of bilingual education in the 21st century is crucial, as our current globalized and interconnected world requires citizens not only able to communicate in different languages, but also aware of the importance of plurilingualism in the world.
I think that TEACUP can be a very enriching project for all the agents involved, from the researchers of the team to all pre-service and in-service teachers that will participate in the training sessions. Raising awareness on plurilingualism and pluriculturalism is essential in education nowadays, and TEACUP can be an inspiring model for educators worldwide.
Francisco J. Palacios-Hidalgo, Ph.D.
University of Córdoba
Francisco J. Palacios Hidalgo is a PhD student at the University of Córdoba who develops his thesis on the results of Spanish bilingual programs. He has experience in TESL/TEFL in Primary, Secondary and Higher Education and is interested in language teaching and learning, bilingual education and educational technologies.
Intercultural education is the best way to promote the understanding of different people, cultures and also languages, a way to accept and respect diversity and everyone’s rights and freedom. It is the only possible form of education for today’s world.
Bilingual education allows language learning in an effective way and presents the best scenario for intercultural education. In the 21st century, learning languages and becoming more open-minded to accept diversity and differences are fundamental aspects only bilingual education can provide.
I believe TEACUP will help language teachers become more aware of the need for teaching in intercultural respect, as well as more competent to do so. TEACUP will definitely help them become better teachers for the 21st century.
Cristina Díaz-Martín, Ph.D.
University of Córdoba
Cristina Díaz-Martín is a PhD student at the Department of English and German Philologies in the University of Córdoba. She is a member of the research group “Investigación en Educación Bilingüe e Intercultural” (HUM-1006). Her main research focuses on teacher training in bilingual education and professional identity in CLIL.
Intercultural education means teaching without barriers. Learning tolerance and understanding diversity as the main objective to create free citizens.
Bilingual Education aims improving people’s communication in a globalized society. Being bilingual is the starting point to develop critic people: better training, learning experiences, achieving goals and internationalization as critical points. That is, offer opportunities to have a better professional and personal life.
TEACUP helps in understanding the joint of linguistic and cultural elements in education. That means learning from diverse professional educators and achieving better training for being more prepared in educational institutions. TEACUP offers the opportunity to shared learning experiences and understands education from different perspectives.
Mª José Salinas Ranero
University of Córdoba
Grad. in Education Studies by the University of Cordoba. English teacher focused on bilingual education. Honorary Collaborator with the University of Córdoba.
Intercultural education is a path, a tool we all can use to understand and communicate more effectively with others. It allows us to expand our knowledge and open our minds to different cultures which helps us to become better humans and learners.
The role of bilingual education in the 21st century is to help the young generations to live in a globalized world where communication between different countries, languages, and cultures has become an everyday opportunity.
TEACUP is an international and intercultural project and, as such is going to bring new perspectives and materials to the current educational landscape.
Prof. Cristina M. Gámez-Fernández
University of Córdoba
She is an associate professor at the University of Córdoba, where she teaches intercultural and plurilingual education to students in the Degree of Primary Education as well as other courses in English for Specific Purposes, with a focus on mindfulness as a practice that serves greatly in developing awareness, integration and wellbeing. She has research interests in Cultural Studies in the field of literature and other cultural products in English from a Postcolonial stance with special attention to the representation of systemic inequality, poverty and precarity.
Intercultural education is particularly timely given the current global instability caused by fierce neoliberal practices, environmental degradation and natural resource exhaustion, social and political unrest and increasing numbers of poverty rates. For me/For Cristina, intercultural education entails cultivating a profound capacity of introspection as the cultural animals that we are and exploring and recognizing our very ontology in relation to that of the Other(s), human and non-human. Intercultural education fosters the human potential to become aware of the essential role of understanding, respect and dialogue that our diverse, yet damaged, world so deeply needs.
One of the most transcendental and meaningful educational practices that can be pursued in a globalized world where inequality and discrimination result in political radicalization and violence is precisely that of intercultural education. It is thereby that this discipline proves its value as a key educational intervention that must be embraced by intellectuals and social agents if indeed we truly seek to actively take responsibility to become part of the solution to the deeply-rooted, (un)ethical difficulties posed by globalized neo-imperialism.
By focusing on both pre- and in-service teachers, TEACUP ensures that education and training initiatives are enriched with intercultural awareness at all stages of educational programs. In addition, by creating interconnected modular materials and resources which highlight the close relationship between language(s) and culture(s), these modules allow for a high customization in dissimilar contextual educational environments. TEACUP will potentially assist a great number of teachers and students in becoming aware of their own linguistic and cultural traits as well as those of their peers. Furthermore, these resources will enable pre- and in-service teachers to explore ways to make such differences contribute significantly to our tessellated diversity worldwide.
Prof. Ángela Larrea Espinar
University of Córdoba
She is a lecturer at the University of Córdoba. Her interests are cultural learning in the EFL classroom, the use of TV and Intercultural Communication.
Intercultural Education should be the aim of every teacher.
Raising awareness and bringing people together.
It can serve as a guide for trainers of future and in-service teachers.
Prof. Antonio Raigón Rodríguez
University of Córdoba
He is a lecturer at UCO trying to find a place in the world. Interests in Language Teaching, Film, TV and Music. Sometimes he reads.
It’s a way to make the world a better place.
Bilingual education can help building bridges to bring people together.
It can help as a bridge-building workshop 😊
Dr. Wolfgang Gehring
University of Oldenburg
At the department of “English Didactics”, we are a core team of three scholars:
We all share a passion for connecting current research with classroom practice. Close ties with in-service EFL teachers as well as teacher educators, extended classroom observations during students` internships and a hands-on approach towards developing a professional skill-set shapes our work and inspires us to explore new ways in teacher education.
In our department, we favour a broad notion of intercultural education. This way, we hope to promote a variety of research projects among our students, thus encouraging critical analysis and reflection. Besides, we regard intercultural and transcultural communication as a key asset in meaning-making across nations and cultures. Consequently, fostering intercultural education is at the very heart of our modern language education syllabus aimed at future FL teachers.
Due to the complexity of the term “bilingual education”, we cannot offer a straightforward answer to this question. An aspect we all agree upon, however, is that in view of international migration and thus a marked increase in linguistic and cultural diversity, the role of bilingual education in the 21st century cannot be emphasized enough. In an interconnected world, traditional monolingual models of language teaching are no longer sufficient. In order to create a “plurilingual and pluricultural mindset”, bilingual education is a good starting point to bring change to classrooms across the globe.
We believe that TEACUP can play a vital role in connecting nations and altering perceptions of what successful language teaching is all about. By raising awareness to plurilingualism and pluriculturalism and, above all, developing educational modules targeted at language educators, we are confident that there can actually be a sea change in how practitioners view FL teaching. Starting on a smaller scale, TEACUP could well become a model for educators worldwide who believe that translanguaging should be perceived as an asset and therefore become a regular feature of FL classroom practice.
Dr. Sylke Bakker
University of Oldenburg
At the department of “English Didactics”, we are a core team of three scholars:
We all share a passion for connecting current research with classroom practice. Close ties with in-service EFL teachers as well as teacher educators, extended classroom observations during students` internships and a hands-on approach towards developing a professional skill-set shapes our work and inspires us to explore new ways in teacher education.
In our department, we favour a broad notion of intercultural education. This way, we hope to promote a variety of research projects among our students, thus encouraging critical analysis and reflection. Besides, we regard intercultural and transcultural communication as a key asset in meaning-making across nations and cultures. Consequently, fostering intercultural education is at the very heart of our modern language education syllabus aimed at future FL teachers.
Due to the complexity of the term “bilingual education”, we cannot offer a straightforward answer to this question. An aspect we all agree upon, however, is that in view of international migration and thus a marked increase in linguistic and cultural diversity, the role of bilingual education in the 21st century cannot be emphasized enough. In an interconnected world, traditional monolingual models of language teaching are no longer sufficient. In order to create a “plurilingual and pluricultural mindset”, bilingual education is a good starting point to bring change to classrooms across the globe.
We believe that TEACUP can play a vital role in connecting nations and altering perceptions of what successful language teaching is all about. By raising awareness to plurilingualism and pluriculturalism and, above all, developing educational modules targeted at language educators, we are confident that there can actually be a sea change in how practitioners view FL teaching. Starting on a smaller scale, TEACUP could well become a model for educators worldwide who believe that translanguaging should be perceived as an asset and therefore become a regular feature of FL classroom practice.
Christian Kramer
University of Oldenburg
At the department of “English Didactics”, we are a core team of three scholars:
We all share a passion for connecting current research with classroom practice. Close ties with in-service EFL teachers as well as teacher educators, extended classroom observations during students` internships and a hands-on approach towards developing a professional skill-set shapes our work and inspires us to explore new ways in teacher education.
In our department, we favour a broad notion of intercultural education. This way, we hope to promote a variety of research projects among our students, thus encouraging critical analysis and reflection. Besides, we regard intercultural and transcultural communication as a key asset in meaning-making across nations and cultures. Consequently, fostering intercultural education is at the very heart of our modern language education syllabus aimed at future FL teachers.
Due to the complexity of the term “bilingual education”, we cannot offer a straightforward answer to this question. An aspect we all agree upon, however, is that in view of international migration and thus a marked increase in linguistic and cultural diversity, the role of bilingual education in the 21st century cannot be emphasized enough. In an interconnected world, traditional monolingual models of language teaching are no longer sufficient. In order to create a “plurilingual and pluricultural mindset”, bilingual education is a good starting point to bring change to classrooms across the globe.
We believe that TEACUP can play a vital role in connecting nations and altering perceptions of what successful language teaching is all about. By raising awareness to plurilingualism and pluriculturalism and, above all, developing educational modules targeted at language educators, we are confident that there can actually be a sea change in how practitioners view FL teaching. Starting on a smaller scale, TEACUP could well become a model for educators worldwide who believe that translanguaging should be perceived as an asset and therefore become a regular feature of FL classroom practice.
Dr. Joanna Pfingsthorn
University of Bremen
Dr. Joanna Pfingsthorn has been a researcher at the University of Bremen since 2019, where she focuses on aspects of inclusion in foreign language education. Prior to that she worked as a foreign teacher educator and researcher in the field of TEFL and linguistics at the University of Oldenburg. She holds a Ph.D. in Foreign Language Education, a M.Sc. in Cognitive Science and a B.A. in Social and Cognitive Psychology.
For me, intercultural education has been a very rewarding process of personal growth, yet also an extremely humbling one. The biggest challenge (and the humbling bit) was the frequent need to step out of my comfort zone and to question or even reformulate my assumptions, preconceived notions, choices, preferences, habits, and/or traditions. The enriching part that intercultural education has gifted me with have been insights into alternative ways to perceive the world and an idea how this can be expressed differently in various languages. In a way this form of intercultural awareness feels to me like living multiple lives within one lifetime.
The substantial question here is to what extent societies actually want for their educational systems to reflect their multicultural and multilingual character. If our educational and social agenda is to embrace and foster our multilingualism and pluriculturalism, which seems to be what the EU currently envisions, then bilingual education needs to make space for all the languages and cultures that shape us. This is as true for heritage languages and different varieties or dialects as it is for languages that have been associated with e.g. better job opportunities or prestige. Yet, as this is but one of many possible social educational goals, it remains to be seen how the rest of the century unfolds.
Although foreign language teacher education seems to be a common task, its implementation depends heavily on the local context. TEACUP takes on the challenging task of delivering materials that respond to the local needs of various communities and integrates them into a meaningful whole.
Dr. Tim Giesler
University of Bremen
Dr. Tim Giesler has been a lecturer for English language education at the University of Bremen since 2010. Prior to that he taught (mainly) English and history (in German and English) at different schools in northern Germany. His main research area is the history of English language teaching; he completed his Ph.D. on teaching English in the 19th century. Other research interests are teaching English in diverse settings, CLIL, and teaching literature combined with culture.
Each individual is shaped by a multitude of (sub)cultures that sometimes s/he is not even aware of. Successful communication in whatever language needs to take these into account. Hence, language education always includes cultural education and reflection of one’s own cultural bias at the same time.
From a global as well as from a historical perspective, multilingualism and bilingualism are rather the norm than the exception. The 21st century will show whether we’ll experience the renaissance of the national state with its monolingual policy of «one nation, one people, one language» or whether speaking several national, heritage, regional or minority languages will be regarded as default.
TEACUP can be a multiperspective project in which we learn more about the way in which others go about very similar ideas. This indeed is a perfect staring point for pluricultual and plurilinigual education.
Dr. Barbara Muszyńska
University of Lower Silesia
Dr. Barbara Muszyńska, PhD in bilingual education (Universidad de Córdoba). She conducts research and teaching activities aimed at bringing together various subject didactics together with foreign language didactics in the context of bilingual and plurilingual education in order to develop new forms of education and curricula. She is currently employed at the Lower Silesian University in Wroclaw as an adjunct professor and as the head of the Language Training Centre (www.dsw.edu.pl). She conducts classes on English language teaching methodology and English as an Academic Language. Her main areas of interest include language education, CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning), bilingual education in Europe and curriculum development, implementation and evaluation.
Intercultural education is a dimension of the new education, which focuses on the values of tolerance, freedom, openness, acceptance of differences, understanding of diversity, pluralism, and cooperation. Every language is a vehicle of culture. Therefore, taking into account the cultural dimension of the languages, the aspect of plurilingual and intercultural education seems vital in the modern world.
Due to the complexity of the term “bilingual education”, we cannot offer a straightforward answer to this question. An aspect we all agree upon, however, is that in view of international migration and thus a marked increase in linguistic and cultural diversity, the role of bilingual education in the 21stcentury cannot be emphasized enough. In an interconnected world, traditional monolingual models of language teaching are no longer sufficient. In order to create a “plurilingual and pluricultural mindset”, bilingual education is a good starting point to bring change to classrooms across the globe.
I believe that a Project like TEACUP is a crucial project in pre and in-service teacher education, as it brings materials design into an academic level by having a team of international academics work together on the modules of plurilingual education. Thanks to such approach, various approaches and perspectives to plurilingual education are taken into account, which ensures the quality of materials development and design.
Gina Anderson, Ed.D.
Texas Woman’s University
Gina Anderson is the Associate Dean for Educator Preparation & Partnerships in the College of Professional Education. She has served educational settings for more than 25 years in a number of additional roles, including elementary and middle school teacher, student teacher supervisor, university professor, program coordinator, and department chair. Anderson has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in curriculum, pedagogy, educational foundations, and diversity. Her early research focused on multicultural and discussion pedagogies, and she currently is investigating issues of recruitment, preparation, and retention of teacher candidates. Anderson’s honors and awards include the Academic Exchange Quarterly Journal Editor’s Choice Award, College of Professional Education Outstanding Teacher Award, College of Professional Education Outstanding Faculty Award for Academic Mentor/Advisor, Dr. G. Ann Uhlir Fellowship in Higher Education Administration, Academic Affairs Faculty Fellowship, and the Innovation in Academia Award.
Intercultural education means culturally responsive, appropriate, and multicultural learning that serves the diverse students in our schools and classes in the best ways possible.
Bilingual education has a very important role in the 21st century. The world is now a ‘global’ community. Denizens of today must not only speak a variety of languages, but also be ‘conversant’ in cultural communication. We are all different but we share much, and bilingual education can help to increase lines of communication throughout plurilingual and pluricultural communities.
TEACUP can help teachers meet the needs of their plurilingual and pluricultural students through an interactive and accessible format. TEACUP is an important tool for teachers in Europe, and indeed, throughout the world!
Holly Hansen-Thomas, Ph.D.
Texas Woman’s University
Holly Hansen-Thomas is Associate Dean of Research and Scholarship, Professor and Program Coordinator of ESL and Bilingual Education Texas Woman’s University in Denton, TX. A two-time Fulbright Scholar and successful grant writer/manager of approximately 7 million dollars in federal funding, Dr. Hansen-Thomas has engaged in teacher training and research for content area teachers of ELLs In the U.S., Europe, and Central America for nearly two decades. Her research interests include ESL training for mainstream secondary level teachers; ELLs’ development of academic ESL training for mainstream secondary level teachers; ELLs’ development of academic language in mathematics and science; language awareness; and teacher identity.
Intercultural education means culturally responsive, appropriate, and multicultural learning that serves the diverse students in our schools and classes in the best ways possible.
Bilingual education has a very important role in the 21st century. The world is now a ‘global’ community. Denizens of today must not only speak a variety of languages, but also be ‘conversant’ in cultural communication. We are all different but we share much, and bilingual education can help to increase lines of communication throughout plurilingual and pluricultural communities.
TEACUP can help teachers meet the needs of their plurilingual and pluricultural students through an interactive and accessible format. TEACUP is an important tool for teachers in Europe, and indeed, throughout the world!
Mandy Stewart, Ph.D.
Texas Woman’s University
Mandy Stewart is an associate professor at Texas Woman’s University and the director of the Certificate of Biliteracy program. Her research promotes the bilingual and second language development of adolescents and adults who are acquiring English as an additional language, focusing on how reading engagement promotes language acquisition. As the director of the ELLevate! grant from the U.S. Department of Education, she works with high schools to improve the academic outcomes of immigrant youth. Among various journal articles, she has also authored two books: Keep it R.E.A.L! Relevant, Engaging, and Affirming Literacy for Adolescent English Learners and Understanding Adolescent Immigrants: Moving Toward and Extraordinary Discourse for Extraordinary Youth. Her forthcoming books are But Will It Work for Language Learners? Literacy Instruction for Diverse Classrooms and Radicalizing Literacies and Languaging.
Intercultural education means culturally responsive, appropriate, and multicultural learning that serves the diverse students in our schools and classes in the best ways possible.
Bilingual education has a very important role in the 21st century. The world is now a ‘global’ community. Denizens of today must not only speak a variety of languages, but also be ‘conversant’ in cultural communication. We are all different but we share much, and bilingual education can help to increase lines of communication throughout plurilingual and pluricultural communities.
TEACUP can help teachers meet the needs of their plurilingual and pluricultural students through an interactive and accessible format. TEACUP is an important tool for teachers in Europe, and indeed, throughout the world!
Jorge F. Figueroa, Ph.D
Texas Woman’s University
Dr. Jorge F. Figueroa is an Associate Professor of bilingual and ESL education in the College of Professional Education at Texas Woman’s University. He has over 19 years of experience in higher education where he has occupied several teaching and administrative appointments. Throughout his career he’s worked in the training of bilingual/ESL pre-service and in-service teachers from locations including Puerto Rico, Pennsylvania, the United States Virgin Islands, Texas, and Spain,, with the use of emergent technologies for the classroom. As an advocate for global and digital citizenship, the study of cultures, and bilingualism/multilingualism, he infuses culturally relevant teaching with immersive technologies as a strategy to lower the affective filter in the second language acquisition classroom. As a Senior Fellow for the New Leadership Academy at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, he believes that celebrating diversity is necessary in order to achieve personal and community growth. His research interests include: Culturally Relevant Education, Immersive Technologies in Education, Second Language Acquisition and Bilingualism, Gamification and Game-based learning. His research has appeared in Expert Systems, Digital Education Review, European Researcher, International Journal of Environmental and Science Education, among other journals. He is an active member of the ESCALAE research team at Universidad de Málaga in Spain.
Intercultural education means culturally responsive, appropriate, and multicultural learning that serves the diverse students in our schools and classes in the best ways possible.
Bilingual education has a very important role in the 21st century. The world is now a ‘global’ community. Denizens of today must not only speak a variety of languages, but also be ‘conversant’ in cultural communication. We are all different but we share much, and bilingual education can help to increase lines of communication throughout plurilingual and pluricultural communities.
TEACUP can help teachers meet the needs of their plurilingual and pluricultural students through an interactive and accessible format. TEACUP is an important tool for teachers in Europe, and indeed, throughout the world!
Lisa Huffman, Ph.D.
Texas Woman’s University
Dean Lisa Huffman currently serves as dean of the College of Professional Education at Texas Woman’s University. As dean, her top priority is the preparation of outstanding and innovative education professionals and community leaders to support the development of the diverse children of Texas and beyond. Prior to her appointment at Texas Woman’s University in 2017, Lisa served as dean of the School of Education and Behavioral Sciences and dean of School of Graduate and Professional Studies at Cameron University in Oklahoma. Earlier in her career, Lisa served as a faculty member and chairperson of the Department of Educational Psychology at Ball State University in Indiana. She has held multiple other leadership roles including, serving as Director for Teacher Education, serving as a founding board member of the Oklahoma Statewide Data Governance Council. Dr. Huffman currently serves as president-elect for the Texas Association of College of Teacher Education (TACTE) and is a Deans for Impact Academy Fellow. Dr. Huffman has overseen multiple successful accreditation reviews by the American Psychological Association, National Association of School Psychologists and the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education/Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation.
Intercultural education means culturally responsive, appropriate, and multicultural learning that serves the diverse students in our schools and classes in the best ways possible.
Bilingual education has a very important role in the 21st century. The world is now a ‘global’ community. Denizens of today must not only speak a variety of languages, but also be ‘conversant’ in cultural communication. We are all different but we share much, and bilingual education can help to increase lines of communication throughout plurilingual and pluricultural communities.
TEACUP can help teachers meet the needs of their plurilingual and pluricultural students through an interactive and accessible format. TEACUP is an important tool for teachers in Europe, and indeed, throughout the world!
The main pursued objective of TEACUP is to design extensive versatile educational modules that equip teacher educators with resources that promote the plurilingual and pluricultural approach to the teaching of foreign languages (FL) which will promote their excellence in teaching skills to meet international standards of plurilingual and intercultural education. These modules will:
TEACUP supports the promotion of high-quality teaching in that it creates a sustainable solution for the integration of the plurilingual/pluricultural approach into international FL teacher education, which to date has been largely unsystematic, irregular or simply non-existent. TEACUP contributes to the professional development of FL teachers and educators, who encounter multilingual and culturally diverse populations of students in their classrooms, which require FL teachers to think in inclusive terms.
TEACUP provides international FL educators with tools that support individuals in acquiring and developing FL skills. Due to the fact that TEACUP aims at finding common transnational strategies for a more inclusive approach to the instruction of multiple FLs than what is the current dominant approach to teaching FLs in isolation, the project equips FL teachers with tools that increase the plurilingual/pluricultural competences of their learners. To that end, the project assumes the «learning outcome» and «can-do descriptor» approach to language/intercultural competences. TEACUP also provides FL educators with transnational tools that assess plurilingual/pluricultural competences.
The main result worked towards during TEACUP and expected upon its completion is the production of extensive and versatile educational modules which focus on the development of plurilingual and pluricultural competence and which can be used in international training programs for FL teachers.
These modules will be documented as intellectual outputs and they will:
During the development of TEACUP, the team will test the newly-designed modules in tertiary education by incorporating them into the partner universities’ curricula as well as in the form of a learning activity/an international workshop (IP) for students (C1) from all project partner countries, and a joint staff-training for individuals (C2) associated with the field of foreign language teaching.
Throughout the project, efforts will be made to disseminate information about the project and the modules, e.g. during the workshops and conferences. The most outstanding expected result is the raising of awareness of the importance and relevance of plurilingualism/pluriculturalism as a topic among stakeholders involved in foreign language learning: FL teacher trainers, FL teachers, educational policy makers, university staff and researchers, students and pupils, authors of learning materials.
TEACUP is a team of international university researchers and practitioners, who are teacher educators, applied linguists, linguists, FL teachers and intercultural trainers working towards educational modules that facilitate a sustainable and systematic transfer of academic knowledge and competences associated with the plurilingual/pluricultural approach to FL teaching to a specific target group, namely pre- and in- service FL teachers.
The TEACUP consortium consists of FL teacher trainers and researchers from seven institutions belonging to five countries:
Sustainability of TEACUP results is assured primarily through the project team members’ and stakeholders’ dire need for and interest in the project results, i.e. for sustainable and flexible solutions for tertiary (teacher) education dealing with the topic of plurilingualism/pluriculturalism.
TEACUP aims at creating a wide awareness basis for the importance of the plurilingual and pluricultural approach in FL (teacher) education among multipliers who have an impact on the shaping of FL teaching paradigms. TEACUP will attempt to address as many multipliers as possible potentially interested in the topic through the use of online communication channels, social media, conferences and workshops, online platforms, such as eTwinning and EPALE, where TEACUP will upload the finalized modules.
(Feature available only for TEACUP members)
