Welcome to Phi Delta Kappa University of Alberta Chapter
Phi Delta Kappa invites you to our Our Next Dinner Meeting:
Wednesday, November 28, 2018
Challenging Assumptions and Building Community;
Fostering inclusive engagement in classrooms and educational work environments.
Sarah Apedaile; NorQuest College
The University Chapter of Phi Delta Kappa would like to invite members, guests and fellow educators from the Edmonton area for an evening of fellowship and networking, with special guest, Sarah Apedaile.
In this session Sarah will talk about Inclusive Engagement and how this concept is being defined, supported and measured to help support NorQuest’s work in building and nurturing an Inclusive Culture in the college. NorQuest College has one of the most diverse and inclusive student populations of any educational institutions in Alberta: 64% of the college’s students are born outside of Canada and over 100 languages are spoken on campus. Be ready to explore various perspectives on difference and diversity and learn how our individual perspective shapes our definition of an inclusive and empowering learning environment. Sarah Apedaile is an intercultural specialist and faculty development advisor. She began her formal studies in intercultural communication in the TESOL MAT program at the School for International Training in Vermont, and continued through completion of the Intercultural Certificate program at UBC. She has spent the last 15 years involved in applied research, developing curriculum, and facilitating Intercultural development opportunities for a wide range of audiences. Sarah is a licensed administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI).
• Cost: $40.00 member; $45.00 non-member (payable on arrival – cheque, credit card, cash)
• Parking in Lot V (access from 116 Street, ½ block south of Sask. Drive) @ $2.50
Reserve your seat by Wednesday November 21, by email to: dolainekoch@shaw.ca or call 780-477-0170 and leave a message.
Not A PDK Member? Not a problem.
The U of A Chapter of PDK would like as many local educators as possible to attend this dinner topic and special induction of new members - so we are offering seats at a price only slightly above what members pay. That said, we are currently in the middle of a membership drive and would really like more Edmonton-area educators (teachers, administrators, students, researchers, teacher educators, ministry officials, and post-secondary instructors) to consider joining our organization. We are a small but vibrant organization of local educators from every role and experience level and we are dedicated to educational leadership, service and research.
Interested in Joining Us? It’s as easy as 1, 2, & 3.
Feel free to forward this email or the attached poster to other educators who may be interested in participating. You are also welcome to print the poster and share it/post it.
Phi Delta Kappa invites you to our Our Next Dinner Meeting:
Wednesday, November 28, 2018
Challenging Assumptions and Building Community;
Fostering inclusive engagement in classrooms and educational work environments.
Sarah Apedaile; NorQuest College
- 5:30 to 6:00 pm Fellowship (No Host Bar)
- 6:00 to 6:45 pm Buffet Dinner
- 6:45 to 7:00 pm Greetings and Introductions
- 7:00 to 8:00 pm Presentation followed by a Q and A
- 8:00 to 8:30 pm Networking
The University Chapter of Phi Delta Kappa would like to invite members, guests and fellow educators from the Edmonton area for an evening of fellowship and networking, with special guest, Sarah Apedaile.
In this session Sarah will talk about Inclusive Engagement and how this concept is being defined, supported and measured to help support NorQuest’s work in building and nurturing an Inclusive Culture in the college. NorQuest College has one of the most diverse and inclusive student populations of any educational institutions in Alberta: 64% of the college’s students are born outside of Canada and over 100 languages are spoken on campus. Be ready to explore various perspectives on difference and diversity and learn how our individual perspective shapes our definition of an inclusive and empowering learning environment. Sarah Apedaile is an intercultural specialist and faculty development advisor. She began her formal studies in intercultural communication in the TESOL MAT program at the School for International Training in Vermont, and continued through completion of the Intercultural Certificate program at UBC. She has spent the last 15 years involved in applied research, developing curriculum, and facilitating Intercultural development opportunities for a wide range of audiences. Sarah is a licensed administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI).
• Cost: $40.00 member; $45.00 non-member (payable on arrival – cheque, credit card, cash)
• Parking in Lot V (access from 116 Street, ½ block south of Sask. Drive) @ $2.50
Reserve your seat by Wednesday November 21, by email to: dolainekoch@shaw.ca or call 780-477-0170 and leave a message.
Not A PDK Member? Not a problem.
The U of A Chapter of PDK would like as many local educators as possible to attend this dinner topic and special induction of new members - so we are offering seats at a price only slightly above what members pay. That said, we are currently in the middle of a membership drive and would really like more Edmonton-area educators (teachers, administrators, students, researchers, teacher educators, ministry officials, and post-secondary instructors) to consider joining our organization. We are a small but vibrant organization of local educators from every role and experience level and we are dedicated to educational leadership, service and research.
Interested in Joining Us? It’s as easy as 1, 2, & 3.
- Visit PDK International
- Contact Charlotte Rode to learn how you join our group and make an immediate impact. charrode@shaw.ca
- Complete the online registration process and to start receiving our updates and invitations, our newsletters, and the Kappan Magazine.
Feel free to forward this email or the attached poster to other educators who may be interested in participating. You are also welcome to print the poster and share it/post it.
President's Message - November 2018
On November 5-7, I attended the “Reaching Across Borders, Building a Better World” conference in Montreal. The Conference was hosted by Academics Without Borders (AWB) and the Academica Group and was sponsored by a number of organizations including Navitas (international College of Manitoba), SSHRC (Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council), IDRC (International Development Research Centre), the Academica Group, UNBC (University of Northern British Columbia), SOS (Students Offering Support) and Fanshawe College. The intent of the conference was to bring academics invested in Internationalization together to reflect, share and network; “resulting in a true exploration of how academics and their institutions can help low and middle-income countries better support their citizens and build their economies” (Greg Moran, Executive Director of AWB).
The conference brought together and interesting mix of academics, project coordinators and volunteers from universities and colleges across Canada. Alberta was well represented. I was able to network with people from the U of A, Bow Valley College, U of C, and Lakeland College as well as several Alberta-based employees of Academics without Borders. I hope to follow up with several of these people to see if NorQuest College might be able to learn from their experiences.
The conference was also able to secure a pretty impressive line-up of speakers including an opening keynote conversation with Sylvie Freschette, former Deputy Secretary-General of the UN and Chair of CARE international Supervisory Board and Council. Madame Freschette was able to give an historical context and perspective on where we are today in terms of globalism, international partnerships and the shifts back and forth between the interests of the state, the interests of the interests and welfare of individuals and then to the interests of the state again. Other speakers, such as Darcy Rollins (Navitas) and Alan Shepard (Concordia University) tackled the sometimes prickly issues of partnerships, international projects, and the current trend to secure high numbers of international students at Canadian institutions in order to balance the budget on the back of their tuitions. In all, the keynote and plenary sessions proved to be heady, thoughtful explorations about the ethics and continued need for global development, international partnerships, private-public partnerships, and sustained philanthropic funding.
There were many different agendas at play and this became very clear as the conference unfolded. Some presentations were little more than shameless promotions for particular colleges, universities or programs. Other presentations explored various options in securing funding and establishing partnerships while still maintaining reputations of high standing. Still other presentations encouraged attendees to seek out opportunities for their faculty and students to have “international experiences” and participate in exchanges of personnel, program development work and training. My favorite presentations were those that provided examples and anecdotes about the challenges and rewards of tackling international projects. I wanted to hear how project coordinators and volunteers solved problems and worked to build lasting and impactful partnerships.
Interesting projects…
There were many projects that I could learn about, either through the formal presentations or through networking at the mixers and dinners. For the purposes of this article, I will share three.
One of the projects that immediately caught my attention was an Academics Without Borders program in Nepal as it was explained to us by Karl Stobbe MD, from the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine at McMaster University. Karl has been involved in supporting The Patan Academy of Health Sciences (PAHS) in Nepal. In Nepal there are very few doctors per capita and most of these are concentrated in the urban centers. As such there is very little in the way of quality health care in the rural regions. After considerable effort and numerous trips to Nepal during the 2000’s, Dr. Stobbe was eventually able to help local Nepalese in setting up a training center for doctors and nurses, the District Hospital Program (DHP), located in the Patan Hospital in Patan, also known as Lalitpur. The aim of the collaboration between PAHS and AWB is to have physicians support the students on rotation in their clinical work and mentor the graduates on effective communication skills. One component of this international work was in bringing over Canadian professionals to help in teaching and supporting aspiring local health care workers. Eventually PAHS plans to include a School of Nursing and a School of Allied Health Sciences to train other healthcare professionals. (see )
When I had a chance to discuss this project further with Dr. Stobbe, he shared a couple of the factors that he felt helped to make this project a success. First, there must be clarity about focus and intent. This does not mean rigidly conforming to pre-determined processes or specific outcomes, only that the mission and vision is clear, purposeful and shared. If there is clarity about overall goals, it is easier to make adjustments and respond to challenges. Second, there needs to be an element of stability, especially when it comes to the partners involved. This means that attention should be paid to relationship building and to finding the right partners who might become invested and will work to champion the project at the local level. Too many projects go through challenges when the players change; partners are moved off the project and new people need to be brought up to speed. Often these new participants are not in the project for the long haul, and, over time, it shows. Instead, what the project needs are long-term champions, both in Canada and at the ground level internationally. Karl compared the work he had done in Nepal with some of the other projects he was involved in and said the key difference was in leadership and advocacy by locals who were very much invested and championed the project. Dr. Stobbe shared a video link with me that conveys much of what he believes about establishing quality partnerships and getting involved in international projects for the right reasons: Although the clip is not about the project in Nepal, it does have much to say to anyone considering volunteering in international work.
Another project that caught my attention was the Western Heads East Program shared with me by Dr. Melanie Katsivo. The Western Heads East Program is a collaboration between Western staff, students, faculty and African partners using probiotic foods to contribute to health and sustainable development.
This program empowers African women by allowing them to become small business owners making and selling yoghurt. It started in Mwanza, Tanzania and has since spread to Kenya and Uganda. The project started over a decade ago and has gone through a number of challenges related to training, government regulations, marketing and support. More can be learned about this program here:
In discussing the project with Dr. Katsivo I could hear echoes of what Dr. Stobbe had shared: such a project depends on shared vision, sustained commitment, and long-term champions, both in African and in Canada. Melanie also talked about securing reliable and steady funding. She said that too many projects are short term (three years or less) and that, in many cases, it takes longer than three years just to get going. When projects are driven by tight timelines and are pushed to show hard evidence (data) too early, they are doomed. The locals and the Canadian partners are forced to spend too much time focusing on deadlines and in making compromises in order to meet reporting requirements and are always cognizant of how to “wrap things up”. In many areas of Africa, such projects are only seen as a temporary infusion of cash and energy and are not seen as long term solutions to systemic problems. Commitment to a project needs to be long term, and that necessitates partnerships with organizations that can also provide sustained support and funding. In the case of her project, Melanie’s group was able to establish a partnerships with a number of funding agencies and with a group in the Netherlands that could freeze dry the yoghurt culture so that the women involved might have an easier, safer and more reliable way to produce their wares. I thought Dr. Katisivo’s project was a great example of how to empower and educate through entrepreneurship. These women saw tangible rewards for their efforts in learning how to make a product, market it, and manage a business.
There were many different agendas at play and this became very clear as the conference unfolded. Some presentations were little more than shameless promotions for particular colleges, universities or programs. Other presentations explored various options in securing funding and establishing partnerships while still maintaining reputations of high standing. Still other presentations encouraged attendees to seek out opportunities for their faculty and students to have “international experiences” and participate in exchanges of personnel, program development work and training. My favorite presentations were those that provided examples and anecdotes about the challenges and rewards of tackling international projects. I wanted to hear how project coordinators and volunteers solved problems and worked to build lasting and impactful partnerships.
Interesting projects…
There were many projects that I could learn about, either through the formal presentations or through networking at the mixers and dinners. For the purposes of this article, I will share three.
One of the projects that immediately caught my attention was an Academics Without Borders program in Nepal as it was explained to us by Karl Stobbe MD, from the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine at McMaster University. Karl has been involved in supporting The Patan Academy of Health Sciences (PAHS) in Nepal. In Nepal there are very few doctors per capita and most of these are concentrated in the urban centers. As such there is very little in the way of quality health care in the rural regions. After considerable effort and numerous trips to Nepal during the 2000’s, Dr. Stobbe was eventually able to help local Nepalese in setting up a training center for doctors and nurses, the District Hospital Program (DHP), located in the Patan Hospital in Patan, also known as Lalitpur. The aim of the collaboration between PAHS and AWB is to have physicians support the students on rotation in their clinical work and mentor the graduates on effective communication skills. One component of this international work was in bringing over Canadian professionals to help in teaching and supporting aspiring local health care workers. Eventually PAHS plans to include a School of Nursing and a School of Allied Health Sciences to train other healthcare professionals. (see )
When I had a chance to discuss this project further with Dr. Stobbe, he shared a couple of the factors that he felt helped to make this project a success. First, there must be clarity about focus and intent. This does not mean rigidly conforming to pre-determined processes or specific outcomes, only that the mission and vision is clear, purposeful and shared. If there is clarity about overall goals, it is easier to make adjustments and respond to challenges. Second, there needs to be an element of stability, especially when it comes to the partners involved. This means that attention should be paid to relationship building and to finding the right partners who might become invested and will work to champion the project at the local level. Too many projects go through challenges when the players change; partners are moved off the project and new people need to be brought up to speed. Often these new participants are not in the project for the long haul, and, over time, it shows. Instead, what the project needs are long-term champions, both in Canada and at the ground level internationally. Karl compared the work he had done in Nepal with some of the other projects he was involved in and said the key difference was in leadership and advocacy by locals who were very much invested and championed the project. Dr. Stobbe shared a video link with me that conveys much of what he believes about establishing quality partnerships and getting involved in international projects for the right reasons: Although the clip is not about the project in Nepal, it does have much to say to anyone considering volunteering in international work.
Another project that caught my attention was the Western Heads East Program shared with me by Dr. Melanie Katsivo. The Western Heads East Program is a collaboration between Western staff, students, faculty and African partners using probiotic foods to contribute to health and sustainable development.
This program empowers African women by allowing them to become small business owners making and selling yoghurt. It started in Mwanza, Tanzania and has since spread to Kenya and Uganda. The project started over a decade ago and has gone through a number of challenges related to training, government regulations, marketing and support. More can be learned about this program here:
In discussing the project with Dr. Katsivo I could hear echoes of what Dr. Stobbe had shared: such a project depends on shared vision, sustained commitment, and long-term champions, both in African and in Canada. Melanie also talked about securing reliable and steady funding. She said that too many projects are short term (three years or less) and that, in many cases, it takes longer than three years just to get going. When projects are driven by tight timelines and are pushed to show hard evidence (data) too early, they are doomed. The locals and the Canadian partners are forced to spend too much time focusing on deadlines and in making compromises in order to meet reporting requirements and are always cognizant of how to “wrap things up”. In many areas of Africa, such projects are only seen as a temporary infusion of cash and energy and are not seen as long term solutions to systemic problems. Commitment to a project needs to be long term, and that necessitates partnerships with organizations that can also provide sustained support and funding. In the case of her project, Melanie’s group was able to establish a partnerships with a number of funding agencies and with a group in the Netherlands that could freeze dry the yoghurt culture so that the women involved might have an easier, safer and more reliable way to produce their wares. I thought Dr. Katisivo’s project was a great example of how to empower and educate through entrepreneurship. These women saw tangible rewards for their efforts in learning how to make a product, market it, and manage a business.
A third example of a successful international partnership was the Kangaroo Mother Care model that was shared by Nathalie Charpak. Madame Charpak shared the tremendous success of a program that originated in the South (below the equator) and has now spread to the North (getting use in North America and Europe). Nathalie shared how taking premature babies out of the sterile environment of incubators and having them in regular skin-to-skin contact with their parents or suitable volunteers has shown to be highly successful. The parental contact helps to regulate temperature and respiration and provide an emotional bond vitally important in helping premature babies to thrive. More about the program:
As the program spread from Columbia, throughout South America and then northward, it was sometimes met with skepticism. Doctors and institutions in the North might dismiss the practice as borne out of necessity – South American hospitals did not have the technology or medicines that health care facilities did in the North. As such, they found a way to make up for this. These professionals from the North had difficulty in accepting that they could actually learn from the South and that Kangaroo Mother Care was actually a better way to care for premature children. As Madame Charpak shared her presentation I again could hear the familiar call for shared vision, commitment, long-term championship, local ownership/ empowerment and secure funding, but I also heard another call: one to acknowledge and validate the expertise and contributions of our foreign partners. All too often projects are designed to the dictates of a Western or Northern agenda. Universities, colleges, and funding agencies are looking to share their learning and promote their reputations by carrying out projects with partners that “could use their help”. Such arrogance and myopia means that, whatever the project plan may say, there isn’t a real partnership.
As the program spread from Columbia, throughout South America and then northward, it was sometimes met with skepticism. Doctors and institutions in the North might dismiss the practice as borne out of necessity – South American hospitals did not have the technology or medicines that health care facilities did in the North. As such, they found a way to make up for this. These professionals from the North had difficulty in accepting that they could actually learn from the South and that Kangaroo Mother Care was actually a better way to care for premature children. As Madame Charpak shared her presentation I again could hear the familiar call for shared vision, commitment, long-term championship, local ownership/ empowerment and secure funding, but I also heard another call: one to acknowledge and validate the expertise and contributions of our foreign partners. All too often projects are designed to the dictates of a Western or Northern agenda. Universities, colleges, and funding agencies are looking to share their learning and promote their reputations by carrying out projects with partners that “could use their help”. Such arrogance and myopia means that, whatever the project plan may say, there isn’t a real partnership.
Overall thoughts…
This was the first time this conference has been held, and overall, I would say it was successful and informative. The energy and enthusiasm was palpable and the discussions were earnest and solution focused. The conference also raised and started the debate about a number questions:
A connection to our next meeting…
One of the things I kept wondering about, as I attended the conference, was the effects of all of this international work. The make-up of our schools and colleges is changing rapidly. How does this impact teaching and learning? Are international students able to adjust to new ways of looking at the world? Can teachers, instructors, and professors adequately adjust for this changing demographic in the way they present, engage and assess? And, are there supports for students who may be struggling with the new reality and mix in the classroom?
As you’ve read in this space before, I work at a very intercultural, international college. Over 64% of NorQuest College’s student population was born outside of Canada. Collectively, our students know over 100 different languages. As such, it can be a very challenging (but exciting) place to teach. Depending on the program, there can be quite a diverse mix of students and faculty and staff have had to develop many different skills as they negotiate and navigate the cultural landscape of the college.
Helping us do this is Sarah Apedaile.
Sarah Apedaile is an intercultural specialist and faculty advisor at NorQuest College. She works alongside me in the department of Teaching and Learning at NorQuest College. She has spent the last 15 years involved in applied research, developing curriculum, and facilitating intercultural development opportunities for a wide range of audiences. In the past decade, NorQuest has made a commitment to “intercultural awareness” and to helping instructors and staff get past biases and misunderstandings and, instead, open themselves to learning more about and from the students we work with.
I’ve been able to learn a great deal from Sarah. She challenged me to dig deep and reflect upon the nature of relationships, learning, processes and ethical impacts when I was engaged both as a teacher of international students and as a participant on an international project (ISTEP 13 – Tanzania).
I’m delighted to say that Sarah will be the keynote speaker at our November 28th PDK dinner meeting at the Faculty Club. Sarah will explain what Inclusive Engagement means and how this concept is being defined, supported and measured to help support NorQuest’s work in building and nurturing an Inclusive Culture in the college. We will explore various perspectives on difference and diversity and learn how our individual perspective shapes our definition of an inclusive and empowering learning environment. I think that educators at every level will be able to gain valuable insights from Sarah and I encourage you to invite every educator you know to attend this dinner.
This was the first time this conference has been held, and overall, I would say it was successful and informative. The energy and enthusiasm was palpable and the discussions were earnest and solution focused. The conference also raised and started the debate about a number questions:
- What does internationalization mean in the Canadian post-secondary context? More international students? More international partnerships?
- What are the benefits and drawbacks of international efforts at post-secondary institutions? Are our motives pure? Are the students and faculty involved empowered or simply accessed?
- What are the ethics and optics in public/private partnerships?
- How can Canadian universities and colleges learn from each other and build a network dedicated to internationalization?
- How do we encourage our faculty and students to engage in more international work?
- How do we ensure that our international partnerships are on an equal footing, that we incorporate both Northern and Southern perspectives and values, and that we establish programs or interventions that are meaningful and lasting?
A connection to our next meeting…
One of the things I kept wondering about, as I attended the conference, was the effects of all of this international work. The make-up of our schools and colleges is changing rapidly. How does this impact teaching and learning? Are international students able to adjust to new ways of looking at the world? Can teachers, instructors, and professors adequately adjust for this changing demographic in the way they present, engage and assess? And, are there supports for students who may be struggling with the new reality and mix in the classroom?
As you’ve read in this space before, I work at a very intercultural, international college. Over 64% of NorQuest College’s student population was born outside of Canada. Collectively, our students know over 100 different languages. As such, it can be a very challenging (but exciting) place to teach. Depending on the program, there can be quite a diverse mix of students and faculty and staff have had to develop many different skills as they negotiate and navigate the cultural landscape of the college.
Helping us do this is Sarah Apedaile.
Sarah Apedaile is an intercultural specialist and faculty advisor at NorQuest College. She works alongside me in the department of Teaching and Learning at NorQuest College. She has spent the last 15 years involved in applied research, developing curriculum, and facilitating intercultural development opportunities for a wide range of audiences. In the past decade, NorQuest has made a commitment to “intercultural awareness” and to helping instructors and staff get past biases and misunderstandings and, instead, open themselves to learning more about and from the students we work with.
I’ve been able to learn a great deal from Sarah. She challenged me to dig deep and reflect upon the nature of relationships, learning, processes and ethical impacts when I was engaged both as a teacher of international students and as a participant on an international project (ISTEP 13 – Tanzania).
I’m delighted to say that Sarah will be the keynote speaker at our November 28th PDK dinner meeting at the Faculty Club. Sarah will explain what Inclusive Engagement means and how this concept is being defined, supported and measured to help support NorQuest’s work in building and nurturing an Inclusive Culture in the college. We will explore various perspectives on difference and diversity and learn how our individual perspective shapes our definition of an inclusive and empowering learning environment. I think that educators at every level will be able to gain valuable insights from Sarah and I encourage you to invite every educator you know to attend this dinner.
Stay tuned for more information regarding the upcoming program.
To register: Contact - Dolaine Koch dolainekoch@shaw.ca
Click here for more information on Chapter meeting dates for this year!