Through the shared vision of the Queen's Global Engagement Strategy, our university strives to be a Global Campus: “a university in which global engagement and action is integrated through all that we think and do” (Principal’s Strategy Update, 2021).
As “Global Engagement” is the new language Queen’s is using to guide our strategic goal and associated missions, each community member may have their own understanding of what global engagement means based on their specific role, experience, and background. While it is beneficial to have a rich array of visions and insights around global engagement that we can build on in our own work, we also need to consider shared questions by the Queen’s community concerning why we use global engagement as the new terminology and what it means as a strategic goal.
To answer these critical questions, Dr. Sandra den Otter (Vice Provost Global Engagement), Lead of the Queen’s Global Engagement Strategy, was invited by the CTL to share her thoughts and insights.
We hope that watching this interview with Dr. den Otter has helped answer some questions you may have about global engagement as a strategic goal. A more specific question for all educators and the broader teaching community to continue engaging in is “what does global engagement look like in Queen’s classrooms?”
Before we go ahead to explore this question, you may find it helpful to hear from Dr. den Otter on what global engagement means in teaching and learning.
The CTL has created this webpage as a resource to help educators explore the WHY, WHAT and HOW of enacting global engagement in their practice of work.
At the institutional level, Queen’s commits to making a global impact by achieving several Strategic Goals. Goal # 4, “Strengthening Queen’s Presence Globally” highlights the need for educators to reform their teaching and learning practices for global engagement by,
“developing and implementing a comprehensive, equity-focused, and integrated program of global engagement that includes active, strategic partnerships, enhanced student and faculty mobility, and teaching and learning reform oriented toward a pluralistic and culturally relevant global environment”.
Beyond the institutional expectation, a preliminary but critical question for Queen’s teaching community to contemplate is, why is it important for individual educators to integrate global engagement in teaching and learning?
What do some Queen’s students and instructors think?
To spark conversations on why we integrate global engagement in teaching and learning, the Centre for Teaching & Learning (CTL) invited students (both undergraduate and graduate) and instructors to share their thoughts. We hope their voices help inspire more educators in our community to join this collective endeavor by starting to think of their own WHY.
Why do you think it is important to practice global engagement in teaching and learning?
What’s your WHY?
We highly encourage you to take a few minutes to think about your own WHY after hearing the voices of others. What are your reasons to embark on this journey and what goals would you like to achieve? Please record some initial thoughts around these questions to enrich our conversation.
It is without a doubt that global engagement manifests differently in the wide spectrum of courses, programs, and disciplines that Queen’s offers. There exists no standardization or unification when it comes to global engagement in teaching and learning, as it is up to each educator and their students to envision what it should look like in the classroom.
A group of students, teaching assistants (TAs), and instructors generously shared their understanding of global engagement in teaching and learning. They offered examples of what global engagement looked like in their teaching and/or learning journeys here at Queen’s.
What is your understanding of and/or vision on global engagement in teaching and Learning?
What should Global Engagement look like in the classroom?
Have you experienced global engagement successes as a student?
What other global engagement experiences would excite you and support your learning?
What might global engagement look like in your practice?
After hearing different voices discussing what global engagement means and/or looks like across disciplines, we invite you to consider what global engagement might look like in your own practice as an educator. This is a question that can only be answered by yourself, bearing your students’ diverse needs, the overall course goals, and the specific teaching context in mind. Please record some initial thoughts around the questions of WHAT to enrich our conversation.
Now that we have discussed the WHY and WHAT of global engagement, our next step is to explore the pragmatic question of HOW. There are multiple approaches that educators could adapt to integrate global engagement in their practice of teaching and learning, and these are based on a variety of knowledges, theories, and pedagogies that endorse equity, diversity, inclusion, and decolonization in higher education.
Successful stories, meaningful impact, and hopes
To begin the conversation around the HOW, the CTL would like to showcase some stories of success global engagement shared by teaching assistants (TAs) and instructors across disciplines, accompanied by debriefs on meaningful impact. We hope their voices inspire you to identify a few small changes in your own practice of teaching and learning for global engagement.
Can you share any global engagement successes you have made in teaching?
In what way has the global engagement success enacted meaningful teaching and/or enabled learning?
Barriers, resources, and looking into the future
While it is an exciting and rewarding task, integrating global engagement in teaching and learning can also be challenging. Therefore, it is necessary that educators are aware of some barriers that they might encounter in their practice of work. Resources to overcome these barriers need to be identified and put in place to enhance successes in this collective endeavor.
What were some barriers to global engagement successes you have faced while teaching in your discipline?
What supports and/or resources would help you overcome the barriers?
What suggestion/s do you have for better promoting global engagement in teaching & learning?
Have you encountered any barriers or challenges in your practice of integrating global engagement in teaching and learning? What resources could the CTL and the university create to help you overcome these barriers and challenges? Please share your thoughts and ideas to help us better understand your needs and expectations.
The CTL invites you to join a community of practice where we can share resources and support each other in our integration of global engagement in teaching and learning. We look forward to continuing this conversation and collaborating with you on future initiatives and projects.
Join the Global Engagement in Teaching & Learning Teams Group
If you have any questions about joining the Teams Group, please contact us at ctl@queensu.ca.
CTL Resources on Global Engagement in Teaching and Learning
To further assist the teaching community in enacting global engagement in teaching and learning, the CTL has developed a series of resources for educators to dive deeper into some topics of this exciting endeavor. This resource is a work in progress and will be continually updated to reflect work being accomplished within our global engagement strategy.
For any question about global engagement in teaching & learning, please feel free to contact CTL at ctl@queensu.ca for a consultation or conversation.