Apart from wanting to be in a place where people know how to pronounce Elspeth, Scotland was an obvious choice when selecting destinations with a strong sense of identity grounded in history. I began by making contact with Dr Joseph (Joe) Smith, whose recent publications are directly relevant to my Fellowship (including one from March 2019 and another in August 2019). Joe has been a dynamic host from the outset, and I am especially grateful that he was still able to accommodate my visit with a tertiary education strike underway (which I support as a teacher who has participated in recent industrial action back home!) | |
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When I taught at Mark Oliphant College, we had a Thinker in Residence, Professor Stephen Heppell. I remembered that his biography said he was Felipe Segovia Chair of Learning Innovation at Universidad Camilo José Cela (UCJC) in Madrid, so I made contact to see whether he might be able to help me out as an ex-MOCster, given my remit of innovative learning and that I was going to Spain. Stephen kindly connected me with UCJC and its neighbour SEK International School El Castillo.
I took the opportunity to spend the weekend in Zaragoza on my way from Barcelona to Madrid, because I hadn't been there before. It was going to be a weekend off my research but...I couldn't help myself! As I progressed through the Churchill application process in 2019, the Australian media covered the rallies in Catalunya that followed the Spanish Supreme Court sentencing separatist leaders. Eric Campbell's 'Homage to Barcelona' that aired on Foreign Correspondent a few months earlier gave me some insight into the role of schools in the independence movement.
I was fortunate to be hosted by Dr Omsin Jatuporn from Chiang Mai University for this leg of my study tour. His publications about Place-Based Education align with the purpose of my Fellowship and he was very responsive to my request to visit.
I started my Churchill Fellowship by visiting UNESCO's Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education to consider the big picture. I learned about UNESCO's focus on target 4.7 for Global Goal 4, which prioritises education for sustainable development (ESD), and global citizenship education (GED). Ms Sayaka Tsutsui directed me to many relevant publications. The new resource Understanding Shared Histories: A teaching package for Southeast Asia (2019) looks really useful for the Australian Curriculum's cross-curriculum priority of Asia and Australia's engagement with Asia.
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