Inclusive Teaching. A Professional Development Course
This call was announced: 26 October 2022
Application deadline
26 November 2022
Expected notification of applicants about the results of their application
8 January 2023
The selection process has already been closed.
The course is taught in English
The BELONG Erasmus+ consortium is calling on interested faculty members and PhD/doctoral students at project partner institutions (Central European University, Comenius University in Bratislava, Masaryk University, Nottingham Trent University and University of Madeira) to apply for a teaching development course.
The first part of the course will take place in Funchal, Madeira, between 6 and 12 July 2023.
The second part of the course will take place modularly online in the academic year 2023–24, as participants work on possible implementations in their teaching.
For the participants from project partner institution the course is funded from the Erasmus+ grant, which provides travel support of 410 euros per participant and individual grant of 742 euros per participating faculty member for attending the summer school part in Madeira. PhD/doctoral students receive individual grant of 522 euros.
Course purpose
The purpose of the course is to enhance inclusiveness at project partner institutions through improving competences of university teachers in this area.
Expected learning outcomes
By the end of this course participants shall be able to:
- recognise and address the needs and expectations of a diverse body of students;
- use a set of principles, concepts, approaches, instruments and teaching methodologies to design and implement new or revise and enrich the content of existing (under)graduate courses to
- cater to the diverse needs of students and support their learning effectively;
- make use of student diversity to enhance students’ learning;
- increase students' sense of belonging to the institution;
- create a culturally-responsive classroom environment and promote students’ awareness of inclusive learning principles and practices;
- assess student learning and evaluate the outcomes of their courses in a self-reflective, enhancement-led and critical manner.
Course format and structure
The course uses active learning as the key method through which participants are to develop knowledge and skills. By active learning it is meant that participant teachers will predominantly learn through other ways than listening to session leaders and reading assigned materials. During the course, session leaders will create a range of opportunities for participants to trial new active teaching and learning methods and encourage participants to implement active learning in their own classes. Further to this, participants will be prompted to recognise and build upon their own diversity through collaborative exercises (peer learning), exchange of feedback and informal group activities.
This two-semester course has the following
2 sections:
A week-long summer school consisting of 17 workshops. The workshops focus on the theoretical and practical aspects of inclusiveness in teaching and learning.
The workshops will be supported by pre-workshop reading assignments, short written exercises and take-home assignments.
A course design, implementation and evaluation section in Autumn and Spring semesters of the following academic year, whereby participants work online in cooperation with an assigned coach from among the summer school facilitators to develop a new (under)graduate course taught in English or course sessions or they revise an existing one based on the principles of inclusiveness.
This includes: (re)designing the course syllabus for a new or existing course (module) they plan to teach in the future and submitting the plans for at least three course sessions. Participants teach the (re)designed course (or course sessions) to a cohort of students and evaluate the outcomes of student learning.
The online part includes up to three synchronous online meetings with the entire cohort of course participants.
Course instructors
The team of instructors consists of the following experienced international tutors:
- Sarah Buglass, Nottingham Trent University
- Lucia Hlavatá, Comenius University in Bratislava
- Michael Kozakowski, Central European University
- Martina Kurowski, Masaryk University
- Natalia Marakhovska, Masaryk University
- Natália Nyikes, Central European University
- Liliana Rodrigues, University of Madeira
- Agnes Simon, Comenius University in Bratislava
- Jesus Maria Sousa, University of Madeira
- Mátyás Szabó, Central European University
- Jitka Vidláková, Masaryk University
- Jana Výškrabková, Comenius University in Bratislava
Course venue
The summer school will take place from 6–12 July 2023 in Funchal, Madeira and will be hosted by University of Madeira.
Course organisers work on booking an affordable hotel for all participants.
Course fees and funding
As detailed above, each summer school participant from those institutions located outside of Madeira will receive a mobility grant they can use to cover the costs of accommodation, meals and travel.
There would be a small contribution payable to the local organisers from the grant to cover the cost of coffee breaks, lunches and social event.
The organisers want to acknowledge the support from Erasmus+ Cooperation partnership project BELONG 2021-1-SK01-KA220-HED-000023528.
Eligibility
Faculty members from Comenius University in Bratislava, Masaryk University, Central European University, Nottingham Trent University and University of Madeira who expect to teach a course or some of its components at either the Bachelor’s or Master’s level in the 2023–2024 academic year are eligible to apply for the course. Teaching engagement should entail independent teaching of at least three sessions of a course (seminars, lectures, tutorials etc.) and, preferably, participation in student assessment. This practical part (i.e., the design, conduct, reflection on and evaluation of own teaching) is an integral course element, essential for the successful course completion.
The course leaders have a strong preference for participants who have already completed a foundational course on teaching and learning in higher education.
PhD students are encouraged to apply, too, but they are required to attach a support letter from the head of the department confirming that the PhD student will have a teaching appointment in 2023/2024 and ideally naming the course/s that the PhD student is going to teach or be involved in.
All applicants should have prior teaching experience (teaching at least several course sessions at either the Bachelor’s or Master’s level).
The applicants are expected to have a good command of written and spoken English in order to be able to communicate with session leaders/coaches, to read and reflect on the course materials and to write assignments.
By applying, all interested individuals commit to participation in the summer school AND the subsequent two semesters of the Inclusive teaching course.
Criteria for selecting the applicants
We offer 7 places for teachers from Masaryk University. The applications will be evaluated by a committee made up facilitators from consortium member institutions. The following criteria will be used to select the course participants:
- applicants’ level of commitment to work as a teacher and to improve their own teaching as well as their students’ learning experience; and
- applicants’ level of interest in participating in the course including the willingness to learn about inclusive teaching, mental health and well-being
- the overall quality of the application.
How to apply
Applications should be submitted in English, containing the following documents:
1. Curriculum vitae (1–2 pages)
The applicant’s CVs should highlight educational background, previous and current teaching-related responsibilities, courses in HE teaching that the applicant has completed already, teaching and research interests, and activities related to inclusiveness, mental health and wellbeing (if any).
2. A short reflective essay on applicant’s teaching experience (800 words)
In this essay, the applicant should discuss the following questions:
- What characterizes the course(s) the applicant has taught so far? (Name, subject, class size, level, class composition, number of sessions per week, length of the sessions, student preparedness, etc.) What was the applicant’s main role? (Seminar leader, teaching assistant, independent lecturer, etc.)
- If the applicant has taught more than one course, it is preferred that—after listing all courses taught—he/she singles out one course and discusses that course in the rest of the essay. If the applicant has taught a course attended by a group of students that was very diverse, please choose that one. The applicant may also discuss own experience while teaching several such courses, summarising the strengths of own teaching and main challenges while facilitating groups of diverse students
- How does the applicant teach? (Prevalent teaching methods, experience with using other methods—e.g., lectures, discussions, lab activities, games, simulations, etc.)
- What was one aspect of the applicant’s teaching that went well? What were the biggest challenges experienced and how did he/she deal with them?
- What situation or case the applicant recalls when he or she, as a teacher or student, felt that inclusiveness was an issue, for example because the case was (not) dealt properly by the class teacher.
3. Motivation Letter (400–600 words)
The applicant should address their motivation to participate in the course and their future plans and ambitions as educators. In this, they should consider the following questions
- What has been their main motivation to apply for this course?
- What kind of educator does the applicant want to become, specifically in relation to teaching diverse students? What does the applicant currently do to improve as a teacher?
- How does the applicant like to see himself/herself as a teacher at the end of the course in relation to how they see themselves today? What important developments does the applicant have in mind?
Letter of support from the head of the department (for PhD. students only)
In this letter, the head of the department will confirm that applicant will have a teaching appointment in the 2023/24 academic year ideally naming the course/ courses that the participant will teach.
Participants are welcome to discuss their application before submission with the course coordinator, Dr Jitka Vidláková via email (vidlakova@cerpek.muni.cz).
How to submit the application
The applications should be submitted via application form, preferably as one file (for example, one Word, rtf, or .pdf document in the following order: CV, short reflective essay, motivation letter). The application file should be named using the following format:
applicant’s firstname_surname.doc, e.g., jan_novak.docx
All data provided by the applicants will be handled in harmony with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
BELONG project
The purpose of the BELONG project is to enhance the sense of belonging of staff members and students in order to improve the quality of learning, teaching and research at the project partner institutions. This includes addressing the issues of student and staff wellbeing and mental health, which the recent pandemic brought to the absolute forefront, enhancing the inclusiveness of learning and teaching together with improving students’ skills of professional communication with employers.
To learn more about the BELONG project, please visit its website:
Our dedicated team is very much looking forward to receiving all applications for the Inclusive teaching course!