I feel like technology has been out to thwart me this week, but I’m not giving up. Between continuing to work on producing clear and concise video recordings, finding new ways of using my iPad to create more interesting graphics for handouts (I’m still working on this) and learning new functions on Zoom so I can make a recording for the BCCIE Summer Conference, I’ve spent a lot of time battling tech. I finally finished recording one presentation for the conference on the CiCan project, and Heather Tobe from Douglas College and I worked this week on our live presentation on unconscious bias. I’ve got some useful resources from this that would be good to share college-wide on the Teach Anywhere site.

The week begun though with more devastating news in the media about the tragedy of residential schools. It was a shock and also not a shock, given what we already know.

It’s a time for real and heartfelt action.

I’m glad therefore to be able to start the conversation about intercultural fluency at the College – or more accurately, to return to the conversation. A major breakthrough this week was sending out emails, and more importantly, getting a response to requests for time to chat about the intercultural landscape at the College. I already have four conversations lined up for next week and more after that. When I first started at the College six years ago, I did something similar, only the focus was on Internationalization – understandings of what that means, its implications and so forth. At the time many people were unsure what internationalization meant (no wonder, given those in the field struggle to reach consensus), so often it seemed such conversations were divorced from those around diversity and inclusion. It’s a good sign that we’re moving in the direction of thinking of internationalization as part of a broader conversation around the intercultural, and intercultural in its broadest sense in terms of all the ways we are similar and different; and, how we need to promote compassion and empathy for all. I’m excited to see what I discover in my first meetings next week.

It’s been a big week for the College – a new college structure, innovative new positions and areas, and more insight into how BUILD 2026 is unfolding. Having a People, Equity and Inclusion Department is a fabulous development and I’m sure will have implications for the work of CTLI.

And as we plan for the fall, I’ve been focusing on resources on group work. I’ve completed a video on Engaging Diverse Learners, specifically international students and students for whom English is an Additional Language (EAL), along with a handout to go with it. 

I’ve done a rough outline of a Group Work Flow Chart and I’m working on smaller ‘bite-size’ chunks of information, ideas and handouts that can be shared through the Teach Anywhere site, in the hope that faculty will also reach out for support when they need to. I’ve also got some ideas for specific classroom activities that I’ll ‘write-up’ for instructors to be able to use to support intercultural learning. Lots to do to keep me busy in the next few weeks.