In Winter term 2023/2024, students studying to become teachers for different school forms spent the semester exploring different kinds of dis/abilities and difference, as well as their implacations for the English language classroom. The course, taught by Carolyn Blume, used the resources of the HyLeC: Hybrid Learning Center to design – and create – products for use in inclusive and heterogeneous English classrooms. The future teachers used 3D printers, laser cutters, sewing machines, embroidery and a range of materials to create haptic teaching and learning materisl for inclusive EFL teaching. Some examples are featured below.
Accessible and inclusive revision exercise/game for prepositions of place (grade 5). The cards contain images, Braille, and QR codes that lead to audio files. Reading ruler: Helps students to focus on one line of a text at a time.
In December 2023, Master students of Gender and Diversity at Ghent University presented their multimedia products on the topics of ‘neurodiversity and neurodiversity and learning’. Students collaborated with lived experience experts in their work over several months.
On December 7th, Jules Buendgens-Kosten held a workshop on “Neurodiversity in the Classroom: Universal Design for Learning”, hosted by the TESOL program at University of Maryland, Baltimore County. During this 1-hour event, attended by 31 local educators from different subject disciplines, they drew on ELLeN educational materials (“IO1”) and on ELLeN interviews (“IO2”) to introduce key ideas related to neurodiversity and Universal Design for Learning, and to present the ELLeN project more generally.
ELLeN held their final Multiplier Event on November 27th and 28th as part of a symposium sponsored jointly between the Institute for Diversity Studies (Link: https://div.kuwi.tu-dortmund.de/) and the Dortmund Competence Center for Teacher Education and Research (Link: https://dokoll.tu-dortmund.de/ ) at the TU Dortmund. Additional funding was provided in part by the “Stifterverband” as part of DiTAIL, and through a generous donation by the “Friends of the TU Dortmund”.
Caro Blume and Julia Hüttner introducing the next speakers
Over the course of three presentations, members of the ELLeN Team shared different aspects of the work that has transpired over the last three years and that will be disseminated in the coming weeks and months. Caro Blume offered an overview of ELLeN and highlighted its relationship to the theme of the symposium: Teaching and learning about digitality and diversity in (foreign) language teacher education. Raúl García, and Pasquale Uferkamp illustratively shared information about the process and products developed for teacher educators and professionals looking to extend their knowledge of neurodiversity and English language learning. This was followed by insights into the collected data, with Michelle Proyer and Geert van Hove reporting on how pre-service teachers involved in participatory research grappled with the tensions of teaching inclusively in systems that are not always inclusive. Rieke Dieckhoff then joined Raúl García to discuss the findings from descriptive and qualitative data, likewise revealing pre-service teachers’ perspectives on ELLeN-related activities and content.
The symposium was attended by members of the TU Dortmund community, as well as external visitors who braved the weather and related travel delays to join the sessions. The questions and comments by the members of the audience demonstrated an appreciation for the complexity of preparing pre-service teachers for challenging educational environments, and equally, the importance of doing so.
Conference proceedings are planned for publication in 2024.
The ELLeN projects last transnational project meeting took place in Vienna on November 13th and 14th. In person and via hybrid collaboration the consortiuum worked on finalizing project outcomes.
This week saw two multiplier events in just a few days. First, on November 13th 2023, a hybrid event in Vienna, focused on inquiry-based learning and the “lessons learned” of the project and featuring exciting guest speaker Katta Spiel, who shared their research on neurodiversity and games with the audience.
Then, on the 16th, an online event with a focus on our forthcoming book of interviews. Carolyn Blume described how inquiry based learning – specifically interviews with neurodivergent individuals and stakeholders in inclusive education – were integrated in teacher education seminars. Rieke Dieckhoff introduced the audience to the editing process that turned these interviews into a forthcoming book. Geert van Hove shared shared some conclusions we drew from this project. Special highlight was the talk by James Docherty, a university student who had been interviewed for this project, who candidly shared his experiences at school and his experiences as an interviewee in the ELLeN project.
On August 3rd and 4th, the ELLeN consortiuum met in Dortmund, to discuss the current state of project work and to plan next steps. Special focus was on IO3 – a “Lessons learned” report on using inquiry based learning in teacher education with a focus on neurodiversity – and IO4 – multimedia material for teacher education. The next – and last – TPM will be held in Vienna in November.
On July 17th, 2023, different stakeholders met at a Multiplier Event focussing on drawing on neurodivergent experiences for teacher education. Jules Bündgens-Kosten greeted the attending teachers, teacher education students, teacher educators and researchers and presented a “beta version” of the ELLeN interview book, made available exclusively to participants at this event. This interview book comprises a selection of interviews with neurodivergent individuals and stakeholders in inclusive education, which were conducted by teacher education students within the ELLeN project. Then, Aleksander Knauerhase held a workshop on autism. Finally, everybody had plenty of opportunity to exchange experiences, questions and ideas at “thematic tables”.
A finalized version of the ELLeN interview book will soon be published and made available to all interested individuals.
On June 13th, 2023, Geert Van Hove (University Ghent) and Michelle Proyer (University of Vienna) welcomed nearly 40 participants from around the world to their online seminar on “Neurodiversity in a Capitalist Era”. The keynote speaker, Alica Broderick from Montclair State University, presented an engaging talk on how neurodiversity is commodified, and what this means e.g. for activism. Jospehine Go Jefferies from Newcastle University and Oliver Koenig (Bertha von Suttner Privatuniversität) served as respondents, who added their own research perspectives and considerations to create a complex tapistry of ideas and challenges. A short introduction to the ELLeN project was featured as well.
On June 19th 2023, members of the ELLeN project consortium and the V:InD:O:W project consortium met on Zoom to discuss how the two projects, which share a focus on teacher education related to inclusive education in foreign language learning, could cooperate. Quickly, we discovered how each project could profit by drawing on ideas and work outcomes of the other project.
Teachers, future teachers, teacher educators and anybody else interested is invited to attend a multiplier event by the ELLeN project on June 17th, at Goethe University Frankfurt. The event will include a presentation of IO2, a book of interviews with neurodivergent people and stakeholders at inclusive schools, conducted by university students, a prentation by Aleksander Kanuerhase, and an exchange on the topics of neurodiversity in EFL teaching and in teacher education. Registration is possible via email: r.dieckhoff@em.uni-frankfurt.de.
An event on the topic of “Neurodiversity in a capitalist era”, organized in a a cooperation between consortium partners in Vienna and Ghent, will take place on June 13th, 16:30 CEST. To register for the free online event, which will feature a keynote by Alicia Broderick from Montclair State University, please click here.
On May 8th 2023, the project consortiuum met in Frankfurt to discuss current work and upcoming events. Key topics were the publication of IO2 (a book of interviews), finishing of IO3 (a lessons-learned report on inquiry based learning in teacher education), design decisions regarding IO4 (a multimedia material for teacher education), and our key messages for IO5 (accessible multimedia summaries of project results).
J. Bündgens-Kosten presented the ELLeN project on Friday, April 28th 2023, at an event hosted by Goethe University’s “Forschungsnetzwerks zur Erforschung von Behinderung und Inklusion” (Research Network for the Study of Disability and Inclusion). In this network, researchers from different fields engage in debate about current research and its dissemination.
Carolyn Blume presented on September 23rd 2022 at the colloquium of the TU Dortmund’s Institute of Diversity Studies (Link: https://div.kuwi.tu-dortmund.de/) on behalf of the ELLeN Project Team. In keeping with the colloquium’s theme with the title “How to Research Diversity,” she gave a lecture entitled “How to Research Neurodiversity with Pre-Service Teachers.” In this brief presentation, Carolyn summarized the theoretical foundations and practical implementation of the ELLeN Project. Joining researchers from the departments of Rehabilitation Sciences, Social Studies, and the English and German Cultural Studies, Linguistics and Literature Departments, Carolyn’s brief presentation focused on the interplay between method (inquiry-based learning) and content (neurodiversity) in the ELLeN project. In discussion with colleagues, she was able to discuss the connections between this approach to inclusive teacher education and themes of linguistic decolonization, migration experiences, and intersectional narratives. Exploring issues surrounding participative philosophies, methodological challenges, and complex data types, the participants used the opportunity to learn how diversity is constructed – and examined – in various academic fields.
On July 1st, Assistant Prof. Dr. Carolyn Blume from TU Dortmund received the “IDEAward” teaching award for her ELLeN-based seminar “Exploring Digitally-Mediated English Usage Among Neurodivergent Learners“. In this seminar, teacher education students interviewed neurodivergent individuals, practicing their research skills while also learning more about the language-learning related needs and experiences of autistic individuals and people with dyslexia and AD(H)D.
The seminar, which was co-taught with Dr. Judith Bündgens-Kosten from Goethe University Frankfurt, drew on input by all ELLeN participants, and featured guest lectures by Aleksander Knauerhase, as well as by Prof. Dr. Michelle Proyer and Prof. Dr. Geert Van Hove. In her acceptance remarks, Carolyn Blume explicitly thanked the many neurodivergent individuals who served as interviewees and who have made this seminar possible.
On May 28th and 29th, the project team met at the University of Vienna, to discuss work progress and next steps. Due to the COVID19 pandemic, this was the first face-to-face meeting for the consortium.
One key element of the ELLeN project is the development material that can be used to address the topic of “Neurodiversity in the EFL classroom” in teacher education, drawing on Inquiry Based Learning methods. This winter term, material and concepts will be trialled at University of Vienna, University Dortmund and Goethe University Frankfurt. Several dozen students will work with the material, providing valuable feedback that will be used for future revisions.
