Beyond conventional borders of second language teachers’ education: A digital, interdisciplinary, and critical postgraduate curriculum

Abstract

In this chapter we present and discuss aspects of the “Language Education for Refugees and Migrants (LRM)” Master’s program, which was launched by the Hellenic Open University in 2016. We focus on key elements of the curriculum design, such as digitality, criticality, interdisciplinarity, creativity, collaborative learning and a practice-oriented conceptualization. Our emphasis is on critical language teaching, digital and critical literacy skills that students are encouraged to develop through online collaboration that supports learning across age, race, culture, gender, ability and geography. Based on the pilot implementation of the program between October 2016 and February 2018, we present and discuss examples of activities and students’ responses to them. In addition, we reflect on and critically approach the challenges the LRM community had to face in order to facilitate the development of a new academic culture among all the agents involved in this endeavor. We conclude by reflecting on how open and distance higher education can play a major role in expanding the physical boundaries of communities who work with and for refugees in cross-disciplinary encounters that build on and go beyond the conventional perspectives of language education, and in facilitating refugees’ and migrant students’ access to higher education. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019.