Emmanuelle Le Pichon-Vorstman
Institution : OISE, Université Toronto
Rôle/position à l’université : Assistant Professor
Rôle sur les projets : Chercheure Principale / Principal Researcher
These three projects are very close to my heart. Apart from my work, I am also the mother of 4 children who grew up between 3 languages and cultures, changing school systems several times and I know the richness of plurilingual and pluricultural education. But to get the most out of an education like this one, we need to create more inclusive classrooms: the goal is to support all students, without exception, in all subjects, including STEM subjects! I have explained the reasons that led me to develop these projects in this article.
Dania Wattar
Institution: University of Toronto
Position at the University: Lecturer
Role on the Project: Project Manager
Rosalia Cha
Institution: OISE, University of Toronto
Position at the University: MEd Graduate
Role on the Project: Research Assistant
When I first joined this research project, I was genuinely excited about the goal of this research project that is pertinent to both the multicultural, digital society and the current pandemic circumstances we are situated in. As an immigrant and an educator, I recognize the struggles English Language Learners (ELLs) experience and the challenges teachers encounter in their classroom of diverse population. With the understanding of difficulties experienced by different perspectives, I am thrilled to be part of this research project team to develop resources for teachers that implement Language Friendly Pedagogy, online learning tools (ie. Binogi), and parental/community involvement, which will fill the learning gaps caused by the pandemic and promote learner engagement both in class and at home for ALL students. I look forward to finding out how the participating teachers utilize the resources and how students response to them. Moreover, I am delighted how this research project creates a platform for the project team and teachers to collaborate and exchange ideas, thoughts, and experiences in order to enrich the project and one’s professional growth.
Jhonel Morvan
Institution: Brock University
Role/Position at university/ rôle à l’université: Doctoral candidate
Role on project/ rôle sur le projet: Intern
Joyce Mgombelo
Institution: Brock University
Zahra Safdarian
Institution: OISE, University of Toronto
Position at the University: PhD Student, Language and Literacies Education
Role on the Project: Research Assistant
What has most enthused me about Binogi project is my immigration and settlement history in Canada. When I immigrated to Canada with my 9-year-old daughter, I bitterly experienced how practicing monolingual and subtractive education system in multilingual contexts can result in life-long sufferings such as academic and social integration impairment which in turn cause mental health issues for emergent bilinguals. I believe that Binogi platform revives critical pedagogy through weaponizing STEM educators against monolingualism in the current globalized classrooms. Binogi is a unique manifestation of the way digital literacy can evolve the quality of multilingual education through investing on students’ and parents’ funds of knowledge and practicing translanguaging in classes. To me, Binogi is a huge step towards the ultimate goal of education which is “No child is left behind.”