Summer 2019 marked two new course offerings — an interdisciplinary experience in New Zealand, as part of a collaboration between LMU’s Teaching and Learning and Theology departments; and a new location in Mexico for the SOE Specialized Programs in Professional Psychology department’s study-abroad program. An SOE faculty member also spearheaded the 5th International Colloquium on Languages, Cultures, Identity, in School and Society in Soria, Spain.

Maori tradition, life and culture

LMU students, including students from the SOE, benefited from the longtime relationship between Daniel Smith-Christopher, an LMU professor of theology, and Rev. Donald Tamihere, now the archbishop of the Maori Anglican Church in Aotearoa — the Maori name for New Zealand. The graduate students were invited to spend eight to 10 days in Aotearoa/New Zealand, where they were welcomed by Maori schools, experienced overnights in carved meeting houses (an invitation and honor usually extended only to other Maori), listened to elders tell the stories of the local ancestors and visited sacred sites. Sleeping next to traditionally carved images of the ancestors in carved meeting houses, students were immersed in Maori tradition, life and culture in modern Aotearoa/New Zealand as honored guests of the archbishop and his staff. This new relationship with Aotearoa/New Zealand will expand for more opportunities for SOE students in the future.

Students in SOE’s Specialized Programs in Professional Psychology department spent 11 days in June participating in an immersive summer study-abroad experience in Mexico City through a partnership with Universidad Iberoamericana (IBERO), learning about multicultural counseling alongside graduate students from IBERO’s psychology department. The summer study-abroad experience has been available to students enrolled in the course for a number of years, but this was the first time it was offered in partnership with another university, thanks to a multi-year memorandum of understanding between the LMU School of Education and IBERO, a Jesuit institution in Mexico City. The course was co-taught by SOE associate professors Fernando Estrada and Emily Fisher.

An immersive summer experience

A colloquium in Soria, Spain

In July, the 5th International Colloquium on Languages, Cultures, Identity, in School and Society was held in Soria, Spain. Nearly 120 participants from various parts of the world addressed issues as diverse as the education of Nisichawayasihk Nation children with disabilities in Canada, mother tongue policies in the Philippines, the Chinese practice of adopting English names in the U.S., identity-related issues of Iranian students in Canada, Armenian-heritage issues in Jerusalem, code-switching in Kazakhstan schools and teacher training for dual language schools in Kansas City, among others. The SOE was represented by students Elizabeth Lopez and Mark Covarrubias, who talked about their experiences growing up American in Mexican families, and by LMU adjunct professor Bibinaz Pirayesh, who discussed the language of science as the gold standard in education. The event is organized by the SOE under the leadership of Francisco Ramos, a professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning.