Exciting news! snəw̓eyəɬ leləm̓ – Langara College has joined Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Thompson Rivers University, and four US colleges (Montgomery College, Maricopa Community Colleges, Pima Community College, and the Community College of Baltimore County) as an institutional partner in the UN Sustainable Development Goals Open Pedagogy Fellowship.
Open pedagogy places the student at the center of the learning process in a more engaging, authentic, and collaborative learning environment in order to achieve social justice in the community.
This global award-winning fellowship provides faculty with an opportunity to work with their colleagues and students to impact change through open pedagogy and community engagement. The conceptual framework on which this fellowship is based is the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), a set of 17 goals that address a wide range of social issues, such as poverty, inequality, climate change, and peace and justice. The SDGs are designed to achieve and maintain social justice and a sustainable future, with a target of the year 2030 set for the attainment of each goal.
This fellowship is designed to assist faculty with creating renewable assignments (all of which will carry a Creative Commons license) to help students become agents of change in their own communities. Renewable assignments (also known as non-disposable assignments) are those that add value to a student’s world, live outside of the boundaries and beyond the duration of the course, and are likely to have a lasting impact.
What is expected of the UN SDG fellows?
The Langara UN SDG fellows will join a team of 2 to 3 instructors from different disciplines and different institutions. Each fellowship team will design three renewable assignments in Summer 2021* and implement at least two during the Fall 2021 or Spring 2022 semester. A student showcase will take place during Spring 2022 in which a select number of students will present on how they improved their communities and achieved global justice through open pedagogy using the UN SDG framework.
Open Langara, the College’s open education committee, will provide support for the Langara UN SDG fellows.
If you are interested in becoming a UN SDG fellow, please complete the short application form posted on the Open Langara website by March 31, 2021. Questions? Contact open@langara.ca.
We look forward to collaborating with the Langra UN SDG fellows on this exciting initiative!
*The fellows are asked to attend four virtual meetings from 10:00am-1:00pm PST on Tuesday, June 15, Thursday, June 24, Tuesday, June 29, and Thursday, August 5.
