A Community of Practice for Interpreting: the missing link

For our interpreting students on the MA Conference Interpreting at  London Metropolitan University it is our second week of online teaching. We actually went online even before the University suggested we should. This was a collaborative decision made with students and staff together during a Zoom consultation meeting. Our students come from many countries including Italy, Spain, China and Japan where their families were already in quarantine or isolation. They were worried and did not feel comfortable to travel to University. We then collectively decided that teaching would adapt to integrate the students' concerns. MA Conference Interpreting students and tutors closing a mock conference online. We are proud to say that we have not missed a single class since the Coronavirus crisis.  From our mock conferences, to language specific interpreting tutorials, workshops and interpreting practice, we have delivered all our classes.  We, the tutors and students...

Bringing individual learners into a transformative collaborative community End of academic year with students and tutors (MA Conference Interpreting - MA Interpreting at London metropolitan University) - celebrating collecting achievements Time flies. Our interpreting students are submitting their dissertations and placement reports whilst a new cohort of students is getting ready to start their Master's in Conference Interpreting. It feels wonderful to celebrate the achievements of students who will soon graduate. But at the same time, I always wonder... what will the new cohort of students be like? How will I manage to bring them together into a cohesive group that works collaboratively, learns and grows with each other's help and support? How will I facilitate the understanding that learning with each other, from each other, is conducive to high achievements, much higher than if they had been competing with one another? How will I be able to induce a collaborati...

picture:  http://www.sdc-migration.ch/en/Home/About_the_Network/Community_of_Practice I seem to be going on and on about Communities of Practice (CoP). But I can already hear your questions. What are these so important-much-talked-about-in-your-blog communities of practice? Why do you spend so much energy on communities of practice? What difference do they make? A PhD about Communities of Practice for Interpreting? Are you sure? It is only fair that I dedicate some time to explain and make you think about Communities of Practice. That's what this blog is all about; a platform to chat and bounce ideas at each other so that I can 'test' some of my findings and you may test some of yours! I am a very down to earth person who needs to 'do' things. A PhD is a great idea but there is no way I am going to spend so much effort speaking to myself for the sake of getting a PhD. Pointless. I am using the PhD as a framework to help me think, reflect and structure ...