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...

    (Photo: participants to the ToT in 2017) July is approaching; it will soon be time to teach my favourite course of the year: a whole week of training the trainers for interpreting studies at London Met . You may think I am getting mad to look forward to yet more work. What is this special intensive teaching week all about? Why do people from Europe and outside Europe come all the way to join us? What is the rationale behind the program? Is it worth it? The Training of Trainers (ToT) for Interpreting Studies is a one week intensive program that runs once a year, from the 8th to the 12th July. Groups include 10 to 12 participants. The course is open to interpreting staff at London Met, teaching either on the conference interpreting Master’s programs or the Diploma in Public Service Interpreting (DPSI) course. For them, it is an opportunity to collaborate further, debrief their teaching experience and review their teaching appro...

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...