Journal Articles
Tyers, D., & Sillito, J. (2018). Locating Continuing Professional Development within a Proposed Complex Dynamic Systems Model for Today’s English Language Teaching Profession. TESL Canada Journal, 35(2), 179-193. https://doi.org/10.18806/tesl.v35i2.1297
Whitepapers
Decision-Making Factors in International Schooling Choices for Global Families. August 2018.
Executive Summary: When strategically managed, international schooling can provide significant, life- and career-changing benefits for the school-aged children of global families, families who regularly relocate to different countries and cultures for professional and employment purposes. International schooling also provides compelling areas of research for academics who study the effectiveness of efforts to educate children to be effective and successful citizens in a globalized world.
It can’t be denied, however, that international schooling presents an added complication for global families, giving them additional factors to consider when plotting the education pathways for their child or children. Effectively managing the complexities of international schooling is crucial to the overall well-being of global families and their success in their international employment and careers.
This whitepaper explores decision-making factors in international schooling that global families need to consider. These factors include: logistical considerations (grade level, single or mixed gender school, school location, school size, and school facilities); using a local public school versus a private international school; language of instruction; teaching and learning systems; delivery modality and school type; supporting special learning needs; and developing global citizenship and a global identity. Different families may weigh these factors differently as they build education pathways for their child or children, however, all factors need to be fully understood in order for the families to make robust and sound decisions.
International Schooling Decision-Making Checklist: A tool for global family parents, to accompany the Whitepaper.
PhD Thesis
The Experiences of Women Entrepreneurs in the English Language Education Sector: Understanding Cross-Cultural and Cross-Linguistic Implications Through a Multiple Narrative Case Study. June 2017
Abstract: This research investigates the cross-cultural and cross-linguistic experiences of women entrepreneurs operating businesses in the English language education sector. The study is a multi-narrative case study with qualitative data collected through self-assessment tools, narrative interviewing, critical incident responses, cultural artefact stories, and an asynchronous focus group in response to a mini-lecture on culture and its relationship to language. There are six participants, operating businesses in Algeria, China, Colombia, Egypt, and Canada. The methodology yielded rich, multi-layered data and revealed unexpected significant variation in the participants’ cross-cultural and cross-linguistic experiences. It also yielded unexpected and equally varied data on their experiences as entrepreneurs, as women entrepreneurs, and as entrepreneurs in the English language education sector. The conceptual framework of multiple conceptualizations of culture and its relationship to language proved useful in interpreting the data on the participants’ cross-cultural and cross-linguistic experiences; however, given the unexpected data on the participants’ entrepreneurial experiences, it did not prove adequate for the interpretation of the entire data set. As an exploratory study, the research yielded multiple areas for possible future research. Prime among these is the use of the conceptualization of complex dynamic systems as a way to understand the variation seen in the participants’ experiences as entrepreneurs, women entrepreneurs, and entrepreneurs in the English language education sector as well as their cross-cultural and cross-linguistic experiences.