Leadership Studies Professor’s Paper Reveals Benefits of COIL
Piece focusing on global virtual learning published in the Journal of Educational Administration
One of Shenandoah University’s early forays into collaborative online international learning (COIL) is the subject of a new paper published in the Journal of Educational Administration.
The piece is co-authored by Shenandoah Professor of Leadership Studies Catherine Dunn Shiffman, Ph.D., and her counterpart in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dina Sijamhodžić-Nadarević, Ph.D., associate professor of teaching pedagogy/religious pedagogy at the University of Sarajevo.
Their article is titled “Crossing the ocean virtually: a pilot exchange between universities in the United States and Bosnia and Herzegovina.” It focuses on how COIL could be used to support preparation for educators and educational leaders, using their pilot virtual exchange programs in 2021 and 2022, as examples. The pilot project included 18 U.S. doctoral leadership students and 22 undergraduate and graduate students studying religious pedagogy and theology in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The authors conclude that COIL is valuable to both educators and educational leaders. “With an Internet connection, students and faculty can bypass physical mobility to practice intercultural communication, compare leadership roles and contexts, discuss shared concerns and explore solutions,” they write. “An international university partnership offers a foundation for collaborating faculty to navigate the priorities and constraints of their respective institutions, academic programs and students. With this support, virtual exchange offers an exciting direction to advance educational leadership preparation globally and locally.”
The Barzinji Institute for Global Virtual Learning at Shenandoah University provided the COIL training necessary to begin the pilot program, as well as some financial support to present at academic conferences. COIL is the primary element of the institute’s academic pillar, and is also integral to its conference pillar. The remaining pillar relates to service.
The institute is named in honor of the late Dr. Jamal Barzinji, who was an intellectual educator and community builder who advocated for “collective action on pressing contemporary issues. Education, health care, civil rights, racial justice, gender equality — he did not view these as political or intellectual debates, but as pivotal opportunities to create and ensure societal harmony.”
