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The Community

The origins of :

MASH is the culmination of a year-long journey into collaborative learning. It started as a small skype study group for 4 original members (Steve, Mark, Kirsten and Anthony) who were looking to survive the potentially lonely experience of a distance MA program. It has evolved into a new community looking for opportunities to grow beyond the initial training grounds of the MA TEFL program. Steve and Mark quickly realized that there is a huge amount of talent, energy, experience and passion being created as many MA students go from theoretical novices at the beginning of their MA studies to confident, burgeoning, well-defined professionals by the end of their studies. The MASH community hopes to offer a place for students and other Bhammers to funnel their passions and energy in order to add a unique Birmingham voice to not only EFL teaching in Japan, but to English Language Teaching (ELT) throughout the world.

is a professional community:

It is an action-related forum, endorsed by CELS and organized by students and tutors. It is for anyone associated with the University of Birmingham’s MA programs.

  • The forum will encourage people to join as MASH members and explore opportunities for collaborative studies, ELT research and special projects.
  • 'Anyone' includes current students, graduates, tutors and CELS staff.
  • Currently, the organizers of this community include:
    • Steve Herder, Founder and MASH presentation Panelist
    • Mark de Boer, Co-Founder and MASH homepage owner
    • Paul Moritoshi, MASH presentation Panelist and MASH Advisor
    • Philip Shigeo Brown, MASH presentation Panelist and MASH Advisor
    • Terry Shortall, Coordinator for Distance Programmes, Centre for English Language Studies, University of Birmingham, and MASH Advisor

spells opportunity:

Especially for current students, MASH offers the chance to get more out of the MA experience. Besides receiving a very sound theoretical and pedagogical foundation in ELT from the Birmingham MA studies, MASH can be utilized to reach beyond the books and essays. MASH gives you the chance to define yourself as a professional in your field. Your professional development can evolve in a number of ways: through study groups, presentation workshops, collaborative research and publishing projects, and finally, of great interest to most Bhammers, the potential for networking with like-minded people at language schools, junior and senior high schools, and universities around the world.

is what we make it:

MASH looks to take advantage of the wealth of our ever-growing experience, talent, and expertise.The more we get involved in MASH, and take action - learn more, collaborate, do research, publish findings - the greater the profile of the Birmingham MA program will become. The more it grows, the more the Birmingham MA degree will become recognized as the unequivocal leading qualification for employers who are looking for well-educated, action-oriented, proven education professionals. There are a group of us committed to making things happen - why not join in and contribute?