A/Prof. Michiko Weinmann

My research explores the nexus of language, culture and education in global contexts, bringing together Education and Cultural Studies perspectives. Through transdisciplinary co-authored publications and research collaborations, my research contributes to a reconstitution of established notions of language, people and place towards more complex understandings that disrupt dominant discourses of nation, geopolitics and identity. This has led to sustained work with large education systems to inform the reframing of Languages education policy, curriculum, pedagogy and teacher practice through approaches that are inclusive of and responsive to multilingual and transnational perspectives, knowledges and new identity narratives.

As a research-informed educator, my pedagogy takes as its premise an understanding of teaching and learning as a cornerstone of social transformation, and a theoretical stance that our human condition and expression are inherently multilingual and multidimensional. Drawing on the nexus of contemporary theory, curriculum and practice in the discipline, my work translates directly into the units and courses I design for 21st century Languages, EAL/D and TESOL educators who live, work and teach in global contexts.

I am co-convenor of the University's Australia-China Relations and Higher Education Research Network, and a member of the Makers Performers Practices Research Network. With Deakin colleague Dr Rebecca Cairns, I co-convene the Deakin School of Education Transforming Curriculum, Assessment and Pedagogy (TCAP) research group. Our co-authored book The Asia literacy dilemma: A curriculum perspctive was published in the Routledge Schools and Schooling in Asia series in October 2022. 

Research expertise: Multilingualism and multilingual education; innovation in Languages and EAL/D pedagogy and practice; Languages and EAL/D policy and curriculum in international contexts; 'Asia literacy'; global mobility and study abroad programs; internationalisation of the teaching profession; students-as-partners. 

Research methodologies: Critical discourse analysis; visual/multimodal methodologies; narrative inquiry; case study; curriculum inquiry; policy analysis.

Transforming Curriculum, Assessment and Pedagogy (TCAP) 

Research for Educational Impact (REDI)

Modern Language Teachers' Association of Victoria (MLTAV)

VicTESOL

Asian Studies Association of Australia (ASAA)

German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)

I currently teach and chair the following units:

• ETL710 Teaching and Learning in Languages Classrooms
• ETL716 CLIL Pedagogy
• ECL306 Teaching and Learning Languages in Primary Contexts.

I also supervise students undertaking units within the Master's or Graduate Certificate Research Pathway (EDX703/4 and EDX705/6).

Conferences and invited presentations of the last three years include:

International conferences

• Charbonneau, N., Weinmann, M. & Arber, R. (2019). Decolonising language education policy: Beyond the imagination of Francophone identities. Paper presented at Multilingualism and Identity: Interdisciplinary Perspectives, Murray Edwards College University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, 11–13 September 2019. 
• Weinmann, M., Neilsen, R. & Martin, I., (2019). Juggling Selves: Navigating Pre-service Teaching Experiences in Overseas Contexts. Paper presented at Educating the Global Citizen: International Perspectives on Foreign Language Teaching in the Digital Age, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich, 25–28 March 2019. 

Invited presentations

• Weinmann M. & Neilsen R. (2021). ‘Reorientating mobility and study abroad programs: We are crossing borders…or are we?’. Asia Education Foundation – AEF Clubhouse International network, Second Meeting, 27 May 2021.
• Weinmann, M. (2019). Traversing multilingualism and the ‘monolingual mindset’: A critical perspective on Languages education in Australian schools. Otto-Friedrich-University Bamberg,18 November 2019.  
• Weinmann, M. & Cairns, R. (2019). El campo curricular en Australia: La prioridad transversal ‘Capacidades de Asia’ Contexto, debates, y limitaciones. Il seminario internacional Curriculum, conocimiento y experiencia educacional, Facultad de Sciencias Sociales, Universidad de Chile, 24 October 2019.

Guest editor Language Awareness 2022 special conference issue

Coordinator Deakin-MLTAV Master of Teaching Languages graduate award 

I am regularly invited to provide media comment, and to contribute to education blogs and industry publications. Recent examples include:

Mandarin secures spot as most popular language to learn at Victorian schools  (The Age, 7 November 2021)

Concerns Asian experts 'dispensable' as Australian universities cut Asian programs due to COVID-19 (ABC News, 28 July 2021)

Just a few minutes daily learning a language can boost your brain power (The Sydney Morning Herald,13 June 2021)

‘Too foreign, difficult and suspicious’: Discourses of Chinese language learning in Australia (Asian Studies Association of Australia,19 March 2021)

Looking to Languages: New opportunities right on our doorstep (Asia Education Foundation/Asialink, 26 Feb 2021)

Language of the future or national threat? Unpacking the discourses of teaching and learning Chinese in Australian schools (Network for Research into Chinese Education Mobilities, 16 Oct 2020)

We asked two experts how to actually learn a language in isolation (news.com.au, 21 April 2020)

Transforming Curriculum, Assessment and Pedagogy (TCAP) research group (Co-Convenor)

Research for Educational Impact (REDI) Diversity and Social Justice in Education

• Deakin School of Education Research Awards 2018: Sustained achievement in Higher Degree by Research Supervision.
• DAAD Bridges Network: Strategic transitional network of universities 2020 travel grant, 2019 (University of Bamberg, Germany).
• DAAD - German Academic Exchange Service Award for Research Stays for University Academics and Scientists 2016 (Karlsruhe University of Education, University of Regensburg, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich).
• RUIS (RMIT University International Student) scholarship for PhD research (2007).

Current projects

1. Plurilingualism for equity: Developing linguistically diverse practice in Higher Education - Dr Michiko Weinmann, Dr Rod Neilsen, Prof Jill Blackmore (Deakin University); Dr Janice McGregor (University of Arizona, USA).

This project aims to examine how different stakeholders in Higher Education (HE) including students, academic and professional staff, and executive and governance understand and engage with language diversity in the university. In particular, it seeks to explore what tensions and power imbalances underpin their perceptions of language (other than English) use, and the role and contribution of plurilingualism to equity in teaching and learning in HE.

2. Australia, NZ, China relations and the impact on education - Dr Michiko Weinmann, Dr Rod Neilsen (Deakin University), Dr Jeffrey Gil (Flinders University), Andrew Scrimgeour (University of South Australia), Dr Grace Qi (Massey University, NZ), Dr Benjamin Mulvey (University of Glasgow, UK), Dr Yingmei Luo (Henan University, China).

The aim of this project is to capture the impact of the current geopolitical relations between Australia, New Zealand and China on various Education sectors, including: primary and secondary schooling, University and Higher Education, and the ELICOS (English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students) sector. In particular, this study aims to investigate the perspectives of educators, researchers and professional staff employed across various education sectors regarding the measures that are critical for a sustainable future of bilateral educational relations between Australia, NZ and China.

3. Students as multicultural and multilingual influencers - Dr Michiko Weinmann, Dr Rod Neilsen, Dr Alistair Welsh, Ethan Colley, Su James, Hend Elkharraz, Nicholas Amos (Deakin University), Dr Israel Holas (University of Melbourne).  

This Students-as-Partners microgrant project was completed in 2022 in collaboration between the Faculty of Arts and Education (School of Education and School of Humanities and Social Sciences) and four undergraduate student partners. Placing student voice at the centre of their higher education experience, this project aimed to gain comprehensive insight into the lived experiences of multilingual and multicultural undergraduate students from regional areas. By foregrounding students as language learners and language users, and as key grassroots policy and curriculum actors, this project sought to amplify their voices by articulating and sharing students' lived multilingual and multicultural experiences in their educational and social communities.