Remote Learning in Crises and Emergencies:Foundations Program

Convenor:Dr Marissa Quie

“I genuinely appreciate how engaging and thoughtfully designed this program is. It’s not just informative, but also inspiring. I find myself excited to learn more each day, and I can already see how it’s helping me grow personally and professionally.” (Student A)

“I don’t want to stop this program, I learned many things from the beginning till now." (Student C)

Core Courses

English for Academic Purposes (EAP) aims to:

Improve Academic English skills so students can independently access online higher education courses.
Improve language accuracy and work towards sitting standardised English exams, such as IELTS and TOEFL, that may be required for higher level learning.
Create a global learning community to provide encouragement and solidarity.

Pilot Foundations and Early Implementation

The programme began with a pilot in early 2022 supporting displaced Ukrainian students. Ten students participated in eight online sessions focused on academic English and university applications. Feedback highlighted improved confidence and appreciation for the interactive format.
A subsequent course, delivered in late 2022 in partnership with Future Brilliance, supported Afghan students in Pakistan preparing for IELTS exams. Despite challenges such as internet connectivity and limited video engagement, the course received positive evaluations. Several students successfully secured visas to enter Australia after passing IELTS exams for immigration. Lessons from these pilots informed the design of the Afghan programme.

The English for Academic Purposes (EAP) programme is delivered in a modular six-week block format, allowing for focused, manageable learning outcomes. This format has been developed as it proved adaptable and effective across various stages of delivery.

Electives

These courses are available as supplementary subject- based classes depending upon interest and qualifications as to:

Improve students’ confidence to discuss aspects of their preferred academic field in English.
Give students a chance to share and develop knowledge in their preferred academic field, improving feelings of agency.

Examples:

Medic Group: Six-week online lecture series introducing medical students to key topics in women's health, including nutrition, mental health, infection prevention, first aid, and reproductive wellbeing. Designed to complement ongoing English for Medicine classes, the course aims to build foundational knowledge and health literacy among students with limited access to formal medical education. Each weekly session will focus on a specific theme, using simple English and may include guest clinicians in later iterations. The series also encourages peer learning and offers pathways toward future engagement in healthcare advocacy or vocational study.

Design Thinking: This course introduces creative problem-solving framework widely used in design, entrepreneurships, and innovation sectors.The course focuses on the ideation phase of the design thinking process-equipping participants with tools to generate, evaluate and refine solutions to user-centred challenges. Through combination of interactive lectures, real-world case-studies and collaborative exercises, learners explore techniques such as brainstorming, mind mappin and "how might we" framing. These skislls lays the groundwork for practical application in design-related fields, including Computer-Assisted Drawing (CAD); user experience design, and creative entrepreneurship. The course is tailored to support the broader goal of enabling students to pursue remote employment opportunities in digital design and creative industries by fostering critical thinking, innovation, and user-oriented design skills.

Mental Health & Practical Courses

Supplementary courses are oriented towards mental health and practical applications, such as:

Fitness and Dance Class:The online fitness and dance class provides a safe, supportive environment to promote physical and emotional well-being through guided movement. Combining low-impact aerobic exercise, stretching, and culturally sensitive dance routines, the sessions are designed to be accessible within home settings and mindful of participants’ social contexts. It is held once a week.

The Tailoring and clothes making course beginning on 12 May is designed to equip Afghan women with the foundational skills needed to establish small-scale, home-based garment businesses. Delivered remotely with support from local partner organisations, the course introduces students to essential techniques in hand and machine sewing, fabric selection, pattern cutting, garment construction, and clothing repair. Participants learn how to design, create, and alter traditional and contemporary clothing, with an emphasis on low-cost, high-impact skills that can be applied immediately within their communities.

Mentoring Circles

Cambridge Refugee Hub’s Mentoring Programme connects members of the University of Cambridge with students in conflict countries. It encourages mentors and mentees to learn from each other. Mentoring is not a one-way transfer of expertise, but a collaborative process of inquiry, respect, and mutual growth. Mentoring offers space for exchange across borders and differences. Intercultural exchange, when grounded in care and critical reflection, can help challenge dominant narratives and open space for decolonial approaches to knowledge and learning. Mentorship is beneficial for everyone involved – the mentor, the mentee, but also their colleges and the university.

Mentees are paired with a member of staff or student of the University of Cambridge, in later phases also including those affiliated with the Cambridge Refugee Hub. Each pairing meets 6 times on Zoom, at which point they can switch to a new mentor/mentee or continue for a further 6 weeks. So far a vast majority of mentors have chosen to continue with the same member, but a small number opt to stop after 6 weeks.

Prospective mentors received two training sessions, the first focusing on the role of mentoring, safeguarding, and boundary setting. The second training covered pedagogical aspects of mentoring, goal-setting, and guidance in using materials to plan effective mentoring sessions. The students also received one orientation session to explain the purpose of the mentoring programme, set expectations, review appropriate communication with mentors, and guide students in how to make the most of mentoring. Bi-monthly mentor meet-ups are arranged instead as an opportunity to meet and share experience of mentoring. These have proven useful in sharing ideas for sessions, building a mentoring circle community, and providing a forum for resolving issues and misunderstandings.

Become a Mentor

The situation for women in Afghanistan is worsening. The lives for Afghan women have been restricted to their homes and they have been excluded from access to education, employment and social life. Together with Voice of America (VoA), the University of Cambridge has been leading a English for Academic Purposes programme for Afghan women who were either about to enter university or were forced to leave higher education when the Taliban returned to power in 2021. The aim is to help the students develop academic English skills to be able to access online higher education courses and complete their tertiary education.

Each student in this programme is assigned a one-to-one mentor to help them improve their spoken English skills and practice discussing topics in their academic discipline. Mentors provide a vital window to the world beyond Afghanistan and help the students to feel connected to a broader global academic community. No experience in teaching English language is required and full training and support is provided. To register your interest in becoming a mentor or to express interest in supporting the programme as a voluntary English teacher for small groups of students, please complete this form: https://forms.gle/pCkSYXKKKp5pUTwCA

Dr. Jonathan Birtwell: Jonathan completed his PhD at the Faculty of Education at the University of Cambridge in 2022. His thesis explored access to higher education for forcibly displaced students in Malaysia. He began leading English for Academic Purposes programmes with the Centre for the Research of Global Human Movement in 2022 with a first cohort of Ukrainian students. He now works as a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Sanctuary Hub at King's College London, where his work focuses on higher education-led pathways for forcibly displaced students to study in the UK.