Week 1: Academic cultural differences
Underlying themes
This is the start of an online programme that aims to help you review your teaching practice with a view to improving international students' learning experiences.
We deliberately focus on activities and discussion about teaching international students but as many people remark when discussing these matters, other students too are likely to benefit.
The course text is called Teaching International Students: Improving Learning for All (2005) by Carroll and Ryan. The book’s title expresses the ethos of this course: inclusive, sensitive, respectful teaching is good for all students but for some, it's vital.
An increasing number of our students now study far from home. Perhaps they are seeking qualifications in a new and unfamiliar context, perhaps in an unfamiliar language [English], and far from normal support systems. For those students, inclusive teaching can be crucial to successful learning. We will discuss this point further in course activities.
Course tasks
The theme of the week is academic cultural differences which we will explore by looking at differences between expectations held by teachers and by many (though not all) international students.
Readings for this week are about academic cultural differences:
- Chapter 4 of our course text, Teaching International Students
- If you can - Chapter 6 of this book (on ensuring students have necessary academic skills for success)
- If you wish - pages 18-27 of the report on how Indian higher education is organised (download from the 'India report' link on that page) as one example of how pedagogic systems and processes can differ
As you read, think about how these differences in the way teaching and learning are organised link to your own experiences. Noting one or two key 'mismatches' will help you prepare for the discussion tasks.
Task 1: cultural bump stories
Post a story of up to 150 words about an event or where you and a student (or group of students) held different assumptions and beliefs about teaching and learning.
A common example is the formality with which some students from overseas address their lecturers. Try and look deeper for 'mismatches'. For example, look for evidence of difference in how people interpret the role of teachers or students, or the purpose of teaching methods, or the place of assessment.
To post your story, go the discussion where you will find a full task brief.
Read others' stories and post a comment on one or two. You need not comment on all - and try and post short comments. Try and look for things you have in common, perhaps a shared experience or similar incident.
Task 2: contrasting expectations
For this task, please generate a list of contrasting expectations and assumptions you have which relate to your teaching of international students.
Go to the Google doc on contrasting expectations and under the headings, write statements from teachers or students about this heading.
Post early and try to cover areas which have not yet been addressed. This is a shared space where you will work collaboratively. It is available to anyone who has the link, but does not appear in search results, and the link is only posted here, so the page is fairly private.
