Jude Carroll, author of Tools for Teaching in an Educationally Mobile World (Routledge 2015)

Supporting teaching across cultures:

the role of good practice principles and teacher adjustments

This workshop is aboutIdentifying the factors that

influence diverse students’ learning success

Naming the common areas of learning difficulty for culturally and linguistically diverse students

Naming teacher roles / adjustmentsDiscussing and applying good

practice principles in making teacher adjustments [with one try-out example]

Every one of these statements deserves considerable discussion

Every statement needs adjustment for the context

‘Diverse students’: some factors do impact on learning

Mobility (‘far from home/support, far from familiar, far from the place where I will use my learning’) + high cost, high pressure, high expectations etc

Academic cultural difference(s)

Learning and teaching in English

Predictable and common learning needs arising from:Learning and communicating in EnglishOperating in an unfamiliar academic

cultureHaving/not having useful skills (for

example, academic skills, reading, writing, exams and assessment, self-management, research etc) )

Participation, taking partCollaboration and feeling includedTaking home a useful and relevant

qualification

Issues needing accommodation The roles for teachers?

Students’ language capability

New academic culture

Building necessary skills.

Participation [‘Getting the most from ……’]

Collaboration & inclusion

auditor (where are they so far?); supporter for language development

Mediator between pedagogic cultures

Coach: providing practice, giving feedback

Facilitator of interaction and dialogue

Designer: in course learning outcomes, in a program, in a classroom session; in group tasks

A range of content teachers’ reactions to suggestions that they adjust for diversity

…

Denial “I teach. It’s up to them to learn.’

‘Repair’ ‘You fix these foreign students and then I will teach them’

The students must adapt ‘ …they should be ready’

I need to help them adjust and I need to adjust my own practice:

These are my students: what do they bring? What do they need from me in order to succeed? What can I do to help them succeed?

Outline of an alternative approach

1. Start with your culturally and linguistically diverse students’ learning needs

2. Think about teachers’ adjustments……[…and beyond: to university services, program, course, classroom etc]3. What adjustments? Use generic good practice principles for teaching across cultures4. Apply good practice principles at different

levels of responsibility (course, program, university) contexts (lectures, writing, research, group work) goals and outcomes (inclusion, easier life, sustainability)

Good practice principles for teaching across cultures

from an Australian government-funded three-year project about internationalisation of the curriculum

seehttp://www.ieaa.org.au/resources/good-practice-principles

principles for inclusive teaching across cultures

1. Treat all students as learners (not as arriving with all the skills and background knowledge they will need)

2. Adjust for diversity – different language levels, backgrounds, previous experiences, goals and engagement

3. Provide specific, explicit information: ensure the information fits the context. Don’t make them guess.

4. Foster engagement and intercultural dialogue (student-student and teacher-student)

5. Use reflection as a teacher; be flexible, evaluate then use the results to make changes

6. Prepare students for life in a globalizing, diverse and interconnected world

Designing group work

Giving a lecture

Planning a placement

Resolving a conflict

Students as learners

Adjust for diversity

Give explicit, context=specific information

Foster interaction and dialogue

How could I lecture in a way that ….

treated all students as if they were still learning relevant skills and knowledge?

adjusted for their diverse backgrounds and language skills?

provided context-specific information?

encouraged their [cognitive] participation?… encouraged collaboration and interaction

Lecturing if students are developing skills in

note taking: handouts, pauses for checking/ comparing, modeling good practice, prompting (‘write this down’)

following the structure: make transitions explicit, use repeats carefully, make importance explicit

using lecture materials: explain the links with other activities.

Lecturing adjustments if students have diverse background knowledge

Expectations are statedNecessary background is provided –

perhaps in a handout or by pointing students to where they can fill gaps.

Opportunities for retrieving/activating/checking previous knowledge and experiences

Ways for students to identify and/or alert you to problems / misunderstandings

Lecturing for students’ diverse language capabilities

Before:

During

After:

Pre-reading, pre-warning, glossary Lower language load (vocabulary, pace,

sentence structure, repeats, pauses) Modified slides (write in whole

sentences/ whole ideas; read out longer texts; stand next to the screen, make handouts in the ‘outline’ version)

Changes of activity / language ‘breaks’ [lecturer]Self-checking: Am I

understandable? Do they need a break?

Recordings to support rehearsal and review How/when/where to ask questions, seek

clarification

Provide context-specific information[Many of the suggestions already made also do this]State rules, behaviours, boundaries, schedule etc (Which ones? …. pay attention to students’ surprising behaviour)State when and how students can discuss, use or question lecture material

Lecturing to encourage cognitive participation

I have been trying to model this - did you spot any tactics I was using?

Turn to the person next to you. Check if what you spotted matches what he/she spotted….. Talk about what you noticed.

Be ready to tell me in 4 minutes.

How can educational managers help / support teacher adjustment?

Start with teachers’ issues, with their problems.

Listen hard. Move them on from describing the problem. Identify the local, discipline-specific benefits for their students and for themselves as teachers if they make adjustments/ changes.

Offer examples, theory, rationale, principles to support thinking / planning. Offer choices and options…. Read the literature

List and investigate local resources (people, time, money, space, links). Make a plan…..

Stay with it – this is long-term, tough and important work.