Section III

BEST PRACTICES IN CLASSROOM TEACHING

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Faculty certainly plays an integral role in the learning experience of our foreign students. In this section, we will explore practical strategies and techniques for supporting learning within a multicultural classroom.

A.  Classroom Administration – Setting the Intercultural Classroom Stage

It is extremely important to “frame the class” for the international learner on day one. Your detailed explanations of how the class is managed, what behaviors are acceptable and how performance is valued will help the foreign student understand how this class might be different from what he or she is use to at home. By understanding the differences, the student can adapt his or her study strategies and engagement mindset.

Clear Expectations. During the first class meeting, faculty typically reviews the course syllabus with students. Syllabus review in a fully-domestic classroom focuses on: course purpose and learning objectives, course flow and meeting dates, scheduled assignments and activities, grading policy and weightings, and various administrative issues (e.g., attendance requirements, academic honesty, etc.). When facilitating a multicultural classroom, there are several issues that need to be explicitly discussed in order to fully align teacher and foreign student expectations. These include: the role of the teacher and students, acceptable classroom behaviors, assessment criteria and academic honesty (citation).

·  Role of Teacher and Students – The cultural and educational experiences of foreign learners vary, particularly in regards to student-faculty dynamics. In establishing role expectations, it will be important to define: 1) how you will manage the class (e.g., lecturer versus facilitator, formal versus informal structure), 2) what roles students are expected to play (e.g., ask questions, share experiences, collaboration with classmates), and 3) how students should interact with you (e.g., classroom engagement, office hours, formality of interaction, career mentoring).

“The role of the teacher and the job of the student may be very different in an Asian mindset. If American or European teachers are to be effective with international students in their classrooms, it is helpful for the average teacher to understand this mindset and be able to clearly communicate what is expected and adjust those expectations accordingly.”[1]

·  Acceptable Classroom Behavior. It is recommended that you define acceptable classroom behavior at the beginning of the course. What might be considered to be normal conduct in another culture could be construed here as rude, disruptive or apathetic. Furthermore, future misunderstandings and classroom disruptions might be avoided by taking the time to describe behavioral expectations such as: respect for classmates, constructive collaboration, critical inquiry, adherence to attendance policies, etc.

“In one culture, it might be acceptable to interrupt or talk more loudly to gain control of the conversation; in another, it may be considered polite to allow a short silence following any individual’s contribution; in another, students might expect to be called upon before offering their opinion. International students may, consequently, find the U.S. discussion conventions confusing or frustrating, and have difficulty entering in a culturally appropriate way.”[2]

·  Assessments and Participation Standards. It is important to describe assessment activities, how performance is valued and how feedback will be delivered. In setting the stage, you want to offer students a glimpse into how this class aligns or differs from their prior experiences.

o  Assessment routine and activities – Remember that on-going assessment throughout the term may be a new concept for those students who participated in an “end-of-term exam” educational system. Therefore, it helps to clearly describe how and when the student’s knowledge will be tested. If there is a case study or signature project, then you will want to describe the activity, discuss learning objectives and specify deadlines.

o  Performance Evaluation – It is essential to offer a broad framework of what is valued in respect to grading. For example, critical and creative thinking is often a learning objective in our classrooms. You need to discuss how these objectives flow into your grading criteria because assessment of critical inquiry is quite a different concept from memorization and recall. If student-to-student and student-to-faculty interactions are a major grading component, participation expectations need to be explained in detail.

o  Feedback – Again the focus is on the big picture. You should discuss the format and frequency of feedback and explain how the content can be used to promote student growth and subsequent grade success.

·  Academic Honesty and Plagiarism. Academic honesty and plagiarism are always items of discussion; however, it is particularly important to detail convention in the multicultural classroom because citation rational and plagiarism rules vary across cultures. The frequency of integrity violations might be reduced by taking the time to explicitly define expectations and by providing resources (e.g., writing center support)

“Some lecturers find that international students may plagiarize and not adopt proper referencing. More often than not, the reason for this is not purposeful misconduct, but lack of knowledge and skills development in relation to paraphrasing, developing an argument and appropriate referencing.”[3]

B.  Addressing Language Challenges

Culturally-responsible educators acknowledge the challenge of learning in a second language and realize that there are classroom tactics that help mitigate the problem. Three important strategies for addressing second-language issues are: striving for clarity, allowing time for reflection and leveraging technology.

Strive for Clarity. Clarity of message is a fundamental tenant of interpersonal communication, regardless of the audience. However, within the multicultural classroom, delivering a clearly-understood lecture represents a higher-magnitude challenge. Practical classroom strategies that might be used to improve your overall success include:

·  Avoid confusing language and terminology (e.g., idioms, jargon) and remind students to do the same.

·  Augment the lecture with a glossary of important terms and take the time to explain course-specific terminology.

·  Deliver content in alternative and visual formats (e.g., graphics, outlines and concept maps).

·  Speak at a slower pace, particularly if you are prone to speak quickly.

·  Provide students with a lecture outline, recap or summary, highlight key issues, and connect lecture to other parts of the course.[4]

·  Routinely ask students in the class to recap the lecture content.

“Summarizing ideas and rechecking understanding would be very helpful throughout in-class discussions or project team meetings, not just at the end, because international students may have problems with understanding and following the discussion and also because untraditional ideas may require more time and effort to comprehend.”[5]

Allow Time for Reflection. It is important to remember that processing verbal content in a second language takes more time than would typically be needed when studying in a native tongue. A few useful strategies are provided for your review:

·  Provide discussion questions prior to the class; this will allow the foreign learner to reflect on the issue and formulate a response.

·  Allow students to discuss the question with classmates prior to overall class interaction. You might also create sub-groups in which the student can discuss the question with peers in their “first language.”

·  Develop a class routine whereby the student knows that he or she will be given an opportunity each class to share a story, idea or “aha moment.” Realizing this expectation, the student will have time to formulate his or her ideas.

·  Provide the course syllabus prior to the start of the term and offer materials prior to classes.[6]

Leverage Technology. Technology provides us with a tool for mitigating some of the communication issues associated with second-language learning. Classroom techniques that might be considered include:

·  Integrate an asynchronous discussion board or blog into your classroom routine. Many students, who are reluctant to engage in the live classroom, will make meaningful contributions in the online forum for a couple reasons: 1) the asynchronous engagement provides time for reflection, and 2) the post can be edited for grammar, which eliminates the potential embarrassment from incorrect grammar.

·  When possible, digitally record content. This will enable the foreign student to review lectures.

·  Use a camera when conducting online “synchronous” chats so that students can see you talking; this should improve the student’s focus and comprehension.

C.  Facilitating Classroom Learning

Principles that drive quality classroom learning include: student-to-faculty contact, cooperation among students, active learning, prompt feedback, time on task, high expectations and respect for diversity. [Arthur Chickering and Zelda Gamson] These principles certainly remain true for the multicultural classroom. A few tactics that are particularly relevant for the multicultural classroom are offered for your review.

Create a Safe Learning Environment. When facilitating a course, the teacher is responsible for creating and maintaining “safe” learning environments. The safe environment promotes critical evaluation of content because students know that sharing of ideas is encouraged and that class discussion and debate are conducted within an atmosphere of respect. Classroom strategies for creating and maintaining safe multicultural learning environments include:

·  Allow for less than perfect grammar within discussions.

·  Intervene when unacceptable classroom behavior occurs.

·  Acknowledge the value of diversity and stimulate interest in cultural differences.

·  Offer non-graded or low-stake opportunities for practice.

·  Provide constructive, on-going feedback.

·  Position yourself as a mentor.

·  Create sub-groups where students can freely interact (perhaps even “first-language” groups).

“International students may be more participative when ‘safe environments’ are provided for them. Theses settings should include the opportunity to interact without ‘losing face’ and where emphasis on the achievement of a learning experience is as important as the final result (Ryan and Hellmundt, 2005; Littlewood, 2006; Luxon and Robinson, 2006.)”[7]

“Some of the primary techniques I use to create a safe environment in the classes I teach are norming (guidelines for interacting), self-disclosure, de-emphasizing evaluation during practice, seating arrangements drawing students into discussions, and cutting off or redirecting students (see Jacobs, Harvill and Masson 2002 for more information on these techniques).[8]

Frame Relevance of Material. Evidence suggests that international learners benefit when lecture material is connected to both prior content and to future modules. Furthermore, focus increases when students understand why the material is relevant. Practical ideas that will help the learner comprehend how the class content connects to overall learning objectives include:

·  Frame how the course will flow and explain how each learning module relate to the overall course learning objectives (holistic approach).

·  Link class lectures to prior content; conclude class by providing a glimpse of where the learning is going.

·  Explain how case studies and written assignments build upon course material.

·  Offer handouts that visually depict content from a holistic perspective (e.g., timelines, mind maps).

·  Demonstrate how learning material connects to practical (industry) application.

·  Ask students to discuss their work experiences and share how learning material is relevant to their industry work.

“Start your lecture by explaining where the unit fits in the degree/course, how it related to students’ prior knowledge and how it is connected to future material. International students might find it easier to understand your material if they know what it is building upon and where it is taking them.”[9]

Decipher Assignments: Course assignments are designed for various learning purposes. In some situations, the student is expected to engage in a reading or view a pre-recorded lecture for detailed understanding; in other assignments, the intent is to scan for ideas or the major premise. While many domestic students are aware of this variation and familiar in adjusting time management accordingly, it is not always the case with the foreign student. It is important to take a few moments to decipher time-on-task and learning expectations. This is particularly important for any international students whose learning background reflects memorization of assigned materials. It also makes sense to connect the assignment intensity to its overall grade weighting.

“Discuss and decode the reading list, explaining (if you do) that you wish them to extract key information from a text rather than reading it thoroughly. Which are the key texts? Many international students will have had little exposure to the British academic convention of ‘mining texts for useful ideas, quotes, or points of view rather than reading it for recall later.”[10]

Promote Student Participation. Our classrooms are designed to be interactive. As previously discussed, foreign students may hesitate due to a variety of reasons. The following tactics may help you promote participation within your multicultural classroom:

·  Frame the intrinsic value of student participation and how it elevates overall class learning.

·  Discuss the benefit of sharing diverse ideas.

·  Communicate that there is no poor question because it helps overall learning.

·  Establish clear rules regarding what is expected and how participation impacts the student’s grade.

·  Provide obvious times for classroom interaction (e.g., Q&A period, student round table, small-group breakouts).

·  Consider assigning questions before the class so that the international student has time to reflect.

·  Consider having students discuss question with classmates or class sub-groups prior to answering.

·  Engage in dialogue about global issues and cultural dimensions.

·  Thank the student for their question, story or insight.

·  Augment your onsite classroom with an asynchronous discussion board or blog (e.g., BlackBoard) and provide explicit instructions for what level of engagement is expected.

D.  Facilitating Group Assignments

Student-to-student interaction is a valuable source of learning in our classrooms. The sharing of diverse ideas and experiential knowledge elevates overall learning. However, cultural norms and the lack of collaborative classroom experience for many foreign students may lead to resistance and confusion. Practical classroom techniques for mitigating some of the problems include: framing the value of group assignments, creating clear participation and governance guidelines and requiring participation trails.

“Lectures are the standard mode of instruction in many cultures, and discussions may not have a place in the classroom. Thus, some international students may not see the benefit of discussions or group work, believing they cannot learn anything substantive from their peers. They may get frustrated and wonder why (as they see it) the teacher is not teaching.”[11]