Journal of Research & Scholarly Output 2006 - Grimsby Institute of ...

the teaching style/expectations and
assessment methodology may need to be
modified to compensate. It was also
considered to be paramount that the tutor
really got to know and understand the
student’s learning styles. One tutor
observed:
“Without making that extra effort to get to
know and understand their needs I have no
doubt that there would have been many
more failures of assignments. Much of their
work is practical so tutors are having more
demands placed upon them in having to
further explain requirements that are easily
understood by UK students”.
Another theme that emerged was that
students expect to be provided with
information, rather than develop
understanding through practical application
of the theory. In the UK, tutors use and refer
to a variety of text books and opinions and
encourage students to take responsibility
for their learning. In China, the tendency is
to use only one, which is the set text. The
tutor explains everything without challenges
from the students. In the UK, students are
expected and encouraged to question and
challenge as part of the learning process.
Chinese students because of
cultural/political/national influences and
background do not challenge, which reflects
the observation by Moloi (2003) on ‘deep’
culture being difficult to change.
A Personal Viewpoint:
The information gathered from the empirical
research was not surprising. There wasn’t a
wide divergence on what was required to
develop a teaching strategy appropriate for
international students. The synthesis of
observations appear to reflect what was
identified in the literature regarding the
cultural aspect of the globalisation of
education, Lumby (2004), Dimmock (2004),
Fink (2001), and the driving forces of
McDonaldisation, Ritzer (1996), Smart
(1999). There was a general agreement that
successful teaching of an education
programme to an international student
cohort should be based on a well thought
out planning process that is informed at
both the macro and micro levels. Identifying,
planning for and respecting the differences
in personal values and culture,
differentiation and the learning styles of the
students, which further reflected the
observations and points made by Moloi
(2003), Wong (2004), Morgan (1986) and
Fink (2001).
It was strongly argued that there are huge
benefits from having a culturally diverse
group in the classroom, especially when
discussing global issues. Added to this
there are benefits for British students in their
development of citizenship, learning and an
understanding of the benefits of celebrating
diversity. There was consensus that
understanding the culture, recognising the
differences and knowing what we can do
and what we may need to change was
fundamental to the successful transfer of
learning to international students. Lumby
(2004) states:
”an international perspective is not about
knowing about the practice of others, but
about reaching a deeper understanding of
our own practice and how it relates to that of
other”..
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