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Changing Horizons in Geography Education - HERODOT Network ...

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The added value of <strong>in</strong>ternational studentsgroups <strong>in</strong> geography classroomsT<strong>in</strong>e Béneker, Leo Paul, Rob van der VaartFaculty of Geosciences, Utrecht UniversityPostbox 80115, 3508 TC Utrecht,The Netherlandse-mail: t.beneker@geog.uu.nlAbstractThe department of Human <strong>Geography</strong> and Plann<strong>in</strong>g has been participat<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong>ternationalexchange of students from the beg<strong>in</strong>n<strong>in</strong>g of the Erasmus programmes for higher education<strong>in</strong> the 1980s. In 2002 we stopped organis<strong>in</strong>g special modules for <strong>in</strong>ternational students and<strong>in</strong>stead we <strong>in</strong>tegrated modules <strong>in</strong> English <strong>in</strong> our new bachelor program <strong>in</strong> Human <strong>Geography</strong>and Plann<strong>in</strong>g. Overall, the experiences of teachers and students with these ‘mult<strong>in</strong>ational ormulticultural classrooms’ are positive. Apart from some language problems, the studentsappreciate the <strong>in</strong>ternational sphere <strong>in</strong> the classroom. The added value of the presence offoreign students is highest when teachers explicitly make use of the multiperspectivity (<strong>in</strong>the m<strong>in</strong>ds of the students) <strong>in</strong> the design of their courses.Key words: <strong>Geography</strong>, education, student exchange, <strong>in</strong>ternational classroomIntroductionForeign students participate <strong>in</strong> an <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>g number of modules <strong>in</strong> the bachelorand master programmes at the Department of Human <strong>Geography</strong> and Plann<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>Utrecht. It is expected that with<strong>in</strong> a few years English will have become the dom<strong>in</strong>antlanguage <strong>in</strong> our Masters programmes. The mult<strong>in</strong>ational classroom, with studentsfrom different l<strong>in</strong>guistic, national and academic backgrounds, offers new challengesand opportunities. In this paper we will discuss the experiences of teachers andstudents <strong>in</strong> some of our modules taught <strong>in</strong> English. How do we benefit from these<strong>in</strong>ternational classrooms <strong>in</strong> our modules?In the f<strong>in</strong>al section of this paper, we want to discuss the larger issues <strong>in</strong>volved<strong>in</strong> teach<strong>in</strong>g and learn<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> mult<strong>in</strong>ational or multicultural classes. What about thecultural bias of the home <strong>in</strong>stitution <strong>in</strong> terms of academic style and approach to thediscipl<strong>in</strong>e (geography)? How can variety <strong>in</strong> l<strong>in</strong>guistic skills, academic backgrounds,and <strong>in</strong> perceptions of the subject be dealt with? And most importantly: how canthe multiperspectivity of an <strong>in</strong>ternational student group be used as ‘a strength’ <strong>in</strong>academic courses? Inspired by the cultural turn <strong>in</strong> geography and <strong>in</strong> the socialsciences at large (see for example: Crang 1998), many teachers will use issues ofrepresentation and a multi-perspective approach <strong>in</strong> the design of their courses andread<strong>in</strong>g lists. A multicultural and mult<strong>in</strong>ational classroom will hugely enlarge thepossibilities of us<strong>in</strong>g variety of perspectives and representations as a pedagogicaltool and learn<strong>in</strong>g strategy.107

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