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Empowering Learners: A Win-Win Solution for Students and Educators
Abstract
This chapter describes the philosophical approach of the Cultures and Languages Across the Curriculum movement, which advocates leveraging international students’ language and cultural knowledge to support their academic goals and sense of belonging on college and university campuses in the United States.
... As for research pertaining to international students belonging in higher education institutions, we have identified four possible areas of investigation. These areas include investigating the types of student-advisor relationships that international students find beneficial (Curtin, Stewart, & Ostrove, 2013), examining how international students can use their linguistic and cultural backgrounds to enhance their learning (Davies & Gonzalez, 2017), and emphasising the significance of campus language policies in promoting international students' attachment and sense of belonging (Choi, Tatar, & Kim, 2021;Li, 2015). ...
Following the gradual post-COVID-19 return of international student flows, it is important to examine how higher education institutions and international students are reacting to their new environment and how they relate to each other. Central to this relationship is the concept of ‘belonging’; what it means for international students, as newcomers and temporary residents in their host environment, to feel as if they belong. To address this question, and as a springboard from which further research into the topic can be undertaken, we examined the question of ‘belonging’ within contemporary academic literature. We examined a broad range of literature to determine the key findings, as well as gaps in the implications for theory and practice. Our findings indicate that ‘belonging’ is seldom clearly defined in the scholarly research. We also found that a proactive approach to student integration was the most common thread across the studies examined.
... As a result, students will feel more confident in undertaking the next stage of their academic growth and development (Blaskova et al., 2015). Learners tend to feel empowered after they encounter highly responsible, creative and inspiring faculty teachers who provide them with the right model for transition to the higher education environment (Davies & Gonzalez, 2017;Del Gandio, 2017). In this way, those students find it possible to rethink and even improve their approach towards education, which is a multifaceted phenomenon that can bring about substantial change in people's lives (Nolan & Molla, 2017). ...
The higher education experience is a challenge for first-year students. One of the challenges facing a generation of youth is attaining professional skills, academic experience and occupational training. In order to have a clear picture of the challenges involved in first-year experiences it is important to examine elements impacting first-year students' adjustment to university and in particular on the dual faculty role. This opinion paper posits that higher education faculties play an important role in the successful adjustment of first-year students, not only in facilitating their learning, but in impacting students' well-being and their growth as better citizens. The findings from this paper were drawn from various studies looking at the importance of first-year faculties in higher education, which involved extensive literature reviews and reported interviews with university stakeholders. The paper offers higher education leadership insights into the complex factors at play and the dual role faculties hold.
... As a result, students will feel more confident in undertaking the next stage of their academic growth and development ( Blaskova et al., 2015). Learners tend to feel empowered after they encounter highly responsible, creative and inspiring faculty teachers who provide them with the right model for transition to the higher education environment ( Davies & Gonzalez, 2017;Del Gandio, 2017). In this way, those students find it possible to rethink and even improve their approach towards education, which is a multifaceted phenomenon that can bring about substantial change in people's lives ( Nolan & Molla, 2017). ...
This chapter aims to outline a synergistic philosophy and theoretical model supported by emerging research and practice that can inform effective student services, viz., the indigenous New Zealand Whare Tapa Rima – The Five-Sided-Home holistic student support model. This model challenges one-size-fits-all models and provides an alternative framework for student services provision in higher education institutions. The Whare Tapa Wha Model of holistic well-being was first documented by Durie (Whaiora: Māori Health Development. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1994) and then further developed by Moeau in 1997. The emerging utility of this model is expanded on in Graham and Going (Whare Tapa Rima – The Five-Sided Home. Published as a Poste. Hamilton, 2010, 2016) and supportive research on the effectiveness of the approach is provided by Fielden et al. (2020). This model challenges higher education institutions to provide a responsive, theory-informed framework for their student services. This presented holistic theoretical model is capable of underpinning professional level recognition of even the most complex student needs and of supporting effective student-centered services. Understandings of this model also shed light on why simplistic “one size fits all” solutions fail students frequently. This chapter reviews the interconnections between both learning and support and between staff and students; it also identifies the new capabilities that both higher education teaching and support staff need to develop to implement an effective holistic student-centered support system.
Five myths about internationalization are explored. A common element of each myths is that the benefits of internationalization or the degree of internationality can be measured quantitatively. The purpose of identifying and reflecting on these myths and truths is to ensure that internationalization is on the right track and that we, as higher education sectors, are aware of intended and unintended consequences.
Over the last two decades, the concept of the internationalization of higher education has moved from the fringe of institutional interest to the very core. While gaining moral weight, its content seems to have deteriorated. There is an increasing commercialization under the flag of internationalization. This attitude has exacerbated the devaluation of internationalization and the inflation of defensive measures. While in need of more philosophy, we also require a greater sense of reality. We need to rethink and redefine the way we look at the internationalization of higher education in the present time.
This phenomenological study explores the experiences of non-native English-speaking international students regarding language, culture and identity in the context of their graduate studies. Interviews were conducted with each of the eight participants. Interpretive analysis was used within a constructivist frame. The findings of this study are organized into four themes of the participants’ experiences: Mastering the language: You know you sound wrong, The meaning of language proficiency: English is alive, Language and academic identity: I feel I’m in-between, and Joining a new community of practice: You have to start all over again. Implications of the study suggest that language and cultural identity are central to the academic experience of non-native speakers. Recommendations emphasize the importance of learner-centered instructional design in addressing these needs.
Through the analysis of alumni survey data from three graduating cohorts, this study examined the influence of interaction with international students on domestic students’ college outcomes and explored factors that helped to promote international interaction on college campuses. The findings indicate that in comparison to non-interactive domestic students, highly interactive domestic students reported significantly higher levels of development in a wide range of areas across the three cohorts. Also, the findings suggest that active engagement in college activities, such as coursework outside the major, contact with faculty outside class, ethnic or cultural clubs or organizations, and visiting speakers, was likely to promote interaction across cultures.
This paper highlights the importance of international students to the United States by discussing their impact and necessity to U.S. universities. International student enrollment is a major industry of importance to the U.S. economy and despite arduous visa processes and diminished job prospects their enrollment numbers continue to grow. The Institute of International Education (2012) reports that a lack of funding to public universities has increased their reliance on the revenue provided by international students while private universities also seek to bolster their position in the face of increased international competition. The importance of international students in under-enrolled majors, their necessity as a vital revenue stream for universities and the challenges faced by both student and host university are also discussed. The author provides recommendations for improving the educational experience of international students through improved relationships with university constituents in order to maintain the attractiveness and competitiveness of the U.S.
Foreign language research demands consideration of translation and interpretation strategies which have implications for the research/writing process. Such issues question assumption about language in all research, 'home' and 'foreign'. The possibility of a hybrid strategy of research between languages is explored.
This study examines how home and host region affect international students' friendship experiences in the United States. Based on surveys completed by 454 international students, this study finds that home and host regions are significant factors influencing the number of American friends international students make as well as their satisfaction with these friendships. With respect to home region, students from English-speaking countries and from Northern and Central Europe had the most positive experiences, while students from East Asia had the least positive. Regarding host region, students fared better in the South than the Northeast, and better in non-metropolitan than metropolitan environments.
Valerie Serrin still remembers vividly her anger and the feeling of helplessness. After getting a C on a lab report in an introductory chemistry course, she went to her teaching assistant to ask what she should have done for a better grade. Ms. Serrin's experience is hardly unique. With a steep rise in the number of foreign graduate students in the last two decades, undergraduates at large research universities often find themselves in classes and laboratories run by graduate teaching assistants whose mastery of English is less than complete. The issue is particularly acute in subjects like engineering, where 50 percent of graduate students are foreign born, and math and the physical sciences, where 41 percent of graduate students are, according to a survey by the Council of Graduate Schools, an association of 450 schools. This is despite a modest decline in the number of international students enrolling in American graduate programs since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The encounters have prompted legislation in at least 22 states requiring universities to make sure that teachers are proficient in spoken English. In January, Bette B. Grande, a Republican state representative from Fargo, N.D., tried to go even further after her son Alec complained of his experiences at North Dakota State University. Mrs. Grande introduced legislation that would allow students in state universities to drop courses without penalty and be reimbursed if they could not understand the English of a teaching assistant or a professor.
Educational exchanges and fellowships are not new; the best known, the Fulbright Program, is more than 60 years old. But the Community College Summit Initiative Program, as this fledgling effort is known, reflects a growing recognition among American government officials that the United States must do a better job in its public-diplomacy outreach to those who are not members of their countries' socioeconomic elite. The program, now in its second year, also underscores the view that community colleges, with their expertise in work-force education, may often be the best places for future leaders in developing economies to get training. The program grew out of the first U.S. University Presidents Summit on International Education, in January 2006, at which Karen P. Hughes, who was then under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs, announced plans to double the number of foreign students attending community colleges in the United States. Community Colleges for International Development, a national consortium of two-year institutions also known as CCID, then submitted a successful proposal to run the program, which covers students' tuition and fees, housing, and other study-related expenses while they complete a one-year certificate or a two-year associate degree.
As commentators debate the future of internationalisation in higher education, let's not forget the commitment to education and learning say Uwe Brandenburg and Hans de Wit
Helping faculty teach international students
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Colleges help the faculty adapt teaching for foreign students
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What is missing in the international teaching assistants training curriculum
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The Importance of international students to America (NFAP Policy Brief)
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Why are international students so important to our universities
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Uneven experiences: What's missing and what matters for today's international student
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