International Students

I wanted to offer some thoughts and responses to matters impacting on International Students undertaking the Graduate Diploma program at Charles Darwin University.

Language as it is spoken and used situationally is the number one issue.

Understanding and appreciating the nuances and peculiarities of Australian Culture is another.

A third concern is the seeming inability of some with whom I have been working to manage time allocations. Lessons are planned to take particular amounts of time in total, with time divided sub-sectionally. Students regularly overrun on time taken for parts and the whole of lessons.

Those who have been to China and other overseas destinations to teach, could well be resource people to assist with support and cultural understanding programs. They know what it is like to be expatriate from an Australian viewpoint and could bring a lot of understanding to any program designed to minimize the impact of visa or expatriate living. Icahn immediate come up with three names of educators who have and still fill different roles who might assist.

In dealing with program development about situational living would need to take into account that cultural practices and mores vary widely from one culture to another. Chinese people for instance are often inclined to be impersonal and to remain detached and unengaged if someone in the near vicinity is stressed or if something untoward that needs attention is happening.

From this, the equalities of sympathy, empathy and engagement which impact on the “personality of culture” need to be explored. The context of community is one that varies widely from culture to culture.

At times there are variations to the way in which gender is regarded and treated. Within our multi-cultural and plurals tic society we make every effort (sometimes not successfully) to practice gender equality. Those coming from overseas may have a different take on gender appreciation. Hence there may be occasions when response to a male person who is offering advice may be somewhat different to the quality and level of response offered a female supervisor.

Those coming to our shores as International Students, particularly those who have teaching qualifications from home institutions and who have been practicing as teachers, may not always take kindly to advice. They may feel their basic understandings are in place and they are coming simply to add, at considerable personal expense, an additional qualification. It is critically important that if this the case, our University does not allow itself to agree to a “qualified qualification”. Standards need to be upheld at all times.

My initial point about spoken language and difficulties international students face in its understanding and usage suggest there is a need for a compulsory upfront unit which enables students to come to terms with the way we use language in our classrooms, schools and indeed our community.

This unit might also include for students and awareness of the way our children act and interact in classroom contexts. Overseas students come from backgrounds which generally perceive children and those receiving instruction as being passive creatures who will sit for long periods and soak up the learning offering being provided by the teacher. Dynamic interaction and response by students, in other than a receptive listing mode, does not come into the equation.

To alter the focus of the Graduate Diploma program as it is offered to International Students seems to be an altogether wise and prudent move. As the program in being modified to become a two year qualification with greater focus on pedagogy, would suggest this as the right time to effect necessary change.

There may be an anticipation on the part of some Graduate Diploma (International) students that the course is somewhat of a ‘given’ – a formality if you like. My perception is that their concern in vested in the notion of quickly completing the course so they can presented with the Diploma to frame and hang on the wall. I think they perceive the course as offering a beginning and an end, with the intervening weeks being somewhat of a time formality, to be completed as quickly as possible.

The journey itself and the learning that can and should take place is seen as being a “quick as you can” means to an end. The response of some students is to gloss over their practice periods, talking about “passing”, “failing”, and “ticking boxes” indicating that bit is done and it is time to move on to the next element. Elements are seen somewhat in isolation to each other, rather than being linked and interdependent on each other. Progress needs to

be cumulative, building on what has gone before therefore deepening and broadening the practical teaching experience.

The international student market is growing, and we must get it right for them from a satisfactory viewpoint and ensure that the student development business is working for tertiary institutions. Investment in student satisfaction with outcomes is essential in securing the future of Australian Universities as institutions training overseas candidates