Introduction
Students from an international background are increasingly viewing UK Higher
Education (HE) as a destination of choice (Hardy and Tolhurst, 2014; Joy and
Poonamallee, 2013). In this study we define international students as students who
come from outside the European Union (EU) and have a background, ethnicity and
experience which differs from the dominant western culture (Jabbar, Analoui, Kong,
and Mirza, 2017). The promise of an international experience (Arenas, 2009) alongside
the prestige of a UK HE degree is for many international students an enticing prospect
(Tomalin, 2007). In this regard, UK higher education institutions realise that
international students, who invest a significant amount of money on obtaining a UK HE
degree, are critical in generating revenue and contributing to institutional financial
health (Schapper and Mayson, 2004). Data from UKCISA (2013) suggests that this is a
booming industry with historical trends charting a 100% increase since 1997 in students
from an international background studying in the UK. Lumby and Foskett (2015) refer
to this influx of international students as internationalisation, defining it as an
educational philosophy driven by commercial imperatives, a source of growing
frustration in academia (Devos, 2003).
Hence, for UK HE institutions to continue to be successful in creating
internationalisation strategies there is a need to understand how academics perceive, and
react to, teaching-learning interactions with such students. Much of the research within
the context of the international students focuses on multiple key literature areas, which
include the international student experience, language proficiency, culture shock,
learning styles and multicultural education (Oberg, 2006; Tran, 2008). In the majority of
cases this research is conducted through the lens of the student with particular focus on
achievement and attainment (Richardson, 2008). This paper, while acknowledging the
importance of the afore-mentioned factors, seeks to investigate academic tutors’
perceptions of their teaching and learning approaches when dealing with international
students.
The premise of the paper argues that this is increasingly an important aspect of
enquiry. It has been suggested that many UK HE institutions fail to provide
international students with a learning experience that is similar to the home students
(Turner, 2006). Different educational theorists (Tomalin, 2007; Turner, 2006) propose
divergent reasons as to why this occurs. Some are of the view that UK HE places
emphasis on the dominant Western learner at the expense of the international student
(Tomalin, 2007; Turner, 2006), while others articulate the controversial perception that
international students are lacking in the conviction to succeed (Tomlinson, 2005;
Villegas and Lucas, 2002). Typically, these students are left to their own devices in
trying to understand Western academic practice. Hence, in this paper we argue that poor
pedagogical practice can impact on the international student in a negative way, leading
to issues of students experiencing poor pedagogy development (Gay, 2000; 2002), and
inappropriate institutional policies and procedures (Irvine, 1990; Turner, 2006).
Thus, this paper is structured as follows: we first review the literature on the
international student experience, followed by an investigation into the use of culturally
responsive teaching as a lens to analyse current academic tutor attitudes. We then
discuss our findings based on interviews with a sample of 22 academics across three
(post-1992) universities in the North of England. Post-1992 universities refer to
polytechnics and central institutions which were granted university status in the Further
and Higher Education Act 1992. These universities were chosen due to being relatively
newer to larger numbers of international students and therefore present the potential for
staff and institutional infrastructures not to be at a sufficient state of development to
support academic staff. The focus is on their Business Schools as the area attracting
most international students (CABS, 2015).
International Students’ Experience
In the view of Turner (2006), Business Schools need to continually push to be at the
forefront of the internationalisation and provide an insight into the future diversity of
UK universities. This insight needs to acknowledge that during the process of change,
Business Schools are increasingly seeking to establish teaching policies, pedagogy and
practices that reflect the new global reality. The increase in student numbers presses
home the need to recognise this new reality and has particularly advantaged UK HE
Business Schools who have benefitted from approximately £2bn annually by providing
the most popular university programs to 40% of the international students who come to
study in the UK (CABS, 2015).
Financially, internationalisation has been a great success for many institutions
(CABS, 2015). However, questions remain about the achievement, attainment and the
university experience from the students’ perspective (Richardson, 2008). In the view of
Allen (1998) much of this can be attributed to educational institutions who are
underpinned by what he calls a ‘white’ syllabus, which is defined as a pedagogical
framework embedded and supported by established power structures. Ryan (2011) looks
at this in more detail and argues that within these established power structures there is
an abundance of Western-educated tutors whose educational and cultural backgrounds
can diverge significantly from their students’ experiences. These new challenges will
require academics and institutions to manage curriculum practices in the classroom.
This is not straightforward and is complicated by academics and institutions not fully
understanding the cultural and pedagogical difficulties faced by diverse student
populations (Durden and Truscott, 2013; Tomalin, 2007). There is literature (Houser,
2008; Waistell, 2011) which suggests that the change to the status quo may not be
popular as it requires educational institutions to ignore the traditional mainstream view
of higher education.
These differences may contribute to issues of attainment and achievement, with
Richardson (2008) suggesting that while international student participation is increasing
the attainment levels for these students has decreased to a level substantially less than
their white counterparts. Singh (2011) also argues that the majority of these issues are
underpinned by a poor student experience, littered with stereotypes, records of poor
achievement and low student expectations. Within these challenges and issues Turner
(2006) is of the view that the role of UK HE is to act as a beacon at the forefront of
internationalisation and to provide an insight into the future internationalisation of UK
universities. Thus, as HE Business Schools continue to internationalise, Business
School academics and HE institutions are central to the development of a consistent and
fair experience for international students, supported by a focus on emphasising diversity
in the curricula, syllabus and policies (Ngambi, 2008). It is acknowledged that
international students are not a homogeneous group and a more nuanced investigation of
students’ experiences of their tutors’ approaches has the potential to be a revealing
study. However, for the purposes of this paper, the focus is on how tutors are reacting to
international students in general and the intention has not been to narrow this down to
individual ethnicities or countries; further research in this area would be of interest to
take forward some of the findings presented below.
Culturally Responsive Teaching in UK HE
Literature exists within the field of culturally responsive teaching, championed by Gay
(2000, 2002), Ladson-Billings (1995a) and Villegas and Lucas (2002). Although these
authors are school-based, the foundational frameworks have important messages for HE
and it is part of the purpose of this article to add to the literature for HE environments.
These authors propose that culturally responsive teaching as a mechanism is useful in
understanding and supporting students from different backgrounds and cultures, popular
frameworks in this field include the six salient characteristics (Villegas and Lucas,
2002); the five essential elements (Gay, 2000, 2002); and we would introduce an HE
model from the Five-pillar framework (Jabbar and Hardaker, 2013). Each of these
frameworks contains an implicit argument that educators should have some background
understanding of their students, and confidence in how they interact with students from
cultures that are different to their own. These are common aspects to education
regardless of level. Hence, ‘culturally responsive teaching’ has been applied as a lens in
many different contexts by many authors. It has also been referred to as culturally
relevant teaching (Ladson-Billings, 1995a, 1995b); teaching against the grain (Cochran-
Smith and Lytle, 1999), teaching for diversity (Melnick and Zeichner, 1998), and
multicultural education (Banks, 1995; Nieto, 1999; Sleeter and Grant, 2008).
Arenas (2009) argues that extensive research about good practice when
interacting with and teaching international students does exist; however, it is not clear
that research is consistently transformed into better practice. Earlier research from
notable authors (Gay, 2002; Ngambi, 2008; Tomalin, 2007) agree with this view and
argue that in many instances this lack of good practice impacts on the achievement of
international students disproportionally. Thus, they propose that rather than focus on
leadership and school administrative structures, there needs to be change which impacts
on heritage and curriculum (Jabbar and Hardaker, 2013; Ladson-Billings, 1995a). These
authors propose that culturally responsive teaching as a mechanism is useful in
understanding and supporting students from different backgrounds and cultures.
In developing a frame of reference for culturally responsive teaching, it is
important to note that this pedagogical approach is also connected to a wider body of
literature through drawing from multicultural education and cultural difference (Banks
and Banks, 2009; Housee, 2011) and in some cases is viewed through the lens of critical
race theory (McArthur, 2010).
In order for culturally responsive teaching to be a success for teaching and
learning within a UK HE context, the literature suggests (Gay, 2000; Houser, 2008) that
there is an onus and a responsibility on academics to have a broad range of skills that
take into account the plurality of multiple cultural perspectives. Ngambi (2008),
alongside Villegas and Lucas (2002), argue that being an expert in your field is no
longer enough when teaching international students; academics should also understand
their student population with a particular focus on student background and behaviour.
This is a view also supported by Tran (2008) who argues that interaction and dialogue
with academic staff play a significant role in the international student experience.
Methodology
This research sought to investigate the academic perspectives of Business School
academics on their international students, and how these perceptions could influence
academic engagement and pedagogy development for students. In developing this
discussion, we take the view that culturally responsive teaching pedagogy is a
conversation between educator and student (Orbe, 2000) and this conversation is
enriched by meaning that is generated by the academics articulating their understanding
of how students engage with the realities of the world (Crotty, 1998).
To achieve this, a qualitative study has been carried out at a micro level in three
UK Business Schools, with a sample of 22academics across three different (post-1992)
universities in the North of England. From these institutions, the researchers
interviewed Lecturers, Senior Lecturers and Principal Lecturers who had a minimum of
three years’ experience of teaching within UK HE. The demographic breakdown of the
academic population interviewed was 66% English, 5% British Pakistani, 5% Polish,
14% Chinese, 5% South African and 5% Iranian. The interviews were conducted by the
lead researcher who is a British Pakistani male, born and raised in the UK. Given that
66% of interviewees were English, there was a potential for their discourses not to be
completely frank about their experiences with international students. However, the lead
researcher was UK-born, UK-educated and is employed in a Western educational
system and culture, alongside his personal ethnic minority background. This helped
create an environment where open discussions could be held about their beliefs
regarding student ethnicity, race and learning differences.
Table 1 outlines the sample in more detail; the names of the respondents have
been changed to protect anonymity.
Table 1: Description of the participants here
Each interview lasted between 50 - 90 minutes; the questions asked of the
participants are outlined in Table 2 below with interviews recorded using a smart phone
(Beddall-Hill, Jabbar, and Shehri, 2011).
Table 2: Interview questions here
Data Analysis approach
Template analysis, an approach relatively new to the field of qualitative research was
employed to organise and analyse the data (Brooks, McCluskey, Turley, and King,
2015; King, 2012). The process is described as iterative, with researchers reading the
data multiple times to develop templates that inform themes. For this process to be
completed successfully researchers must devote significant time to prepare the data. For
this paper, the data was transcribed by two of the researchers and the completed
documents were then imported into the computer-based data management tool NVivo
(version 10). After the preparation of the data King (2004) advocates the need for a
priori template, which can occur in the data analysis or through the development of
literature. For this research the priori was made up of three key elements derived from
the literature: Cultural Heritage (Gay, 2002), Validating Pedagogy (Villegas and Lucas,
2002), and Student empowerment (Jabbar and Hardaker, 2013). The priori is
highlighted in Table 3. The completion of the coding process and agreement by the
authors on the themes, emerging from the data in this study as shown in Templates A, B
and C, illustrates the iteration process and discussions between the authors. Table 3
outlines in detail how the templates have evolved during the process of analysis from
priori (based on the literature) to the final Template C. The completion of Template C
was the final stage before the researchers could interpret the findings. During this phase
of the research the authors spent time analysing Template C and trying to identify any
particular trends, patterns, causes, meaning and frequency, which could shed light on
academic staff’s perceptions of international students.
Table 3 – The template analysis coding process here
Template A provides additional context to each of the higher-level codes. During this
step, the researchers identified “affirming cultural heritage” and “pedagogy that is
validating” as key elements which help to understand international student background
and culture, and the potential to utilise these elements as interventions in the classroom.
There is also recognition at this stage for the self-development of academics;they have
the ability to create learning experiences that utilise culture as a vehicle for learning and
Gay (2002) refers to these as ‘transforming academics’
In Template B, the researchers identified additional depth and context to the
“affirming cultural heritage” and “pedagogy that is validating” codes. The cross-
referencing of data via the parallel approach (Axial coding) identified data which fits
into more than one sub-heading; this additional data identified the importance of
students being motivated to study in UK HE.
In Template C, the authors identified additional elements which helped to
finalise “affirming cultural heritage” as a critical component in this research. Additional
discussions did take place between the researchers which investigated in depth
academic perceptions on previous student experience and how this affects interactions
in the classroom. Template C is the final output of the template analysis process and
articulates the key points of discussion. From this final template, three themes emerged
as illustrated in Figure 1 below:
Figure 1: The three emerging themes here
Figure 1 highlights the three key themes to emerge from the academic tutor’
perspectives. The first theme highlights the need to understand Student Background and
Heritage. The second theme proposes that academics need to have the Confidence and
Skills to teach international students. In the final theme, we highlight the issue of
engagement and Understanding of Students.
Findings
Theme 1: Student Background and Heritage
In the first theme, we identified Student Background and Heritage as a crucial
component within culturally responsive teaching and an approach which has the
potential to create UK HE learning experiences based on students’ own frames of
reference. In this theme we focus and provide data which displays academic pre-
conceptions. Some of the data mentions specific countries or ethnicities; in others
academics have made general comments about what students could not do rather than
consider their background and why they may not be able to do certain things.
Schmeichel (2011) is of the view that the best approach to accomplishing this is for
academics to modify their teaching in ways that will enhance the academic experience
of students from an international background. There is an acknowledgement by
Schmeichel that current pedagogical practices may need to be revised to include more
culturally responsive teaching and learning elements, with notable authors such as Joy
and Poonamallee (2013) arguing that academics must banish the notion that Western-
dominated contexts of learning are superior to non-Western contexts. In addition to this,
Ryan ( 2011) proposes that academic tutors need to change their perceptions of
international students; they are capable learners and should be treated as such, with
complaints about what they lack and their motivational issues being minimised or
eradicated. Thus, there is a large body of literature (for recent examples: Jabbar and
Hardaker, 2013; Marshall and Mathias, 2016) which suggests that a student’s
background and heritage impact on an academic tutor’s perspective of the student. In
our research there is a suggestion that in some scenarios academics have pre-defined
perspectives which influence their views on their students:
“There is always a clique of young immature Asian males (Pakistani/Indian), who
are smart, eloquent, good communicators, and confident, but they don’t apply
themselves.” (Michael)
“It’s about attitude. I will get Asian and Chinese students with bad attitudes not
behaving as I would expect them to behave on the module.” (Hussain)
This view is surprising with literature on the subject suggesting that many students are
motivated to work (Turner, 2006). While the motivation to work is there the data in this
paper argues that international students face significant pedagogical challenges and
come across language and teaching styles with which they are unfamiliar, and thus can
struggle to deal with the attitudes from their academic tutors:
“I’m not sure what goes on in China, but quite a number of them repeat anything
and everything.” (Paul)
“They need to develop analytical skills and to think with their own head.” (Gwen)
“They don't know the correct way to cite a journal paper, they can’t provide
properly formatted reference, they can’t write a business report.” (Zhang)
“I think they have an inability to challenge, their inability to speak publicly, they
all want to be a homogenised group.” (Rachel)
In the view of Ryan ( 2011) such views force international students to adapt to
UK HE with little or no regard for a student’s previous academic experience, ignoring
the fact that many international students have little academic experience in a Western
context and do not understand a notion he refers to as the ‘rules of the game’. Thus,
providing support to international students in areas of language, study skills, academic
conventions and cultural orientation requires scaffolding, investment and academic
support. The academics interviewed as part of this research found this approach to be
controversial:
“In a world of no racial discrimination then you treat everyone the same. I don’t
even agree, personally, with all this crap about what’s your background, well, if we
are not discriminating then what does it matter what the person’s background is.”
(Paul)
“I don’t make any allowances for specific groups. Leave your culture at the door”
(Gwen)
Paul and Gwen advocate a ‘do nothing’ approach to international students, in sharp
contrast to Katarina who clearly wished to ‘educate’ her students in what she considered
to be a key aspect of UK culture:
“One year during the Christmas period, I designed an activity around Jesus and the
Nativity. However, I vividly remember one girl, I’m not sure where she was from
asked, what is Christmas and who is Christ? I was surprised and ashamed, I took it
for granted, everybody knows Christmas.” (Katarina)
Katarina in her efforts to develop a sense of belonging for her students has created
activities which draw on aspects of western culture. However, for some ethnicities this
can be a source of frustration and in extreme cases exclusion (Sabry & Bruna, 2007).
Lumby and Foskett (2015) are of the view that this can be attributed to a lack of
diversity training which can create instances such as the one described by Katarina. Our
findings suggest that there is a lack of awareness and training of academic staff when
dealing with and teaching international students and, by extension, impacts academic
perspectives on pedagogy and support. A lack of knowledge about different curricula
approaches and teaching interventions which relate to non-Western and non-
Anglophone contexts could be negating any enthusiasm and motivation in international
students and any institutional support strategies in place.
Theme 2: Academic Confidence and Skills
The second theme identified academic confidence and skills in teaching international
students as a key aspect. Thus, in this theme the data we provide gives insight into
academic pedagogical approaches. This data ranges from those academics who
considered that they had little agency to influence the students' learning but balanced
with academics who had a more empathetic approach and felt they could influence their
students. This paper acknowledges that there are environmental conditions in HE that
can undermine academics’ agency to find time to deal with unfamiliar situations.
Literature on diminishing academic autonomy (Alvesson and Spicer, 2016), increased
workloads (Molesworth, Nixon, and Scullion, 2009) and reported higher levels of stress
(Kinman and Jones, 2003) can create challenging situations where academics struggle to
find time to carry out any institutionally supplied training support to help them develop
their teaching. In this research we surmise that due to a lack of any such training,
academics find their own approaches based on their own perceptions of ‘what works’
with international students:
“A lot of these students are not going to pass unless we jump on them in the
military style. They must learn that they must do what we say, get it learnt and in
some cases, we may need to shout at them.” (Lisa)
“For my international students, I try and enunciate clearly and speak a little bit
slower and repeat what I'm saying.” (Leanne)
However, in this scenario both Lisa and Leanne are experienced academics who have
the ‘agency’ and the confidence to develop teaching styles and interventions, which
they are familiar with. The work of Picower (2009) suggests that in these types of
classroom interactions failure is often placed on the student, and academics view
international students as lacking in skills or “deficient”. This behaviour Picower
describes was articulated by Zhang when he discussed his struggles to deal with issues
‘outside of his control’:
“I try my best to deliver the lecture and provide tutorial exercises, but it's out of
my control about the achievement. I wish all the students can achieve a good mark,
but it’s out of my control.” (Zhang)
Further, Paul an academic with over 30 years’ experience argues that many international
students lack critical listening and thinking skills:
“Some of my international students pay no attention at all. Some of the work they
produce is farcical. On one occasion one group proposed the company spent
twenty-five million pounds on advertising, when I gave them a budget of five
million. I said for f*** sake, the case study specifies two million as turnover and
you propose spending five times their annual b****y turnover on advertising.”
(Paul)
Questioning student skills and critical thinking is a hotly debated issue with literature in
the field arguing that many academics view these students as “deficient”. This view that
there is a “deficit” of student skills may become a self-fulfilling prophesy with
international students increasingly feeling disconnected from the teaching and learning
experience. Habu (2000) gives the example of Japanese students who feel that staff
often talk down to them and only tolerate them due to the fees they are paying. Beekes
(2006) argues that this leads to other unintended consequences where students refuse to
engage in classroom discussions or answer questions due to the fear of ‘losing face’.
This notion of ‘losing face’ is defined as losing respect or being humiliated by your
peers (Marshall and Mathias, 2016).
Hence, as part of this research we argue that it is clear confidence extends to
both staff and students, with academics having a balanced perspective which identifies
that tensions do exist:
“They are going to bring their own cultures with them, aren’t they? Those cultures
provide the perspective of those individuals or those groups have, it’s what makes
them what they are, it’s those cultures and past experiences that make them see the
world in the way they perceive it, and we have to respond to that.” (Michael)
Michael is acknowledging here that tutors do have agency to bring about a response and he is
not a lone voice in this context; some other academics in our sample also agreed that confidence
and acceptance of difference is essential in developing an international student experience:
“Acceptance and valuing difference and being open to learning from others. It's not
being judgmental and I'm using some clichéd words, but it's that approach that you
take to students to make them feel comfortable and to actually get to know them.”
(Juliet)
This theme highlights the very real problems that can originate when academics lack the
confidence and skills to engage students in the classroom. In this theme, our findings
suggest that academics who are unsure of themselves are unlikely to develop the ability
to support international students. Nonetheless, there is some awareness (for example,
Michael and Juliet) that tutors can find responses and Juliet’s view of “actually getting
to know them” is the theme we turn to next.
Theme 3: Understanding of Students
This final theme investigates whether academics are attempting to get to know their
students and whether that knowledge may influence their empathy and pedagogical
approaches. Creating engagement and relationships through understanding and dialogue
is a precursor for creating richness in the classroom:
“I think to build good relationships and good impressions; the key elements are
empathy and taking time to listen and understand” (Richard)
“Initially it is important to be approachable; you should articulate your values, treat
people with dignity, respect and empathy.” (Lucy)
Tran (2008) supports the views of the two experienced academics Richard and Lucy and
argues that academics understanding and building relationships with students should
form the basis of any academic teacher training, creating a safe space where academics
can consider issues of diversity and curriculum. Arguably, these are approaches that
should be adopted for all students, not just international ones. As part of this paper ,both
Richard and Lucy advocate the use of soft communication skills in dealing with
international students, with a focus on empathy and relationship building. In our
interview with Angela she viewed empathy as something which makes us human and it
is essential to who and what we are:
“You can’t help but to be influenced by your own experiences so that is something
that I would want people to feel comfortable within my classes and then I think that
if they feel more confident then I think that helps them in terms of their academic
learning.” (Angela)
There is therefore some evidence for developing empathy from our sample to contrast
with the more negative perceptions articulated in earlier Themes. Being able to look at
another person’s world view is an inherently powerful motivation to want to support
and help students. In the work of Houser (2008), empathy is critical for growth and
multicultural development for both staff and students with McAllister and Irvine (2002)
adding that empathy allows academics to become better educators.
However, as part of this research we argue that the process of understanding and
empathy must however be tempered with caution; a dedicated focus on soft
communication skills at the expense of academic conventions and pedagogy can lead to
an environment of dependency where support for international students can become too
pastoral. In such a scenario, rather than support students to aspire and attain, academics
can over compensate:
“I try and sort of compensate and make sure I am checking people are alright, is
this right for you, do you understand that?” (Liz)
However, no amount of checking in such a general manner, with students who may
come from much more deferential educational backgrounds, is likely to be effective in
eliciting the information tutors need to develop their pedagogies. We would propose
that empathy is not just about caring for the student but taking an interest in their
achievement and developing learning opportunities to help them to take ownership of
their attainment.
Discussion
In exploring the perceptions of HE academics and how their teaching and learning
strategies support international students we suggest that a tension exists between
increasing numbers of international students in UK HE, developing relevant pedagogy,
and the described practices and perspectives of academics. In Theme 1 we highlight the
importance of academics modifying their teaching methods to accommodate
Background and Heritage in developing engagement with international students. Theme
2 discusses the increasing demands placed on academics, impacting on academics’
ability to develop Confidence and Skills from training strategies and curricula
approaches for international students. In the final theme, we investigate the role of
empathy as a key attribute in developing an Understanding of Students to influence
teaching approaches.
These three themes highlight academic perceptions’ and their influence on the
teaching and learning experience of international students. This paper gives interviewed
academics a platform to discuss their issues, challenges and motivations for teaching
international students which we propose is a useful and direct contribution to this field,
providing insight for change in the light of the discord between previous research
findings and described practices and perspectives shown here.
The impact on staff training
Current literature (Jabbar and Mirza, 2017; Tomalin, 2007; Turner, 2006) in the
field of multicultural training suggests that current approaches to staff development lack
content and criticality, which too often engage in shallow practices. While this may be
appropriate for pastoral and social contexts, they do not go far enough in meeting the
needs of internationally diverse students within a teaching and learning environment. As
part of this research, insights gained from the academics interviewed suggest that there
is some level of empathy to support students but, arguably, institutional pressures may
be making this difficult. The paper has highlighted that academic perceptions impact on
pedagogy and the student experience. This maybe an unintended consequence from the
drive by many UK HE institutions to increase international student numbers.
Hence, in order to address the issue of poor pedagogy and student experience,
this paper proposes: firstly, institutions need to give academics ‘headroom’ to reflect on
their teaching in a critical manner and, secondly, institutional training strategies should
embed and embrace multiple teaching perspectives. There is a lot of debate on what
form these multiple perspectives should take, but research by Gay (2002) argues that
textbooks, curricula, environment and faculty should be representative of the students
they teach. It is our intention that through these two approaches, which encourage
critical reflection and student engagement, academics are supplied with the tools and
skills to help them make direct links between a student’s culture and the classroom.
The impact on pedagogy
It is acknowledged that academics are responsible for the development of
teaching and learning experiences in the classroom which we argue is heavily
influenced and, in some cases, governed by institutional policies and procedures. Our
research in this paper suggest that policies and procedures may impact and influence
academic perspectives’. This paper argues that current approaches to pedagogy and
curricula may require new thought processes and frameworks. The movement towards a
global multicultural society encourages institutions to rethink their current perspectives.
The insight obtained in this paper argues that the movement towards curricula which
acknowledges difference requires both a top-down and bottom-up approach. Hence, the
use of institutional policies and procedures can be a positive force in the creation of
multicultural learning experiences. One example of such an approach discussed by Dee
(2005) is the recruitment of educators who share a heritage with their students. While
this has been criticised in the past (D’Souza, 1995), several authors (Durden, Dooley,
and Truscott, 2014; Houser, 2008) argue that such an approach is validating and
affirming for students of ethnic diversity and has shown results which suggest that this
policy has produced attentive students who are more likely to complete their work, work
harder and succeed. However, this in many cases may not be a practical solution and
while these discussions are a step in the right direction the challenge for many UK HE
institutions is to provide the support and training to academics who may not possess the
necessary skills, confidence or understanding to support international students (Black,
2010; Sabry & Bruna, 2007; Tomalin, 2007). Thus, our findings in this section advocate
an alignment between institutional polices and academic pedagogical approaches.
The impact on institutional and academic alignment
The final proposal from this paper is the notion of institutional and academic
alignment. Through the three themes, one of the key issues to arise from this paper is
the perceived difference in priorities between academics and institutions. This paper
through the research argues that in many cases a lack of autonomy reveals a distinct
lack of agency to bring about change. This is not a new phenomenon and is something
that has also been discussed by Alvesson and Spicer (2016) who argue that institutions
now wield too much control which is at the expense of academic autonomy. This lack of
autonomy has come during a time when academics are expected to develop strategies to
cope with an increased workload and to manage higher levels of stress (Kinman and
Jones, 2003; Molesworth et al., 2009). These institutional pressures are additional
barriers in the university experience of international students creating environmental
conditions where academics struggle to understand, support and develop international
student achievement and attainment.
Thus, this paper argues that a movement towards academic and institutional
alignment is a bottom-up approach towards strategy. This process of unification creates
a unique and holistic perspective on the international student experience, giving
academics autonomy and a certain amount of ownership over the international student
experience. Aligning institutional policies and procedures with classroom pedagogy is
the initial step towards institutions which truly view the international student as a
learner as opposed to a revenue stream.
Conclusion
Academics within our sample articulate a number of different perceptions on how their
teaching and learning approaches and interventions support the international student
experience. Their views expressed here do not produce confidence in the delivery of a
curriculum that recognises that the international students have different needs nor a
sound basis for concluding that culturally responsive teaching is taking place. This
suggests that much needs to be done to integrate international students in UK HE. The
findings of this paper indicate that for HE institutions to continue to be successful, they
must develop a strategy that embraces change at academic teaching staff level in
support of international students. Although much educational literature discusses the
impact of internationalisation of student cohorts, our findings suggest that this is not
manifesting itself in HE academics who are dealing directly with such students. A
cornerstone of such a strategy is acknowledging the vital everyday role of academic
staff in enacting this change and implementing what Warwick (2014) refers to as a
strategy of internationalisation. Any such strategy emphasises that the academic is an
integral cog in helping students to develop a consistent university learning and social
experience. Academics are at the ‘coal face’ of student engagement, thus our findings
advocate the need to support academics in creating pedagogy that is inclusive,
community-based and engaging for international students. However, in this context we
concede that university leaders cannot ignore business considerations and financial costs
in running a college or university (Naidoo et al., 2011; Potts, 2005), yet we also suggest
that those who run HEIs should develop pedagogical policies, procedures and curricula
which supports the international student experience that has become a cornerstone of
growth in UK HE.
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Name Role Experience (years)
Ethnicity
Paul Senior Lecturer 30 EnglishLiz Senior Lecturer 6 EnglishMichael Senior Lecturer 8 EnglishHussain Director of Education 12 PakistaniWong Senior Lecturer 20 ChineseKatarina Lecturer 4 PolishLisa Senior Lecturer 7 EnglishClaire Lecturer 8 EnglishAngela Lecturer 4 EnglishLeanne Senior Lecturer 7 EnglishLucy Course Leader 15 EnglishJuliet Course Leader 7 South AfricanGwen Senior Lecturer 6 GhanaianFarhad Director of Education 25 IranianZhang Lecturer 3 ChineseMorgan Principal Lecturer 7 EnglishLi Lecturer 3 ChineseRichard Principal Lecturer 30 EnglishJames Principal Lecturer 35 EnglishRachel Senior Lecturer 4 EnglishAlan Lecturer 27 EnglishEmma Course Leader 9 English
Table 1: Description of the participants
Questions
Question 1: In your own experience can you describe some of your experiences
about international student diversity in Higher education Business Schools?
Question 2: What does ethnicity and cultural diversity mean to you?
Question 3: Do you feel that your teaching methods are appropriate to an
international student body?
Question 4: Do you feel that your experiences and status make you a good role
model for your students?
Question 5: In your experience, what is the best way to engage students from an
international background?
Question 6: How do you feel this institution supports you in your pedagogy
development for international students?
Question 7: How do you feel this institution has adapted to the challenges of
Internationalisation?
Table 2: Interview questions
A Priori template(starting point from literature)
Template A Template B Template C
Cultural Heritage (from Gay’s (2002) five essential elements)
Affirming cultural heritage
Affirming cultural heritage
- Parental Influence - Language - Previous Education
Affirming cultural heritage
- Parental Influence- Language- Previous Education
- Spoon feeding- Respect- Rote learning
Validating Pedagogy (from Villegas and Lucas’s (2002) six salient characteristics)
Pedagogy that is validating
Pedagogy that is validating
- Engagement - Poor Skills - Selfish Pedagogy - Student Expectations - Attainment - Patronising Pedagogy
Student Motivation
- Attitude - Passion
Pedagogy that is validating
- Engagement- Poor Skills- Selfish Pedagogy- Student Expectations- Attainment- Patronising Pedagogy
Student Motivation
- Attitude- Passion
Student empowerment (from Jabbar and Hardaker’s (2013) Five-Pillar framework)
Empowerment through academic success
Empowerment through academic success
Empowerment through academic success
Transforming academic
Transforming academic Transforming academic
Table 3 – The template analysis coding process
Figure 1: The three emerging themes