Just like a “burger” can mean different things across cultures, so too can education, requiring educators to consider diverse learning backgrounds and adapt their classrooms accordingly.
I tell this story to highlight how we all approach our lives with the experience that we have had thus far, and this experience is deeply rooted in our own unique cultural background. When I see the word burger, I expect a patty made from ground meat (likely beef) between two buns, but a large swath of the world will use burger for any sandwich made with buns.
Education is no different. We all have our own educational background rooted in the culture in which we were educated. This means that our students, both international and domestic, have their own cultural assumptions about learning, and we need to consider this as we plan learning experiences in our classrooms.
Strategies for A Culturally Diverse Classroom
I consistently have to remind myself that our students come from all over the world, and that means that they come with prior experience in what can be very different educational climates.
Some students come from countries where student-teacher and even student-student interaction is not the norm. For them, learning is primarily teacher to student. For this reason, some students can be incredibly uncomfortable with our approach to learning.
Here are some strategies that I think can be helpful to engage learners from a broad spectrum of educational backgrounds:
- Describe the learning environment you aim to create on day one. Providing some details about the types of activities you have students engage in as well as your expectations for that engagement can help prepare learners for a new learning environment. I also think it is useful to provide some reasoning to enlighten the students on the value of that type of learning environment.
- Give all students an opportunity to provide input on the learning strategies they think work best for them. This will give you a better idea of what students might be used to and are comfortable with. I am not suggesting that you should completely alter your plans based on the student responses. But you could utilize this information to scaffold the class more toward the types of learning activities you deem necessary.
- Consider the cultural knowledge required to understand course metaphors. We all make references in our courses to try and highlight course concepts further. Sometimes, we find out that our metaphors are outdated. And sometimes, they seem to land perfectly. I suspect there are students who still miss out on those metaphors, however. For this reason, we should think about any cultural knowledge we might be assuming our students to have. Global learners may not have that knowledge and could miss out on an important learning opportunity.
- Consider your use of technology. A good number of our international students come from countries where computers are not as ubiquitous in their education. It may be useful to consider if there are other means by which students can complete in-class activities, especially if they do not have regular access to their own computer. Most students will be able to get assignments submitted using their phone or a computer at the library. But trying to check out a laptop at the library every day for class can create an unnecessary burden for students who do not have and cannot afford that kind of technology. Plus, it might be helpful for us all to look away from our screens for a bit.
You likely already have a reflective practice and considering these items can help make our classroom spaces more effective for all learners.
Conclusion
It is my hope that Ball State University will continue to be a welcoming environment for students from around the globe. In order to do this, I think we need to consider more about how we can meet the students where they are instead of assuming that they already know what we expect.
What is your classroom burger? How can you try to adapt what you do in your class to include students from various cultural backgrounds?
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