When the culture is not your own: The effect of context on teacher thinking and practice in higher education

Allan David WALKER, Peter Thomas BODYCOTT

Research output: Contribution to conferencePapers

Abstract

The internationalisation of higher education in countries such as Australia and the UK has resulted in increased numbers of South-East Asia students in higher education classrooms. While considerable attention has been given to exploring the implications of internationalisation on students in ‘Western’ university contexts, less attention is given to researching the effects on teachers of higher education, and in particular those employed to teach in countries culturally foreign to their own. This aims to initiate such discussion through an exploration of the current results of an ongoing ethnographic study of two teaching academics working in Hong Kong. Issues that will be addressed include language and communication, social and cultural distance and the effect of hierarchy and related teaching strategies developed to meet the inter-cultural learning needs of themselves and their students. The authors argue that the development of inter-cultural understandings must permeate the curricula and be a shared goal and responsibility of both teachers and students.
Original languageEnglish
Publication statusPublished - Aug 2005
EventThe 11th European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction Biennial Conference: Multiple Perspectives on Effective Learning Environments - Nicosia, Cyprus
Duration: 22 Aug 200527 Aug 2005

Conference

ConferenceThe 11th European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction Biennial Conference: Multiple Perspectives on Effective Learning Environments
Country/TerritoryCyprus
CityNicosia
Period22/08/0527/08/05

Citation

Walker, A., & Bodycott, P. T. (2005, August). When the culture is not your own: The effect of context on teacher thinking and practice in higher education. Paper presented at the 11th European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction Biennial Conference: Multiple Perspectives on Effective Learning Environments, Nicosia, Cyprus.

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