PART 2:
CREATING INCLUSIVE CLASSROOMS:
GETTING TO KNOW OUR
STUDENTS
Adapted
with permission from Farris, 1985
Since the duties of teaching assistants vary from one
department to the next, and often from semester to
semester, some parts of this section will apply more
closely than others to your assignment. You might have
partial responsibility in an upper division seminar,
substantial responsibility for two or more laboratory or
discussion sections, even full responsibility for a lower
division lecture course. Lecturer, discussion leader, lab
instructor, test designer, reader and grader...all are
roles you may perform at one time or another.
The process you engage in preparing for classes will depend
both upon the expectations of your department and the type
of class for which you are responsible.
Preparation involves establishing what it is you want
students to learn (instructional objectives), choosing
instructional strategies (lecture, discussion, lab,
individual presentations, group projects, etc.), and
selecting the appropriate materials (texts, handouts,
films, videotapes, etc.) to achieve those aims.
In your various roles as discussion leader, lab section
instructor, or lecturer, you may have the opportunity to
use a variety of different teaching styles. The choices you
make will depend on your understanding of your students and
on what you wish them to accomplish. Regardless of the
particular style employed, the process of instruction can
be understood to include four basic elements: knowing your
students; preparing the course, implementing your plans,
and evaluating both your work and that of your students.
This section introduces you to our students and to
practical pedagogical skills for creating learning
environments that serve the needs and interests of our
increasingly diverse student population.
CORONA
UNDERGRADUATES AT A GLANCE
Data
made available by the University Office of Institutional
Research and Planning.
There is, of course, no "typical" Corona student; our
campus is a multicultural one in the broadest sense of the
term. Even veteran instructors are cautious when
generalizing about students, and understand that summary
judgments cannot substitute for first-hand knowledge of
their students. Nevertheless, it may be useful to you to be
aware of some of the characteristics of our undergraduate
population, so that you may more effectively assess their
needs, expectations, and abilities at the start of each
term, and adapt your teaching to the realities of each
instructional situation.
Here is some background information on CORONA
undergraduates. The following figures represent data from
the Fall 1997 semester.
DEMOGRAPHICS
The
total enrollment for the university is 24,982 students.
18,113 or about 75% of these are undergraduates. 49% are
female and 51% are male. While most undergraduates are
between the ages of 18 and 21, the range of ages can be
broken down as follows:
Under 18 3.0%
18-21 75.1%
22-25 15.7%
26-40 5.1%
0ver 40 1.0%
Over 96% of undergraduates are full-time students. About
60% of undergraduates live in residence halls on campus;
the remainder live off-campus with family or friends.
Geographic Profile
The
majority of undergraduates are from Corona (73.1% of
first-year students). Other out-of-state students represent
24.3% of the undergraduate students. International and
exchange students make up 2.6% of undergraduate students.
Ethnic and Racial
Background
The
ethnic and racial background of undergraduates enrolled for
Fall 1997 is as follows:
American Indian/Alaskan Native .5%
Asian/Pacific Islander 6.8%
Black, Non-Hispanic 5.0%
Cape Verdean .5%
Hispanic 4.6%
White, Non-Hispanic 82.7%
Freshman Academic
Credentials
On
average, entering first-year students at Corona ranked
approximately in the top third of their high school
graduating classes.
Mean SAT scores for entering first-year students were 565
Math and 461 Verbal, with the combined mean being 1,126.
These scores are above the median for United States high
school seniors.
Approximately 65.4% of Corona freshmen who entered in 1989
graduated within six years. The largest number of degrees
was awarded in Social and Behavioral Sciences, followed by
the College of Food and Natural Resources, Humanities and
Fine Arts, and the School of Management.
TEACHING FRESHMEN:
SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS
Corona
There are some special characteristics of freshmen students
that set them apart from other students and which teachers
of freshmen should keep in mind:
• Entering freshmen have been socialized for twelve years
into a system of primary and secondary education within
which:
• they performed according to a set schedule of daily
assignments that are often collected
• many students moved together from class to class and from
term to term, forming a continuing and strong support
network
• weighted grading systems differentially rewarded
performance in courses by level of difficulty
• all of the institution's resources (including the
teacher) were right there everyday in the classroom.
• As a result, the expectations of university academic
life, emphasizing selfinitiation, independence, and
responsibility may be quite jarring for first year
students.
• Most often, college is the first extended experience
freshmen have had with independent living. The transition
from family, town, and school to the newness of
independence and the wonders of university life can all too
easily overshadow what may be perceived by the student as
dull academic responsibilities.
• The very size and complexity of the University can be
tremendously confusing and intimidating to students whose
entering class is often larger than the population of the
entire high school from which they came; whose classmates
and even roommates are strangers to them; whose training to
be mostly passive receivers of educational services makes
them unused to seeking out assistance, especially in an
alien environment.
• For the most part, entering freshmen are used to being in
the upper halves of their graduating classes, to being
widely known and respected by their peers and teachers—in
other words to being "big fish in small ponds." At the
University, many of them are anonymous, submerged in large
classes, and competing with the cream of a number of high
schools— very "small fish" in an awfully "big pond." This
is often a difficult transition.
• Unlike upperclass students, whose pre-requisites assure
some consistent entry levels into courses, the variety of
learning styles and the level of preparation of freshman
students varies as widely as do their study skills.
Students are often shocked to discover what is expected of
them as freshmen. Therefore, as you prepare your course
plans and materials try to build in structures and
strategies that will help to minimize the difficulties
faced by freshmen in your classes. You may find several of
the topics in the chapters "Course Design and Preparation"
and "Approaches to Instruction" helpful.
STUDENT DIFFERENCES
AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING
Adapted
with permission from Chism et al., 1992
The characteristics above suggest some of the demographic
features of the University of Corona undergraduate
population. Equally important to teaching is some
understanding of how these students are likely to differ in
the ways in which they learn. Two broad categories of
descriptive literature on students' ways of learning will
be discussed here: cognitive development and differences
based on age, gender, disability, or cultural background.
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
The most
widely known work on the cognitive development of college
students is Forms of Intellectual and Ethical Development
in the College Years by William Perry (1970). Although
Perry's study was completed some time ago and was based on
a small sample of students from Harvard and Radcliffe, the
scheme of development that he described has proven helpful
to many in understanding students in many different
settings. (The sample for this, and many other studies of
adult development, is heavily biased toward males.
Important recent contributions that focus on the
development of women, although not necessarily college
students, have been made by Gilligan, C., 1982, and
Belenky, Clinchy, Goldberger, & Tarule, 1987.)
Perry concludes that many students move through stages of
cognitive development, each of which is qualitatively
different and more complex than the previous stage. As
students move through these stages, the ways in which they
perceive, organize, and evaluate experiences and events in
their lives change. Perry (1970, p. 9) describes nine
positions, of which the first six pertain most directly to
cognitive development. Perry uses the term dualistic to
describe the first three positions. Students in the
dualistic stage of development are classified with regard
to how they account for uncertainty:
Position 1: All information is either right or wrong.
Uncertainty is not perceived.
Position 2: All information is either right or wrong, and
where uncertainty seems to exist, it is really an error
committed by a wrong authority.
Position 3: All information is either right or wrong, but
uncertainty is acceptable in areas where experts do not
know the answers yet. Someday the right answer will be
discovered or found.
Students in the dualistic stage are often confused or
hostile in a classroom setting in which multiple points of
view are presented. They want the facts, and do not want to
hear that there are conflicting opinions. They want the
teacher to be strong, authoritative, and clear in the
position that is taken. These students are apt to view
their roles as passive recipients of a body of knowledge
and will often resent being asked to play an active role in
class. They regard the teacher as the person who already
has the knowledge and may not feel that there is any value
in contributing an opinion or listening to the opinions of
their fellow students.
Students in Positions 1 and 2 are able to learn (often by
memorizing) basic facts and definitions of words and
concepts, identify parts of a whole, begin to compare and
contrast, and provide an explanation of why they answer as
they do. In Position 3, the student can compare and
contrast and see multiple perspectives, parts, opinions,
and evaluations. The student can do basic analytic tasks
but needs to learn to use supportive evidence.
Perry uses the term "relativistic" to describe students in
Positions 4–6. During this phase, the students' previous
categories of right and wrong are transformed. Knowledge is
now seen as uncertain or valid only within a context. The
positions are differentiated by the following traits:
Position 4: The student begins to feel that most questions
cannot be answered with absolute certainty and when
uncertainty prevails, feels that all answers are of equal
value.
Position 5: The sense of relativism enlarges and the
student begins to form non absolute criteria for making
judgments.
Position 6: The ability to make judgments increases and a
personal stance or commitment develops.
Students in Position 4 can compare and contrast, do
abstract analysis, and do some synthesis. They can do both
positive and negative critiques and use supportive
arguments well. At this stage, the student is developing
the capacity to relate learning in one context or class to
other issues in other classes or to issues in real life.
In Positions 5 and 6, the student can relate learning in
one context to learning in another with some ease and can
look for relationships in learning. The student can
evaluate, conclude, and support her/his own analysis and
can synthesize various points of view. Finally, the student
learns to modify and expand concepts of knowledge, and
perhaps generates new ways of looking at a given question
or formulates new questions.
Implications
for Teaching
Administration
of instruments designed to assess cognitive development in
terms of Perry's scheme has revealed that, although
students of a given age category vary in their cognitive
levels, most college student in the traditional age range
of 18–24 enter at the dualistic stage and many progress
toward the advanced relativistic stage as they go through
college. Some enter at higher levels and some will not
progress, so one cannot assume homogeneity in a group of a
given age. Nevertheless, a general guideline is that most
seniors can perform cognitive tasks that most freshmen
cannot and instructional expectations should be based on
this general guideline.
Widick, Knefelkamp, and Parker (1975) use the notions of
challenge and support to draw implications for teaching
based on Perry's theory. They argue that students at a
given level need to be stretched or challenged to continue
to reach higher levels but also need support to handle the
challenge. They caution that one cannot expect students to
skip over developmental stages; tasks must be at or only
slightly above the student's level. Specific
recommendations are summarized below:
Students in the dualistic stage can be:
• challenged by employing content diversity in the
curriculum; by presenting two or three, but not more than
three, points of view; by assigning different kinds of
experiential learning activities and encountering content
diversity through such activities as structured discussions
and group experiences, role playing, and field trips with
structured observation guides; by processing experiential
encounters in prestructured ways that emphasize
differentiation and the use of evidence to support views;
by using a variety of media (e.g., print, AV) to convey
information; and by incorporating opportunities for the
ideas of others to be heard in class
• supported as they work toward other levels, by responding
to their need for structure (prestructuring activities,
using a syllabus that itemizes such things as specific
assignments, policies, due dates, and using outlines of
each class or lesson); by preparing handouts that help
students to fulfill course requirements (e.g., how to do a
bibliography, lab report, etc.); and by personalizing
interactions with students (providing opportunities for
students to get to know each other and the instructor,
using small group work, using feedback techniques such as
logs, journals, or response forms, and responding to
written work as concretely as possible).
Students in the relativistic stage can be:
• challenged to move to higher levels by providing
opportunities to choose positions and defend their choices;
by asking them to narrow choices and weigh pros and cons of
alternatives; by drawing upon course material that
stimulates thinking about personal philosophy and life
choices; by setting learning tasks that require students to
analyze, synthesize, and evaluate from personal
perspectives and then progressively more abstract or
experiential perspectives and to apply learning from one
context to problems in a different context; and by posing
activities that ask students to generate new questions or
evaluate assumptions inherent in how points of view are
constructed
• supported as they move to higher levels by providing
choices of assignments and projects and minimizing the
structure and guidance provided; by allowing for more
flexibility and creativity in formats of written work; and
by continuing personalization through group work,
opportunities for participation, and peer teaching and
learning.
WOMEN'S DEVELOPMENT
Adapted
with permission from Chism et al., 1992
Belenky and associates (1986), aware that the sample for
Perry's research was largely male, undertook research on
female cognitive development and found different patterns
in their sample of women. They described an initial level
of silence in which women feel powerless and intimidated by
male authority and forms of argumentation. Following this
are four more levels:
• received knowledge: women at this level are listening to
others around them and relying on the voices of authority.
They see things dualistically as did the participants in
this stage of Perry's study, but identify less with the
authority figures. They regard the multiple perspectives
they read and hear as increasingly confusing and hard to
reconcile.
• subjective knowledge: dissatisfied with received
knowledge, women turn to their inner voices and trust their
own feelings and thoughts at this level. They believe that
all opinions are equally valid and that first-hand
experience is the only valid route to knowing.
• procedural knowledge: once again, women listen to outside
voices but this time, they are listening about how to think
rather than what to think. They are interested and aware of
multiple perspectives. Belenky et al. borrow from Gilligan
(1982), who distinguishes between two kinds of procedural
knowledge: separate knowing that relies on analysis,
dispassion, and argument; and connected knowing that is
holistic in nature, joining emotion with reason and seeking
understanding and interconnection among perspectives. Even
connected knowers, however, experience a sense of
alienation at this stage since their knowledge is so
directed toward the other.
• constructed knowledge: at this level, women are able to
integrate their own voices with those of others. They are
active builders of a knowledge base and see that "all
knowledge is constructed and the knower is an intimate part
of the known" (Belenky et al., p.137).
Although Gilligan and Belenky et al. make the point that
given types of cognitive development are not exclusively
male or female, they do note that the above pattern is
found more in women than men. The implications for teaching
include the importance of recognizing that women may often
feel overwhelmed and silenced by a discourse style that is
not comfortable to them; that they may want to trust
personal judgment, instincts, and emotions as valid
contributions to arriving at a position; and that they may
withdraw from argumentation and forced analysis as hostile
or unproductive forms of activity. Instructors can help
women to progress in their cognitive growth by providing a
supportive and nurturing environment, being especially
sensitive to "giving women their voice" through moderating
discussion to ensure equal levels of participation and
encouragement and providing opportunities for personal
forms of expression in papers and projects.
COGNITIVE STYLES
Adapted
with permission from Chism et al., 1992
Another way of describing differences in students is based
on the idea that people have different ways of learning.
Research in this area has mushroomed in the past several
years, producing descriptions of styles based on a variety
of organizing ideas.
A few of the dominant schemes are described below.
Field
Independence and Field Dependence
Based on
studies on perception, Wilkin and Moore (1975) described a
central differentiating characteristic of learners based on
the way in which they handle information in context. They
called learners who perceive in holistic fashion field
dependent learners. These individuals rely on external
stimuli in approaching a task and have a much more
difficult time separating the individual parts within a
whole.
These students tend to be more social in their interests
and like teachers to structure classroom goals for them.
They prefer group work and student discussion in class.
Wilkin and Moore describe field independent students as
those who try to analyze things into component parts and
like to work independently. Field independent students are
able to set their own learning goals and prefer the freedom
to participate in setting their assignments. They like to
work with abstract ideas and prefer to work with a minimum
of structure and guidance.
Cognitive
Styles and Classroom Learning
Although
learning styles are not directly related to race and
gender, women, African American, Native American, and
Hispanic students often have a learning style referred to
as field dependent or field sensitive. They do best working
in groups on verbal tasks. Research further indicates that
they learn more easily those materials that have humor and
social content, and are characterized by the use of
imagination.
In learning situations, they are most sensitive to the
opinions of others. This particular learning style often
conflicts with the traditional school environment, which
tends to favor individual and competitive learning
processes. Many European American and Asian American
students, however, are field independent learners. They
tend to perform better on analytical tasks, learn material
that is inanimate and impersonal more easily, and will not
be greatly affected by the opinion of others as they
perform (Anderson, 1988).
Cognitive
Styles and Teaching Strategies
The
differences in cognitive learning styles have distinct
implications for preferences in student instruction and
teaching strategies. According to Anderson and Adams
(1991), an initial approach for instructors might be to
develop a sense of the expectations that students and
instructors use in the classroom. Such interactions guide
the more formal dimensions of the teaching-learning style
dyad.
Teaching in a diverse classroom means that there will be
many different learning styles. Effective teaching cannot
be limited to the delivery of information, but needs to be
based on a model of minds at work. The generative process
of learning is more effective when instructors: affirm the
presence and validity of diverse learning styles; and
maximize the climate or conditions for learning in the
classroom (Anderson and Adams, 1991). While instructors are
alerted to differences when they identify learning styles
with particular groups, they should still use a full range
of instructional strategies.
STUDENT DIFFERENCES
Adapted
with permission from Chism et al., 1992
Researchers who study learning styles have made
observations about the particular ways in which different
kinds of students learn most effectively. These archetypes,
developed to aid the learning of nontraditional students,
can help instructors be more aware of the needs of their
students. In order to avoid assuming that all members of a
given group display characteristics that have been
associated with the group as a whole, however, it is
important for the instructor to consider carefully whether
group characteristics associated with a group of learners
are descriptive of a particular student in the course. A
summary of some of the characteristics of different
learners is included below.
Women
Students
Although
women have been part of the college scene for many years
now and constitute close to half of the undergraduate
population at the University, classroom practices that have
arisen through a tradition of male-dominated instructional
settings are often still in use and detract from learning
opportunities for women.
These practices are described extensively in Hall and
Sandler (1982) and include: use of sexist language and
jokes, failure to recognize women during discussion or to
make eye contact with women, failure to intervene when male
students interrupt or deny access to women in discussion
situations, holding lower performance expectations for
women than men, and routine assignment of dominant roles
such as team leader to men rather than women.
Instructors can enhance learning opportunities for women as
well as men by trying to incorporate in their teaching the
contributions of women and other cultures and recognizing
the value of multiple ways of knowing rather than viewing
knowledge construction very narrowly. [See, for example,
Women's Ways of Knowing, Belenky et al. (1987).]
Older
Students
Many
older students lack confidence and feel uncomfortable in a
college environment still predominantly populated by young
adults. Instructors can help them by offering positive
feedback as often as they can, by avoiding comparing
students, and by avoiding putting adult learners "on the
spot" by drawing attention to their age or directly calling
on them to contribute when they do not volunteer.
Adult learners, even more than younger students, feel the
need for learning to be relevant to their life experiences.
They are more likely than younger students to question the
importance of a given assignment or body of information
(although they may not make their reservations known, since
they may lack confidence). They are also more eager to make
contributions based on their personal experiences and to
use these experiences as the basis for argument in papers
and other assignments.
Instructors can enlist the support and enthusiasm of older
learners, explaining the relevance of assignments and class
activities to the course whenever possible. They can also
provide opportunities for older students to draw on their
experiences and incorporate new learning through the lenses
that past experience provides, helping students learn to
derive abstract ideas from these experiences in the
process.
Personal responsibilities of adult learners are often more
complicated than those of younger learners. They may have a
child in the hospital, a major report due at their office,
or a leaking roof to fix at the same time as a term paper
is due. Often, they are making large sacrifices to attend
college and are spreading their effort over many different
life tasks. Instructors can try to understand their
situations and exercise whatever flexibility they can in
helping older learners to be successful.
Especially with much older learners, physical limitations
such as poor vision, hearing loss, or diminished memory can
impair learning. Time limits and reliance on a single mode
of teaching, such as lecture, constrain opportunities for
these older students. Instructors can vary the stimuli
(using visual as well as auditory approaches) and make
whatever allowances for time and recall that they judge
possible and fair in the situation.
Disabled
Students
Adapted
with permission from Gillespie-Silver and Montgomery, 1990
Students with special needs are not a single category.
There are those who have physical conditions that require
accommodation, such as blindness, hearing loss, or loss of
mobility, and those who have one or more of a number of
possible learning disabilities, such as dyslexia,
dysgraphia, or developmental aphasia.
Students with physical handicaps may be relying on special
transportation and may need special considerations in order
to attend. Instructors who are flexible about time and make
sure that physical arrangements accommodate these students
help them to participate in higher education. Students with
physical and learning disabilities may require such
considerations as extra time to take a test, a reader to
read the text or test to them, or special equipment to
compose written work. Instructors can help by notifying the
entire class publicly or stating in the syllabus that any
student who has need of test-taking or note-taking
accommodation should feel free to discuss the matter with
them (adapted with permission from Chism et al., 1992).
While some students with learning disabilities will
identify themselves to you, or have developed effective
coping skills for dealing with their disabilities, others
may be self-conscious about discussing their situation or
have not developed coping mechanisms that work.
Furthermore, because learning disabilities vary in type and
degree, some students may not be aware that they have a
disability until they are put into a situation where their
original coping strategies become ineffective.
Your attitude and sensitivity as an instructor can make a
difference to learning disabled students. Recommendations
to seek screening should be presented in the most
supportive possible fashion. Learning disabled students are
not less intelligent or capable than your other students,
they simply must make specific adaptations in order to meet
the demands of the university learning environment. Once
such students have been identified, you can support them in
this process in several ways: you can present course
expectations clearly and in a couple of different forms;
give additional individual encouragement and attention,
perhaps in the form of conferences or progress reviews;
allow taping of lectures; suggest a study group or sharing
of notes; develop alternative testing procedures; and allow
additional time to complete tests and assignments.
Here are some behaviors that could provide the basis for
referral of students to the Center for Counseling and
Academic Development for counseling, screening, or
diagnostic work. While the instructor is not expected to
diagnose learning disabilities, and no one of these
indicators alone constitutes evidence of a learning
disability, a constellation of factors in one student may
be telling. The following list of characteristics often
associated with learning disabilities is provided by the
Center for Counseling and Academic Development:
• difficulty with written language, such as poor
note-taking or organizational skills, poor test-taking
skills or spelling
• difficulty forming letters and numerals, and producing
legible writing
• low reading level, slow reading speed, or difficulty
comprehending material that has been read
• problems with numerical reasoning, as in word problems,
or deficits in quantitative abstract reasoning or
analytical math skills
• problems with copying or drawing, or difficulty recalling
visually presented information
• difficulty with auditory memory, or with discriminating
between sounds in words; easily distracted by extraneous
auditory stimuli
• organizational difficulties such as problems with
completing exams or assignments on time, or organizing
ideas and expressing them in written form; difficulty
starting projects, studying, or maintaining attention span
• problems with enunciation and grammar; a limited
vocabulary or ability to understand and pay attention.
Remember that the principles of confidentiality of student
records apply as well to materials and conversations
related to students who are disabled in some way, and that
these students may be self-conscious about what they
perceive to be conditions or circumstances which
distinguish them from their peers. Make every effort to
address issues of accommodation squarely, but do not allow
them to become the exclusive focus of your contact with the
student. For more resources please refer to the Appendix.
Students
of Different Cultural Backgrounds
Adapted
with permission from Chism et al., 1992
Stereotypes about cultural background abound. Assuming that
every Asian American student is good at math or that every
African American student is an athlete or from an
underprivileged background leads to faulty expectations
that are communicated to students in subtle ways, often
only subconsciously. It is important for instructors to
view students from other cultural backgrounds as
individuals who may or may not have characteristics of the
dominant culture.
Many students whose family traditions are rooted in the
cultures of Africa, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Native America
exhibit learning styles that emphasize group cooperation,
holistic thinking, a concrete rather than abstract
orientation, a valuing of personal knowledge, oral over
written tradition, and reliance on imagery and
expressiveness to provide an affective component to
learning. Instructors who recognize the strengths of these
cultural orientations and provide opportunities for
students to draw upon them not only further the learning of
the students but enrich the learning opportunities for
majority students, some of whom may share these styles and
others of whom can profit through expanding their stylistic
repertoires.
Language, either of another country or an American dialect,
is often a sensitive issue with students from other
cultural backgrounds. Students with language difficulties
need to know, first of all, that their language is
respected. It is important to remember that all languages
are culturally bound. The rules of a given language are
determined by usefulness; therefore, it is problematic to
impose standards from one context on a language that is
part of another, or to denigrate language systems that are
not mainstream. Instructors who focus on task or content
when this can be separated from language help students to
retain self-confidence and cultural pride in a different
environment. Using visuals, synonyms, and examples when
lecturing or in examination questions helps those with
different language backgrounds to understand what is being
communicated.
Teaching style expectations are often different across
cultural backgrounds. While it is impossible for an
instructor to accommodate all teaching style preferences
and still be true to a personal style, it is important to
work to accommodate different preferences.
Students bring to the classroom a knowledge of the
achievements of their cultures and the traditions of their
heritage. Instructors who incorporate these achievements
into their curricula not only build on their students'
sense of pride and self-esteem but also enrich the scope of
knowledge available in the course. It is important,
however, for the instructor to avoid assuming that a
student with a given cultural background is able or willing
to serve as the representative of that culture when
classroom discussions occur. Calling on an African American
student to talk about slavery or a Native American to talk
about life on an Indian reservation puts the student in a
sensitive position, even if the motivation is student
involvement.
INTERNATIONAL TEACHING
ASSISTANTS: CULTURAL DIFFERENCES IN THE CLASSROOM
Adapted
with permission from Sarkisian, 1997
Sometimes it is the teacher as well as the student who is
of a different cultural background. If you are an
international student, plan to teach, and have not yet
observed an American class, you should do this as soon as
possible. When you do, you may be in for a surprise.
Faculty and graduate teaching assistants from different
parts of the world find much that is unexpected their first
time in the classroom. Some of these surprises are welcome.
But other aspects of the American classroom may be
difficult to adjust to, especially if you are teaching for
the first time and
English
is not your native language.
This
Handbook For Teaching Assistants is a starting point for
helping you adjust to the culture of the American classroom
by outlining teaching techniques that are expected by
American students. There is no single right way to teach.
But, especially if your English is weak, you should quickly
develop strategies to communicate with your students and to
enlist their good will.
Many faculty and teaching assistants from other countries
have language difficulties in the classroom: the students
may have difficulty understanding you, and you may have
difficulty understanding students, especially when they
speak quickly, when they use slang, or when several people
are speaking at once. This can be true for all teachers
from other countries, whether or not English is your native
language.
Most teachers expect these difficulties. What they do not
expect are other surprises. They may not suspect that
different cultures have different assumptions about the
academic background of college students, about how students
learn, about the appropriate roles of teachers and
students, or even about the fundamental purpose of a
college education. Furthermore, it may come as a surprise
that many of their American colleagues take teaching
seriously and spend time reflecting on teaching
strategies.
American students, for the most part, may have difficulty
learning from teachers who teach as they themselves were
taught in their own countries, especially if the style of
teaching reflects radically different assumptions about
teachers and students, learning and education. Problems
with language and differences in teaching styles can be
compounded by the reticence of teachers and students alike
in approaching people of different cultures. You may not
know how to talk informally to your students; they may be
even more uncertain about how to talk to you.
Two campus resources that will be particularly useful to
you as a teaching assistant include the Foreign TA
Orientation and the Center for Teaching.
THE FOREIGN TA
ORIENTATION
The
Corona System has sponsored a Foreign Teaching Assistant
Orientation program since 1987. New international TAs take
part in a mandatory English language oral proficiency test.
Those with speaking difficulties (who do not pass the test)
participate in a free follow-up program. TAs also
participate in a week-long orientation before fall
registration. During the week TAs have opportunities to
practice their presentation skills, to view their teaching
on videotape, to receive critiques of their performances,
and to attend sessions on the responsibilities of the
teaching assistant. For more information on the Foreign
Teaching Assistant Orientation Program, please contact the
Training Program Coordinator and Special Assistant to the
Vice Chancellor for Research and Dean of the Graduate
School.
CENTER FOR TEACHING
Beyond
this Handbook For Teaching Assistants and the other
resources listed in the Appendix, the Center For Teaching
has a limited selection of relevant materials for your use.
Of particular value is a video and accompanying handbook on
Teaching in America: A guide for international faculty and
teaching fellows, developed at the Derek Bok Center at
Harvard University. In them, international faculty and TAs
offer advice to first time foreign teachers to prepare them
for teaching in the American college classroom. The
handbook and video cover such areas as:
• Starting Out: A quick guide for beginning teachers
• Assumptions That Affect Teaching in the American
Classroom
• Bridging the Gap: Approaching your student and helping
them approach you
• Giving Presentations That Students Can Understand
• Leading A Discussion: Providing direction and continuity
• Understanding Meanings Beyond Words
TEACHING AND
MULTICULTURALISM
Adapted
from Marchesani & Adams (1992)
Most students experience a range of adjustments to life in
the university. The explicit and implicit norms, values,
and expectations in our classrooms can act to make students
feel more, or significantly less, authentically a part of
the shared academic enterprise. For some instructors,
efforts to reflect upon the degree to which their teaching
practices and classroom climate are inclusive may prove
overwhelmingly complex initially. Therefore, it often helps
to break the reflection processes down into smaller, more
manageable parts. Marchesani and Adams (1992) offer one
model that may prove useful for just such efforts at
systematic reflection on multicultural teaching. They
suggest that the dimensions of teaching and learning that
have particular relevance to social and cultural diversity
in college classrooms fall into four key arenas: 1) knowing
who are our students 2) instructor self-awareness, 3)
course content, and 4) teaching methods.
STUDENTS
The
social and cultural makeup of college students today is
increasingly diverse. For example, our classrooms more
frequently then ever before include members of
traditionally underrepresented racial and ethnic heritages,
nontraditional ages, openly diverse sexual orientation, and
students with physical and learning ability differences.
For some of these students, feelings of isolation,
hyper-visibility, or exclusion can cut them off from
meaningful intellectual experiences and academic success.
It is essential to get to know the students in your class
as individual learners and contributors. By becoming more
knowledgeable about who your students are, and what
strengths and needs they bring to the classroom, you will
be better prepared to create teaching and learning
environments that include and promote the success of all of
your students.
INSTRUCTOR
SELF-AWARENESS
Often,
the most useful efforts an instructor can make to enhance
the multicultural inclusiveness of their teaching relate to
clarifying the personal values, expectations, and attitudes
and beliefs that underpin their approach to teaching and
learning. For example, what impacts do our world-view, the
values and principles embedded in our disciplinary area of
specialization, and our personal preferences have on our
approach to teaching? What influences form the foundation
for our choice of curricular materials? The results from
assuming that our values, attitudes, and beliefs are
universally shared by our students can result in costly,
albeit unintended, consequences for the teaching and
learning environment. By operating on false assumptions and
stereotypes, instructors can leave students with feelings
that range from unarticulated uneasiness to feelings of
complete exclusion.
COURSE CONTENT
What
constitutes curricular excellence is a debate that has
raged hotly for the past decade. Marchesani and Adams
suggest that it may help instructors to view the creation
of a multiculturally inclusive curriculum as a
developmental process that stretches from exclusion to
inclusion. The CFT offers a range of materials (from print
to videos) that can help you to examine the content of your
course and to address issues of inclusion and
representation effectively. For many new instructors,
support for efforts related to this arena can also be found
by tapping into resources within your department faculty
and peers. Disciplinary-based journals, conferences and
organizations often provide good resources as well.
TEACHING METHODS
The way
in which we teach our course content is also a significant
factor in determining our success in a diverse classroom.
Typically, we intuitively teach in the style and manner
that we are most comfortable with and were most successful
in learning in, as well. Marchesani and Adams counsel
instructors to stretch themselves to develop a flexible
repertoire of teaching strategies and then to consciously
match the appropriate strategies to the learning styles and
preferences of the students in your course. Utilizing a
range of teaching strategies in your classroom can act to
help more students to feel welcomed and competent, both as
students and as successful members of our academic
community.
The faculty and peers in your department as well as the
professional organizations of your disciplinary specialty
may have resources that can provide important perspectives
and support to your efforts. Additionally, teaching
consultants at the CFT are available to meet with you to
help you to assess your interests, strengths, and
challenges as you endeavor to create a more multiculturally
inclusive classroom. We have a wide range of print and
video resources available for your use and we can offer
teaching assessment options to help you gather feedback
from students about their perceptions. Additionally, please
see page 6 for information on the Teaching and Learning in
the Diverse Classroom Faculty and TA Partnership Project as
well.