COHEHRE webinar: Diversity management and optimal use of the cultural capital of the international students within the international classrooms

By Isabelle Delariviere In New

The International Classroom project saw its origin at Hanzehogeschool Groningen (The Netherlands) and was instigated by 3 different departments within Hanzehogeschool: School for Life Science & Technology, International Business School and International Physiotherapy Programme.

The International Classroom is a fascinating but equally complex environment as it entails different cultures, cultural backgrounds, different perspectives and beliefs. The approach of teaching this classroom will therefore need to be adapted.

In this project, Dutch students and international students were mixed. A survey among the students brought to light where the strenghts, weaknesses and challenges lied of being taught in an International Classroom as well as the benefits of the International Classroom. Group discussions on ‘Why internationalise?’ showed that the reasons to do so were different for each of the schools. These different reasons will be helpful in designing a better International Classroom.

Another aspect of this project is the development of a Tool-Shed = a website that contains information that may support teachers in the education in an international setting such as an International Classroom.

In order to find out what the content of this Tool-Shed should be, a panel of teachers were presented the following question: ‘What would you expect from a Tool-Shed? What would you look for?’ It appeared that even though some had a few ideas, many others found it difficult to imagine what should be in the Tool-Shed. This resulted in the realisation that the Tool-Shed should be accessible for different types of teachers, seeing that there are teachers familiar with international teaching and others who haven’t experienced it yet.

The participants in the webinar were asked the same question by mentimeter, which resulted in a wide array of answers of which you will find a handful below:

• Intercultural activities
• What to do when there is a conflict
• Checklist of different points you need to consider in an International Classroom
• Ways to engage people from different cultural backgrounds and teaching styles which are effective for an international student population
• …

The Tool-Shed has been presented and discussed.Interested in finding out more? Look back at the recording of this webinar or the webinar slides at your leisure!