I envision
this book fulfilling two complementary roles. I hope it will
be useful for instructors of undergraduate students of the
humanities, as well as relevant for anyone interested in the
amount of forethought that goes into pedagogy in the international
student classroom. After more than two decades of experience
with international students, I have had the chance to try
numerous experiments with that demographic. Simultaneously,
I have developed a way of thinking about teaching international
students which has led me to understand the importance of
cultural elements in instruction, the significance of discussions
around academic misconduct, and how to construct a course
as well as assignments. In my evolving way of thinking about
my pedagogical practice, I strive to test my students' abilities
instead of how well they fit into the western education system.
I begin
with the challenges of teaching international students as
well as a discussion about the materials I have developed
for the classroom. Because I have long been interested in
how cultural difference affects instruction, I examine how
the students' cultural mores impact their learning. I also
survey, at length, how to overcome the challenges of academic
misconduct as well as approaches for paper writing workshops
and how to explain academic research. I include examples that
I have used in class, as well as marking rubrics and codes.
International
students are a growing demographic in the west, and they can
be a delight in the classroom, but the instructor must approach
their pedagogy with a self-reflexive understanding of what
they hope to accomplish and what the students need to learn.