Intercultural Awareness and Diversity Management in Academic Teaching
As the student population in WU becomes increasingly diverse, many lecturers appreciate support to build cultural competencies - the skills and awareness related to issues such as culture, language, race, and ethnicity.
When you have international students in your classroom, there are several important issues and classroom management strategies related to effective communication that you may need to keep in mind to help all students have a positive learning experience. International students bring a broad range of cultural perspectives to the learning environment, and this diversity has the capacity to enrich teaching and learning in the University.
This workshop is designed to support instructors to develop strategies in order to best address the needs of international students as learners. The workshop will introduce issues of cultural awareness to those who teach international students, as well issues involved in cross-cultural communication.
Target Group
Those involved in teaching, tutoring and supervising international students.
Workshop Goals
Teaching in an intercultural setting means using strategies to work creatively with different cultural worldviews, and bringing an international perspective into the curriculum. Therefore, at the end of the course you will be able to:
- Plan for and offer better support to international students and those involved in teaching;
- Identify the main barriers in terms of teaching, e.g. language awareness, non-verbal behaviour, learning styles, communication skills, academic writing etc.;
- To discuss and explore strategies for improving the international student experience in a teaching and learning environment, while simultaneously improving interaction between home and international students
- Acquire a basic understanding of the wide-ranging effects of culture on behavior. You will discover how to disable the "cultural cruise control" that makes you unaware of how your own culture affects your perceptions, and instead learn to pay careful attention, in a reflective and creative way, to cues in cross-cultural situations.
- Explore the skills and characteristics required to work effectively with international students with a rich mix of cultural perspectives.
Workshop Content
- What is cultural awareness and cultural intelligence?
- Cultural values and attitudes
- Culture and country shock
- Cross-cultural communication skills
- Communication styles and the cultural heritage
- Expectations and reality for international students
- Understanding and accounting for differences among students
- Learning style theory and cultural impact
- Teaching and learning in a multicultural environment
- Matching instructional strategies to learning style preferences
- Incorporating cultural assessment tools into your teaching practice
- Language issues
- Tips and strategies for specific countries
Location, Date and Time
Thursday, 11 April 2013, 9.00 am - 5.00 pm
Friday, 12 April 2013, 9.00 am - 5.00 pm
All registered participants will be informed of the location by email one week before the event.
Fees and Registration
This workshop is open to a limited number of participants. The registration deadline is 28 March 2013.
Please note that you should notify us before the registration deadline if you are unable to attend the workshop.
Otherwise the full fee will be charged.
To sign up for this workshop, please click "Register" at the bottom of this page.
For any further information please contact Birgit Amon ( birgit.amon@wu.ac.at, DW 4448).
Trainer
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Maryam Bigdeli, B.A., M.C., M.B.A.
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