6/4/2019; Week 7: Response to Cross-Cultural Students in the Classroom
This weeks focus on Cross-Cultural students in the classroom was puzzling to me at first. Professor Ivers lecture (BYU-I circa 2015) was principally concerned with the perceived differences in the US educational system for Asian students.
Some of the comments were positive: Being able to interact with the professors, ask questions and have dialogue. But the comments regarding American students were negative. I am 53, and live in the South, so perhaps I am atypical for most university students, but I was shocked at some of the things the American students did as well. Interrupt the teacher ? Eat in class? Read the newspaper (or use a phone) during class? Walk out of class? I can't imagine doing any of these things in class. It seems very rude to me. As a teacher, I would have to adjust to the students of my own native country more than to the students of other countries !
However, the list included a few things that I've seen myself while teaching various church classes: Resting feet on the chair in front of you, using phones, or walking in and out of class casually. Talking to other students in class - That one I see all the time, unfortunately, and it is very distracting, both as a teacher and as a classmate.
As far as handling those things, the feet on the chair could be handled simply by commenting quietly as I walked by the student. Asking non-adults to put away their phones has worked well. Walking in and out of class would probably be a private conversation unless it was a large number of students. My son had a professor who shut and locked the classroom door exactly when class started and opened it exactly when it ended. No one was ever late to that professors class....
For consistent/constant talking during class, I really don't know. I have never been able to successfully eliminate that. I am not willing to make a scene and general comments for quiet only work sometimes. If anyone has a good way to approach that, I am eager to hear it !!
Some of the comments were positive: Being able to interact with the professors, ask questions and have dialogue. But the comments regarding American students were negative. I am 53, and live in the South, so perhaps I am atypical for most university students, but I was shocked at some of the things the American students did as well. Interrupt the teacher ? Eat in class? Read the newspaper (or use a phone) during class? Walk out of class? I can't imagine doing any of these things in class. It seems very rude to me. As a teacher, I would have to adjust to the students of my own native country more than to the students of other countries !
However, the list included a few things that I've seen myself while teaching various church classes: Resting feet on the chair in front of you, using phones, or walking in and out of class casually. Talking to other students in class - That one I see all the time, unfortunately, and it is very distracting, both as a teacher and as a classmate.
As far as handling those things, the feet on the chair could be handled simply by commenting quietly as I walked by the student. Asking non-adults to put away their phones has worked well. Walking in and out of class would probably be a private conversation unless it was a large number of students. My son had a professor who shut and locked the classroom door exactly when class started and opened it exactly when it ended. No one was ever late to that professors class....
For consistent/constant talking during class, I really don't know. I have never been able to successfully eliminate that. I am not willing to make a scene and general comments for quiet only work sometimes. If anyone has a good way to approach that, I am eager to hear it !!
In the Philippines, teaching can still be teacher centered. I remembered some of my teachers in high school, who students fear because they were very strict and they embarrass their students in front of the class. I hope such type of teachers terrorizing their students would change. To eliminate consistent talking during class, some teachers here share their experience of calling their students to recite or calling their attention to participate by asking them questions regarding the lecture. I do not know if this type of approach can work. Although I have tried this approach to my classes by oral recitations and graded class participation and somehow eliminated constant talking by some students.
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