ICIS Newsletter - December 2019 (Plain Text Version)
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MODIFYING A UNIVERSITY COURSE TO ALIGN WITH GLOBAL LEARNING OUTCOMES: A BOOK REVIEW ON TEACHING WITH A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE. Sharon Tjaden-Glass, Sinclair Community College, Dayton, Ohio, USA
The goal of developing intercultural competence is no longer relegated to the work of offices devoted to study abroad or advising international students. As internationalization in higher education has surged to the forefront of university missions, faculty increasingly find themselves teaching courses with new learning outcomes about students’ global competencies, which faculty may feel ill equipped to address. Teaching with a Global Perspective: Practical Strategies from Course Design to Assessment (Bikowski & Phillips, 2019) is an answer to that call for a practical handbook for content area faculty who are seeking examples and advice for revising or developing courses to align with new learning outcomes that aim to develop students’ global competencies. A collaborative work between Dawn Bikowski and Talinn Phillips of Ohio University, Teaching with a Global Perspective fills the need for a book that distills the essential concepts of intercultural communication and competence (Ting-Toomey & Chung, 2012; Martin & Nakayama, 2017; Deardorff, 2006) and connects those concepts with culturally responsive pedagogy (Hammond, 2015). The result is a practical handbook that provides targeted answers about the most pressing questions that faculty, administrators, and staff in higher education face. While other handbooks have addressed the need for structured intercultural learning in a study abroad context (Williams, 2018), Teaching with a Global Perspective is the first book of its kind for professionals in the U.S. higher education context. Structured in three parts, this book addresses (1) definitions and models of internationalization and foundations of intercultural communication, (2) curricula and course design, and (3) assessment and feedback. While each part explores a different aspect of teaching with a global perspective, each chapter unfolds in the same order: an introduction, an explanation of key concepts, examples of classroom strategies, workshop activities and questions for small group discussion, reflection questions, and bibliography. True to the nature of an accessible handbook, the content of the chapters addresses specific questions that faculty may have about implementing instruction with a global perspective, such as “How can I create an environment that is conducive to helping students develop as global citizens?” (p. 18) and “How can I implement Universal Design for Learning (UDL) into my courses?” (p. 88). Many of the responses to these questions are addressed in action-oriented bulleted lists, some of which are illustrated even further with more specific examples and recommendations. For example, in response to the question of how to help students develop into global citizens, the authors recommend that faculty, “develop a sense of belonging where students feel safe in taking risks and making positive contributions” (p. 19) by “build[ing] in a feedback mechanism for students’ feelings of belonging… For example, students can be asked, ‘Are there any points of view that we might be overlooking?’” (p. 19). One of the major strengths of this book is that it models successful learner-focused learning design. Each chapter (1) begins with clear learning outcomes, (2) leads readers through self-assessment, (3) addresses specific questions that pertain to faculty (the learners, in this case), (4) gives concise and practical answers that are grounded in theory and research, (5) provides materials and questions for small group discussion, and (6) directs readers to additional resources to explore. In this way, the book models how to connect content with the learner’s experience, scaffold and connect new content to practice, and negotiate meaning with others in order to make sense of concepts and consolidate information to increase retention of the book’s content. Faculty members who teach at institutions where the student body is not typically diverse might find the case studies and “Student Voices” side boxes to be particularly useful and enlightening. Throughout each chapter, these insets provide windows into the messy process of infusing intercultural learning into higher education. Narrated in the first-person perspective, these passages draw the reader into different perspectives, directly engaging the reader in perspective-taking. In this way, this book strengthens the reader’s cognitive complexity (Bennett, 2016), and therefore his or her capacity for developing intercultural competence. Although this book can be read and enjoyed by individuals, perhaps one of the greatest strengths of this book is its ability to serve as the springboard for the reader’s own intercultural competence development, especially when read with a small group. The “Workshop” sections provide space for readers to engage in internal reflection about the topics, which can then be shared with peers. Each workshop includes scenarios to consider, peer observation rubrics, and reflection questions that aim to connect key concepts with the reader’s own experiences and understanding. The chapter entitled Participation in the Global Classroom provides a particularly useful checklist to assess students’ capacities for engaging in coursework with a global perspective. The authors encourage faculty members to consider their own courses and reflect on the type of learning experience that they want to create for their learners, the obstacles that might interfere, and possible strategies to address those obstacles. Such reflective activities can be pivotal in cultivating not only an understanding of intercultural competence, but also in demonstrating for the faculty member the ways in which he or she may also continue to develop intercultural competence. For example, in the chapter entitled Communicating across Cultural Boundaries, the authors pose this question:
Such reflective questions help to steer monocultural readers into the gray areas of intercultural communication so they may consider previously unexplored aspects of communicating across cultures, particularly in terms of imagining the experience of intercultural communication through the lens of a second language learner. It is important to point out that while the “Workshop” sections are particularly conducive to learning in a small group setting, solitary readers may be likely to gloss over these sections and miss the opportunity to fully reflect on questions that could drive deeper engagement with the book’s content. Other features of this book add to its practicality. Faculty will find the index of classroom strategies, located in the front pages of the book, to be particularly helpful in finding the practical ideas that they gleaned within this book. Each chapter ends with an extensive bibliography for readers to dive deeper into topics. Finally, although this book is primarily intended for faculty who are unfamiliar with the issues and vocabulary surrounding intercultural communication, experienced IC practitioners and trainers are likely to find the reflective questions, peer-response activities, organizers, and rubrics to be highly relevant to their work. As higher education continues to push forward internationalization efforts on college campuses, Teaching with a Global Perspective will only increase in its relevance to the work of faculty, staff, and administrators. Now, they have an accessible and practical handbook to guide their decision-making and efforts. References Bennett, J. (2016). Interactive methods for teaching about cultural differences. WISE Conference. Winston Salem, North Carolina. https://prod.wp.cdn.aws.wfu.edu/sites/18/2016/03/Bennett.Janet_.2016.pdf Deardorff, D. (2006). Identification and assessment of intercultural competence as a student outcome of internationalization. Journal for Studies in International Education, 10(3), 241-266. Hammond, Z. (2015). Culturally responsive teaching and the brain: Promoting authentic engagement and rigor among culturally and linguistically diverse students. Thousand Oaks: Corwin. Martin, J., and Nakayama, T. (2017). Intercultural communication in contexts. 7th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill. Ting-Toomey, S., and Chung, L. (2012). Understanding intercultural communication. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Williams, T. R. (2018). Learning through a PRISM: Facilitating student intercultural learning abroad. Fort Worth, TX: Texas Christian University Press.
Sharon Tjaden-Glass (MA TESOL) is an instructional media designer for the eLearning Division of Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio. She is currently interested in OER, instructional design, and the intersection of L2 listening and intercultural competence development. |
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