Caitlin A. Hamstra, O'Gorman High School, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA

Introduction

International teaching assistants (ITAs) are responsible for teaching and facilitating substantial numbers of undergraduate courses (Austin, 2002; Kaufman & Brownworth, 2006). Despite their key roles in academe, ITAs often have little to no teaching experience. They are graduate students, not professionals, yet they are given teaching and advising duties and are considered experts by undergraduate students (Chiang, 2016). Furthermore, because ITAs have different native languages and cultural and educational backgrounds from their domestic peers, they need differentiated support and training specifically designed to fit their needs. Appropriate training and support of ITAs is essential for several stakeholders, including the ITAs themselves, the undergraduate students in their classes, and the campus at large (Dimitrov et al., 2013). Because training and support of ITAs is so critical for institutional success, support and training policies must derive from ITAs’ own backgrounds, experiences, and suggestions rather than from departmental or institutional needs or perceptions of language deficiency.

Purpose Statement and Research Question

Grounded in hermeneutical phenomenology, the purpose of this study was to examine the influence of one university’s training and support on the lived experiences of nonnative-English-speaking (NNES) ITAs in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) who were from TOEFL-exempt countries. This study analyzed how institutional training and support programs affect their lived experiences. To understand NNES STEM ITAs’ perceptions of training and support, I investigated the following question: How does university training and support influence the lived experiences of NNES ITAs in STEM?

Theoretical Framework

To analyze how university training and support influence the lived experiences of ITAs, this study used Lave and Wenger’s (1991) situated learning theory. Situated learning theory is learning positioned within a specific activity and characterized by the process of learning through legitimate peripheral participation, which is the relationship between learners, the experts they are learning from, and the activities in which they engage (Lave & Wenger, 1991). ITAs initially learn how to be teachers through training, but they also develop their skills and knowledge through increased participation in the classroom, both as learners and teachers. As ITAs learn about teaching and gain experience, they develop the knowledge and skills necessary to become experts, not only in their field but also in teaching that field. This study used situated learning theory to understand how university training and support influence the lived experiences of ITAs through legitimate peripheral participation.

Methodology

This qualitative study sought to examine how university training and support affected the phenomenon of being an NNES ITA in a STEM field through the descriptions provided by the participants who have experienced being one. Purposeful sampling was used to select seven participants. The participants were from three different countries, two of which had English has an official language; they had four different native languages; and they studied chemistry, physics, and math. Five of the participants had most or all of their education in English, and the other two had their postsecondary education in English. Three participants were in doctoral programs and four were in master’s programs.

The participants had varying experiences in teaching and living in the United States: One had 8 years of teaching experience in the United States, and others had been in the United States for 1 academic year. The average number of years teaching in the United States was 3 ½. All participants were teaching or facilitating undergraduate courses or labs during the study. Six of the participants participated in the university’s optional weeklong ITA Training Program prior to the start of their teaching at the university, and one did not. I conducted three semi-structured face-to-face interviews with each of the seven participants to elicit their perceptions of institutional support and training. After the interviews, I analyzed the transcripts for emergent themes, which I present in this article.

Discussion of Findings

Three emergent themes resulted in this study, including how ITAs are trained to teach, sources of support in the United States, and the importance of peer mentoring. The first emergent theme was how ITAs are trained to teach. In this study, there were two types of teacher training, from their departments and from the university’s ITA training program. Participants in this study had varying levels of preparation for their teaching by their departments. Participants from the Math Department were independent teachers of their own classes, and they had a weeklong training with all teaching assistants—domestic and international—prior to ITA training. Math ITAs also enrolled in math education courses while they taught for the department. Physics and chemistry ITAs were facilitators of labs, and their departmental training was significantly less. The chemistry ITAs described attending meetings prior to the start of the semester, and the physics ITA did not describe any departmental training.

Results of the interviews indicate that initial and ongoing training is critical to ITAs’ adaptation to teaching in the United States. Participants’ feelings of self-efficacy in the classroom were strongly connected to training components provided by their department, and those who had departmental training prior to teaching had a stronger sense of belonging in the classroom than those who did not. Departmental training, both initial and ongoing, is critical to the success of ITAs as developing teachers.

In addition to departmental training, the ITA Training Program was also a critical factor for the participants’ training. For some, the ITA Training Program was their only introduction to U.S. teaching pedagogy and the only source of teaching support. Many of the participants had prior teaching experiences in their home countries, but they all reported that ITA training was beneficial and helped them implement their teaching knowledge in the U.S. context. Furthermore, the ITA training program provided pedagogical context for ITAs who did not otherwise receive any teacher training. The participants in this study—both those who had been in the United States for several years and those who were new—indicated that the cultural information they received during the ITA Training Program helped them better understand their roles as ITAs and as graduate students. ITA programs are not often charged with cultural support and training of ITAs, but this population may not be getting that support elsewhere, as was the case in this study. Therefore, ITA programs should work with departments to identify the gaps in cultural support for ITAs and to determine how to fill those gaps.

The second emergent theme was sources of support in the United States. The most significant source of departmental support for the participants were course coordinators, graduate advisors, and mentors. Course coordinators, members of departments responsible for coordinating all teaching assistants, helped participants with their teaching. Graduate advisors helped them choose their courses, and mentors helped them navigate research. Though departments were a major source of academic support for the participants, they neglected to support students as they adjusted to life in a new country, culture, and language. Conversations between ITAs and their advisors focused on academics and overlooked discussion about language challenges and cultural differences. When I asked about how their departments helped them adjust to life in the United States, they explained how their departments helped them adapt academically, not socially or culturally.

Despite supporting the participants in their research, some advisors overlooked asking the participants about their career goals. Four of the participants—three of the doctoral and one of the master’s participants—believed that their career goals were fostered by their advisors. For one participant, this belief was because they had regular conversations about the future and goals. For the other three, they believed their advisors supported career goals because their career goals were aligned with their research and the research of their advisors. However, the three other master’s-level participants felt their peers, friends, and family supported their career goals, rather than their advisors. The four participants who believed they were supported in their career goals had regular contact with their advisors and mentors, whereas the three participants who did not believe their advisors supported their career goals had more irregular contact.

The third emergent theme was peer mentoring. Peer support is critical for ITAs to understand and adjust to life in the United States. For some ITAs, their informal peer mentor was a critical component in assisting them to understand academics and life in their new culture. Having a senior peer to rely on and to whom they could ask questions was crucial for new ITAs because they lacked the cultural background to navigate the U.S.-based academic system themselves. Several participants recommended the implementation of a formal peer mentoring program that would ensure all ITAs had a peer mentor and that this vital component to graduate school not be left to chance. Formal peer mentoring is the type of program departments can implement to support their ITAs socially and culturally, ways in which they are currently lacking in support.

Recommendations and Conclusion

ITA training programs and departmental training programs have an impact on ITAs’ self-efficacy and success in the classroom. Therefore, support of this population needs to be taken beyond ITA training programs and deficit-model English language models. In this study, participants from TOEFL-exempt countries reported benefitting from the teaching and cultural training they received from the ITA Training Program and felt like more effective instructors as a result. To truly demonstrate a commitment to this population and the students in ITAs’ classrooms, institutions and departments must utilize ITAs’ experiences when creating their policies. Furthermore, mentors and advisors should not take cultural adaptation for granted and should consider students’ adjustment to their new cultural context, in addition to discussions of academic pursuits. These are particularly crucial for ITAs who are new to the United States, as they do not have the U.S. cultural experience that domestic and experienced international TAs have. Departments also need to prioritize training and support specifically designed for ITAs and their unique needs and skills by collaborating with ITA training programs and professional development centers on campuses to determine how ITAs are supported and where there are gaps and to determine how to appropriately train and support this population.

This strategy will place ITAs at the center of policies created about them, thus empowering them as learners and emerging teachers. Policies designed based on ITAs’ backgrounds, experiences, and strengths will result in more appropriate training and support. With policies based on their strengths, not language deficits, all ITAs could get the training and support they need, even if they are native or highly fluent in English. Policies that are informed by ITA experiences and are designed to properly train ITAs and future faculty will result in improved STEM undergraduate and graduate education.

References

Austin, A. (2002). Preparing the next generation of faculty: Graduate school as socialization to the academic career. The Journal of Higher Education, 73(1), 94–122.

Chiang, S-Y. (2016). “Is this what you’re talking about?”: Identity negotiation in international teaching assistants’ instructional interactions with US college students. Journal of Language, Identity & Education, 15(2), 114–128

Dimitrov, N., Meadows, K., Kustra, E., Ackerson, T., Prada, L., Baker, N., Boulos, P., McIntyre, G., & Potter, M.K. (2013). Assessing graduate teaching development programs for impact on future faculty. Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario.

Kaufman, D., & Brownworth, B. (2006). Collaborative paradigms and future directions in international teaching assistant professional development. In D. Kaufman, & B. Brownworth, (Eds.), Professional development of international teaching assistants (pp. 1–13). Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages.

Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge University Press.