Presentation Transcript

1. Studying is more than Learning: Improving the Performance of International Students though Pastoral Care

   Dr Antje Cockrill 3rd Annual SALT Conference 17/05/2011
2. Background Many international students struggle in UK academic institutions, even though prior performance on paper suggests that they should be able to succeed. Key issues are mismatched expectations and students, discrepancies between the marketing and reality of study in the UK, acculturation and learning style issues, lower-than-expected English language skills. A considerable literature on learning style and acculturation issues, the pastoral element has been less well explored.
3. What staff expect To provide help with specific academic issues. To be a contact point in mass education system. Some academic monitoring. Provide pointers to other support services if/when needed. A ‘business’ relationship. What many international students expect Guidance in all areas of life: material, academic, moral, even sexual. (Portsmouth, 2006) Tutor as a ‘friend and parent’ (Rastall, 2006). 24 hour availability Role of the Tutor/Mentor
4. What staff do not expect To be available 24 hours That (adult) students may be unable to cope with basic issues such as shopping, cooking, child care, living away from home, having to make friends etc. To be counsellor, doctor, ‘life trainer’ and academic support all in one. What many international students do not expect The scale of the adjustment they face when studying abroad Fixed office hours for tutors Appointment systems That staff have also significant research and administ. duties. Role of the Tutor/Mentor
5. Role of the Tutor/Mentor The result is a mismatch of expectations of the role of the tutor Staff see many international students as overly demanding, time-hungry and sometimes ‘a pain’. International students see staff as cold and distant (Jin and Cortazzi, 2006).
6. Small steps in the right direction … Seeing international tutees individually at the beginning of the academic session and outline the role of the Tutor. This should not be left to a general induction session. Finding out about the background of each international tutee, especially where (not just the country) they are coming from. Being aware of common issues for the main group of students. Having advice ready for common, reoccurring issues. Expecting the unexpected.
7. For example … Fatimah (All student examples are composites of several real students). Fatimah is from Saudi Arabia, but she could also be from any other Arab or Middle Eastern country. She is in her early or mid-20s and has two children under five, who have come with her. Her husband is also a student here. She has so far always lived with an extended family. Although she is academically able and has good English skills, her performance in the first academic assessments is poor. Careful probing reveals that Fatimah finds coping with the sudden responsibility for her household and children very difficult, in addition to having to study in an entirely different education system, where men and women are taught together. How a Tutor can help: Fatimah needs a sympathetic, female tutor, very practical advice, e.g. a list of childcare places and/or schools; ideas how she can manage her time. Once Fatimah has created sufficient time and organisation in her life to study, her performance improves.
8. For example … Yuan Yuan is from a provincial town in North Western China. She has done well at school and in university, and has one several prizes. She is the first of her family to go to university. She has never stayed away from home before. The entire family has invested in stay abroad, and expectations are high. On arrival in the UK, she is completely overwhelmed. Everything is new and foreign, food, people, the university, the expectations, the study system, the list is endless. Yuan also finds that her English is entirely insufficient to either converse or study. Worst of all, finding friends turns out to be difficult and she feels very lonely. She ends up with a small group of friends who come from similar backgrounds to herself. Yuan performs very weakly in the first assessments. How a Tutor can help: Give time to listen and arrange as much time to study as the university can give her (even if it means repeating a year, suspending etc.). Access to counselling if she suffers from depression. With additional time, Yuan can build up her confidence and language skills, and complete her course.
9. For example … Li Li is also from China, but is from Shanghai. She comes from a dynamic, busy environment and finds the life in Swansea slow. Like Yuan, she has previously lived with her family. She is much better prepared for studying in the UK than Yuan. However, acculturation is an issue for her as well. Li enjoys the greater social freedom in the UK and gets pregnant. She faces some very unpleasant choices: Tell her parents, have the baby and become a ‘stigmatised’ single mother Tell her parents and have an abortion Not tell her parents and have an abortion How a Tutor can help: Listen sympathetically – that alone can provide huge relief. Provide help to keep SP requests confidential. Give advice how to ‘pick up the pieces’. Without help, Li is likely to become one of the ‘disappearing students’.
10. For example … Tassos Tassos is from Greece. He has done well in school and his family have decided that he should study abroad. Tassos is a hard-working, conscientious student but finds adjusting to studying in the UK very difficult. He tries to get every piece of work perfect but struggles with deadlines and language issues. His performance is not poor but does not conform to the high standards he sets himself. After the first term, Tassos is exhausted and has lost his confidence. He is considering to return to study in Greece. How a Tutor can help: Confidence building Help with time management
11. For example … Raj Raj is from India. His parents their own (small) business and he is the oldest son. He is the first person in his family to go to university. His academic performance has not been outstanding, but his family are enormously proud of him. He expects to finish his degree and to continue to a MBA in Harvard. Afterwards he will expand and grow the family business. Raj is not performing as well as he expected at his UK university. the exam and learning techniques are very different (see J. Carroll’s work). Raj regularly returns to India, inside and outside term time, to help with the family business. This is his responsibility as the oldest son. How a Tutor can help: Adjustment of expectations. Careful steering towards more achievable, more realistic ambitions. Close attendance monitoring.
12. Conclusions Many issues cannot be addressed by an individual Tutor – but small things can make a big difference to someone’s study experience! Seeing the person, not just a number . Be willing to be a person, rather than ‘just’ university staff. Willingness to listen. Give advice with a straight face even on awkward subjects. (Not always easy!) Awareness of key issues/cultural conflicts for particular student groups.
13. Conclusions Have support material ready – leaflets for student support services, family planning clinics, addresses for GPs , schools and childcare places, places of worship. Be ready to refer to other support services – but you may have to convince /push the student to use them. At institutional/College/School level: Gender matching of Tutor and tutees should be considered. A time allocation for the pastoral care of international students for each Tutor A School/College Wellbeing Officer or Officers as additional support.
14. And finally … For staff, the pastoral care of international students can be: For students, pastoral care can ‘make or break’ a degree. Time consuming At times exasperating Challenging Enriching Rewarding