Developing Teaching Practicies For International Students

Abstract

According to the International Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the number of international students worldwide rose from 0.8 million in 1975 to 3.7 million in 2009, and Unesco’s Institute for Statistics states that the number has been increasing by about 12% each year. In connection with that the topical question when training teachers is what competences should be in educational programs and teachers upgrading programs who work with international students. Educational environment has its specifics and peculiarities for each university. The topical define educational process. The main idea of multicultural education is integration. Equitable pedagogy which was proposed by offers to elaborate strategy of mutual interaction in multicultural education. Banks & Tucker ( 1998 ) elaborated five dimensions of multicultural education in order to help teachers to find out this content of multicultural education: 1) Work on teaching plan separately for humanitarians and natural science teachers; 2) Importance of knowledge construction with respect to cultural context and denominations accepted in each culture; 3) Equitable pedagogy which takes into consideration socio-cultural context while organizing teaching process; 4) reduction of prejudice among teachers and use of methods which allow children to develop more positive racial relation; 5) Development of possibilities of school culture while helps to take away questions of racism and cultural inequality. In classrooms composed primarily of different cultural groups, as it happens in many school, teachers should use a variety of teaching strategies.

Keywords: Cognitive teachingmulticultural educationcompetencesinternational studentsdiagnosticssocial behaviour

Introduction

Educational environment has its specifics and peculiarities for each university. The topics and peculiarities for each university. The topical question has became to study factors which define educational process. Management of cognitive actions is teaching is one of the tasks of a teacher. At the present stage of research we conduct analysis of environment in which pedagogue works and student studies. Interaction of international student with a new socio-cultural environment is done as in direct teaching, and indirectly as well. In their works Vygotsky (1973), Luria (1976), Vygotsky and Luria (1993) indicate the importance of certain environment quality and content in order cognitive function to appear.

According of socio-cultural theory of Vygotsky (1978) children very naturally and often without special effort turn into competent members of their families and communities, taking part in dialogue and mutual activities with more experienced members. This is confirmed by Banks & Tucker (1998) theory of equitable pedagogy of multicultural education. When racial, cultural barriers and lifted away the necessary environment is formed. Management of cognitive actions is teaching is one of the tasks of a teacher. At the present stage of research we conduct analysis of environment in which pedagogue works and student studies. Interaction of international student with a new socio-cultural environment is done as in direct teaching, and indirectly as well. In their works Vygotsky (1973) and Luria (1976) indicate the importance of certain environment quality and content in order cognitive function to appear.

The conception of dominating activity was elaborated by Vygotsky (1987). Elkonin (1971) proposed research of stages of development which are characterized by way of change of dominating types of activities. At first years students which have been oriented to play activities change their play orientation to professional and career goals. The interview of international students shows the demand to playing forms of learning language and subjects.

There is a question what influences more: social relations or material and technical possibilities of educational environment? The ultimate goal of the mediated learning by means of direct influence of stimuli and development cognitive premises for direct learning. It is important to teach student have to navigate himself/herself in any new socio-cultural environment.

Problem Statement

A teacher should possess all necessary instruments for teaching theory and cognitive education on the basis of combination of paradigm of psychological instruments (Vygotsky, 1987) and mediated education Kozulin & Presseisen (1995). Cognitive education should become an integral part of school programs and development of teachers. Adjustment and creation of educational programs from one part and shaping from another of set of measures which are of educational character empower the creation of necessary educational environment for international teachers (Little, 2001).

Pedagoges should understand that real goal of educational activity is not a special task or purple, but development of our thinking (Piaget, 1969; Leontiev, 1978). Such approach to multicultural education may help students grow up, to be involved in learning, will generate readiness to take personal responsibility for actions.

Research Questions

Diagnostics of problem areas in educational process, difficulties of teachers and international students we propose to single out with the help of questions regarding the teachers’ main difficulties – the problem areas in the educational process and the methods used by teachers to find communicative resources. Our study assesses what really works and what should be added for more effective work in multicultural environment?

Purpose of the Study

The aim of the research in this paper is to diagnose problem areas of international students and corresponding difficulties of teachers who work with international students in Russia to design new educational programs in the future.

Research Methods

With the aim of diagnostics of existing state of affairs we composed the questionnaire for the teachers and students which should help to diagnose and single out difficulties. Interview of teachers, working with international students has helped to find out what really works, what is needed for more affective work in multicultural environment. The questioning has been done of pedagogues working in Russian University with international students namely teachers of Russian language and biology. The research was done on preparatory department students of 1,5 year of education. In groups of 15-17 students. International students attend classes in Russian language and special subjects, as biology, chemistry, mathematics, etc. The students come after middle school or after bachelor programs in their countries. The research has been done is one of Russian Universities. Ten students from China, Iran, Columbia, Turkey, Ecuador, Indonesia and African countries who study on the preparatory department and eight teachers of Russian language took part in research.

Findings

Conclusion

In conclusion, the given research is a diagnostic character. It helps to single out problem areas in working with international students. The research shows the importance of forming of own thinking in multicultural environment. Student should be trained to face problems of environment and take an active position. In this process considerable part is played by the teacher.

Pedagogue should be ready to work with multilevel classes, in uncertainty situations, in multifunctional situations. In the University the distribution of functional responsibilities (should be reconsidered), connected with problems of living (cleanness, order, security), problems of staying in the country (visa, dates of getting visa, documents necessary for living in the country); introduction of system of tutorship on the questions of education; getting up system of mentors.

As far as in Russian education the accent is done on the system of education, not on adaptation and educational process, on the first stages of stay of international student should be adaptive and educational which should help to create productive educational environment with use of communicative technologies.

The results are of practical value and should help the University to improve equipment of educational process. The received results shall allow to form the design of educational programs foe increasing qualifications and retraining of teachers according required competencies from side of students. It shall regulate better administrative questions connected with regulations of stay of international students and get up systematic interrelation between substructures.

The priority direction of the course ‘Psychology of Education’ in our University is to teach pedagogues to govern and manage cognitive processes in educational sphere. There is a need to develop a methodology for managing cognitive processes in a multicultural environment and demand in training specialists.

The development of a strategy for interaction between the teacher and student, the students and the environment in multicultural education will help shape the cognitive development teaching and learning

Acknowledgments

The work is performed according to the Russian Government Program of Competitive Growth of Kazan Federal University. I thank the participants of the project: teachers and administrators of Kazan Federal University who helped in the collection of empirical material.

References

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