How do Sudanese's educators approach cultural diversity within the Turkish Universities settings? Dr. Amani A. Elfaki Department of Anatomy/ Faculty of Medicine Ondokuz Mayis University

Outline Background Purpose Particular Interest Focus of Paper Conclusion

Background The relation of the author with Turkish University started with very interesting story; in that time I was a PhD. Student in 2009, registered in one of the most Sudanese Universities prestigious (Jazeera University), and was working in a thesis under the title (Quantitative Evaluation of the Cerebral Structures in Schizophrenic Patients Using Planimetric and Stereological Methods on Magnetic Resonance Images). The subject of stereology is a science needed to analyse the MR imaging of the study participant, this science provides practical techniques for extracting quantitative information about a three- dimensional material from measurements made on two- dimensional planar sections of the material. The stereology is being developed mainly in Europe.

Background I started to search for a group working in the field of stereology, sending many s all over the world; United State, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Norway, and Australia. I received reply from United state but I faced visa problem and also reply from Australia and again I faced financial problem, for the rest either I received no reply or I received reply that there is no place for me now. In a day which will never be forgotten, 11th of July 2009, I was searching again in the internet for group of support, and suddenly I found the Turkish Society of Stereology, it is a Society to facilitate information flow between scientists dealing with stereology. I sent to that Society and I received the reply in the same day within nine hours

Background Since that date my relationship was started with one of the Turkish Universities (Ondokuz Mayis University), as I visited the university as a research visitor for one and half year to complete the analyze of the thesis, after that I left to the Sudan and then I have been promoted to an assistant professor. In September 2012 Faculty of Medicine in English language was founded in Ondokuz Mayis University, to be parallel to the main Faculty of Medicine in Turkish language which was founded since And then I was invited by the coordinator of English Medicine to work as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anatomy.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the challenges that facing me as a Sudanese educator during teaching in Turkish universities.

Particular Interest International teaching provides to educators an opportunity for professional development and cultural involvement. The experience also exposes medical educators to new teaching methods and learning styles that can enhance their overall teaching collection. Language and communication issues are understandable principal concerns when considering a foreign teaching assignment.

Focus of Paper In Sudan the official language is Arabic language, the medical educational language is English, the culture is Islamic culture along the coexistence with Christian friends, and most of the Medical Educators complete their postgraduates abroad and they carried the different educational cultures back to Sudan. Through all these diversities I found that the Sudanese medical educators approached the different languages and the academic backgrounds of their learners and colleagues, through emphasised the personal and professional identity in their learners, stressing the clarity of their speech, presenting a structural learning activities, respecting the colleagues teaching experiences and being responsive toward the sociocultural diversity.

Focus of Paper Sudanese’s medical educators have been educated and are teaching in English language for 100%, using English as first language literature. The opportunity to teach medical students in another country gave me a better understanding of the challenges that non-English speaking background learners face during English instruction. This experience prompted me to reflect upon which teaching strategies were most effective and to study the non-English speaking background and English as a second language literature. Local language communication is important to remain committed in the teaching format and to foster familiarity with the students and colleagues.

Focus of Paper The Sudanese educational system emphasizes informative lectures and using interactive questioning and analytical reasoning, and the Turkish educational system emphasizes less instruction and hard- working study of written material. I started to mix the Sudanese educational culture with local educational culture. I, therefore, provided a lecture-based curriculum but also used interactive techniques (particularly directed questioning) during instructive sessions and bedside the practical, and by limiting information to the essential concepts a teacher can provide a basic cognitive structure and outline and allow students to develop and organize detailed knowledge through their own reading and experiences.

Conclusion International teaching is a valuable professional development experience which enhances a medical teacher’s academic skills. The higher education in general and particularly the medical education are become a global matter, the educators will attain great benefits when they teach in others countries by revealing to the different teaching methods and settings, with the facts that’s learners start to seek their education world widely and most of the institutes were became multicultural.