Facilitating Sessions on U. S Facilitating Sessions on U.S. Academic Culture in International Student Orientations Kate Manolakos Caroline Schlegel Megan Mozina NAFSA Region VIII, Fall 2009 Conference, Washington D.C. MEGAN Good morning! Welcome NAMES We are here today to talk about our experiences integrating intercultural training into school-specific international student orientations, and to talk about how you may be able to do the same.

Levels of Culture MEGAN Explain – there are different levels of culture For a class – designed for ESIA undergrads To follow ISO orientation Adjusted & implemented – MBAs Part of MBA int’l student orientation Flexible! Adapt it to your situation Independent workshop Component of a wider orientation provided by your institution

Information about you! MEGAN Before we get started, we would like to ask a few questions to get an idea of who you are and your situation. How many of you work in an international student services office? How many work in another type of office at your university? What brought you to this session today? What intercultural training is currently provided to your international students? What are the main problems faced by your students? Are your international students struggling with U.S. academic culture? What are some examples? Have your international students struggled with the concept academic integrity? Are you looking for a way to help these students better adjust and have greater success in the classroom? <<Ask the above questions, and Kate & Caroline take notes on the board, if possible.>> <Then transition to Caroline explaining the outline/overview.>

Agenda for Training Opening activity Learning activity 1 Content input 1 Learning activity 2 Content input 2 Resources Closing activity DEBRIEF CAROLINE DEBRIEF!!!

Objectives of Training Introduce students to the school’s unique academic culture Explore cultural differences in the educational context Identify strategies for managing cultural differences Raise awareness of the resources available to students CAROLINE

Selecting Content Classroom environment Assignments & evaluation methods Best practices & strategies for success Academic integrity Relationships CAROLINE (Hi, Caroline – maybe also mention that we tied in a few dimensions of culture to see what aligned with the specific content needs? This could be something they do formally or informally, depending on what comfort they have with dimensions of culture. -MM)

Highlighted Activities Spectrum Activity Reflect on own culture Provide context Team-Building Activity Group work Relationships CAROLINE Debrief!!!

Agenda for Training Opening activity Learning activity 1 Content input 1 Learning activity 2 Content input 2 Resources Closing activity DEBRIEF MEGAN We will now demonstrate the Spectrum Activity that Caroline explained. To put it in context – it would directly follow debrief of Opening Activity.

Spectrum Activity MEGAN Spectrum Activity Read situation Select # that BEST reflects your actions Some Home Country, others not Answer ASAP Circle # Write #s at bottom, and add. Draw on lines Students get tape from front table and put their country figures on the board. [One of us stands near dry-erase board, near spectrum line we have drawn, to help facilitate.] [Make sure there are tape rolls.] NEXT SLIDE: Have spectrum lines M-Time (Monochronic) vs. P-Time (Polychronic) Rule-Based vs. Situation- or Relationship-Based Debrief of learning [as students] Would anyone like to talk about where they put their marker? Is your country’s culture similar to your personal culture? Are you surprised about your location on the spectrum? Do you find these spectra to be true? Debrief of activity [as facilitators] If you were to implement this, what are some other questions that you could ask in the debrief to elicit the learning?

Spectrum Activity Debrief MEGAN Additional debrief of Spectrum Activity after discussing the content.  Where does the ESIA fall on the spectra after hearing the content discussion? (Content: Classroom environment Assignments & evaluation methods Best practices & strategies for success Academic integrity)

Team-Building Activity Indicate that as facilitators of this exercise they can determine how many minutes each team can have to practice building and to actually implement the “official” product. For today, 3 minutes to discuss. 2 minutes to build. Then, Kate to Debrief. Debrief questions: What role did you take on during this exercise? Was this role surprising to you? Out of the norm? Did you take on a role other than one you are accustomed to based on what was happening in the group? Do you see this kind of adaptation as useful? What types of emotions and reactions did you experience in the flurry of activity? Do you tend to approach these group projects with “the ends justify the means” or do you opt for “this is a journey not a destination” approach? Other debrief questions you could use here? TAKE SUGGESTIONS.

Lessons Learned Balanced agenda Language sensitivity Group facilitation Diversity & relevance Debriefing Balanced agenda: Activity, content, activity, content. Good energy flow of passive and active. Language sensitivity Use of colloquialisms – reduce/eliminate Clarifying terms we take for granted (family name vs. last name) Clarifying expressions if we did accidentally use them Group Facilitation Minimum of 2 needed to facilitate the session (though 1 can plan it) With 3, key to balance the physical as well as “intellectual” space in the room Not competing w/ each other for talk time TIME AWARENESS – overall, “Just good presentation skills” are needed to run this Diversity & relevance- When implemented w/ the MBA students, we got feedback that this would be a session that all could benefit from. And, given the types of activities and content we are covering, the more diverse the room can be, the better. (Geographic representation, time spent abroad, etc….). CAN BE ADAPTED FOR ALL GROUPS experiencing a new culture, whether that new culture is “life in college” or “life in a highly specialized master’s program” etc…, FOR ALL TYPES OF LEARNING. Debriefing – Needed to give ample time to properly debrief. We cut this short a time or two. But, it’s also a success for us that we did build in debrief time for all of our activities.

Next Steps Implementing your own international student orientation training: Challenges & issues Activities & ideas Questions Brainstorm other issues, challenges you face in your office (both with students and implementation) Brainstorm corresponding activities Questions