Teaching towards ‘Cosmopolitan Learning?’ International students and culturally-aware initiatives in an Australian university Jeannie Daniels - Curriculum, Teaching & Learning Centre La Trobe University, Melbourne.

La Trobe University – Faculty of Business, Economics & Law (FBEL) Large numbers of international students – 35% of FBEL students are international; – 72% of university’s international student population

Most of our university students used to look like this

And this And often like this  Our students look more like this

‘[International students are] not accustomed to having to participate in the Australian manner and a lack of language competence and self- confidence further affects their capacity to do so’ (Novera, 2008, p.477)

Challenges Language -40 different countries Educational practices/cultures – Learning styles; academic requirements; engagement

Facing the challenges Voluntary workshops for first year skills acquisition – academic skills – information literacy; writing; and numeracy – Cultural ‘norms’ of university; of ‘western-style’ learning

Cultural preparation workshops Design informed by literature and research in which educators identified: – English language; academic terminology; referencing issues; also – Behaviours – silences; expectations of being ‘given’ knowledge; not asking for clarification

What culture? Whose culture? And whose education? Western education? Or …....… education that acknowledges the intercultural and transnational nature of the economic, political and social?

Cosmopolitanism Not a new concept, many definitions Kant (1960): moral theory Nussbaum (1996) : political philosophy Rizvi (2009): cultural disposition – social, economic and political practices that respond to contemporary conditions of globalisation – have one thing in common…

The importance they attach to education: Cosmopolitan learning ‘a different perspective on knowing and interacting with others’ (Rizvi 2008, p.111)

Cosmopolitan learners Empirical understanding of global transformations Ethical orientation towards them Elements: Social identities Cultural trajectories Connectivity

The workshops- double purpose How things are ‘done’ here – Western academic cultural ‘norms’ Prepare for active learning through – Knowing own culture – Examining their intercultural experiences – Recognizing difference – Considering the ways these differences impact on them

The workshops – process Pilot workshops poorly attended Insufficient students for evaluation Will persevere Won’t overcome the language issues we face BUT …

Potential to better prepare students for WHAT and HOW Also WHY: – Why things are ‘done’ this way, and – (learning to ask) why as a basis for developing an active and critical approach to learning – A basis for Cosmopolitan Learning?

References Kant, I. 1960/1795. Perpetual peace. In LW Beck (ed.) On history (pp.3-13), New York; MacMillan Ly Thi Tran, 2008, ‘Unpacking academic requirements: international students in Management and Education disciplines’, Higher Education Research & Development, vol.23, no.3, pp Novera, Isvet Amri, 2004, ‘Indonesian postgraduate students studying in Australia: an examination of their academic, social and cultural experiences’, International Education Journal, vol.5, no.4, Nussbaum, M Patriotism and cosmopolitanism. In M.Nussbaum & J. Cohen (eds.) For the love of country: debating the limits of patriotism (pp.1-14). Cambridge, MA; Beacon Press. Rizvi, Fazal, 2009, ‘Towards cosmopolitan learning’, Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, vol.30, no.3, pp Rizvi, Fazal, 2008, ‘Education and its cosmopolitan possibilities’ in B. Lingard, J. Nixon & S. Ranson (eds.) Transforming learning in schools and communities: the remaking of education for a cosmopolitan society. London & New York; Continuum.