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How our participants created ‘safe’ intercultural teaching spaces

Many participants reflected on a need to create a positive classroom environment, within which students could feel ‘safe’ and ‘comfortable’ to engage in discussions and contribute to collaborative tasks. This was particularly seen as important in intercultural environments, highlighting that work with international students is ‘about respect and trust’  (Participant 31, Education and teaching, Unaffiliated … Continue reading How our participants created ‘safe’ intercultural teaching spaces

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How our participants built relationships with students

Related to facilitating learning from diversity, building relationships with students was seen as a key step for good teaching, particularly with international students. When asked what they saw as the key attributes of a good teacher, many participants highlighted ‘patience and empathy’ (Participant 36, Business and management, Unaffiliated pre-1992), before or rather than mentioning content … Continue reading How our participants built relationships with students

How our participants facilitated learning from diversity

As noted in our introduction, there was broad agreement among participants in the value of diversity in their classrooms, which they believed provided important learning opportunities for students to engage in learning from their peers. This was outlined particularly, but not exclusively, in relation to intercultural learning and the presence of international students. So the … Continue reading How our participants facilitated learning from diversity

How our participants embedded skills into learning

Despite a range of teaching innovations displayed, there was a deficit narrative present through a persistent sense among interviewees that international students were perceived to 'lack' certain skills. Our participants particularly focused on skills for discussion, teamwork, academic writing, understanding plagiarism, and the use of appropriate subject-specific terminology, the absence of which made it difficult … Continue reading How our participants embedded skills into learning

How our participants designed assessment

Although we did not specifically ask participants about assessment practices, several highlighted this as a key strategy for inclusively teaching international students, with a particular focus on varied formats of assessment. Some, for example, highlighted ‘we are encouraged to utilise different methods, different types of assignments’ (Participant 2, Geographical and environmental studies, University Alliance). Others … Continue reading How our participants designed assessment

How our participants made teaching more interactive

Across the disciplines, most interviewed participants (31 out of 45, 69%) explicitly described using interactive pedagogies, guided by some form of active learning. In the words of one participant, ‘I don’t tend to lecture...I’m actually trying to get them to work together to share with one another and do something a little bit different’ (Participant … Continue reading How our participants made teaching more interactive

How our participants used technology

Many interviewees suggested that participating in verbal discussions was no longer the only way to conceptualise engagement, and used technology to facilitate alternative approaches. I find the tactics, and the pedagogy is exactly the same. You know, you have to create structures by which students will talk to each other, and actually engage with stuff … Continue reading How our participants used technology

Getting discussion going on controversial topics in politics

I'm trying to diversify the teaching. For instance, I want to have continuous discussion sessions where we move between lectures and discussions. Sometimes I incorporate videos into the classroom and ask students their opinion about that. I think different teaching activities appeal to different students, for instance, I also bring very short newspaper articles into … Continue reading Getting discussion going on controversial topics in politics

Inclusive and accessible practices in language learning

Carolin Schneiderc.schneider@leeds.ac.uk Class size: n/a Context: tutorials, workshops, student advice sessions, language practice sessions Pedagogy used: Inclusive practice is paramount to all of our interactions with students. How we do this varies on the activity. For example, in extra-curricular activities (designed to increase language fluency) such as Conversation Confidence we choose topics that are related … Continue reading Inclusive and accessible practices in language learning