Rethinking the Magical Mix in Today’s Internationalised Teaching and Learning

By Nicole Lai

Higher education in Hong Kong has become increasingly international in terms of the changing landscape and the patterns of communication. Not only do we have growing numbers of international students coming in for exchange, but it is also essential for us to integrate international, intercultural and global dimensions into our teaching and learning. Having a mix of students and teachers from different ethnic, linguistic and cultural backgrounds can be magical if we are able to effectively take advantages of it. Yet, the mix itself does not naturally come with benefits as everyone has unique perception and experience. Acknowledging diverse reactions towards such mix, Prof. Melody Chao, our CoP – ITL member from HKUST, perceives internationalising teaching and learning as one of the key components in her courses to help students explore the self and to develop intercultural competence.

The Mix with a Global Worldview
Internationalisation of teaching and learning is never a separate subject to Prof. Chao. Realising the opportunities of internationalising education, she is dedicated to developing students’ full potential for the dynamic and diverse workplace. While we strive to equip students for their future in this globalised world, scaffolding students to make sense of diversity and intercultural elements embedded in courses is what we need to work on.

It is never an easy task to manage classes having great diversity. Having to teach classes involving students from diverse cultural and educational backgrounds (e.g. from 20 to 30 countries, with prior social science, legal, engineering, and other training), Prof. Chao fuses intercultural elements into the design of her courses. It is one of the distinct approaches she adopted to cultivate students’ intercultural awareness and skills.

To create cross-cultural experience for her students, Prof. Chao engages students by involving role-playing exercises and in-class simulations which help them to make decisions that involve the understanding of various cultural dimensions. Blending elements of diversity into courses is how Prof. Chao prepares her students for the future. By equipping them with a global worldview, students will learn better on how to make adjustment when they encounter cultural differences in the real life situations.

Sharing and Mixing
Internationalising teaching and learning largely relies on sharing and mixing cultures and viewpoints. Prof. Chao integrates different theories and examples from local and international perspectives into her course materials while fostering a collaborative culture by assigning groups for group activities and assignments. Such grouping method can potentially bring positive learning outcomes by mixing students with supports from all levels to make the mix magical and effective for students’ learning. It is beneficial to develop a supportive learning environment that allows more students to realise the importance and benefits of interacting with unfamiliar peers. After all, one of the goals for us to internationalise teaching and learning is to prepare students for their future workplace where they cannot choose whom to work with. With that in mind, providing a supportive learning environment for sharing and mixing among peers of different cultures is what we, as educators, should work on.

Opportunities and Challenges
With the supportive environment, mentors, and colleagues at HKUST, Prof. Chao worked closely with the exchange team to examine how to help students better adjust in a foreign cultural environment. In the end, the process and experience of international exchange do not only provide a learning opportunity for students, but they also enable her to explore and to learn more about the internationalisation of teaching and learning.

In addition, Prof. Chao also tries to explore other potential opportunities by embedding international, intercultural, and global perspectives into her courses. Learning through experience and learning from mistakes, are what she constantly reminds her students to recognise. By taking advantage of a mixed of students from different backgrounds, with educators’ leveraging on diversity in course design and support, students can develop genuine attributes in terms of their global citizenship and cultural sensitivity. Internationalising the curriculum with a growth mindset enables better development of global citizenship, cultural inclusiveness, and intercultural competence. Such empowerment and commitment also promote greater collaboration and innovation. However, we must also acknowledge the realities and challenges that come with these opportunities.

Undoubtedly, mixing students together will not work magically without comprehensive course design, effective supervision, and supports from all levels. There will also be challenges in incorporating internationalisation elements into courses as some students might be more receptive to the idea of diversity and internationalisation than others. Yet, those challenges are rather general issues that can also happen in other contexts. Miscommunication caused by interpersonal and intercultural factors is the most common issue found in culturally mixed groups. While language ability is often seen as a major barrier to internationalisation when it comes to students interacting with each other, Prof. Chao sees it more as a ‘psychological barrier’ that is related to concerns about making mistakes and perceived self-competence. To prepare students for these challenges, Prof. Chao encourages students to set up supportive norms and establish ground rules within their work groups to ensure everyone would feel comfortable in working together.

Looking into the Future
Internationalisation in higher education evolves over time. Teaching and learning with the magical mix can be challenging but rewarding as we understand the importance to value, endorse, and embrace diversity. Acknowledging the challenges brought by internationalising teaching and learning, with appropriate supports, can provide teachers and students valuable learning opportunities in a gloablised world. As Prof. Chao addressed, there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ best practice to internationalisation. The magic for us to maximise the opportunities brought by the mix in students lies in our mindsets and choices.

Acknowledgments
The Editor’s Pick draws on an interview with Prof. Melody Chao who generously shared with us her experiences and insights, and we hope we have done justice to the wisdom of her practice in the internationalisation of teaching and learning.