Continuing the initiative launched in the autumn semester, this time the Centre fpr Teaching and Learning put international students in the focus point of the Bite-sized Inclusion event series.

At this year’s first session of the workshop series, the participants had an introductory session, where the Centre’s staff (Kata Dósa, Zsolt Tari) explored how Hofstede’s Pyramid Model of Culture and Erin Meyer’s cultural dimensions are reflected in multicultural situations. While Hofstede’s model was used to explore the question of what might be the source of certain happenings in the classroom (culture, personality traits or human nature), Meyer’s scales were used to explore in more detail the cultures with habit of direct and indirect feedback, hierarchical and egalitarian leadership, and confrontation and avoidance. 

Click here to view the slides of the session. 

The second session focused on Tom Senninger’s model of learning (comfort zone, learning zone, panic zone) and Lev Vygotsky’s theory on the zone of proximal development. Along these theories, participants explored how to create a real learning situation for students from different national cultures: a learning environment that challenges students and in which both excessive comfort (leading to boredom) and distress-generating panic situations that block learning can be avoided. The workshop was co-facilitated by Anita Szűcs, a colleague at the Institute of Global Studies, and Zsolt Tari, a staff member at the Centre for Teaching and Learning. 

Click here to view the slides of the session. 

The next workshop was prepared by Almadi Sejla, a colleague from the Institute of Global Studies, on the Pygmalion effect (or self-fulfilling prophecy). In this context, during the workshop, Sejla demonstrated how clearly communicating expectations (for example, through subject curriculum or common rules and norms development) can impact student behaviour and performance. According to the theory of the Pygmalion effect, the expectations of a key person (in a classroom situation, the instructor), when consistently and clearly communicated, are what students try to meet.  

The experience of the workshop participants showed that the theory is even more true for international students, who see teachers as a safe haven in an environment that is foreign to them and often full of uncertainty. Thus, their communication and expectations are truly exemplary. 

Click here to view the slides of the session. 

In the final session, Sarimehmet Duman Özgün, also from the Institute of Global Studies, provided a session using Marshall B. Rosenberg’s model of non-violent communication. According to the model, in situations that create tension within us, the following steps lead to the prevention or even effective management of conflict: 

By following the steps of the model, we can avoid offending others, either personally or because of their cultural background.  

To view the session slides click here. 

Continuing this semester’s topic, the workshops in the autumn semester will centre around the topic of handling difficult pedagogical situations in the classroom. These will include situations arising form students’ diverse identities and perspectives on events unrelated to the classrom (e.g. ethnic conflicts), issues which may compromise the safety of the learning environment (e.g. disrespect for peers or the instructor), and issues that affect the effectiveness of instruction (e.g. students not participating in group work, language barriers). 

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