In this course, you will
- discuss how to provide sensitive feedback and how to help internationals to acclimatise,
- raise your awareness of difficulties experienced by international students,
- practise the skill of reading between the lines,
- learn about cultural communication styles and practise moving between them,
- consider how varying work cultures can impact on international teams and
- troubleshoot how to respond to tricky situations with international audiences.
This workshop sensitises lecturers to the issues involved when teaching international students and working with internationals in the context of German higher education. In doing so, it will consider cultural and communication challenges both from the perspective of German lecturers as well as through the lens of internationals themselves. This will give participants the opportunity to troubleshoot for their own context and consider how they can make relations run more smoothly in general as well as how to level the playing field for international students in their classrooms.
Participants will equally consider what ‘types’ of culture can affect values and behaviour as well as how a student’s educational background can affect how much of an educational culture shock they experience in Germany. In addition, they will be offered practice in adapting their communication style from low to high context in order to give feedback and commands in English without causing offence or embarrassment. In connection to this, participants will also practise ‘reading between lines’, a skill necessary when interacting with nationals of cultures (such as Britain, China, and Japan) where negative messages are typically sent implicitly rather than explicitly (the opposite to the case in Germany, the US and Scandinavia).
By the end of the workshop, lecturers will have an action plan for their courses, greater intercultural competence in general and more tools to handle Germany’s increasingly international higher education landscape.
Prerequisites: Participants must have a minimum of B2 level English.
Event Information
Date
Fri. 09 August 2024, 9.00 am - 5.00 pm
Location
Online (access data will follow by e-mail)
Trainer
Dr. Darren Paul Foster
Workload
The workshop includes 10 work units and can be accepted for the certificate programme for modules 2.2 (module 2) or 3.3 (module 3).
Registration
Places are limited. Registration is required.
To register
Registration deadline: 24 July 2024
Target group
Teachers at the University of Oldenburg. Participation is free of charge.
Zur Person: Dr Darren Paul Foster, from Cornwall, England, is a language lecturer at the Freie Universität Berlin who specializes in academic and professional skills courses. With an MA in European Languages and Cultures and a PhD in Modern Languages from Exeter University, he additionally offers workshops for other lecturers in intercultural competence, academic writing and professional presenting at various universities in Germany. As a qualified English teacher, he additionally offers workshops on classroom discussion, examining in English and using humour in seminars.
Dr. Darren Paul Foster stammt aus Cornwall, England, und ist an der Freien Universität Berlin als Lehrkraft für besondere Aufgaben tätig, wo er Seminare zu akademischen und professionellen Schlüsselkompetenzen unterrichtet. Er bietet außerdem Kurse in der Hochschuldidaktik zu interkultureller Kompetenz, akademischem Schreiben und Präsentieren an verschiedenen Universitäten an. Als ausgebildeter Englischlehrer bietet er zudem Workshops zu bestimmten Gebieten hochschulischer Lehre an, darunter Kurse zum Prüfen in englischer Sprache, Verwendung von Humor in der Lehre sowie zur Führung produktiver Unterrichtsgespräche.