Should international teachers be encouraged to teach? (Questions about ZPD)
I want to start off by saying that I am an international teacher and I would definitely like to think that we add value and should be encouraged, but are there certain drawbacks based on the conversations we had yesterday?
Starting this year, I have been teaching a course on Individual Learning and Motivation Strategies. I am confident about the course content as it is related directly to what I have been learning and practicing for so many years now. So it is easy to give my students examples and work together to figure out applications. However, I don't share the same background experiences as most of my students. Now that I am thinking about it, I have only two students who are either Indian or Indian American. Now as Vygotsky would encourage, I spent considerable amount of time playing games, building rapport with my students in the initial few classes. This definitely helped us understand each other better and get a feel of how the class is going to be. However, in the two months of teaching, there have been times when some of my students share examples that I don't relate to.
To list a few,
When they talk about motivation in sports, especially American football, I have very limited understanding of it.
At another time, one of my student was sharing an experience from school and how they learnt in a particular way, but I had no clue and could not add much to it. Other students however, related to it and were able to discuss and find relevancies to the learning strategies we were discussing.
Other topics that came up sometimes were sororities, dorm experiences, racial background and so on which I did not have much to add.
On other occasions, sometimes I want to share my past experience but they would not know about it/relate to it.
The good thing is that I have had honest conversations with my students and told them that we are not from the same background so there may be a few times our experiences don't match but we will do our best to have an open mind and also understand the other as much as possible by asking questions, making connections. That has helped quite a bit as they are interested to hear my stories and vice versa. Another good thing is that the subject I teach is very applicable and valuable in general, so it is easy to build shared experiences and examples.
However, I am wondering from a broader view point if that would hamper how much I understand about their zone of proximal development? And especially for international teachers who teach difficult subjects?
Starting this year, I have been teaching a course on Individual Learning and Motivation Strategies. I am confident about the course content as it is related directly to what I have been learning and practicing for so many years now. So it is easy to give my students examples and work together to figure out applications. However, I don't share the same background experiences as most of my students. Now that I am thinking about it, I have only two students who are either Indian or Indian American. Now as Vygotsky would encourage, I spent considerable amount of time playing games, building rapport with my students in the initial few classes. This definitely helped us understand each other better and get a feel of how the class is going to be. However, in the two months of teaching, there have been times when some of my students share examples that I don't relate to.
To list a few,
When they talk about motivation in sports, especially American football, I have very limited understanding of it.
At another time, one of my student was sharing an experience from school and how they learnt in a particular way, but I had no clue and could not add much to it. Other students however, related to it and were able to discuss and find relevancies to the learning strategies we were discussing.
Other topics that came up sometimes were sororities, dorm experiences, racial background and so on which I did not have much to add.
On other occasions, sometimes I want to share my past experience but they would not know about it/relate to it.
The good thing is that I have had honest conversations with my students and told them that we are not from the same background so there may be a few times our experiences don't match but we will do our best to have an open mind and also understand the other as much as possible by asking questions, making connections. That has helped quite a bit as they are interested to hear my stories and vice versa. Another good thing is that the subject I teach is very applicable and valuable in general, so it is easy to build shared experiences and examples.
However, I am wondering from a broader view point if that would hamper how much I understand about their zone of proximal development? And especially for international teachers who teach difficult subjects?
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