It is amazing how quickly 6 weeks goes by when you’re having fun…at least for the professor! I think the best way to sum up this recent teaching experience was that of appreciation; appreciation for the students, appreciation for the diversity they brought to the classroom, appreciation for the support they demonstrated towards one another, and appreciation for their appreciation!

Let me recap somewhat. I began this summer session with the desire to bring an appreciative environment and attitude into the classroom. In my previous blogs, Appreciating and Learning and  The Learning Continues , I expressed the challenges I was facing with an increase of international students in my class. In fact, I ended a previous semester rather discouraged and overwhelmed. In the process of researching appreciative inquiry, I made a commitment to not only change my attitude toward teaching, but to create a classroom environment where each student would feel valued and appreciated for who they are and for how they have contributed to the great moments in their learning journeys. Well, the semester is finished and I am excited about their feedback as well as my own learning.

Let me share just a few of the feedback comments shared with me by a few students:

* ‘I felt accepted, I was able to share my opinions without fear of judgement.’
* ‘Males from my own culture actually encouraged me to share my opinion…this is not the way it is at home.’
* ‘Students from different nations come here…professors respect this by not making the environment awkward for the foreigner.’
* ‘Our class culture is that of trust and acceptance; these are the foundations for establishing an environment in which students are empowered and comfortable. Because of this, students provide feedback to improve the classroom teaching and learning environment, which helps students to learn from their mistakes and gain achievements. Another element of the class culture was innovation; more ideas come from each students as we worked in a groups to solve the problems and teach each other.’

As already stated, I began this semester with the desire to experiment with appreciate inquiry in the classroom and it truly was impactful. Besides the incredibly positive manner in which the students responded, I learned some valuable lessons regarding cultural diversity in the classroom. Here are some highlights…

* Remember that our ‘North American’ approach to classroom facilitation can be both unfamiliar and uncomfortable for some cultures.
* Don’t make assumptions about everyone’s technical ability, no matter what generation they represent.
* Resistance to speak out in class, especially in front of the whole class, does not indicate lack of engagement…it can be an indicator of great lack of self-confidence. This lesson coming from strongly male dominated cultures.`
* Based on the previous point, small group discussion is appreciated by students and provides great opportunity to share from their own unique experiences.
* Provide opportunities for culturally diverse small groups…heterogeneous vs homogeneous.
* For many cultures, living in the moment overtakes the desire to get the work done…if a friend is in need, that overrides any other commitment, even to the point of personal failure.
* Making time to meet one on one with each student is time well spent! The time taken greatly enhances the ability to make the learning relevant…and builds trust between student and teacher.
* Speak openly about diversity…intentionally invite the sharing of opinions from various perspectives; and listen with respect creating a safe, enriched environment
* Don’t ever stop checking our own assumptions and stereotyping; don’t be afraid to ask students for clarity and understanding regarding cultural differences.

Each one of these lessons call for deeper reflection, in fact they compel me to ruminate, to probe, to ponder, and to enter into meaningful dialogue to further explore the ramifications of each.

As I work through each, I then need to consider how these learnings will impact other aspects of classroom facilitation…evaluation being one area that comes to mind. In the past, team evaluations have taken the stance of deducting marks from those who did not equally contribute to an assignment…in other words, finding a practical way to deal with social loafing. What would a team evaluation look like if marks were awarded from the perspective of the great contribution each team member made to the outcome of an assignment? Would this appreciative approach help group members to focus on the strengths of their team mates rather than their lack of effort? Worth investigating!

This semester provided the platform for me to learn and experiment with one class made up of 21 students, representing 5 diverse cultures. Is it possible, or even realistic, to replicate and build on this with 4 different classes of 30-40 students each? I intend to find out and continue my learning journey. I love the idea of starting from a place of what works and building on that…appreciative classroom facilitation!