On the challenges of implementing relevant teaching practices
Who has never heard of a teacher that he/she was a natural? Probably no one and such a talent is quite enviable. There is, however, a science behind learning and therefore how we teach. Whether conscious or unconscious, we all have a rationale for teaching and we should therefore be able to articulate and formulate our teaching philosophy. Although teaching is to some extent intuitive, it also requires to know and to apply some fundamental rules. I am glad that I took the pedagogical course at such an early stage in my teaching career, as I am positively welcoming new inputs. Despite my openness to new perspectives, I yet struggle to implement them. The art of teaching depends on many parameters such as personality, culture but also field of teaching. I am still in the process of figuring out what works best for my discipline (I am teaching marine ecotoxicology to undergraduate and graduate students; see the teaching background section for more details), my students and myself.
My training and background
I have been taught to be a researcher, it took me years of practice and experience and I know that this is a never-ending process. The criteria used to hire university professors are more often than not based on their scientific achievements. Their teaching qualities are assumed to be as good as their research merits but I am not convinced that this assumption is neither true nor properly assessed. Pretty much anyone can teach but not everyone can claim to be a good teacher!
This is only recently that I came to realize that I should not confine myself to being a researcher who teaches. Rather, I should aim at improving my teaching proficiency and competence. Finding my way as a teacher will therefore take time, effort and patience. One does not master all the pedagogical concepts overnight, it is a lifelong process and I have barely started. Although the way forward might be rocky, the good news is that there is no universal way of becoming a good teacher but the ways are manifold, as reflected by the numerous views on the matter. To avoid any major frustration on my part, I first had to scrutinize myself about the kind of teacher that I am aiming to become. Conducting such an introspection requires to pinpoint the paradigms and perspectives that I want to build upon. Here is an attempt to explain my views on education as a university teacher.
My teaching approach
My teaching philosophy is inspired by the constructive alignment paradigm (Biggs, 1999). This paradigm is student-centered and promotes learning over teaching (Barr and Tagg, 1995). The prerequisites for such an aligned system rely on the adequacy between the learning outcomes, the learning activities, and the assessment tasks (Boud and Falchikov, 2006). In this triangular system, students receive clear indications about what is expected from them, which keeps the frustration at a low level at both the student and the teacher level. Implementing practices toward the constructive alignment maximizes the attention and motivation of students and ultimately favors deep learning (Biggs, 1996). The latter endeavors can only be attained by acknowledging and accommodating the limitations of the human brain stated in the cognitive perspective. While our short-term memory (aka working memory) is limited to a couple of minutes when exposed to new information, deeper learning relies on the long-term memory. Based on these physiological bottlenecks, the constructivism theory postulates that learning happens in an explicit context where students learn new information by relating it to prior knowledge. In that context, a key implication is that I make sure to illustrate my points with pertinent examples that students can easily rely to. This scaffolding of learning also calls for teaching practices such as starting a lecture by summarizing the previous one. Another prerequisite for a successful learning process through the constructivism theory is to give the students the opportunity to assess their understanding. My way of providing them with such a feedback consists of alternating between lectures and seminars in order to put into practice what they have learned and consolidate their knowledge (on average, one seminar punctuates two to three lectures). I place the students’ participation at the core of my seminars which promote active learning activities performed under close guidance for a maximum efficiency as advocated by Kirschner et al. (2006). Practically speaking, all aspects of a course should be well worked out. A well-aligned course requires a clear and thorough description including detailed contents, clear objectives and clearly stated learning outcomes.
Overall, my ambition is to provide a research based teaching. As much as I should develop my skills as a teacher, I do not want to deny my researcher spirit. Even though not all university students aim at becoming researchers, we ought to teach them what research is about and how it is conducted. It is not only of a high societal importance, but I also find it to be the best way of illustrating fundamental concepts as well as arising the students’ curiosity and genuine interest.
Last, but not least, communicating about research during my lectures is what drives my enthusiasm, which I hope to be communicative. Let’s never forget that pleasure and enthusiasm are simple but very important keys of successful learning!
The cultural aspect of learning
Hofstede et al. (2010) defined human nature, culture and personality as the three levels of uniqueness in mental programming (see figure 1). Based on this postulate, Parrish and Linder-VanBerschot (2010) addressed the cultural dimension of learning framework, which describes the spectrum of variability of eight cultural parameters that are likely to affect learning situations.
In this context, it was relevant to examine the cross-cultural challenges that I am facing. I was born and raised in France where I completed all my studies (PhD included). I am teaching all my courses in English at a Norwegian university to both Norwegian and international students coming from all over Europe and the World (biology is a universal field making it propitious to student exchange).
Based on the postulate that educators must acknowledge the importance of the cultural dimension in learning, Hofstede (1980; 1986) proposed a four dimensional model of differences among national cultures. It is noteworthy that France and Norway score very differently on two of the four dimensions, namely the power distance index and the masculinity index. For the power distance index, defined as the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organizations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally, France scores 68 vs. 31 for Norway (Hofstede et al., 2010). In small power distance societies such as Norway, students treat teachers as equals and are expected to take initiatives in class. On the other hand, in large power distance societies such as France, students treat teachers with respect and expect teachers to take all initiatives in class. In other words, teaching is rather student-centered in small power distance societies and teacher-centered in large power societies (Hofstede, 1986). For the masculinity index, defined as the extent to which the dominant values of a society are “masculine”, France scores 43 vs. 8 for Norway (Hofstede et al., 2010). Masculine societies (scoring high for the masculinity index) use the best students as the norm, consider school failure as a disaster and encourage brilliance in teachers. Feminine societies (scoring low for the masculinity index) on the other hand consider the average student as the norm, relativize school failure and appreciate friendliness in teachers. In the context of cross-cultural and multicultural teaching and learning, Parrish and Linder-VanBerschot (2010) emphasized that “educators must become aware of the cultural biases embedded in their own teaching and instructional designs, including the selection of instructional activities, their presentation styles (including both verbal and non-verbal communication), and their expectations of students”.
The mismatch between my cultural background and the current socio-cultural environment in which I am teaching could therefore be an additional challenge in my quest of implementing teaching techniques that are relevant for my students and myself. Instead, I prefer to turn it to my advantage. Rich of having experienced different cultural environments, I get to adopt the cultural dimensions from each culture that I am most comfortable with and appropriate them as my own cross-cultural patchwork. In addition, my awareness of potential culturally inappropriate behaviors forces me to become a better communicator.
On the challenge of getting feedback
It can sometimes be difficult to disregard my knowledge in order to put myself in the students’ shoes. Despite my best efforts, there is always a possibility that I do not achieve the goals I set up for myself. I am therefore relying on the students’ immediate feedback (by using quizzes or questionnaires at the end of the lecture) to assess my performance and refine my teaching towards the students’ needs and expectations. Since getting feedback can sometimes be emotionally draining and make me question my teaching skills, I try to take some distance in order to preserve my confidence and self-esteem, which are necessary to fuel my teaching mojo. Practicing introspection is another way of finding ways to improve myself as a teacher although the toughest criticisms often come from within. Relying on trustworthy colleagues for a peer observation offers the most benevolent and objective way of pinpointing both strengths and weaknesses of my teaching (Allern, 2009; see the peer observation section for more details).
Conclusion
It does require considerable effort and willingness to assess and improve our teaching methods, as it constitutes an admission of our shortcomings as teachers. I find however the reward greater than the consented effort, as long as this is done while practicing self-care which is essential to be the teachers that our students are expecting us to be.
Literature cited
Allern, M. (2009). Kollegaveiledning. Gjensidig observasjon av undervisning. I Allern, M. Pedagogiske mapper på nett.
Barr, R.B. and Tagg, J. (1995). From Teaching to Learning – A New Paradigm for Undergraduate Education. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 27(6), 12-26.
Biggs, J.B. (1996). Enhancing teaching through constructive alignment. Higher Education, 32, 1-18.
Biggs, J.B. (1999). What the Student Does: Teaching for Enhanced Learning. Higher Education & Development, 18(1), 57-75.
Boud, D. and Falchikov, N. (2006). Aligning assessment with long-term learning. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 31(4), 399-413.
Hofstede, G. (1980). Culture’s consequences: International differences in work-related values. Beverly Hills: Sage.
Hofstede, G. (1986). Cultural differences in teaching and learning. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 10(3), 301-20.
Hofstede, G., Hofstede, J. and Minkov, M. (2010). Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind. 3rd Edition, McGraw-Hill USA, 2010.
Kirschner, P.A., Sweller, J. and Clark, R.E. (2006). Why Minimal Guidance During Instruction Does Not Work: An Analysis of the Failure of Constructivist, Discovery, Problem-Based, Experiential, and Inquiry-Based Teaching. Educational psychologist, 41(2), 75-86.
Parrish, P. and Linder-Vanberschot, J.A. (2010). Cultural Dimensions of Learning: Addressing the Challenges of Multicultural Instruction. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 11(2), 1-19.