Breaking down boundaries: Cultural influences in the international classroom

Background The last decade has seen a steady rise in the number of international students choosing Ireland as a study destination. A substantial body of literature shows that international students often struggle with... [ view full abstract ]

Background
The last decade has seen a steady rise in the number of international students choosing Ireland as a study destination. A substantial body of literature shows that international students often struggle with adaptation to life and study in the host country. Less well understood are the experiences of these students in the international classroom and cultural influences on the processes of teaching and learning.

Aim of the Study
To explore Indian nurses’ experience of academic education in the West of Ireland.

Method
A qualitative exploratory study was conducted, employing in-depth interviews with 14 Indian nurses undertaking a full time, one-year International Bachelor of Nursing programme in the West of Ireland. Ethical approval was granted by the Research Ethics Committee: Sligo Regional Hospital. Thematic analysis was carried out using a qualitative coding process and was supported by NVivo.

Findings
While missing home and loneliness were common features of the participants’ transition experiences, participants’ stoical attitudes in relation to these can be explained by reference to India’s collectivist culture and the sense of duty that these students felt towards supporting their extended families. Feelings of isolation and a lack of connection with host students featured prominently; with participants identifying the reduced potential for language development and cultural learning. While India has a strong power-distance culture, most students enjoyed the transition to less formal relationships with lecturers. However, power-distance culture between the cohort members themselves did impact negatively on classroom dynamics and influenced both the teaching and learning processes.

Conclusions and Implications

Student support services within host institutions should be fully informed of the unique transition challenges that face international students and should devise supports to assist students adapting to the new culture. Opportunities to meet, socialise and study with host national students should be promoted. Lecturing staff should be aware of how culture can influence teaching and learning, lecture-student relationships and classroom dynamics, so that appropriate approaches in all these domains can be developed.