Teaching in Multicultural Classrooms

The steadily increasing number of international students at German universities means new talent and vast potential for the future, but also brings along a number of challenges with it.
At the university, the teaching context is one of the most significant areas where these challenges are encountered, when different, deeply ingrained learning traditions and expectations come face-to-face with the German academic system. In this seminar, the participants will therefore, after first engaging with their own cultural backgrounds and values, take a closer look at different cultural characteristics and value systems, using various interactive methods. They will then analyse the influence of these systems on ways of thinking and learning. In this way, the participants will become aware of and sensitised to possible points of friction in intercultural encounters in the classroom. In addition, they will work in depth with the aspect of culture-based communication and communication styles. Working with university-specific practical examples and the participants' own experiences, they will then address new ways to act, react and interact. They will thus build up their ability to analyse such situations using their newly gained insights and to develop approaches for appropriate solutions. Since this seminar will be conducted over two days, with a break between the sessions, the participants will also use the time for observations and self-reflection.

Key points of content 

• Culture and Culture-dependent teaching and learning traditions, managing these effectively 
• Intercultural communication, with a focus on the academic context 
• Reflection, application and transfer: self-reflection tasks, discussions, case studies, critical incidents, role plays and communication activities