Introduction

Students from an international background are increasingly viewing UK Higher

Education (HE) as a destination of choice (Hardy and Tolhurst, 2014; Joy and

Poonamallee, 2013). In this study we define international students as students who

come from outside the European Union (EU) and have a background, ethnicity and

experience which differs from the dominant western culture (Jabbar, Analoui, Kong,

and Mirza, 2017). The promise of an international experience (Arenas, 2009) alongside

the prestige of a UK HE degree is for many international students an enticing prospect

(Tomalin, 2007). In this regard, UK higher education institutions realise that

international students, who invest a significant amount of money on obtaining a UK HE

degree, are critical in generating revenue and contributing to institutional financial

health (Schapper and Mayson, 2004). Data from UKCISA (2013) suggests that this is a

booming industry with historical trends charting a 100% increase since 1997 in students

from an international background studying in the UK. Lumby and Foskett (2015) refer

to this influx of international students as internationalisation, defining it as an

educational philosophy driven by commercial imperatives, a source of growing

frustration in academia (Devos, 2003).

Hence, for UK HE institutions to continue to be successful in creating

internationalisation strategies there is a need to understand how academics perceive, and

react to, teaching-learning interactions with such students. Much of the research within

the context of the international students focuses on multiple key literature areas, which

include the international student experience, language proficiency, culture shock,

learning styles and multicultural education (Oberg, 2006; Tran, 2008). In the majority of

cases this research is conducted through the lens of the student with particular focus on

achievement and attainment (Richardson, 2008). This paper, while acknowledging the

importance of the afore-mentioned factors, seeks to investigate academic tutors’

perceptions of their teaching and learning approaches when dealing with international

students.

The premise of the paper argues that this is increasingly an important aspect of

enquiry. It has been suggested that many UK HE institutions fail to provide

international students with a learning experience that is similar to the home students

(Turner, 2006). Different educational theorists (Tomalin, 2007; Turner, 2006) propose

divergent reasons as to why this occurs. Some are of the view that UK HE places

emphasis on the dominant Western learner at the expense of the international student

(Tomalin, 2007; Turner, 2006), while others articulate the controversial perception that

international students are lacking in the conviction to succeed (Tomlinson, 2005;

Villegas and Lucas, 2002). Typically, these students are left to their own devices in

trying to understand Western academic practice. Hence, in this paper we argue that poor

pedagogical practice can impact on the international student in a negative way, leading

to issues of students experiencing poor pedagogy development (Gay, 2000; 2002), and

inappropriate institutional policies and procedures (Irvine, 1990; Turner, 2006).

Thus, this paper is structured as follows: we first review the literature on the

international student experience, followed by an investigation into the use of culturally

responsive teaching as a lens to analyse current academic tutor attitudes. We then

discuss our findings based on interviews with a sample of 22 academics across three

(post-1992) universities in the North of England. Post-1992 universities refer to

polytechnics and central institutions which were granted university status in the Further

and Higher Education Act 1992. These universities were chosen due to being relatively

newer to larger numbers of international students and therefore present the potential for

staff and institutional infrastructures not to be at a sufficient state of development to

support academic staff. The focus is on their Business Schools as the area attracting

most international students (CABS, 2015).

International Students’ Experience

In the view of Turner (2006), Business Schools need to continually push to be at the

forefront of the internationalisation and provide an insight into the future diversity of

UK universities. This insight needs to acknowledge that during the process of change,

Business Schools are increasingly seeking to establish teaching policies, pedagogy and

practices that reflect the new global reality. The increase in student numbers presses

home the need to recognise this new reality and has particularly advantaged UK HE

Business Schools who have benefitted from approximately £2bn annually by providing

the most popular university programs to 40% of the international students who come to

study in the UK (CABS, 2015).

Financially, internationalisation has been a great success for many institutions

(CABS, 2015). However, questions remain about the achievement, attainment and the

university experience from the students’ perspective (Richardson, 2008). In the view of

Allen (1998) much of this can be attributed to educational institutions who are

underpinned by what he calls a ‘white’ syllabus, which is defined as a pedagogical

framework embedded and supported by established power structures. Ryan (2011) looks

at this in more detail and argues that within these established power structures there is

an abundance of Western-educated tutors whose educational and cultural backgrounds

can diverge significantly from their students’ experiences. These new challenges will

require academics and institutions to manage curriculum practices in the classroom.

This is not straightforward and is complicated by academics and institutions not fully

understanding the cultural and pedagogical difficulties faced by diverse student

populations (Durden and Truscott, 2013; Tomalin, 2007). There is literature (Houser,

2008; Waistell, 2011) which suggests that the change to the status quo may not be

popular as it requires educational institutions to ignore the traditional mainstream view

of higher education.

These differences may contribute to issues of attainment and achievement, with

Richardson (2008) suggesting that while international student participation is increasing

the attainment levels for these students has decreased to a level substantially less than

their white counterparts. Singh (2011) also argues that the majority of these issues are

underpinned by a poor student experience, littered with stereotypes, records of poor

achievement and low student expectations. Within these challenges and issues Turner

(2006) is of the view that the role of UK HE is to act as a beacon at the forefront of

internationalisation and to provide an insight into the future internationalisation of UK

universities. Thus, as HE Business Schools continue to internationalise, Business

School academics and HE institutions are central to the development of a consistent and

fair experience for international students, supported by a focus on emphasising diversity

in the curricula, syllabus and policies (Ngambi, 2008). It is acknowledged that

international students are not a homogeneous group and a more nuanced investigation of

students’ experiences of their tutors’ approaches has the potential to be a revealing

study. However, for the purposes of this paper, the focus is on how tutors are reacting to

international students in general and the intention has not been to narrow this down to

individual ethnicities or countries; further research in this area would be of interest to

take forward some of the findings presented below.

Culturally Responsive Teaching in UK HE

Literature exists within the field of culturally responsive teaching, championed by Gay

(2000, 2002), Ladson-Billings (1995a) and Villegas and Lucas (2002). Although these

authors are school-based, the foundational frameworks have important messages for HE

and it is part of the purpose of this article to add to the literature for HE environments.

These authors propose that culturally responsive teaching as a mechanism is useful in

understanding and supporting students from different backgrounds and cultures, popular

frameworks in this field include the six salient characteristics (Villegas and Lucas,

2002); the five essential elements (Gay, 2000, 2002); and we would introduce an HE

model from the Five-pillar framework (Jabbar and Hardaker, 2013). Each of these

frameworks contains an implicit argument that educators should have some background

understanding of their students, and confidence in how they interact with students from

cultures that are different to their own. These are common aspects to education

regardless of level. Hence, ‘culturally responsive teaching’ has been applied as a lens in

many different contexts by many authors. It has also been referred to as culturally

relevant teaching (Ladson-Billings, 1995a, 1995b); teaching against the grain (Cochran-

Smith and Lytle, 1999), teaching for diversity (Melnick and Zeichner, 1998), and

multicultural education (Banks, 1995; Nieto, 1999; Sleeter and Grant, 2008).

Arenas (2009) argues that extensive research about good practice when

interacting with and teaching international students does exist; however, it is not clear

that research is consistently transformed into better practice. Earlier research from

notable authors (Gay, 2002; Ngambi, 2008; Tomalin, 2007) agree with this view and

argue that in many instances this lack of good practice impacts on the achievement of

international students disproportionally. Thus, they propose that rather than focus on

leadership and school administrative structures, there needs to be change which impacts

on heritage and curriculum (Jabbar and Hardaker, 2013; Ladson-Billings, 1995a). These

authors propose that culturally responsive teaching as a mechanism is useful in

understanding and supporting students from different backgrounds and cultures.

In developing a frame of reference for culturally responsive teaching, it is

important to note that this pedagogical approach is also connected to a wider body of

literature through drawing from multicultural education and cultural difference (Banks

and Banks, 2009; Housee, 2011) and in some cases is viewed through the lens of critical

race theory (McArthur, 2010).

In order for culturally responsive teaching to be a success for teaching and

learning within a UK HE context, the literature suggests (Gay, 2000; Houser, 2008) that

there is an onus and a responsibility on academics to have a broad range of skills that

take into account the plurality of multiple cultural perspectives. Ngambi (2008),

alongside Villegas and Lucas (2002), argue that being an expert in your field is no

longer enough when teaching international students; academics should also understand

their student population with a particular focus on student background and behaviour.

This is a view also supported by Tran (2008) who argues that interaction and dialogue

with academic staff play a significant role in the international student experience.

Methodology

This research sought to investigate the academic perspectives of Business School

academics on their international students, and how these perceptions could influence

academic engagement and pedagogy development for students. In developing this

discussion, we take the view that culturally responsive teaching pedagogy is a

conversation between educator and student (Orbe, 2000) and this conversation is

enriched by meaning that is generated by the academics articulating their understanding

of how students engage with the realities of the world (Crotty, 1998).

To achieve this, a qualitative study has been carried out at a micro level in three

UK Business Schools, with a sample of 22academics across three different (post-1992)

universities in the North of England. From these institutions, the researchers

interviewed Lecturers, Senior Lecturers and Principal Lecturers who had a minimum of

three years’ experience of teaching within UK HE. The demographic breakdown of the

academic population interviewed was 66% English, 5% British Pakistani, 5% Polish,

14% Chinese, 5% South African and 5% Iranian. The interviews were conducted by the

lead researcher who is a British Pakistani male, born and raised in the UK. Given that

66% of interviewees were English, there was a potential for their discourses not to be

completely frank about their experiences with international students. However, the lead

researcher was UK-born, UK-educated and is employed in a Western educational

system and culture, alongside his personal ethnic minority background. This helped

create an environment where open discussions could be held about their beliefs

regarding student ethnicity, race and learning differences.

Table 1 outlines the sample in more detail; the names of the respondents have

been changed to protect anonymity.

Table 1: Description of the participants here

Each interview lasted between 50 - 90 minutes; the questions asked of the

participants are outlined in Table 2 below with interviews recorded using a smart phone

(Beddall-Hill, Jabbar, and Shehri, 2011).

Table 2: Interview questions here

Data Analysis approach

Template analysis, an approach relatively new to the field of qualitative research was

employed to organise and analyse the data (Brooks, McCluskey, Turley, and King,

2015; King, 2012). The process is described as iterative, with researchers reading the

data multiple times to develop templates that inform themes. For this process to be

completed successfully researchers must devote significant time to prepare the data. For

this paper, the data was transcribed by two of the researchers and the completed

documents were then imported into the computer-based data management tool NVivo

(version 10). After the preparation of the data King (2004) advocates the need for a

priori template, which can occur in the data analysis or through the development of

literature. For this research the priori was made up of three key elements derived from

the literature: Cultural Heritage (Gay, 2002), Validating Pedagogy (Villegas and Lucas,

2002), and Student empowerment (Jabbar and Hardaker, 2013). The priori is

highlighted in Table 3. The completion of the coding process and agreement by the

authors on the themes, emerging from the data in this study as shown in Templates A, B

and C, illustrates the iteration process and discussions between the authors. Table 3

outlines in detail how the templates have evolved during the process of analysis from

priori (based on the literature) to the final Template C. The completion of Template C

was the final stage before the researchers could interpret the findings. During this phase

of the research the authors spent time analysing Template C and trying to identify any

particular trends, patterns, causes, meaning and frequency, which could shed light on

academic staff’s perceptions of international students.

Table 3 – The template analysis coding process here

Template A provides additional context to each of the higher-level codes. During this

step, the researchers identified “affirming cultural heritage” and “pedagogy that is

validating” as key elements which help to understand international student background

and culture, and the potential to utilise these elements as interventions in the classroom.

There is also recognition at this stage for the self-development of academics;they have

the ability to create learning experiences that utilise culture as a vehicle for learning and

Gay (2002) refers to these as ‘transforming academics’

In Template B, the researchers identified additional depth and context to the

“affirming cultural heritage” and “pedagogy that is validating” codes. The cross-

referencing of data via the parallel approach (Axial coding) identified data which fits

into more than one sub-heading; this additional data identified the importance of

students being motivated to study in UK HE.

In Template C, the authors identified additional elements which helped to

finalise “affirming cultural heritage” as a critical component in this research. Additional

discussions did take place between the researchers which investigated in depth

academic perceptions on previous student experience and how this affects interactions

in the classroom. Template C is the final output of the template analysis process and

articulates the key points of discussion. From this final template, three themes emerged

as illustrated in Figure 1 below:

Figure 1: The three emerging themes here

Figure 1 highlights the three key themes to emerge from the academic tutor’

perspectives. The first theme highlights the need to understand Student Background and

Heritage. The second theme proposes that academics need to have the Confidence and

Skills to teach international students. In the final theme, we highlight the issue of

engagement and Understanding of Students.

Findings

Theme 1: Student Background and Heritage

In the first theme, we identified Student Background and Heritage as a crucial

component within culturally responsive teaching and an approach which has the

potential to create UK HE learning experiences based on students’ own frames of

reference. In this theme we focus and provide data which displays academic pre-

conceptions. Some of the data mentions specific countries or ethnicities; in others

academics have made general comments about what students could not do rather than

consider their background and why they may not be able to do certain things.

Schmeichel (2011) is of the view that the best approach to accomplishing this is for

academics to modify their teaching in ways that will enhance the academic experience

of students from an international background. There is an acknowledgement by

Schmeichel that current pedagogical practices may need to be revised to include more

culturally responsive teaching and learning elements, with notable authors such as Joy

and Poonamallee (2013) arguing that academics must banish the notion that Western-

dominated contexts of learning are superior to non-Western contexts. In addition to this,

Ryan ( 2011) proposes that academic tutors need to change their perceptions of

international students; they are capable learners and should be treated as such, with

complaints about what they lack and their motivational issues being minimised or

eradicated. Thus, there is a large body of literature (for recent examples: Jabbar and

Hardaker, 2013; Marshall and Mathias, 2016) which suggests that a student’s

background and heritage impact on an academic tutor’s perspective of the student. In

our research there is a suggestion that in some scenarios academics have pre-defined

perspectives which influence their views on their students:

“There is always a clique of young immature Asian males (Pakistani/Indian), who

are smart, eloquent, good communicators, and confident, but they don’t apply

themselves.” (Michael)

“It’s about attitude. I will get Asian and Chinese students with bad attitudes not

behaving as I would expect them to behave on the module.” (Hussain)

This view is surprising with literature on the subject suggesting that many students are

motivated to work (Turner, 2006). While the motivation to work is there the data in this

paper argues that international students face significant pedagogical challenges and

come across language and teaching styles with which they are unfamiliar, and thus can

struggle to deal with the attitudes from their academic tutors:

“I’m not sure what goes on in China, but quite a number of them repeat anything

and everything.” (Paul)

“They need to develop analytical skills and to think with their own head.” (Gwen)

“They don't know the correct way to cite a journal paper, they can’t provide

properly formatted reference, they can’t write a business report.” (Zhang)

“I think they have an inability to challenge, their inability to speak publicly, they

all want to be a homogenised group.” (Rachel)

In the view of Ryan ( 2011) such views force international students to adapt to

UK HE with little or no regard for a student’s previous academic experience, ignoring

the fact that many international students have little academic experience in a Western

context and do not understand a notion he refers to as the ‘rules of the game’. Thus,

providing support to international students in areas of language, study skills, academic

conventions and cultural orientation requires scaffolding, investment and academic

support. The academics interviewed as part of this research found this approach to be

controversial:

“In a world of no racial discrimination then you treat everyone the same. I don’t

even agree, personally, with all this crap about what’s your background, well, if we

are not discriminating then what does it matter what the person’s background is.”

(Paul)

“I don’t make any allowances for specific groups. Leave your culture at the door”

(Gwen)

Paul and Gwen advocate a ‘do nothing’ approach to international students, in sharp

contrast to Katarina who clearly wished to ‘educate’ her students in what she considered

to be a key aspect of UK culture:

“One year during the Christmas period, I designed an activity around Jesus and the

Nativity. However, I vividly remember one girl, I’m not sure where she was from

asked, what is Christmas and who is Christ? I was surprised and ashamed, I took it

for granted, everybody knows Christmas.” (Katarina)

Katarina in her efforts to develop a sense of belonging for her students has created

activities which draw on aspects of western culture. However, for some ethnicities this

can be a source of frustration and in extreme cases exclusion (Sabry & Bruna, 2007).

Lumby and Foskett (2015) are of the view that this can be attributed to a lack of

diversity training which can create instances such as the one described by Katarina. Our

findings suggest that there is a lack of awareness and training of academic staff when

dealing with and teaching international students and, by extension, impacts academic

perspectives on pedagogy and support. A lack of knowledge about different curricula

approaches and teaching interventions which relate to non-Western and non-

Anglophone contexts could be negating any enthusiasm and motivation in international

students and any institutional support strategies in place.

Theme 2: Academic Confidence and Skills

The second theme identified academic confidence and skills in teaching international

students as a key aspect. Thus, in this theme the data we provide gives insight into

academic pedagogical approaches. This data ranges from those academics who

considered that they had little agency to influence the students' learning but balanced

with academics who had a more empathetic approach and felt they could influence their

students. This paper acknowledges that there are environmental conditions in HE that

can undermine academics’ agency to find time to deal with unfamiliar situations.

Literature on diminishing academic autonomy (Alvesson and Spicer, 2016), increased

workloads (Molesworth, Nixon, and Scullion, 2009) and reported higher levels of stress

(Kinman and Jones, 2003) can create challenging situations where academics struggle to

find time to carry out any institutionally supplied training support to help them develop

their teaching. In this research we surmise that due to a lack of any such training,

academics find their own approaches based on their own perceptions of ‘what works’

with international students:

“A lot of these students are not going to pass unless we jump on them in the

military style. They must learn that they must do what we say, get it learnt and in

some cases, we may need to shout at them.” (Lisa)

“For my international students, I try and enunciate clearly and speak a little bit

slower and repeat what I'm saying.” (Leanne)

However, in this scenario both Lisa and Leanne are experienced academics who have

the ‘agency’ and the confidence to develop teaching styles and interventions, which

they are familiar with. The work of Picower (2009) suggests that in these types of

classroom interactions failure is often placed on the student, and academics view

international students as lacking in skills or “deficient”. This behaviour Picower

describes was articulated by Zhang when he discussed his struggles to deal with issues

‘outside of his control’:

“I try my best to deliver the lecture and provide tutorial exercises, but it's out of

my control about the achievement. I wish all the students can achieve a good mark,

but it’s out of my control.” (Zhang)

Further, Paul an academic with over 30 years’ experience argues that many international

students lack critical listening and thinking skills:

“Some of my international students pay no attention at all. Some of the work they

produce is farcical. On one occasion one group proposed the company spent

twenty-five million pounds on advertising, when I gave them a budget of five

million. I said for f*** sake, the case study specifies two million as turnover and

you propose spending five times their annual b****y turnover on advertising.”

(Paul)

Questioning student skills and critical thinking is a hotly debated issue with literature in

the field arguing that many academics view these students as “deficient”. This view that

there is a “deficit” of student skills may become a self-fulfilling prophesy with

international students increasingly feeling disconnected from the teaching and learning

experience. Habu (2000) gives the example of Japanese students who feel that staff

often talk down to them and only tolerate them due to the fees they are paying. Beekes

(2006) argues that this leads to other unintended consequences where students refuse to

engage in classroom discussions or answer questions due to the fear of ‘losing face’.

This notion of ‘losing face’ is defined as losing respect or being humiliated by your

peers (Marshall and Mathias, 2016).

Hence, as part of this research we argue that it is clear confidence extends to

both staff and students, with academics having a balanced perspective which identifies

that tensions do exist:

“They are going to bring their own cultures with them, aren’t they? Those cultures

provide the perspective of those individuals or those groups have, it’s what makes

them what they are, it’s those cultures and past experiences that make them see the

world in the way they perceive it, and we have to respond to that.” (Michael)

Michael is acknowledging here that tutors do have agency to bring about a response and he is

not a lone voice in this context; some other academics in our sample also agreed that confidence

and acceptance of difference is essential in developing an international student experience:

“Acceptance and valuing difference and being open to learning from others. It's not

being judgmental and I'm using some clichéd words, but it's that approach that you

take to students to make them feel comfortable and to actually get to know them.”

(Juliet)

This theme highlights the very real problems that can originate when academics lack the

confidence and skills to engage students in the classroom. In this theme, our findings

suggest that academics who are unsure of themselves are unlikely to develop the ability

to support international students. Nonetheless, there is some awareness (for example,

Michael and Juliet) that tutors can find responses and Juliet’s view of “actually getting

to know them” is the theme we turn to next.

Theme 3: Understanding of Students

This final theme investigates whether academics are attempting to get to know their

students and whether that knowledge may influence their empathy and pedagogical

approaches. Creating engagement and relationships through understanding and dialogue

is a precursor for creating richness in the classroom:

“I think to build good relationships and good impressions; the key elements are

empathy and taking time to listen and understand” (Richard)

“Initially it is important to be approachable; you should articulate your values, treat

people with dignity, respect and empathy.” (Lucy)

Tran (2008) supports the views of the two experienced academics Richard and Lucy and

argues that academics understanding and building relationships with students should

form the basis of any academic teacher training, creating a safe space where academics

can consider issues of diversity and curriculum. Arguably, these are approaches that

should be adopted for all students, not just international ones. As part of this paper ,both

Richard and Lucy advocate the use of soft communication skills in dealing with

international students, with a focus on empathy and relationship building. In our

interview with Angela she viewed empathy as something which makes us human and it

is essential to who and what we are:

“You can’t help but to be influenced by your own experiences so that is something

that I would want people to feel comfortable within my classes and then I think that

if they feel more confident then I think that helps them in terms of their academic

learning.” (Angela)

There is therefore some evidence for developing empathy from our sample to contrast

with the more negative perceptions articulated in earlier Themes. Being able to look at

another person’s world view is an inherently powerful motivation to want to support

and help students. In the work of Houser (2008), empathy is critical for growth and

multicultural development for both staff and students with McAllister and Irvine (2002)

adding that empathy allows academics to become better educators.

However, as part of this research we argue that the process of understanding and

empathy must however be tempered with caution; a dedicated focus on soft

communication skills at the expense of academic conventions and pedagogy can lead to

an environment of dependency where support for international students can become too

pastoral. In such a scenario, rather than support students to aspire and attain, academics

can over compensate:

“I try and sort of compensate and make sure I am checking people are alright, is

this right for you, do you understand that?” (Liz)

However, no amount of checking in such a general manner, with students who may

come from much more deferential educational backgrounds, is likely to be effective in

eliciting the information tutors need to develop their pedagogies. We would propose

that empathy is not just about caring for the student but taking an interest in their

achievement and developing learning opportunities to help them to take ownership of

their attainment.

Discussion

In exploring the perceptions of HE academics and how their teaching and learning

strategies support international students we suggest that a tension exists between

increasing numbers of international students in UK HE, developing relevant pedagogy,

and the described practices and perspectives of academics. In Theme 1 we highlight the

importance of academics modifying their teaching methods to accommodate

Background and Heritage in developing engagement with international students. Theme

2 discusses the increasing demands placed on academics, impacting on academics’

ability to develop Confidence and Skills from training strategies and curricula

approaches for international students. In the final theme, we investigate the role of

empathy as a key attribute in developing an Understanding of Students to influence

teaching approaches.

These three themes highlight academic perceptions’ and their influence on the

teaching and learning experience of international students. This paper gives interviewed

academics a platform to discuss their issues, challenges and motivations for teaching

international students which we propose is a useful and direct contribution to this field,

providing insight for change in the light of the discord between previous research

findings and described practices and perspectives shown here.

The impact on staff training

Current literature (Jabbar and Mirza, 2017; Tomalin, 2007; Turner, 2006) in the

field of multicultural training suggests that current approaches to staff development lack

content and criticality, which too often engage in shallow practices. While this may be

appropriate for pastoral and social contexts, they do not go far enough in meeting the

needs of internationally diverse students within a teaching and learning environment. As

part of this research, insights gained from the academics interviewed suggest that there

is some level of empathy to support students but, arguably, institutional pressures may

be making this difficult. The paper has highlighted that academic perceptions impact on

pedagogy and the student experience. This maybe an unintended consequence from the

drive by many UK HE institutions to increase international student numbers.

Hence, in order to address the issue of poor pedagogy and student experience,

this paper proposes: firstly, institutions need to give academics ‘headroom’ to reflect on

their teaching in a critical manner and, secondly, institutional training strategies should

embed and embrace multiple teaching perspectives. There is a lot of debate on what

form these multiple perspectives should take, but research by Gay (2002) argues that

textbooks, curricula, environment and faculty should be representative of the students

they teach. It is our intention that through these two approaches, which encourage

critical reflection and student engagement, academics are supplied with the tools and

skills to help them make direct links between a student’s culture and the classroom.

The impact on pedagogy

It is acknowledged that academics are responsible for the development of

teaching and learning experiences in the classroom which we argue is heavily

influenced and, in some cases, governed by institutional policies and procedures. Our

research in this paper suggest that policies and procedures may impact and influence

academic perspectives’. This paper argues that current approaches to pedagogy and

curricula may require new thought processes and frameworks. The movement towards a

global multicultural society encourages institutions to rethink their current perspectives.

The insight obtained in this paper argues that the movement towards curricula which

acknowledges difference requires both a top-down and bottom-up approach. Hence, the

use of institutional policies and procedures can be a positive force in the creation of

multicultural learning experiences. One example of such an approach discussed by Dee

(2005) is the recruitment of educators who share a heritage with their students. While

this has been criticised in the past (D’Souza, 1995), several authors (Durden, Dooley,

and Truscott, 2014; Houser, 2008) argue that such an approach is validating and

affirming for students of ethnic diversity and has shown results which suggest that this

policy has produced attentive students who are more likely to complete their work, work

harder and succeed. However, this in many cases may not be a practical solution and

while these discussions are a step in the right direction the challenge for many UK HE

institutions is to provide the support and training to academics who may not possess the

necessary skills, confidence or understanding to support international students (Black,

2010; Sabry & Bruna, 2007; Tomalin, 2007). Thus, our findings in this section advocate

an alignment between institutional polices and academic pedagogical approaches.

The impact on institutional and academic alignment

The final proposal from this paper is the notion of institutional and academic

alignment. Through the three themes, one of the key issues to arise from this paper is

the perceived difference in priorities between academics and institutions. This paper

through the research argues that in many cases a lack of autonomy reveals a distinct

lack of agency to bring about change. This is not a new phenomenon and is something

that has also been discussed by Alvesson and Spicer (2016) who argue that institutions

now wield too much control which is at the expense of academic autonomy. This lack of

autonomy has come during a time when academics are expected to develop strategies to

cope with an increased workload and to manage higher levels of stress (Kinman and

Jones, 2003; Molesworth et al., 2009). These institutional pressures are additional

barriers in the university experience of international students creating environmental

conditions where academics struggle to understand, support and develop international

student achievement and attainment.

Thus, this paper argues that a movement towards academic and institutional

alignment is a bottom-up approach towards strategy. This process of unification creates

a unique and holistic perspective on the international student experience, giving

academics autonomy and a certain amount of ownership over the international student

experience. Aligning institutional policies and procedures with classroom pedagogy is

the initial step towards institutions which truly view the international student as a

learner as opposed to a revenue stream.

Conclusion

Academics within our sample articulate a number of different perceptions on how their

teaching and learning approaches and interventions support the international student

experience. Their views expressed here do not produce confidence in the delivery of a

curriculum that recognises that the international students have different needs nor a

sound basis for concluding that culturally responsive teaching is taking place. This

suggests that much needs to be done to integrate international students in UK HE. The

findings of this paper indicate that for HE institutions to continue to be successful, they

must develop a strategy that embraces change at academic teaching staff level in

support of international students. Although much educational literature discusses the

impact of internationalisation of student cohorts, our findings suggest that this is not

manifesting itself in HE academics who are dealing directly with such students. A

cornerstone of such a strategy is acknowledging the vital everyday role of academic

staff in enacting this change and implementing what Warwick (2014) refers to as a

strategy of internationalisation. Any such strategy emphasises that the academic is an

integral cog in helping students to develop a consistent university learning and social

experience. Academics are at the ‘coal face’ of student engagement, thus our findings

advocate the need to support academics in creating pedagogy that is inclusive,

community-based and engaging for international students. However, in this context we

concede that university leaders cannot ignore business considerations and financial costs

in running a college or university (Naidoo et al., 2011; Potts, 2005), yet we also suggest

that those who run HEIs should develop pedagogical policies, procedures and curricula

which supports the international student experience that has become a cornerstone of

growth in UK HE.

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Name Role Experience (years)

Ethnicity

Paul Senior Lecturer 30 EnglishLiz Senior Lecturer 6 EnglishMichael Senior Lecturer 8 EnglishHussain Director of Education 12 PakistaniWong Senior Lecturer 20 ChineseKatarina Lecturer 4 PolishLisa Senior Lecturer 7 EnglishClaire Lecturer 8 EnglishAngela Lecturer 4 EnglishLeanne Senior Lecturer 7 EnglishLucy Course Leader 15 EnglishJuliet Course Leader 7 South AfricanGwen Senior Lecturer 6 GhanaianFarhad Director of Education 25 IranianZhang Lecturer 3 ChineseMorgan Principal Lecturer 7 EnglishLi Lecturer 3 ChineseRichard Principal Lecturer 30 EnglishJames Principal Lecturer 35 EnglishRachel Senior Lecturer 4 EnglishAlan Lecturer 27 EnglishEmma Course Leader 9 English

Table 1: Description of the participants

Questions

Question 1: In your own experience can you describe some of your experiences

about international student diversity in Higher education Business Schools?

Question 2: What does ethnicity and cultural diversity mean to you?

Question 3: Do you feel that your teaching methods are appropriate to an

international student body?

Question 4: Do you feel that your experiences and status make you a good role

model for your students?

Question 5: In your experience, what is the best way to engage students from an

international background?

Question 6: How do you feel this institution supports you in your pedagogy

development for international students?

Question 7: How do you feel this institution has adapted to the challenges of

Internationalisation?

Table 2: Interview questions

A Priori template(starting point from literature)

Template A Template B Template C

Cultural Heritage (from Gay’s (2002) five essential elements)

Affirming cultural heritage

Affirming cultural heritage

- Parental Influence - Language - Previous Education

Affirming cultural heritage

- Parental Influence- Language- Previous Education

- Spoon feeding- Respect- Rote learning

Validating Pedagogy (from Villegas and Lucas’s (2002) six salient characteristics)

Pedagogy that is validating

Pedagogy that is validating

- Engagement - Poor Skills - Selfish Pedagogy - Student Expectations - Attainment - Patronising Pedagogy

Student Motivation

- Attitude - Passion

Pedagogy that is validating

- Engagement- Poor Skills- Selfish Pedagogy- Student Expectations- Attainment- Patronising Pedagogy

Student Motivation

- Attitude- Passion

Student empowerment (from Jabbar and Hardaker’s (2013) Five-Pillar framework)

Empowerment through academic success

Empowerment through academic success

Empowerment through academic success

Transforming academic

Transforming academic Transforming academic

Table 3 – The template analysis coding process

Figure 1: The three emerging themes