Educational systems and learning methods vary a great deal between cultures. In The Netherlands students are taught how to ask the right questions; they are not taught to memorize information that can be found on google fairly easy. Foreign students in The Netherlands oftentimes have to adjust to more interactive ways to communicate with teachers and to various creative ways to interact with fellow-students. This does not always come natural to students with an Asian background, for example, who shy away from asking questions to start with.
When teaching to international students, or to specific nationalities, trainers need to take cultural aspects into account. From a teaching perspective, one could check upon the following:
1. Cognitive styles; how people organize and process information. In rational cultures people tend to accept information readily when presented in a logical and objective way. In relational cultures people first check on the credentials of the information source or the person conveying the information.
2. Methodology; this relates to the selection of learning formats. Do people prefer individual learning or in groups, do they get triggered by competition or by cooperation, is the role of the trainer that of a teacher or facilitator?
3. Communication styles; dealing with the language barrier. Do students speak the same language and do they have similar language capabilities? How to work with Q&A sessions in shame-cultures? How to interpret non-verbal communication in different cultures?
4. Group dynamics; how diverse or homogeneous is the training group and what do you know as a trainer about the internal hierarchy and relationships? Have students signed up for the training voluntarily and what do they (really) expect to learn?
5. Training set-up; when does the training start, what is the program schedule and how does the training close? In some cultures it is advisable to start connecting with the trainees in person before the actual training starts, for example with a dinner or drinks. In others, you need to cater for culture-specific wishes (religion, food). In many cultures, trainees value a training certificate afterwards to underscore their achievement and give it a more formal status.
There are many ways to learn and we can all learn from each other to improve our teaching skills. Training Across Cultures is recommendable for any trainer (technical or skills-based) that provides for training to international groups.
