Cross-Cultural Partnerships between Home and International Students

Abstract

Many international students fail to establish satisfactory relationships with home students or local people when they come to study in the United Kingdom. This study aimed to help them overcome isolation and concurrently diagnose what their principal areas of difficulty were. To this purpose, cross-cultural partnerships were formed and the international students were given six existential tasks to carry out with home students or local people. Their written and oral feedback about these activities were subject to analysis using NUD*IST software and produced 15 categories, of which the most important were food, cultural identity, gender role, and friendship. Their attitudes upon entry to and exit from the scheme were also assessed, and despite some negativity, the project resulted in the formation of some durable friendships and increased enjoyment of cross-cultural interaction on the part of the internationals, as well a greater confidence in their ability to engage in it successfully.

Practice, problems and power in ‘internationalisation at home’: critical reflections on recent research evidence

“…In short, not all home students enter higher education expecting, wanting or valuing intercultural experiences (Ippolito 2007), yet many educators believe that they are vital in terms of education and/or future employment. Interestingly, Spiro (2014) notes that many home students fail to see their own cultural positioning, while Pritchard and Skinner (2002) report that some believe that cultural differences do not exist.…”

“…Ippolito (2007) and Kelly (2008) suggest that opportunities for learning are missed as a result, while bad experiences with groupwork may heighten future anxiety (Pritchard and Skinner 2002;Summers and Volet 2008). Dunne (2013) and Colvin, Fozdar and Volet (2013) provide a slightly more positive perspective, with home students working with international students where they see a strategic reason to do so and Montgomery (2009) reports more collegial attitudes emerging in recent years.…”

A review of the acculturation experiences of international students

“…Additionally, consistent with the RAEM, the EXCELL program may not be appropriate for international students desiring to adopt a separation acculturation attitude in the social domain, as this is likely to result in conflict when interacting with host society's acculturation attitude of assimilation adopted in this intervention. Pritchard and Skinner (2002) also developed a behavioural intervention to improve crosscultural relationships. Consistent with the acculturation models discussed in this review, Pritchard and Skinner recognised that host members, in addition to international students, should also be a target of their intervention.…”

“…Despite this need, there has been a lack of interventions administered by the host society to improve the adaptation of international students. The interventions carried out thus far are promising; however, they lack either rigorous empirical testing (e.g., Carr et al, 2003;Pritchard & Skinner, 2002) or comprehensiveness by only being behavioural in nature (e.g., the EXCELL program). A comprehensive intervention is needed which incorporates cognitive, behavioural, and psychosocial components to enhance the adaptation of international students.…”

International Berkeley: Past and Current Debates on the Role of International Students in an American University

“…Some studies conducted outside of the US, including Australia's aggressive international recruitment, suggest significant challenges in integrating international students into academic and so-cial activities with domestic students [Summers, Volet, 2008;Volet, 2004;Pritchard, Skinner, 2002]. A common pattern is that international students seek comradery and support, academic or otherwise, from fellow nationals-a form of "balkanization."…”