International Teaching Assistants’ Experiences in the U.S. Classrooms: Implications for Practice

Article Sidebar

PDF
Published: Apr 5, 2015
DOI: https://doi.org/10.14434/josotl.v15i2.12947
Keywords:
international teaching assistants (ITAs), qualitative approach, educational cultures, international contexts, sciences

Main Article Content

Ekaterina Arshavskaya
USU

Abstract

Recently, a number of studies have examined the lived experiences of the international teaching assistants (ITAs) in the U.S. classrooms. The findings show that the ITAs face many challenges such as classroom management, instructional, linguistic, cultural and social challenges. Following this line of research, this interview-based study examined the lived experiences of a group of ITAs using a qualitative methodology. The qualitative approach was intentionally selected to add an interpretive stance to the quantitative analyses prevalent in the current research on the ITAs. The paper aims to: (1) to provide insights into the ITAs’ perspectives on their first semester of teaching in the U.S. including determining the challenges they face and (2) to consider possible revisions to existing ITAs’ preparation programs based on the ITAs’ own perspectives and a review of the available literature. This study contributes to the field by presenting information that has the potential to prompt future empirical investigations into educational cultures as they apply to novice instructors in international contexts and to inform and renew curricula for ITAs’ preparation programs at the U.S. universities.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Article Details

How to Cite
Arshavskaya, E. (2015). International Teaching Assistants’ Experiences in the U.S. Classrooms: Implications for Practice. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 15(2), 56–69. https://doi.org/10.14434/josotl.v15i2.12947
Issue
Volume 15, Number 2
Section
Articles
  1. Authors retain copyright and grant the Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (JoSoTL) right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License, (CC-BY) 4.0 International, allowing others to share the work with proper acknowledgement and citation of the work's authorship and initial publication in the Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.
     
  2. Authors are able to enter separate, additional contractual agreements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in the Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.

  3. In pursuit of manuscripts of the highest quality, multiple opportunities for mentoring, and greater reach and citation of JoSoTL publications, JoSoTL encourages authors to share their drafts to seek feedback from relevant communities unless the manuscript is already under review or in the publication queue after being accepted. In other words, to be eligible for publication in JoSoTL, manuscripts should not be shared publicly (e.g., online), while under review (after being initially submitted, or after being revised and resubmitted for reconsideration), or upon notice of acceptance and before publication. Once published, authors are strongly encouraged to share the published version widely, with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in the Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.

References

Altinsel, Z., & Rittenberg, W. (1996). Cultural support for international TAs: An undergraduate buddy program. ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 407918.

Aubrey, R. (1991). International students on campus: A challenge for counselors, medical providers, and clinicians. Smith College Studies in Social Work, 62, 20-33. doi: 10.1080/00377319109516697

Bresnahan, M. J., & Cai, D. H. (2000). From the other side of the desk: Conversations with international students about teaching in the US. Qualitative Research Reports in Communication, 4(1), 65-75.

Bullough, R.V., & Knowles, J.G. (1991). Teaching and nurturing: Changing conceptions of self as teacher. Qualitative Studies in Education, 4, 121-140. doi: 10.1080/0951839910040203

Glaser, B. G., & Strauss, A. L. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. New York, NY: Aldine Publishing Company.

Gorsuch, G.J. (2012). Working theories for teaching assistant development: Time-tested & robust theories, frameworks, & models for TA & ITA learning. Stillwater, OK: New Forums Press.

Kuo, Y-H. (2002). International teaching assistants on American campuses. International Journal of Curriculum and Instruction, 4(1), 63-71.

Kuo, Y-H. (2011). Language challenges faced by international graduate students in the United States. Journal of International Students, 1(2), 38-42.

Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511815355

Lin, J.-C. G., & Yi, J. K. (1997). Asian international students’ adjustment: Issues and program suggestions. College Student Journal, 31(4), 473-480.

Lincoln, Y.S., & Guba, E.G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Beverly Hills: SAGE.

LoCastro, V., & Tapper, G. (2006). International Teaching Assistants and teacher identity. Journal of Applied Linguistics, 3(2), 185-218.

Maxwell, A. J. (2004). Qualitative research design: An interactive approach (2nd ed.).Thousand Oaks, CA; Sage.

Maynard, T. (2001). The student-teacher and the school community of practice: A consideration of “learning as participation.” Cambridge Journal of Education, 31(1), 39-52. doi: 10.1080/03057640123915

Rogoff, B. (1984). Introduction: Thinking and learning in social content. In B. Rogoff and J. Lave (Eds.), Everyday cognition: Its development in social context, (pp. 1-8). Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Ross, C. (2007, March 22). Paper presented as part of the InterSection on Intercultural communication/international teaching assistants: Redirecting the flow of university intercultural responsibility at the 41st Annual Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages Convention in Seattle, WA.

Smith, J., Meyers, C., & Burkhalter, A. (1992). Communicate: Strategies for International Teaching Assistants. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press.

Smith, K.S. (1993). A case study on the successful development of an International Teaching Assistant. Innovative Higher Education, 17(3), 149-163. doi: 10.1007/BF00915598

Stevenson, I., & Jenkins, S. (1994). Journal writing in the training of International Teaching Assistants. Journal of Second Language Writing, 3(2), 97-120. doi: 10.1016/10603743(94)90010-8

Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1998). Basics of Qualitative Research (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage.

Torkelson, K. (1992). Using imagination to encourage ITAs to take risks. ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 349898.

Trebing, D. (2007). International teaching assistants’ attitudes toward teaching and understanding of U.S. American undergraduate students (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.

Wang, J., & Odell, S. J. (2007). An alternative conception of mentor-novice relationships: Learning to teach in reform-minded ways as a context. Teaching and Teacher Education: An International Journal of Research and Studies, 23(4), 473-489. doi: 10.1016/j.tate.2006.12.010

Warhurst, R. P. (2008). ‘Cigars on the flight-deck’: new lecturers’ participatory learning within workplace communities of practice. Studies in Higher Education, 33(4), 453–467. doi: 10.1080/03075070802211828

Zhou, J. (2009). What is missing in the international teaching assistants training curriculum? Journal of Faculty Development, 23(2), 19-24.