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Christian Andino Borrero remembers a faculty member in the College of Arts and Sciences who said they don’t empathize with students who can’t afford to buy textbooks for class.

That came as a shock for Andino Borrero, a freshman who came to Syracuse University from Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria and was struggling to purchase materials for his classes. 

“I was in no way, shape or form (able) to buy any books,” said Andino Borrero, now a senior. “I found that to be a surprising insensitivity.”  

Andino Borrero isn’t the only student to have encountered challenges such as this upon arriving at SU. Faculty not taking into account students’ cultures and backgrounds poses an academic challenge to many SU students, including international students, who may face unfamiliar learning environments and may have difficulty communicating with instructors. 

To address these issues, two professors in SU’s School of Education are launching a series of faculty workshops, titled “Creating Culturally Responsive Classrooms,” to help instructors better understand the needs of students from different backgrounds. 

Students and experts say the workshops, while a necessary first step, are only part of what should be a larger approach to addressing differences in cultures and backgrounds in academics at SU. 

Professors Jeff Mangram and Melissa Luke designed the series. In each workshop session, two of which are scheduled for May, faculty will be asked to examine the role of culture and language in their courses. 

The workshops will also present research-supported teaching practices that will particularly benefit students whose “culture and worldview differs from that of the classroom space,” Luke said in a statement.

“The ‘CCRC’ workshop series is predicated on the fact that culture and worldview are part of the teaching and learning context,” she said. “We support faculty in intentional examination of how this operates within their educational spaces.”

Christian Andino Borrero, a senior from Puerto Rico, remembers struggling to purchase course materials when coming to SU. Anya Wijeweera | Asst. Photo Editor

The series is structured so that faculty can attend any sessions they choose without needing to participate in earlier workshops.

Andino Borrero thinks SU is taking a step in the right direction with faculty training workshops, but he said that the university needs to take a more holistic approach to making classrooms more culturally conscious. Providing students with support networks and cultural spaces outside of academics is just as important as creating inclusive learning environments, he said.

“They should not assume that these training sessions will completely solve or eradicate the problem,” Andino Borrero said. “The academic experience is important, but it’s not the only thing that impacts the student experience.”

Luke said she and Mangram created the series using research-supported methods and that research shows that professional development series for faculty are successful in improving classroom outcomes. At the same time, she acknowledged the workshops will be most effective as part of a more systemic effort. 

“Like any form of education, faculty professional development is most effective when it is part of a multi-pronged, systemic effort that includes evaluation,” Luke said. “All of these learning opportunities occur within broader systemic contexts.”

Students and experts said that a systemic approach to cultural sensitivity at SU — both in the classroom and beyond — is especially important given the varied nature of students’ individual experiences

The cultural differences between classrooms in the U.S. and the rest of the world pose a particularly strong challenge to some international students, said Yingyi Ma, professor of sociology at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. 

Ma’s book, “Ambitious and Anxious: How Chinese College Students Succeed and Struggle in American Higher Education,” chronicles the experiences of Chinese international students studying in the U.S. The book helped inform Mangram and Luke’s workshop series.

In the U.S., student-centered discussion and student participation are considered central to higher education, Ma said. But that isn’t traditionally required or expected of students in other parts of the world. As a result, professors may interpret students not participating or speaking in class as a lack of engagement, when that isn’t the case, she said.

“The academic culture, the academic environment, in the United States are not the norm for the world community,” Ma said. “A lot of faculty may not be aware that international students, in a different environment, they’re not very used to this very student-centered classroom environment.”

Language barriers can also make international students reluctant to share their thoughts or ideas during class discussions, Ma said.

“Class involvement has always been an issue for international students,” said Jaden Chen, an SU student from China and social media director for The International, a student publication that highlights the perspectives of international students. “Since English is not our mother language, we are all shy to speak English in front of a bunch of Americans in the class.”

Chen, like Borrero, said that SU’s workshop series is only a step toward creating more inclusive classrooms, and what works for one student might be less effective for another.

Students who speak English well may also be hesitant to speak in class if they have a strong accent, Andino Borrero said. 

In one instance, Andino Borrero recalled having a professor say they liked his accent because it was easy to understand. Some of his friends have had similar experiences with SU faculty, he said.

“You have to fear, when you have an accent, of not being taken seriously,” Andino Borrero said. “Professors have to be cognizant of that, of trying not to underestimate students when they have accents.”

Sessions for Mangram and Luke’s first faculty workshop will take place on May 7 and May 21. Ma believes the workshops can be a fundamental component of a wider effort to make SU’s academic environment more responsive to students’ backgrounds and cultures.

“That kind of awareness and empathy is really the first step,” Ma said.

Published on April 25, 2021 at 11:20 pm

Contact Chris: cjhippen@syr.edu