Universities have their own particular cultures and for students who join these institutions of higher learning, adjusting to such culture of a university usually takes time and effort. Considering the culture of Australian universities, students face a number of problems in an attempt to successfully adjust to this culture. Apparently, these cultures related problems are pertinent to Australian traditions and cultural practices. Among these problems include; adjusting to a new culture, cultural stress, cross-cultural male-female relationships, reverse cultural shock, communication difficulties which finally lead to learning difficulties, cultural discrimination and a decision made after graduation based on an individual’s cultural background.
Cultural stress is a facet of individual well-being that is basic but important to the experience of relating to others in the society and is probable to be correlated with the well-being of learners in a number of areas. According to a study carried out by Bradley as cited in (Walton, 2005), the relationships between cultural stress and measures of mental health (anxiety, stress, and depression) and learning of social lifestyle balance puts forward that there is a group of depressing psychosocial repercussions for international students which may acutely hamper their adaptation to the society of Australian universities and to their capacity to execute optimally in a university setting.
A typical problem faced by students in Australian universities is adjusting to a new environment and culture. most research concurs on three adjustment stages. The first stage being the honeymoon stage in which individuals are excited by the novel experience. The second stage, the crisis stage is when the...
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...ore so from conservative sections of the world studying in Australian universities find it hard if not impossible to adapt and continue with their studies. Some aspects like language have a significant impact on students’ performance. For basing on my personal experience, accent is a key issue haunting a considerable number of indigenous Australian tutors and professors such that unless a student is fully accustomed to the Australian language, it may not be possible for him or her to understand certain concepts. It thus remains a primary mandate bestowed upon various universities in Australia to institute policies so as to ensure students comfortably adjust to new cultures.
Works Cited
Berry, D. (2010). Conceptual Approaches to Acculturation. London: Sage Publications.
Khoo, M. (2002). Australian Government Department of Immigration. Canberra: Highway Press.
The myth that Australia is a classless society is still, till this day, circulating. With education opportunities differing, depending on your status in society and socioeconomic background, not all Australians share the same opportunity of education. Whether being a middle class citizen or an “elite” or from working class, all education opportunities offered, will be influenced by your financial status and hierarchy in society. Power can influence the outcome of an individual’s life.
The development of a national curriculum for Australia is not a new endeavour (Marsh, 2010). The ideal is that national curriculum across Australia would mean that students are provided with a quality education that helps to shape the lives of the nations citizens and continue developing the productivity and quality of life within Australia. The Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA] have the task of developing and implementing a nationwide curriculum. ACARA (n.d.-c) claims have addressed needs of young Australians while considering that changing ways in learning and challenges will continue to shape students education in the future. A look at what the Australian Curriculum is, its purpose, structure and scope, learning theories and teaching processes and whether the curriculum has the capacity to meet the needs of 21st century learners will show that the initial construction of a national curriculum appears to be successful. However, the effectiveness of the Australian Curriculum will only be able to be evaluated in the future after implementation across the country.
People have long assumed that university is the home of the educated and open minded people. People expand their personal horizons here. The public believes university students can deal with the cultural differences of human beings. The public believes students can deal with these differences because university students are exposed to a wide range of academic subjects including Humanities. Humanities exposes students to world literature, art, and geography. The public expects these subjects to aid university students in understanding cultural differences.Use of cultural differences should be emphasized in the universities. These differences should be emphasized not to humiliate or disgrace people but to influence students to accept and acknowledge cultural differences.
Australia’s education system functions in a highly political context, as does the education systems of most other developed or developing nations throughout the world (Meadmore, 1999). Education is therefore a complex process that is both intertwined with and influenced by the society, culture and community in which it exists (Meadmore, 1999). As a result, it is expected to operate within certain perimeters and deliver specific outcomes (Meadmore, 1999). Consequently, over the last several decades, significant changes have occurred in education, “sometimes by forces well outside education, and all too often, it seems, according to principles that have little to do with education” (Welch, 2010, p.235) itself. The structure and
Sociocultural adaptation can be understood as a process of social learning and is associated with the length of time, the existing cultural distance and the amount of contact with members of the host culture. These could make it more or less difficult to adapt to a new culture (Zlobina, Paez 2004). Foreigners who leave their culture of origin and are immersed in a new culture with norms, values and customs that they do not recognize as their own, have to make an effort to adapt. The above process of adaptation or adjustment involves three basic aspects: 1) Psychological adaptation, including acceptance and the degree of satisfaction in the new cultural environment. 2) Cultural learning, which is the acquisition of social skills that enable the sojourner to adapt the host culture, and establish links with members of the host culture and, finally, 3) Learning behavior appropriate for the resolution of social tasks. Sociocultural adaptation involves social and cultural learning. The three dimensions are linked, but have some independence between them (Moghaddam, Taylor , Wright, 1993). Ward ( 2004) showed that international students, who were culturally adapted, adopted elements of both cultures and tried to achieve a bicultural identity. It is important to note that any sojourner has gone through a series of grieving process after migration due to the loss of two important elements such as: firstly, the extended family and friends, who constitute the soc...
One of the first and most common problems most, if not all international students face when they first arrive in the UK for study is culture shock. culture shock is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary(2014) as the feeling of disorientation experienced by someone when they are suddenly subjected to an unfamiliar culture, way of life, or set of attitudes. When students first move to the UK they observe and experience several things for the first time and it tends to overwhelm them. New international students often find themselves feeling powerless and unimportant which often forces them into self-isolation(Bailey, 2005). The culture shock also tends to result in the students being unable to make friends in their new community because they are unsure of what is customary and regarded in good light (Bailey, 2005).
Away from family and alone in a new environment with limited communication skills are imaginably challenging for most people. Missing families far away can be best compensated with new meaningful relationships established in the strange environment as soon as possible. Asian students are not only the largest international population studying in the United States, but also the most struggled ones to adjust to the U. S. education system and campus life (Talbot &Geelhoed, 1998) Asian students are not only the largest international population studying in the United States, but also the most struggled ones to adjust to the U.S. educational system and campus life (Talbot & Geelhoed ,1998). A strong social support network seems to improve international students’ abilities to cope with this stressful situation (Wan et al., 1992). Poyrazli et al. (2004) found students who perceived from higher levels of traditional and online social support experienced lower levels of acculturative stress and thus more satisfaction. Most of our participants experienced loneliness and helpless at the beginning of their new lives here in the United States. But they learned to cope little by little. All our participants expressed their gratitude to those who had helped them to adapt to this new culture. They could be a close friend or nameless people from church.
Cultural issues affect mostly the students and we can recognize these barriers in students when they have difficulty in communicating when they have no language in common, which affects their social life as well. Also, if the students feel uncomfortable talking or mingling with students of opposite gender or different religion due to what they grew up with. The issue of cultural or language barrier can lead to behaviours such as prejudice, restrict them access to resources, may make them feel over-stressed (Poputoaia). In addition, they also have a
Australian classrooms are made up of students from a variety of countries, bringing with them different cultures, backgrounds, and language. Teachers need to be aware of the diversity of languages that children will bring into the classroom (Gardener, 2017c) and make the classroom culturally inclusive for all students. Aboriginal students speak English (Ewing, 2016). However, they also speak Aboriginal English which includes traditional Aboriginal words which are brought into the classroom. Williams (as cited in Woolfolk & Margetts, 2013, p. 51) points out the Aboriginal English can vary across Australia states, therefore, there is no one language amongst Aboriginal people. Harrison and Sellwood (2011) explain that each variety of Aboriginal English has different meanings for words, grammatical rules, and
Going to study in a new country can be a stressful experience, from learning the culture norms to new foods. Culture shock is common with international students. Culture shock can include, meeting new people, language barriers, social behaviors, and a sense of community. A students comfortability with the culture of their new home can determine their learning experience. It can be an emotional rollercoaster, being so far away from family and friends. American culture is difficult to understand. International students find Americans to be confusing. Social norms vary depending on the part of the country a person is in.
International students face many different challenges when studying abroad. This is due to many factors. First they are living in a country very far away from their own. The country they are studying in also has a very different way of life than theirs. Also the laws in foreign country are much different than the laws in their own country. Due to that they face a lot of problems trying to adapt to this new culture. Me personally as an international student in the US studying in ASU have faced three particularly difficult challenges that I was able to overcome through time. In this essay I will explain how international students can overcome tough challenges and situations.
Throughout one’s life, there are many driving forces. Some of them are based upon one’s background; others are based upon one’s desires. In the realm of Higher Education, one does not enter lightly into a position, for, if one does, it can result in a burnout. It behoves individuals to play to their strengths and fill out their weaknesses so as to be a well rounded individual who is able to deal with a variety of situations, both positive and negative, as they arise.
For newly arrived international students who are in their late adolescence developmental stage, the sources of acculturative stress often include academic pressures, language difficulties, feelings of inferiority, difficulties in adjusting to new food or cultural values, lack of support, perceived discrimination, and homesickness (Andrade, 2006). In addition, international students may experience little acceptance, tolerance, and understanding of their cultural practices by members of the host country, and in some cases, racial discrimination (Poyrazli & Lopez, 2007). It is also possible that international students themselves may be intolerant or discriminatory towards other international students or members of the host culture. These difficulties can contribute to international students’ loneliness, alienation, mistrust, powerlessness, and depression. Although members (e.g., new college students) of the host culture may be affected by such difficulties, the combination of acculturation stressors has been found to weigh more heavily on international students who have limited access to resources (Poyrazli & Lopez, 2007). Specifically, when experiencing acculturative stress, they may
Imagine walking onto a plane and travelling 3,000 miles across the ocean to spend the first semester of your college career in a completely different place than you’ve lived your entire life. Well, that was something that I personally experienced about two years ago. I got accepted to Arcadia University, and into their “FYSAE” (First Year Study Abroad Experience) Program. It was probably the most exciting, yet nerve-wracking thing that I had ever done in my life. I got on a plane and went to the UK for a full four months as a new freshman in college. When I was leaving my home, family, friends, and job I was anxious and sad to be leaving, but once I arrived in the UK I could not contain my excitement. I studied at Stirling University in Stirling, Scotland. The semester that I studied abroad was probably the best time of my life. In those four short months, I experienced a different culture, ate new foods, made lifelong friends, travelled to other places, learned to understand an accent that sounds like a whole other language, and learned to be independent. I accomplished all this while learning and taking a full course load (and getting good grades) at the university.
In Australia, education is unique with a diversity of cultural backgrounds, as stated (Bowes, Grace, & Hodge, 2012, p. 76). Bowes, Grace, and Hodge, (2012) define cultural diversity as different cultures or groups, defined by beliefs, ideologies, rules, or norms (p. 77). Nevertheless, issues which provide an opportunity for public judgement, stereotyping, gender inequality, social norms and gender norms form the basis of their socioeconomic status (Siraj-Blatchford, 2004, p.