Inclusive & Intercultural: Reflective Analysis of a Leadership Course in an International University

• In Event: Inclusive Leadership Education in Intercultural Contexts: From Graduate Education to Student Affairs

Short Description

This reflective course analysis centers on an undergraduate leadership course taught in a university in Kazakhstan. This study of how to prepare students to be inclusive leaders, while also valuing their cultural background, provides insights into teaching leadership in intercultural contexts at the undergraduate level.

Detailed Abstract

A myriad of approaches exists for teaching a leadership course at the undergraduate level and all instructors face various challenges in their course design that are often related to the nature of the students in their course. We know that instructional design should take into account the students in the course and their assumed background and knowledge. We also know that, when designing a course, instructors must balance student needs with curricular requirements. This ongoing process of curriculum design is even more of a challenge in a field such as leadership that is quickly evolving and that has so many different theoretical approaches and foundations.

As we design and teach courses, it is important for instructors to reflect on curricular choices so as to assess if the choices met the goals for the course and added to student learning in a meaningful and productive way. The significance of this process is that we, as instructors, are able to consider all of the elements involved in course creation and, hopefully, continue to deliver courses that provide meaningful experiences for everyone involved. As the field of leadership has many facets, it is impossible for one undergraduate course to cover them all. Therefore, instructors must choose what to include and exclude from each course and then must determine the effectiveness of their choices through reflective practices.

This reflective course analysis centers on an undergraduate course entitled “Communication and Leadership in Organizations.” A particularly interesting element of the course is that it was taught at Nazarbayev University, in Astana, Kazakhstan and, as the course instructor, I am from a vastly different cultural group from the students. Additionally, I have no work experience in organizations in Kazakhstan other than in Nazarbayev University, which is an exceptionally multi-cultural organization. As an instructor and course leader in this intercultural context, I desire to be inclusive in my approach and allow for input from students who have more cultural knowledge related to life in their country. This need for inclusive intercultural practices is an additional challenged I faced.

Interestingly, there is no Communication major or a Leadership major/minor at the university, thus all students taking the course were taking it as an elective. The students who populated the course were primarily from majors in the school of Science and Technology (Biology, Chemistry, Robotics, Computer Science, Physics, Mathematics) who have very little (or no) background in leadership studies. Here again, an inclusive approach allows for the various backgrounds of the students to be welcomed and incorporated into the classroom experiences. The intercultural aspects involved in teaching this course and the varied student backgrounds made course design choices particularly challenging.

As the instructor of the course I am also participating in a yearlong certificate program sponsored by the UK Higher Education Academy. As part of the program, I am expected to engage in reflective practices related to my teaching. Throughout the course I maintained a reflective journal that captured my assessment of the teaching methods and practices utilized. Additionally, I administered two course feedback tools, one at midterm and one at the end of the term, that asked the students to give their assessment of the course. Using Pollard’s framework of reflective practice (2005), my analysis of my journals and the student course feedback will examine choices specifically related to course design, teaching methods, and assessment methods for this course.

Briefly, Pollard’s framework (2005) provides seven characteristics of reflective teaching:
1. Reflective teaching implies an active concern with aims and consequences, as well as means and technical efficiency.
2. Reflective teaching is applied in a cyclical or spiraling process, in which teachers monitor, evaluate and revise their own practice continuously.
3. Reflective teaching requires competence in methods of evidence-based classroom inquiry, to support the progressive development of higher standards of teaching.
4. Reflective teaching requires attitudes of open-mindedness, responsibility and wholeheartedness.
5. Reflective teaching is based on teacher judgment, informed by evidence-based inquiry and insights from other research.
6. Reflective teaching, professional learning and personal fulfillment are enhanced by dialogue with colleagues.
7. Reflective teaching enables teachers to creatively mediate externally developed frameworks for teaching and learning

The reflective analysis of this course will provide insight not only into my own teaching practices, but will also increase our understanding of teaching leadership in intercultural contexts outside of North America. The cultural elements involved in teaching outside of North America and teaching students who will likely work in organizational structures highly embedded in their cultural practices, challenge our traditional, western, ways of teaching and thinking about leadership. The question of how to prepare these students to be inclusive leaders, while also valuing the diverse organizational life of Kazakhstani organizations is relevant to the study of leadership education around the world and provides more insights into teaching leadership in intercultural contexts at the undergraduate level.

Participant

• Jenifer L. Lewis, Nazarbayev University