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International Students and the Multicultural Environment

The quest for quality education by International students in the United States has always presented untold challenges to these students as they try to fit into American culture and education systems. In the last few decades, the U.S. has witnessed an ever growing number of foreign students in most of their local educational institutions. The economic growth and reforms in various countries has enabled the mass immigration of international students into America in search of better education prospects in order to boost their chances of economic prosperity. Moreover, the improvement in diplomatic relationships among many countries has also had a positive impact in the quest for many students from affluent families, and lucky ones who are able to secure scholarships to studying in some of the American’s best learning institutions (Larmerfeb, 23). Therefore, this paper will discuss the prospects of international education to a multicultural learner.

A Multicultural-learner may be described as a student who embraces any form of education system or teaching approach that incorporates the values, beliefs, histories and perspectives of other learners from different cultural backgrounds. Such learners are cognizant that international learning institutions are multicultural in nature. Multicultural learning environments also pose major challenges to students, especially for those who are facing such situations for the first time in their lifetime (Andrade, 139).

Multicultural environments are very instrumental in fostering effective and efficient learning environments for learners from all walks of life. For instance, a multicultural learning environment can be helpful to learners trying to develop a positive self-image on oneself and one’s cultural background. Multicultural learners are presented with equitable learning opportunity regardless of their backgrounds. It also allows the learners to develop multiple perspectives and ways of thinking. More importantly, multicultural learning environments also provides ways of fighting baseless stereotypes and prejudicial behaviors. Last but not least, the multicultural learners have the opportunity to critique in regards to their social justice practices (Andrade, 141).

As, an international student pursuing education in foreign land, my core values include embracing diversity, hard work, altruism, and reliability as well as friendship. These core values are helpful in shaping the way I think, feel, and behave day-in and day-out especially in my multicultural environments here at UCSC. In order to succeed in achieving learning goals and objectives in multicultural learning environments, I believe that my personal core values are the most valuable yardsticks (Andrade, 137).

There are numerous reasons as to why most students may want to study in American. Studying abroad in an American university will allow for invaluable academic, professional, and personal growth, and open up an infinite number of career opportunities upon graduation. Parents send their children abroad to study because of the prospect of better employment opportunities in global job markets as well as the snobbish appeal associated with the obtaining best education in prestigious state of the art educational institutions in American.

In Brook Lamer’s “The Parachute Generation,” Chinese international student Korbin’s quest for an American education is based on the idea that there are greater opportunities in a developed country that has a strong currency. Most parents of the foreign international students have the notion that educating their children abroad in prestigious American institutions is the best thing to do. Korbin’s dad thinks highly of the prospect of his son studying in among the top 50 universities in America, but he also thinks that such move will give Korbin a “leg-up” if or when he moves back to China. With a American college degree, Korbin will be able to group himself among the few international elites in China. Obtaining skills and knowledge abroad often prove valuable in the Chinese job markets as most employers believe that such skills and knowledge are valuable assets for their companies (Parrish and Linder-VanBerschot, 14).

As a multicultural-learner, the opportunity to study abroad, especially in an American institution, will give me empowering opportunities. Being tolerant of diversity, gives me the opportunity to interact and learn from my colleagues from different cultural backgrounds. Similarly, such interactions also provide a window of opportunity to appreciate different cultures through a critical lens of experience. This type of multicultural environment is important in understanding one’s own cultural while appreciating values and beliefs of others which enhances personal growth and self-actualization (Larmerfeb, 24).

Altruism and friendliness are important in making friendships in order to further gain deeper insight into other people’s culture and belief systems. Making more friends, and immersing myself in school studies are some of the ways to make education life in foreign countries more colorful and fulfilling Nonetheless, the hard work is one of the most important ingredient for success particularly among the international students who are trying to acquire a quality education in unfamiliar learning environments. Understanding one’s main objectives and goals as far as education is concerned is what determines educational success for the international students (Li and Bray, 796).

It is important to acknowledge the myriad of challenges faced by international students. Peer influence also has an adverse impact on learning processes. For instance, some students may lose themselves to antisocial behaviors such as overindulgence in alcohol and other substances abuse. Such behaviors are normally introduced by uncalled for peer pressure on international students by their host counterparts who may see such misdemeanors as normal. For example, in “The Parachute Generation” Korbin was introduced to drug and alcohol abuse by his American student counterparts. Furthermore, the language barrier is another type of challenge faced by international students studying in multicultural environments. Understanding of local dialect and slang used used by American students students often act as barrier between the host students and the foreign students. Talking time to learn the local language in most case is challenging and time-consuming (Andrade, 134).

It is vital to understand that in spite of the good prospects that come from studying abroad, particularly in multicultural environments, there will always be numerous challenges for foreign students in such settings. Foreign students are forced to cope with myriad challenges,which include adapting to new environments, cultural and languages barriers, and the unfamiliar education systems. Subsequently, in order to fit in well, developing some core values such as cultural tolerance and humility can be useful for any foreign student.

References

Andrade, Snow Maureen . "International students in English-speaking universities: Adjustment factors." Journal of Research in International education 5.2 (2006): 131-154.

Larmerfeb, B. The Parachute Generation. 2 March 2017. 11 October 2017.

Li , Mei and Mark Bray . "Cross-border flows of students for higher education: Push–pull factors and motivations of mainland Chinese students in Hong Kong and Macau." ." Higher education 53.6 (2007): 791-818.

Parrish, Patrick and Jennifer Linder-VanBerschot. "Cultural dimensions of learning: Addressing the challenges of multicultural instruction." The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning 11.2 (2010): 1-19.