Key readings references in my topic:
- Ingham, M. (2021) ‘Becoming Lost and Found in Translation’, In: Cumulus Conference Proceedings Roma 2021, Track: Design Culture (of) REVOLUTION. Cumulus, pp. 17-34.
What I got from this:
- Small actions such as translating the design school manifesto into the languages that represent the diverse student body can help new students feel visible and welcomed and a sense of belonging, Ingham (2021, pp. 3953)
- For many students it was challenging to shift into the culture of Higher Education, faced with integrating with mature students, diverse languages and cultures, and social and educational backgrounds, Ingham (2021, pp. 3956)
- Challenges to English as a language, dominance in Art and Design education as well as being a colonising force, Ingham (2021, pp. 3956)
2. Geng Rui (2015) MIND THE GAP. 23 May. Available at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0zLtT0IG6k (Accessed: 10 November 2024).
What I got from this:
- Short film which interviews the perspective of Chinese students at UAL how they face challenges such as language barriers, lack of English speaking friends, understanding of your tutor, how to pose the right questions, the extra effort taken to process and understand, Loneliness and missing of family, Geng Rui (2015).
3. Cain, S. (2013) Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking. Available at: https://open.spotify.com/show/19wPKGdSblvGwW3xNWkUHq (Accessed: 7 January 2025).
What I got from this:
- Different Cultural values East Asian classroom, traditional curriculum emphasises listening, reading writing and memorisation talking is not a focus and is discouraged. Rude to participate in class as you don’t want to waste your classmates time. In the USA there is a lot of discussion, peers often talk nonsense but it is encouraged. I the US as soon as you start talking you are fine. Susan Cain (2013)
- Should International student conform to western standards or do western universities change their standards?
- Asian attitudes to spoken word, talk is to communicate need to know information. Words are dangerous weapons. Susan Cain (2013).
- Even the proverbs between two nations are contradictory with Western prizing speech and while Asia preferring silence. Susan Cain (2013).
4. Odeniyi, V (2022) Reimagining Conversations with Multilingual Students. UAL Decolonising Arts Insitute Available at: https://www.arts.ac.uk/ual-decolonising-arts-institute/publications-and-podcasts/reimagining-conversations (Accessed: 8 January 2025).
What I got from this:
- Analysis of conversations between tutors and multilingual students at UAL to raise awareness around the educational potential of the use of language Odeniyi (2022, p. 6)
- In Example 4 understanding why multilingual or Asian student do not participate actively in class due to, English as a barrier, personality type, anxiety or not knowing enough about a topic. This is broken down further into social and cultural orientations from respecting authority to communication such as has turn taking Odeniyi (2022, p. 42-43)
- To consider how you invite students to contribute, what are some ways to encourage active participation, are there was to do so without pressure? When communication breaks down what do you do? Odeniyi (2022, p. 47)
- Not talking is different than not participating, students may still be participating even if they don’t talk, constructed to students who talk a lot but are communicating any new forms of knowledge Odeniyi (2022, p. 67)
- On language and social justice, attainment challenges faced. To bring in more staff with similar multilingual background to students. Or multilingual resources. Odeniyi (2022, p. 74)
5. Davey, A. (2016). ‘International Students and Ambiguous Pedagogies within the UK Art School’, International Journal of Art & Design Education. 35, pp. 377-383. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/jade.12124
What I got from this:
- Ever growing number of international students in HE UK continues to be a popular destination. Davey (2016)
- Ambiguity of Art school navigating this capital, for those that do not ask questions and challenge will not benefit from this ‘cultural capital’ Davey (2016)
- International students can offer new multiple cultural perspective that challenge universalism of teaching and learning in the west. Davey (2016).
- Uk has to become more interested in the students who study there and more reflective of its own pedagogy and teaching. Davey (2016).
6.(HESA, 2024)
HESA (2024) Higher Education Student Statistics: UK, 2022/23 – Where students come from and go to study. Available at: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/news/08-08-2024/sb269-higher-education-student-statistics/location (Accessed: 6 January 2025).
- Statistics on where students come from and go to study: A high percentage at UAL are from non uk background.
This concludes the section above on international or multilingual students, these insights were used to create this short narrative below as an exercise to tie everything together into one place.
Methods used for data collection and analysis
The methods I devised for data collection are more drawn from design (since this is my context),
And are qualitative in nature. I wanted to embrace uncertainty and risk seen in such method like the cultural probes, as well as the tactile and engaging, Lury and Wakeford. (2012). Though unlike the probes I didn’t have capacity to overdosing or make anything so bespoke. The story cube method I took inspiration from Proboscis (2023). The cube seemed like a good starting point, what is an easier 3d shape to make than a cube, this was something universal as well.
There was a vast amount of data to analyse. Some of the approaches I took were:
-Multimodal approach, I went back to listen to the transcripts and videos looking for signs in the video footage or quirks in the voices. This was tried out through one data set with one of the students I interviewed. He often laughed, I tried to make sense of some of the things he may have been laughing at, it was better to observe this through the video recording to look at signs of body language changes Harris (2020).
-For the Staff datasets, I listened through again and highlighted key section and events. For the longer staff interview, I tried grouping themes that emerged as well as highlighting parts of the text that were relevant. Kara (2015)
-For the audio recordings of the sessions I used Otter.AI to help transcribe the recordings, since they were hours long and six sessions to go through. I felt that looking through key events around how the methods were used would be sufficient enough.
If I had more time in my analysis with these texts, it would be interesting to try some art based techniques here, perhaps similar to the I poems we used in workshop 3, Kara (2015). One method I had in mind would be to translate the text into another language that I don’t speak and go through it to immersive myself into the way in which multilingual students may feel, and on finding a familiar passage translate it back into English to see what it says, this could be repeated a number of times. Again this could be seen as a more artist approach, Kara (2015).
Lury, C. and Wakeford, N. (2012). Inventive methods. 1st ed. London: Routledge.
Kara, H. (2015) Creative Research Methods in the Social Sciences A Practical Guide. 1st Edition Bristol: Policy Press
Harris, R. (2020) The Tyranny of the Transcript [Podcast]. 17/November. Available at: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5GPdL9Vo5sBwSMfu2f0eEH (Accessed: 11 January 2025).