Online teaching & cultural differences

Online tutoring gives you an opportunity to teach people from all over the world. It is exciting because it makes you feel that your impact is global (and it truly is). But there are also some challenges that come with it. Because sometimes, these are people with cultural backgrounds different to that from yours.

Of course, all students are different, and at the end of the day, it comes down to how you accommodate their learning styles. However, culture also matters. Here are the main factors that you need to take into account when teaching globally:

• Pay attention to the language you use and the cultural context you rely upon
• Get to know your students’ cultural background
• Be aware of educational culture and culture-influenced learning styles

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🗣 Language and cultural context

Unless your goal is to teach a foreign language and its culture, consider making your teaching as culturally neutral as possible. It concerns both the language you’re using in written and oral communication with your students and the content of your lessons.

If you conduct your classes in English, refrain from using culturally-specific idioms (such as baseball-related expressions in American English). Also, avoid referencing culture-specific concepts that may not be well-known to your students. Again, unless your purpose is to actually teach about that culture.

It’s great when you approach your teaching with a sense of humor.

However, in a multicultural classroom, you may have a problem getting across the message, as humor happens to be an extremely culture-specific thing.

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🗺 Your students’ cultural background

We all have a great share of internalized values we don’t even reflect on in our day-to-day lives. A good example is an attitude to time. Have you ever heard of the polychronic vs. monochronic classification of cultures, introduced by American anthropologist Edward T. Hall? Your experience with students coming from so-called polychronic cultures may be different from that with monochronic students. Many people, especially in Western countries, are used to perceiving punctuality as a default virtue. But it’s important to bear in mind that this is not a universal thing. And attitudes toward time are just one example.

Apart from that, with students from certain cultural backgrounds, you might want to be careful when touching upon different social issues — even when they are a part of the content that you teach.

It’s a good idea to do a little research on your students’ culture to equip yourself with at least a basic-level understanding of the differences.

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🧑‍🏫 Educational culture

Most likely your students already have some experience with the educational culture in their countries of origin. It also influences their learning style.

To draw an example, in certain cultures, students are not expected to take initiative in their learning or to assume responsibility for it. In certain cultures, it is hard to get honest feedback as a teacher.

However, online learning implies somewhat a higher degree of responsibility and self-management from students. And in such cases, it’s recommended to always explicitly communicate your expectations.

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🔎 Conclusion

With all mentioned above, of course, there is no need to make your lessons absolutely culturally neutral — it may not even be possible. In fact, your students might enjoy learning something about a different culture too, alongside their main subject.

This can become a valuable cultural exchange for you as well. There’s no general advice as to how you should approach working in an international classroom, and perhaps it’s best to aim for a middle ground. And be open about everything. It is better to ask than to “just assume”. It’s also a part of assessing your students, which is crucial for your teaching. The more you know about your students, the better results you can achieve together.

And one immensely important thing is to be understanding and respectful of cultural differences in your classroom. It may demand some extra work, but the experience will be equally rewarding.

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No matter what’s your experience with cross-cultural teaching, you can teach and study at Edeely with many tutors from all around the globe. Sign up and start your learning journey with😎👉 Edeely

_{Photo provided by Gael Gaborel, Trent Erwin}