Project Investigator(s): Ayaka Yoshimizu, Instructor, Department of Asian Studies
Project Description
Advancing reconciliation in classrooms and creating an inclusive learning environment is extremely important at UBC, which continues to occupy the unceded Indigenous land and has a diverse student body. However, doing this with international students is challenging as they come from different geo-politico-historical contexts where discussions on equity and inclusion are not as normalized as in Canadian University. This project aims to raise international students’ awareness of privilege and difference and invite them to efforts of reconciliation and inclusion through “embodied inter-referencing” (Park 2019) where students use autobiographical narratives in assignments and discussions to create an inclusive and respectful classroom.
Research Questions
- What is an effective approach to creating an inclusive space in classrooms with predominantly international students from one source country?
- How effective is “embodied inter-referencing” as a pedagogical practice in: a) inviting international students to advancing reconciliation in the classroom; b) encouraging students to be aware of their privilege as well as vulnerability in a historically grounded manner; and c) creating an inclusive learning environment where diversity and difference are respected?
- Are there other, more effective approaches?
Impact on teaching and learning at UBC
The idea for this project emerged through my experience of teaching courses for the UBC-Rits programs where I heard students expressing prejudice against resident Koreans in Japan in an in-class discussion and sharing their initial understanding about indigenous peoples in Canada that they have already “disappeared.” In response to a rapidly growing international student population, this project aims to develop practical approaches to effectively involving international students in pursuing inclusion and decolonizing classrooms. Findings from this project could provide a pedagogical model to implement teaching materials on equity and inclusion for international students in undergraduate international programs in Canada.