Comments on: Exclusion on campus

By: Brynn

Brynn — Tue, 20 Sep 2022 04:27:57 +0000

I had never thought to utilise CRT when talking about international students’ experiences on a university campus, but it makes total sense. Thank you for pointing that out!

By: Christine Dalogdog

Christine Dalogdog — Tue, 15 Mar 2022 09:09:51 +0000

Thank you for sharing your insights on this, Dr. Piller! I was unaware that there was this notion of exclusion in international campuses and so, this was a disheartening and thought-provoking post that highlighted the expectations of international students versus the reality of pursuing their studies abroad where marginalization and stereotypes are prevalent especially when you mentioned the racially diverse images present in brochures and adverts. This post was written almost a decade ago but I think that educators and academic institutions need to explore and address this concern now, especially with issues on racism and discrimination still present in society. It is also important to highlight that multiculturalism in education is present and inevitable because of globalization, and intercultural competence and communication must be practiced through acceptance, inclusion, and tolerance for ambiguity.

By: Marygrace Cariaso

Marygrace Cariaso — Wed, 09 Mar 2022 14:35:38 +0000

I just recently learned that there is the tendency to solely attach a person’s ‘culture’ to their identity, which disregards their complexity as an individual. In doing so, cultural stereotypes and ideas may influence the way people act toward others. In this case, micro-aggressions result in social exclusion. I once scrolled through schools’ websites that promote diversity in education, and I noticed that it always included photographs of multicultural students gathering together, learning, and having fun. However, the reality is different, and I think it can be pretty misleading for international students who look forward to studying overseas and seeing it as an opportunity. It is already a considerable challenge to leave your comfort zone and enter an entirely unfamiliar situation. Being socially excluded makes it so challenging to make friends and find comfort in a foreign place. I am also curious if these micro-aggressions may come from lecturers themselves. Do they also perpetuate social exclusion in their classroom interactions? Reading this post and your work on intercultural communication in education inspired me to explore IC in the local context of my country. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and insights, Dr. Piller!

By: Kimie Takahashi 高橋君江

Kimie Takahashi 高橋君江 — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 04:19:16 +0000

In the context of internationalisation of higher education, we also need to understand why, how, when and to whom those who engage in micro-agressions do what they do. This is something I didn’t do explicitly in my ethnographic study about Japanese students in Australia, but in light of emerging research such as mine or Ikuko Nakane’s, such investigation is urgently needed and will contribute to addressing the issue of exclusion among international students more holistically.

By: Khan

Khan — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 16:55:39 +0000

What a thought-provoking post. Thanks Professor Ingrid. I agree that the semiotic display of celeberating multiculturalism is one thing and the social life on campus is another . Keeping the exceptions aside, the truth is that discourses rarely die. They may take only more subtle or sophisticated forms. By the way, such perceptions get played out even in classroom discourses especially in the body language of the lectuers ( mostly junior lecturers).
Thannks for introducing a new lens of Critical Race Theory. Khan

By: Li Jia

Li Jia — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 21:42:04 +0000

I think the content of examination also leads to social exclusion for some students if “race” can be classified not only in terms of ethnic but also geography, social and financial affiliation.
In China, every year more than 270,000 students majoring English have to take part in an exam—TEM-4 (Test for English Majors Band 4) in order to prove they can reach the minimum requirement of being a qualified English major. In terms of its official acknowledgment and popularity in Chinese job-market, the TEM-4 is considered to be the most important exam compared with other English tests. There is nothing wrong giving students a universal test in a country for the sake of “fair competition” and school evaluation based on students exam performance, but if we take the content of the exam into consideration, we would find a sense of exclusion for the students particularly from poverty-stricken families in the west remote regions of China. One of examination questions is to write up a composition based on a TOPIC given. Such topics are like “Should College Students Hire Cleaners”, “My Idea of a University Arts Festival”, “Benefits of Volunteering”. Based on my 12 years of teaching experience, almost half of my students are from financially poor families and they have to be more “independent” than their unban peers who can be fed and dressed well. Hiring a cleaner or holding a party is definitely beyond their social contact and financial reach. Being a volunteer is strongly recommended since one’s childhood, but how many of those students can have a chance to work as a volunteer in an international conference or Olympic Game when they have to spend their weekends not studying or having fun but working with their parents in farmland bathing the scorching sun just to complement inadequate income for the family.

I believe this group of students must have other forms of experience of marginalisation on campus. What are those obscured micro-aggressions in my university and what everyday-ness or “normal science” is working on campus so that we as educators are just “used to it” because of the established practice? These are the questions that pop in my mind after reading your provoking post, Ingrid. Surely, doing a field work interacting with Burmese and their kids’ education will have much to learn from Critical Race Theory.