Do we provide the right support for migrant academics?

Academics move from one country to another for myriad professional reasons, including the pursuit of a more prestigious academic position or the furtherance of research opportunities.

Migrant academics rarely make such international moves for better teaching or pedagogic opportunities. Yet most migrant academics are expected to teach in their new environments, often without any formal induction or training.

The limited training that is available to them is through learning and teaching workshops or postgraduate programmes that adopt a one-size-fits-all approach. Such events and programmes rarely take into account the migrant academics’ previous teaching experience, culture or approach and are tailored more for academics who are new to teaching.

The migrant academic is, therefore, likely to experience pedagogic dissonance or discomfort in their new teaching environments.

Although there have been references to pedagogic dissonance in the past, no clear definition has been offered for what the term really refers to. Our use of pedagogic dissonance is derived from social psychologist Leon Festinger’s theory of dissonance and refers to the discomfort experienced when academics engage with teaching and learning beliefs or values or culture that may be inconsistent with their own.

The degree of dissonance experienced by migrant academics in their teaching is likely to be influenced by a multitude of factors. Here we outline some of these key aspects.

Cultural context

The degree of pedagogical dissonance migrant academics feel is influenced by the cultural differences in the teaching practices between their country of origin and their new destination. The nature of the student body, the teaching practices and the educational system tend to be influenced by a country’s culture.

For example, Western countries tend to have a more democratic approach to student participation in curricular processes in comparison to Eastern countries such as China where teaching practices are often based on a teacher’s authority.

Therefore, the pedagogic dissonance of an academic is less pronounced if they move from one familiar context to another. For example, a person moving from Ireland to England may experience less dissonance in comparison to someone moving from Ireland to France or to China, as Ireland and England have similar educational systems.

Institutional context

Depending on whether an institution is teaching-intensive or research-intensive, the degree of dissonance experienced by a migrant academic can vary. Academics who move from a research-intensive institution to a teaching-intensive institution (or vice versa) may experience a pedagogical culture shock due to differences in the level of focus and time that is placed on ensuring good student outcomes.

Further, in some universities that prefer a particular teaching approach (for example, some universities have moved towards a flipped classroom or problem-based learning approach), migrant academics are likely to be expected to adapt quickly to the university’s teaching approach without a clear understanding of how their teaching beliefs and values align with that of the institution.

It is to be acknowledged that the differences in institutional context can be a source of pedagogical discomfort for home academics as well, but the discomfort experienced is likely to be amplified for migrant academics due to their complete unfamiliarity with the context.

Departmental context

If a department has an intercultural or international environment with several migrant academics, then a migrant academic may feel more confident in sharing their pedagogic views and contributing to the departmental pedagogic culture. This is likely to reduce the pedagogic dissonance experienced by the migrant academic. However, this will depend on the departmental culture and how inclusive the department is of diverse pedagogical views.

In contrast, if the academic is the lone international voice in the department, they may prefer to conform to the department’s pedagogical approaches.

Disciplinary context

In professional disciplines such as education or veterinary sciences, what is taught is often influenced by the country and cultural context and is embedded within the social environment. Therefore, migrant academics may experience dissonance in how professional learning should occur in such subjects and struggle with their understanding of the disciplinary knowledge that is required for a professional.

Pedagogical dissonance is likely to be less of an issue in disciplines such as biology or physics where the disciplinary knowledge is more universal across countries and less contextualised.

Diversity of training needs

Migrant academics who experience pedagogic dissonance can develop a weak or fractured teacher identity and hence become likely to be less engaged in the academic teaching environment. This can affect their relationship with other teaching academics and it may impact on their professional growth as well as the student learning experience.

Therefore, in those universities where internationalising their workforce is a key priority according to the university’s strategic plan, it is essential that institutions recognise that pedagogic dissonance is multi-factored and hence the teaching training needs of these migrant academics are likely to be diverse.

It is important that universities recognise this diversity in teaching training needs to ensure that migrant academics are appropriately supported to enable them to contribute effectively in their new teaching contexts.

Equally, there is a need for some careful consideration of the possible training needs of home academics to help them work effectively in multicultural higher education ecosystems and to consider ways of making the best use of the opportunities offered for teaching by this academic diversity.

Dr Namrata Rao is a senior lecturer in education at Liverpool Hope University, United Kingdom. Dr Anesa Hosein is a lecturer in higher education at the University of Surrey, UK. They are currently working on several collaborative projects based on the theme of ‘Migration and Academic Acculturation’. Their book, Academics’ International Teaching Journeys, co-edited with other colleagues, will be published by Bloomsbury later this year.