Abstract
The trend in education is shifting toward a greater concern with learning. In this new model, teachers are required to constantly reflect on their pedagogy to sustain student interest and engagement. This reflective inquiry is particularly important when the teacher and students are of different language and culture as in the case of Zayed University, UAE. Such cross-cultural context often complicates the learning environment resulting in confusion, stress, and frustration for faculty and students. It also results in a reduced teaching effectiveness and a need to regularly adapt tried methods of teaching in Western universities with the educational background of students. This process requires deep reflection and cultural adjustment. This study therefore investigated the challenges, critical inquiry, and adjustments of Western faculty in the delivery of an American curriculum taught in English to Emirati female students. The study also sought to derive a theoretical model explaining faculty reflective processes in cross-cultural classrooms.
Citation
Khelifa, M. (2009), "Reflective Practice in a Cross-Cultural University Setting: A Theoretical Model", Learning and Teaching in Higher Education: Gulf Perspectives, Vol. 6 No. 1, pp. 2-17. https://doi.org/10.18538/lthe.v6.n1.04
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2009 Maher Khelifa
License
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
Acknowledgements
Publisher's note: The Publisher would like to inform the reader that the article “Reflective Practice in a Cross-Cultural University Setting: A Theoretical Model” has changed pagination. Previous pagination was pp. 1-16. The updated pagination for the article is now pp. 2-17. The Publisher apologises for any inconvenience caused.