Something very magical happens in those classrooms where skilled and caring adults who celebrate diversity are committed to truly inclusive teaching and learning.
‍Anne Marie Richardson-Gibbs and M. Diane Klein

International learners usually come from different educational systems and with different beliefs and expectations about learning. Students coming from more hierarchical or collectivist cultures might find that the more egalitarian approach and expectation of independent learning at New Zealand schools and institutions are a bit challenging. Different communication styles can also present some issues in the interaction between students, their peers and their teachers.

It is useful to explore an outside-looking-in perspective to make sense of international learners' perceptions. The New Zealand educational system offers a unique mix of Western educational approaches and Mātauranga Māori, and the Understand New Zealand’s education system topic in Student experience for agents examines some of these unique features.��

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Professor Jin Li, in her book Cultural Foundations of Learning (2013), introduces research that identifies the influence of learning beliefs and expectations of students. She found that when students were asked for words they relate to learning, 70% of European American students would state thinking, creativity, critical thinking, curiosity and inquiry, while 70% of the Chinese students would say lifelong pursuit, humility, respect, hard work and persistence. This research set the basis for her theory of Mind and Virtue orientation in relation to different cultural approaches to learning. Jin Li introduced this difference as the broad distinction between the Eastern and Western ways of learning.

Professor Ulrich Kuhnen and Marieke van Egmond (2018) further explored these two ways of learning in Learning: a cultural construct, including the goals of learning, the processes involved in learning, the effects it evokes and the role of teachers. The main differences are outlined below:

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Applying a Mind versus Virtue schema, it is not difficult to conclude that students from Eastern-orientated societies will face greater adaptation challenges in New Zealand learning contexts.

The quote below encapsulates the preferences of teachers with a Mind Orientation:

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“Teachers enjoy students who interact, ask questions and perceive quiet students as unresponsive, unappreciative, unenthusiastic.”
(Hawthorne et al., 2004)��

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Avoiding these perceptions and attitudes towards minority students should be equally applied to international students. With the right blend of cultural awareness and targeted activities, virtue oriented learners are enabled to respond to a more western approach to learning.������

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From the students’ perspective, they can also be left confused and underperforming due to their lack of understanding of the rules of engagement in this new context. See some of the international students’ comments below.

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“I was quite shocked when I handed in my first assignment for my Masters degree and I was told my work looks like plagiarism and they expected me to share my opinion, not just repeat what authors have already said. I graduated at the top of my class in Argentina where teachers expect us to respect their knowledge and the contributions of key authors. In exams they expect us to be able to share exactly what those people had researched and no one wants to hear my personal view on this research.”
‍Maria from Argentina

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“I still struggle to concentrate in class as students are very loud and they are always challenging the teacher's knowledge, which I find very disrespectful. However, those students asking a lot of questions seem to get higher marks!
‍Jenny from Vietnam

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Both students and teachers hold their own learning beliefs, perceptions and expectations around learning. These perspectives can be very different and can hinder the students’ experience in New Zealand. But there are some strategies we can apply to turn these differences into an opportunity. Let’s discuss what teachers can do about it.

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When facing a classroom with diversity in cultural dispositions and learning styles, what would be the best way to approach this and be effective? Your intercultural competence skills come in handy. Remember that intercultural competence is the ability to interact effectively and appropriately with people from a different cultural background, and that includes different learning beliefs. Being effective is about achieving your goal (in this case, making sure everyone learns) and developing a practice that works for everyone.��

To achieve this there are a few strategies you can use:

Set the scene upfront

It is important that students are aware from day one of your expectations around their participation in class. What are the behaviours that will be rewarded, what are the interventions considered appropriate in this context, how will they be successful in your class, etc.

‍Cultivate your self awareness

Make sure you understand YOUR preferred way of learning and what your expectations are around learning. How do these expectations influence the way you teach, assess and connect with your students?��

‍Increase your awareness of your learners’ cultures

Take time to understand, as much as possible, how international students in your classroom prefer to learn. There are useful online tools such as and that highlight different cultural approaches to relating to an authority figure (e.g. a teacher). Ask what sort of methodology works best, how do they typically relate to the teachers, how do they feel when they fail, etc.

‍Diversify your methods

Anticipate classes that reflect diverse learning backgrounds. Incorporate a variety of methods that enable you to craft a versatile ‘dragnet’ pedagogy that engages the majority of the classroom.

‍Go from facilitator to teacher when necessary

Many students from High Power Distance societies are used to 'sitting at the feet of the guru'. Consider ways to incorporate different teaching methods. Be prepared to engage sometimes as a facilitator (which works best for the Mind Orientation) and sometimes as a teacher-fronted expert (which works best for the Virtue Orientation). Being explicit about when you are using each style will help students align with your expectations.

‍Use diversity as your ‘magic power’

When facilitating activities and conversations, tapping into your diversity will make your classes more relevant and also show students you care and appreciate diversity. Most topics lend themselves to another interpretation or perspective, so why not ask international students about their perspective? How is this taught in their countries? What are the stories they have heard about these topics?

‍Practise ako

The ako approach to learning (NZ Teachers Council, 2011) is very helpful for international learners. A teacher who invests in a reciprocal learning approach is more likely to discover the unique funds of knowledge international students bring to the classroom.

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There are plenty of activities that will help you use that diversity as your magic power, having meaningful conversations around difficult topics and helping students appreciate multiple perspectives.��

You can find some great activities developed thanks to The Intercultural Learning For Pupils and Teachers and Expanding Learning Mobility Through Inclusion and Cooperation �������𳦳ٲ�.��

Work on compiling resources that allow you to tap international students' funds of knowledge and increase their participation in class activities, zooms and tutorials.

Understand the New Zealand’s education system in the ENZ Agents Lab offers insights into the uniqueness of the New Zealand education system. The online resource offers advice for agents advising new international students preparing for the likelihood of different approaches to learning and teaching.������

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UNESCO Story Circles

A very powerful tool to increase awareness of diversity and a sense of inclusion and belonging in the classrooms is the

Story Circles is a structured yet flexible methodology for developing intercultural competencies in a variety of contexts, both formal and informal. Piloted in five countries by UNESCO (Thailand, Costa Rica, Zimbabwe, Austria and Tunisia), the methodology has proven to be effective on a variety of different issues - from the social inclusion of migrants to dialogue among indigenous peoples - with participants acquiring strong skills for tolerance, empathy, critical thinking and listening for understanding.��

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Intercultural competence in TESOL

Tapping into your student body diversity is a great way to develop curiosity, empathy and respect for differences and it is also a very effective way of supporting international students' language skills. From storytelling, to music and sports, there are plenty of opportunities to bring cultural diversity to your classroom.

Have a look at these articles from the British Council for strategies to encourage intercultural learning and exchange:

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Activities that offer learners opportunities to share traditional folk tales helps to authenticate their own heritage cultures and arouse the curiosity of their peers

Teachers share their methods for raising cultural awareness, which include investigating different countries’ holidays, the introduction of foreign language films and songs with subtitles and preparing a day of celebrations that showcase different foods, poems and biographies of famous countrymen and countrywomen.��

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Kolb (2018) introduced the experiential learning model to show learning as an ongoing process grounded in reflection that is continuously modified by new experiences. This model possesses relevance for international education because students do not simply learn by being transplanted into another culture. Their cross-border experience becomes beneficial when used as a basis for reflection and experimentation.

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While some learners like to start with a concrete experience, others prefer to begin with the concept. Think of the last time you learned a new recipe in the kitchen:

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You could have started mixing ingredients based on previous knowledge: perhaps you tasted that dish before or saw someone else cooking it. This would start with a concrete experience. Or you could have found the recipe in the book. This is starting with the theory or abstract conceptualisation.

Encouraging learner reflection��

The experiential learning model (Kolb, 2018) retains currency among intercultural competency educators, workshop facilitators and community educators. It has been useful for supporting international students one-to-one and designing��tailored orientations that cater to different learning styles.

The model also distinguishes between learners’ preference for acquiring information (through concrete experience or abstract conceptualisation) or processing information (through reflective observation or active experimentation). Learners have specific preferred learning styles. See the model below:

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Diverging

These learners usually have the ability to see things from differing perspectives and prefer watching to doing.�� They are also able to use their imaginations to be creative in their overall learning styles. They usually enjoy icebreakers, brainstorming and storytelling.

‍Assimilating

These people are able to explore and analyse models well. They are more interested in concepts and tasks than in interpersonal relationships. The type of activities they enjoy the most are lectures, discussion of patterns and theories and instructional videos.

‍Converging

These people are good problem-solvers and are seen as being quite practical in their analyses of ideas and tasks. They are more likely to enjoy role plays, simulations, case studies and scenarios discussions.

‍Accommodating

These people tend to be more practical in their outlook of learning, and they like to see problems from an intuitive point of view. They are the type of people that rely on gut feeling. They like new-found challenges. This type of learner will enjoy hands-on activities, goal setting, action planning and field trips (Kolb, 2018)

‍QUICK TIP��

Chat��GPT��(August 2025)��offers this summary of the experiential learning model:

The Kolb Experiential Learning Model (ELM) is generally regarded as one of the most influential and widely used frameworks in adult education, workplace learning, and higher education. �� ����

Each learner is unique

These individual characteristics offer another caution against over-emphasising cultural differences. At the person-to-person level, each learner is a ‘finite mystery’ (Yancey, 2001) . Also, certain education systems may favour certain learning styles er others. For some individual learners, it is not until they arrive in New Zealand that they have an opportunity to experiment with a more intuitive learning style; learning in a New Zealand context might prove to be a liberating step-change for them. What is considered a more informal, interpersonal approach to education in Aotearoa, New Zealand, is a pull-factor for some international students and their families.

"Do the opposite"��

Finally, teachers are encouraged to be keen observers and guard against auto-pilot routines in diverse classrooms. The distinguished teacher ed documentucator Professor John Fanselow (1987) counsels teachers to do their own experimentation by doing the opposite in their teaching practice. He encourages teachers to intermittently break their own pedagogic rules and see what happens. This is essentially an encouragement to continually critique preconceptions of learning and teaching to see whether they bring positive, demonstrable impacts on learner behaviour. Fanselow’s counsel is particularly useful for teachers working with international students, as the assumptions teachers bring about learning may be truer of their domestic students than they are for their international learners.

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International learners bring a wealth of diversity to classrooms all around the world. This diversity can present challenges for teachers, international education professionals and the students themselves. International students’ cultural instincts influence the way they see the world, the way they communicate, and their values and beliefs in general. This includes expectations around learning and teaching. We learned that some cultures possess a mind orientation where the focus is on critical thinking, creativity and relating to the teacher as a facilitator. Other cultures prefer a virtue orientation to learning which focuses on hard work, humility and a view of the teacher as a respected knowledge provider.��

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An awareness of different educational orientations will help the teacher to tailor their pedagogy for diverse classrooms that increasingly include New Zealand born-students, new settlers, refugee-background learners and international students. It is important for teachers to be developing their intercultural competence as a matter of ongoing professional development. This allows them to get to grips with their own personal beliefs and simultaneously improve their understanding of the learning needs in front of them.������

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Teachers are required to be flexible to tap into students' diversity in a way that works for everyone and helps students develop curiosity, empathy and appreciate differences. Including activities that celebrate diversity and foster inclusion in the classroom are effective ways of doing so beyond your curriculum.

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Fanselow, J. F. (1987). Breaking rules: Generating and exploring alternatives in language teaching. Longman.

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Hawthorne, L., Minas, I.H. and Singh, B. (2004). A Case Study in the globalization of medical education: assisting overseas-born students at the University of Melbourne. Medical Teacher, 26 (2), 150-159.

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Jin L. (2012). Cultural foundations of learning East and West. Cambridge University Press.

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Kolb, D.A. (2018). . Second Edition. Pearson Education.

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Kolb, A., & Kolb, D. (2018). Eight important things to know about the experiential learning cycle. Australian Education Leader, 40 (3). 8-14.

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Kühnen, U.,�� & van Egmond, M.�� (2018). Learning, a cultural construct. In�� J. Proust, and M. Fortier, M. (Eds.). Metacognitive Diversity: An Interdisciplinary Approach (pp. 245–264). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198789710.003.0012��

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New Zealand Teachers Council. (2011). Tātaiako: Cultural competencies for teachers of Māori learners. Ministry of Education.

Yancey, P. (2001). Soul survivor. Hodder & Stoughton.