My thoughts and reflections on culture, cosmopolitan teacher identity, opportunity and attitude - and expanding one's shoe collection

I read and studied Erika Hepple's (2013) article Developing Cosmopolitan Professional Identities Engaging Australian and Hong Kong Trainee Teachers in Intercultural Conversations. When I was reading the article I found myself reflecting the narratives and reflections of the teacher trainees and the views expressed by Hepple herself on myself as a language teacher teaching students from different cultural backgrounds and language skills, as a vocational teacher student learning in different learning environments and also as a participant in a multicultural online module. Through out my reading process I caught myself thinking about my own teacher identity, my desire to develop my teacher identity towards being more cosmopolitan and also my desire to expand my knowledge and understanding in the field of online education. While reading the article I also considered the intercultural and multicultural aspects of the teacher education curriculum and the school system we have here in Finland.

The research question guiding Hepple's study was ”Does engaging international and domestic trainee teachers in structured intercultural conversations help them develop more cosmopolitan professional identities?” My first thought was: “Of course! - continuing with - “Not necessarily.” I think key things in learning are opportunity and attitude. If one is given an opportunity to learn, it's up to one's own attitude how the opportunity is best used for one's own advantage. I think an open mind, a desire to learn and a will go the extra mile – whether in your own shoes or in somebody else's - is a good state of mind in one's journey on the path of life long learning.

Harrington (2010) states that ”each student brings their own specific culture to their education”, whether gender related or not. Thus one can state that every classroom, and in my opinion an online e-learning classroom / environment included,”contains layers of multiculturalism and diversity. This is why educators, teachers must ”think outside their comfort zone and area of knowledge to develop a meaningful learning for all their students”. In today's world when one thinks of a learning situation one must also think of a multicultural learning. They say, the world is small nowadays. You can easily travel from one country to another, contact, talk, chat with a friend via phone, internet etc. You can study in different languages in different countries, in different cultures even within one country. People, education and cultures interact and are intertwined. Today's teachers need to be ”multiculturally equipped” in order to act in today's varied multicultural learning environments. If one's country's teacher education curriculum does not offer interaction with cultures then it's up to self to find different paths to develop one's teacher identity towards being more multicultural and cosmopolitan. I think for a teacher to develop one's teacher identity depends on one's – not the intercultural and multicultural study opportunities alone – but on one's want and willingness to walk in someone else's shoe and will to expand one's shoe collection i.e. will to expand one's understanding and awareness on multiculturalism in learning – and teaching – by actively participating in intercultural and multicultural learning modules, learning environments and opportunities. I agree with our latest M4 module participant Annie khan's statement in her blog (learningisthekeytosuccess.blogspot.ae) “Getting multicultural learning opportunities open the minds and hearts which is important for the learning process”.

”Does engaging international and domestic trainee teachers in structured intercultural conversations help them develop more cosmopolitan professional identities?” Hepple's study shows that intercultural conversations offer opportunities for dialogic interaction with cultural other. Marchenkova (2004) states that ”dialogism offers a socialcultural perspective of knowledge being formed dynamically in and through interaction”. In Hepple's study through these face-to-face conversations the participants extended their cultural and linguistic understandings and increased their knowledge of each others educational context. In her article Hepple also talks about the importance of guided reflection on intercultural conversation experiences and in developing professional identity. Through their reflections the participants could reflect on how the expectations they had turned out to be incorrect for example on the language skills of the Hong Kong participants. Through this experience the Austaralian trainees now have ”a broader view of the linguistic capabilities of speakers who use English as an Additional Language”. However, in relation to what I said earlier – learning is about opportunity and attitude. In Hepple's study, there was one Australian participant who stated in his reflection that he “did not bring much out” of the meetings with the Hong Kong students. Was this because he did not have an open mind and the will to walk in someone else's shoes? Was he happy with just his own shoes and didn't want to expand his collection? Did he feel his teacher identity was already cosmopolitan enough? I'd like to interview Harry – about his multicultural shoe collection. I wonder whether all his shoes are Australian?

I've worked as a language teacher teaching English and Swedish to Finnish students but also to students who don't understand Finnish nor English, students who use English as an Additional Language. I've taught English and Swedish to students with various nationalities and mother tongues and different levels of language skills. I've worked with teacher's aid from Russia. I've taught Finnish and Swedish to American children. I've studied Italian in English in America (and now both my sons study all subjects in English in Finland, expect Finnish of course.) Now that I think back on my experiences as a language teacher (and a student ) I can see I've acted like some of the Australian trainee teachers in Hepple's study. In Hepple's study some of the Australian trainees ”noted making some slight adjustments to their speech” when they were talking to the Hong Kong trainee teachers due to their ”stereotypical expectations of language weakness” with the Hong Kong trainees. I now realize I have done the same with some of my students with different cultural backgrounds. And with some of my foreign friends I still do it; I think about and adjust the level of language I use when interacting with them, especially when interacting online. This module has already changed the way I think about and reflect on things; learning, multicultural learning, e-learning, the importance of reflection. Never before have I given much active thought to these issues. I'm intrigued to say the least.

In their reflections the trainees in Hepple's study also talked the body language in communication. We all know body language is part of communication. In Hepple's study some of the Australian trainees found it ”difficult to interpret meanings across culture”. The trainees expected to have to use body language cues but were unable to understand what the Honk Kong trainee's cues meant. I'm thinking this must be a cultural thing. I once had a Bulgarian boy come into my English class and as I was explaining to him something and then asked whether he understood the task he would smile and shake his head from left to right which in Finland means “no”. I was confused, asking him to reply with words. Again the boy smiled, shook his head from left to right and said ”yes”. In Bulgaria shaking your head from left to right means “yes” and nodding means “no” whereas in Finland this is the opposite. After clearing this cultural cue difference communication between the boy student and I became more clear. I'm feeling a tad more cosmopolitan already.

A multicultural situation is a situation where a heterogeneous population is trained. This kind of situation means new problems when it comes to the level of organizing; which ICT-tools to use, what will the working language and the working hours be, what is the shared knowledge and the cultural background of the participants etc. Bhattaacharya & Jorgensen (2004) state that ”cultural identity offers new educational challenges”. What is culture? ”I think that the first and most important lesson of culture is that it belongs to the people, it belongs to us, it is what we make, and we have tools now more than ever than we did in the past to make culture”. (Downes, 2012)

Learning cultures are affected by many variables. In the past learning cultures were teacher-centered and content-driven where as today's developed learning cultures allow dialogue, interaction, collaboration and reflection. The past teacher-centered learning culture does not produce learning that is needed in the 21^st century multicultural knowledge society. Instead today's developed learning designs ”create a solid starting point for the group to collaboratively create a multicultural 21^st century learning culture”. (Teräs, Leppisaari, Teräs & Herrington. 2012). Hepple's states in her article that because “schools have become increasingly culturally and linguistically diverse”the teachers need to be “able to communicate and relate interculturally” hence the need to develop more cosmopolitan identities. The growing multiculturalism in classrooms is seen also here in Finland. More and more classrooms have students with different nationalities, backgrounds and cultures. I agree with Hepple, intercultural education should be an essential component of teacher education programs. For me M4 module is part of my vocational teacher education program. For me M4 module is an opportunity. Like Annie khan I'm hoping that through this course “my understanding and awareness with Multicultural e-learning will improve further”. I now have the opportunity to learn, to develop my teacher identity, to expand my shoe collection and – Oh, and do I love shoes – regardless the country of origin!