Teaching Thanatology in a Foreign Country: Implications for Death Educators

Abstract

Although an increasing number of death educators will have the opportunity to teach abroad, many may not be fully aware of the issues that arise in intercultural instruction and are not prepared to handle the pedagogical challenges associated with teaching thanatology in a foreign country. On the basis of experience of teaching in China, the author describes the challenges of intercultural teaching, strategies for adapting instruction to address the pedagogical obstacles, and the ways an international teaching experience can enrich instruction.

Cross‐Cultural Issues Arising for Four Science Teachers During Their International Migration to Teach in U.S. High Schools

“…Although many of the references in this paper noted remarkable differences between Western and Eastern students, Sarkodie‐Mensah (1991), Wu (2002), and Shatz (2002) especially noted that great hierarchical differences exist between teachers and students in different cultures. These authors and the participants in this study are all in agreement with Gao (2002), who observed that in China, for example, notions of attitude promotion and conduct guidance prevail.…”

“…Shatz (2002) recounted his experiences as a foreign college instructor in Hong Kong and made similar observations as Kuhn's. He also raised the issue of communication and was in total agreement with Fortuijn (2002), who emphasized that communication barriers can be a major issue in international or cross‐cultural education.…”

“…Woods (2001) acknowledged the existence of such communication issues and responded by noting that international faculty members need to develop new critical vocabulary in order to become effective in their new teaching environments. Fortuijn (2002), Ladd and Ruby (1999), Kuhn (1996), and Shatz (2002) all agree that communication is an issue confronting foreign teachers. Ladd and Ruby (1999) cautioned that instructors should be careful when using idioms or forms of speech that cannot be understood from the individual meanings of their elements.…”

“…Beyond the rich literature in cross‐cultural cognition, the issues involved in teaching across cultures have been treated in the literature across different disciplines and issues (He, 2002; Kuhn, 1996; Shatz 2002; Woods, 2001; Wu, 2002). Sarkodie‐Mensah (1991) reported the pedagogical culture shock resulting from the different expectations he had and the actual classroom behaviors of American college students.…”

“…Most of the literature cited in this paper implicitly recommended that teachers planning to teach in foreign countries should expect culture and pedagogical shocks and plan accordingly in order to become effective in their new environments. Shatz (2002) summarized their recommendations as follows: “Instructors must learn how to teach and, perhaps more importantly, function in a new cultural context” (p. 426).…”