5 Steps 

to Student Integration
 
By Peter Hanami
 
Integrating students is a common challenge facing all institutions that
accept international students. Teachers often ask “How can I to stop the
class being divided into local students on one side of the class and
international students the other side”? Impossible? In this article I will
outline five steps institutions can consider when undertaking an integration
plan and draw on my professional experiences working with international
students in Australia, New Zealand, United States, United Kingdom and
Japan.
 
The aim of any integration plan is to get international students and local
students to work together in an effective way 1 or put another way, to
become part of the campus and be accepted 2.
 
In Japanese, the word  “integrate” is represented by the word tokekomu,
which is made up of two ideas combined, the first , tokeru, 溶 け る , which
means melt, dissolve, or fade into and the second, komu, 込む , meaning to
include, devote oneself to and to concentrate on 3.  The definition takes on
a personal meaning that is particularly useful for managing international
students.
 
The key to successful integration is to equip the student with the tools,
skills and attributes required to effectively participate.
 

Step 1: Respect the student’s culture

International students often study with institutions for relatively short
periods of time. By focusing on international students as customers and not
students, changes the relationship and the management of international
students.
 
Respecting a student’s culture, for example: who they are, where they
come from and what they value, allows a stronger relationship to be
formed. If a student feels   comfortable they are more likely to succeed in
their new study environment.
 
For Example: By providing a Japanese speaking guide as a greeter at the
airport for a new Japanese student a unique positive first impression is
created. By also providing Japanese students access to Japanese food and
groceries they enjoyed at home also helps. Added to this the ability to
speak Japanese with a full time staff member and access to a computer that
reads Japanese characters are all important touches to show the student
that you understand their culture.
 
In my experience, the way to successfully integrate international students is
by having a detailed understanding of the student’s culture. I have found
that by analyzing the important components of a student’s culture provides
clues as to what skills they require and how to best communicate them.
 
A starting point to understand culture is to look at some of the major
components such as food, language, values, religion and education
background. Food plays a major part of life in most cultures, for example,
the majority of Japanese people eat rice at every meal.  If it rice is not
available at your institutions cafeteria, how are you catering to this students
food needs? The student may stay in their room more rather than interact
as they feel compelled to create food that meets their needs.
 
Let me share an experience I encountered. A Japanese student who started
at a home stay didn’t eat for the first three days after arriving in Australia.
The student had paid money for a home stay and expected three meals a
day to be provided. The home stay family had purchased food but wanted
the student to make their own meals. Problem: Different expectations. The
student left the home stay because she could no longer trust the home stay
family. The home stay family was left scratching their head wondering what
went wrong.  A number of issues can be seen in the example. Firstly, the
home stay family was more interested in money than the student, secondly
the student expected a service after paying a large sum of money in
advance, thirdly, self service is uncommon in Japan and finally, you only
have one chance to make a good first impression.
 
If only the home stay family had better understood the students culture.
How a pair of slippers, a hot bath and a bowl of fresh rice would have made
this student more comfortable on arrival at her new house and created a
more favorable impression.
 
Respecting a student’s culture creates a positive element that is particularly
conducive for building trust and starting the process of integration.
 

Step 2: Quantify your institution expectations of international

students?
Reality check! An international student will never be able to integrate 100%
no matter how ambitious your institutions goals. Why? An international
student cannot stop being who they already are. That is a creation of their
own culture. No matter how much they want to change, adapt or
participate.
 
Does your institution expect international students to understand such
things as: The rules of college football? to play sport? Be able to tell and
understand jokes? Use slang? make conversations with strangers? Share
their opinions? Mix well with a wide range of people in English? A typical
Japanese student wouldn’t be able to perform any of the above unless they
were trained specifically.
 
By having a clear set of expectations of what skills and abilities your
institution expects of international students allows a better chance of
communicating them and for students to learn them.
 
For example: What does your faculty staff expect from international
students? In a Marketing class, is the student required to collect, analyze
and question all the information provided in a class and direct creative
based questions to provoke the class thinking?  Or to participate by adding
their own opinion?  What do library staff expect of international students
when they study in the library? How patient are your staff when a student
speaks in broken English?
 
Creating a specific list of required skills, abilities and knowledge provides a
tangible starting place on how to best communicate, train and educate
students to actively participate.
 

Step 3:  Analyze your culture and consider the best way to share it.
What do international students need to know to fully participate at your
institution? What are the key things they need to know? How can you
analyze your culture and convey it simply to students?
 
For Example: How would you describe the learning style in American
schools, the role of the teacher, the skills a student requires to participate
effectively in class? What are the priorities of an American teacher, i.e.,
spelling, attendance, participation or handing assignments in on time?
 
To a Japanese student, who only knows the Japanese education system, the
above questions are top of mind when studying abroad. The typical
questions a Japanese students asks, include: what’s different between
Japan and this institution?, what do I need to know?, how can I learn it?,
who can teach me?, is their a cultural rule book?, how do I communicate
with fellow students when I’m not confident speaking English? What does
the teacher expect of me as an international student? and what do I need to
do to survive this class?
 
Sadly we don’t often take this much effort in understanding what the
student needs but we need to.
 
The following provides an interesting insight into how an Asian student
views their own culture.

“The Asian culture, in a sense, is more feminine. We tend to be quiet and

reserved. We follow instructions, we don't voice our opinions, we show
respect. We call our elders by 'uncle' our 'aunt' - everyone, whether we're
related or not. Back home, there's a hierarchy in terms of how you treat
people”. Nicholas Ling, a Malaysian architecture student, studying at an
Australian University. 4

What can your institution do to better prepare international students for

study?
 

Step 4: Make available all relevant study information in the students

native language
If an institution’s own language is English the majority of information given
to students will be in English. For Japanese students to study overseas they
need a certain level of English to understand lectures, take notes and
participate in classes but this does not necessarily mean that they are
comfortable with English. A high TOEIC score does not reflect a student’s
competency in using the language or their confidence.
 
It is vitally important for institutions to step back and see the amount of
information given from the student’s perspective.
 
Students may be able to read the information but do they have the time,
ability and cultural knowledge to understand the information and to act in
the same way a local student would?
 
Providing key information in the students native language doesn’t reduce
the student’s English ability. What it does is increase the students comfort
level and provides confidence that they can participate on the same level as
a local student knowing they have the same information.
 

Step 5:  Increase student opportunities for participation.

When I interview Japanese students about their study abroad experiences a
common theme that comes up is how to make friends with local people.
Most students share their anguish of not being able to speak English well
enough and their lack of ability to make friendships. Often it is not the
English language ability that impacts their ability to make friends but the
lack of opportunities to interact with local students.
 
Institutions can increase opportunities by actively creating events and
encouraging international students to participate.
 
For Example: Japanese culture is group based and so it is common for
Japanese to do many activities with groups of people and not individually.
Therefore, to be faced to undertake an activity alone is a daunting task for a
Japanese student. To overcome this personal invitation to participate with a
group can quickly get a Japanese student involved. Fear of failure, making
mistakes and uncertainty are reduced and a common bond can be quickly
formed.
 
An international student co-coordinator at a High School once told me
during a research project, “We have found that once a student has local
friends, most of their daily worries tend to disappear their confidence grows
and they blossom”
 
It is worthwhile to consider creating a range of events and opportunities
that continuously allow international students to meet and interact with
local people.
 
Individual personal preferences collected during the recruitment process can
be used to specifically create personalized meaningful activities in which
each student can participate in.
 
Integration is an ongoing challenge for all institutions and one that must be
carefully planned for, monitored and continuously reviewed. To adequately
ensure students are integrated, institutions should develop an Integration
department with staff devoted full time to the cause. Ultimately a student’s
success is dependent on how comfortable they feel and how able they are
to participate in an institution.
 
International students are people and managing people requires
considerable effort, planning and commitment. International students add
an extra dimension to the management equation as they have different
backgrounds, beliefs and values. Therefore considerably more planning,
research and understanding is required to meet the challenge.
 
The benefits that international students bring to institutions and the positive
contribution’s they make therefore deserve our constant full attention.
 
Peter Hanami is an Australian International Education Consultant based in Tokyo
who assists education institutions attract, manage and retain Japanese students as
customers.
 
 
1. 2003, Dictionary of Contemporary English, Longman imprint, Pearson
Education Limited, Essex, England, United  Kingdom.
2. 2003, Dictionary of Contemporary English, Longman imprint, Pearson
Education Limited, Essex, England, United Kingdom.
3. Nelson, Andrew and Hag, John (1999) The Compact Nelson, Japanese
English Character Dictionary, Charles E. Tuttle Company, Inc, Tokyo, Japan.
4. Stark, J (2005) Hello Stranger, Language and cultural barriers prevent
many of Victoria's Asian students from mixing with the locals, Age
Newspaper, Internet: accessed, September 19, 2005, www.theage.com.au