IIC-Toolkit
International and Intercultural Toolkit.
The toolkit is used in difficult cultural situations to reflect on what exactly happened. While teaching abroad, teachers sometimes have to deal with less pleasant moments. By discussing this with your students, you get a better view and can look together for a solution that meets everyone's needs. Both cultural points of view get a place.
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I also experienced a not so nice moment with one of my students during my internship in Aruba. To get an overview of the situation, it has been written out in several steps. Curious about what happened? You can read about it below.
Observation
What happened (= what did I say/do; what were my thoughts; what did the other say/do/think?)
If possible, check what the other was thinking to get a full picture and not only your observation of the situation. What are the ‘facts’, describe these as objective as you can (versus interpretations/judgments.)
During one of my classes with the first-year students, I was alone in front of the class. My mentor was in a meeting at the time, but trusted me enough. She had warned me in advance about some boys, though. Class had been in progress for several minutes when a group of boys walked into the classroom late. Meanwhile, I had already started my explanation so I asked the group to sit somewhere quiet without disturbing the rest and follow along. While they did this I continued with the explanation, but there was one boy who kept making noise. He was looking for someone to continue chatting with. At his first attempts I let it pass me by, but then I addressed him on this and gave him a warning. Further on during my explanation, I noticed he was scrolling on his smartphone under his couch. Again, I stopped my lesson and confiscated his smartphone. As the students worked independently on their assignments, things went wrong. The boy was not working on the assignment at all. Instead, he was chatting with other students, yelling at other students, taking stuff from other students and running around the classroom.
Feelings
What were you (and the other(s) feeling)?
Feelings are messengers, they tell us when our needs are met (feelings we enjoy) and when our needs are not met (feelings we generally don’t enjoy so much). In other words, they show us the way to the needs underlying our emotions (and (re)actions). If we can see emotions as messengers, it can help us to use them as tools to meet our needs and the needs of the other(s), and not get stuck in a difficult feeling.
I found his behavior very tiresome, and after a while I also became annoyed. After making so many comments, I gradually felt the anger in me come out, but I also felt a little hopeless. I didn't want to punish, but felt I couldn't do anything else at this point. Especially when other students were also addressing me about his behavior. He was disruptive to everyone. But he just seemed to like getting all the attention and didn't care about anything. He laughed everything away.
Needs
What were my (and the other person’s) needs? Were our needs met, or not?
Here you get an opportunity to learn about what is important for you (your needs) and what is important for the other (their needs). If you know what everyone’s needs are you can go to finding a win-win solution for everyone’s needs to be met. Here you will be activating your creative powers in finding a solution that feels like a ‘win’ for everyone involved!
My need was to create a pleasant atmosphere for the students while working on the assignment without too many stimuli. A time when students were working independently and working on the assignment to their own ends. There was a particular need for calm after the chaos that had arisen. When I asked why he was acting this way and what he himself thought of his behavior, I didn't even get an answer.
Reaction
How did you (and the other person) react?
Analyse your reaction and re-think through reflection. Do you have cultural/historical/political/geographical… insights to explain and perhaps re-consider your initial reaction? If possible, also use insights that are useful for your professional context when analysing this particular situation.
I had enough and finally decided to set him apart, away from everyone else. I requested him to take a seat at the front of the desk. To this he did not respond positively. Reluctantly he grabbed his things and took a seat. He sat on his chair for at least another 5min without starting the assignment. Again I spoke to him about this. This time I did get an answer. He told me that he didn't want to make the assignment because he didn't see the point of it and because I am just an intern he didn't want to listen to me. This caught me a little off guard, but I kept on asking. I also explained to him that his behavior was disturbing, both to me and the others. He didn't even want to look at me after a while. I found this very disrespectful and noticed that further talking with him was pointless. Meanwhile, the other students were also waiting for my help. For the rest of the lesson I left the boy alone and he also left the other students alone.
Request
Based on own needs and the needs of the other you can formulate a request to yourself on how you’d like to act differently next time, and/or request something that the other person could support you in.
Note: A request means you are ok with the other person giving you a ‘no’ if it something they feel they do not want/cannot do. If that is the case, you go back to 'Needs' and brainstorm (together) to find another solution that does work for all parties.
At the end of class, I asked the boy to stay for a while. My mentor was also back at that time and thought it was a good idea, after I briefly informed her of the situation. Now he was willing to talk because the teacher was there. Together we discussed all that had happened and took a few steps back. Finally we came to a solution and tried it out during the next lesson. We had agreed that if he was upset about something, he would come and tell me in person and not start looking for attention, thus disturbing the lesson.
To avoid similar situations in the future, I might start my lesson with a check-in where I ask about the students' well-being. This way I immediately get an overview of how the students are feeling and can take this into account during the lesson. With a check-out I can then conclude the lesson again.