The graphic above from the Canadian Bureau for International Education provides a clear picture of the status of Canada as a destination for international students. The quality of our education system and our reputation as a safe and tolerant society has led to 95% of international students recommending Canada as a study destination. More than half of these students come from India and China. Although a relatively small percentage today, the numbers of students coming from Vietnam is growing at the fastest pace. These trends continue to grow with more and more international students travelling to Canada to benefit from the experience we provide. These figures are played out convincingly in my classes at Niagara College. Our one-year Wine Business Management post-grad certification program has almost 60% international students with the vast majority from India. Some of these students have already completed a one-year diploma at the college, while others arrived mere days before the start of fall 2018 classes.
The culture shock can be quite dramatic. Although many international students speak English with some confidence, they come to Canada with entirely different life and education experiences. Some have a different view of academic integrity. Some view class attendance as entirely optional. Many are shy and reluctant to speak out or ask questions. Furthermore, they are surrounded by domestic students many of whom speak more clearly, appear to grasp the material more easily, often have considerable domestic industry experience, and are much more familiar with the trials and tribulations of the Canadian education system. In the early going, domestic Canadian students are keen to help the newcomers to adjust to their new learning environment but these attitudes change as time goes along and many feel they are carrying the international students on their backs in group work and classroom participation. All of this adds up to significant fear, lack of confidence, poor attendance, disconnection, plagiarism, and self-handicapping in international students, which very often leads to course and program failure. Domestic students sometimes feel too much attention is being paid to the needy international students, and class material is being dumbed down or moves along at a much slower pace in order to accommodate ESL students. This can lead to much frustration and discontentment which leads to poor student satisfaction. On the other hand, those international students that feel supported by the school and professors, are engaged in the programming and extra-curricular experiences, and build lasting bonds with domestic students are more likely to have success and to speak highly of the experience and institution to others back home. With declining domestic enrolment, if Canadian colleges and universities are to survive and thrive, it is critical that they continue to put in place the kinds of supports, programs, and initiatives required to provide the best possible learning experience for the growing number of students from other countries.
In this blog, I will research the experiences of international students in the Canadian school system and will try to uncover and propose unique and effective ways to provide the kind of innovative and supportive environment required to maximize student retention and success for both international and domestic students. The ultimate goal for any post-secondary institution is to ensure that both our domestic and international enrolment grows at the highest rate possible in the years ahead.
References:
Canadian Bureau for International Education. (n.d.). Canada’s Performance and Potential in International Education. Retrieved from https://cbie.ca/media/facts-and-figures/
Smith, C. (2016). International Student Success. Strategic Enrollment Management Quarterly, 4(2), 61-73. doi:10.1002/sem3.20084
Innovation in Teaching and Learning 
Hi Peter,
I think this is a really great question to explore. In Ontario public schools, ESL students receive ESL support regularly and the gap between English Language native speakers and ESL students generally closes within 3 years (I can’t find where I read that now, but it was from an American news source citing Canada as an exemplary model for supporting ESL students. I’ll keep looking for the article). In post-secondary though, this isn’t the case. I am just learning this now as I begin my journey teaching at Western. I was shocked to learn at my instructor orientation that many of our students come to class with a person to translate for them.
I look forward to reading what you learn in your inquiry.
Regan
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Hi Peter,
Your topic hits close to home for me. In my role (recruitment and admissions for graduate business programs), I work with thousands of international applicants each year, the majority of them coming from China and India. Once they are here in Canada, I often hear the academic directors talking about the struggles that some of them have in adjusting to life in Canada, communication and group work. As a result, a big part of my job is to screen international applicants and try to identify any “red flags” that may be an issue when they are in the programs. One tool we use is a video essay platform through Kira Talent. We design questions to specifically touch on the areas where we often see issues (examples: “Tell me about a time when you experienced conflict in a team setting and how did you handle it?”; “What culture fascinates you and why?”) These questions are an attempt to see how the applicant approaches collaborative teamwork and to see if they have cultural intelligence. This platform also allows us to evaluate their grasp of English and verbal communication skills. We have found this to be an innovative approach to ensuring that international candidates will likely be successful in a Master’s level business program. I am interested in following your exploration of strategies to support international students while in the program and I will do some thinking about what we do and get back to you on that.
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