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  • Southern Institute of Technology cultural education exchange introduces Aotearoa to Kansas

    When Covid hit, the Southern Institute of Technology (SIT) knew that it was well placed to engage with its students digitally, as it already had a well-established distance learning faculty. The next move was to look at how that capability could be used for international education.

    Using distance learning for cultural education internationally

    Beyond widening its offering of fees-based online courses, SIT understood the value of establishing cultural exchanges which would engage current learners and potentially generate interest from future learners, says Study Abroad and Partnership Officer Whitney Irwin. She worked in collaboration with the School of Business faculty to set up the cultural exchange between SIT students and those at Johnson County Community College (JCCC) in Kansas, USA. “Being able to create buy-in and have a motivated faculty to get partnership projects across the line is the key to success. SIT has a wonderful culture, and we have all worked together to reorientate our international strategy for the greater good of SIT and our wider community.”

    Experiencing New Zealand Life from afar

    Twenty-five JCCC Economics students asked to be involved out of a class of sixty, reflecting a desire to learn about far-flung New Zealand, meet global peers and to try something new. From SIT, 23 Management students and 28 Communications students took part, with both groups of students using the interactions to produce assessed work.

    “Our aim was to allow US students to see New Zealand life and get a taste of who we are, what we do, and how do we do it, with the bonus that it could also lead to the opening of doors for students to visit New Zealand, and vice versa,” says tutor Selena Coburn.

    Using Zoom, Snapchat, and Instagram, students interviewed each other to learn about our different cultures, looking at differences in communication, lifestyle, politics, and making economic comparisons. Minimum wage, average house prices, and everyday living costs were compared, what the US and NZ dollar bought, and who was actually better off overall.

    They learned about New Zealand’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, rural life, Māori culture, the filming of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, our outdoors lifestyle, and our connections with Australia. They also explored more personal subjects - relationships, music preferences, religious beliefs, parental expectations, and what they did in their spare time.

    “The Kansas students now have a real sense of the kind of people we are,” Ms Coburn says.

    Creating opportunities with a cultural education exchange

    Digital collaboration also presents an opportunity for students, both in New Zealand and offshore, who could never afford to travel or would be uncomfortable leaving their home country, to still experience the cultural exchange which international education offers,” Ms Irwin says.

    “It builds confidence and familiarity with a destination such as New Zealand which may encourage the students to travel here for study later on.”

    And this has proved to be the case, with six Kansas students already saying they are keen to come to New Zealand.

    “All going well, the intention is to host JCCC students here at SIT in 2023.” Ms Irwin says she expects the changes in the ways education is being delivered will continue well into the post-Covid environment.

    “Virtual exchanges are a fantastic collaboration of ideas, which can lead on to the development of other educational products and services.”

  • Student-led business sets out to break down barriers

    InterStudentsNZ, a platform which will host resources and courses to meet the needs of international students, is a regional winner in the Company of the Year category in the Lion Foundation Young Enterprise Scheme. It also scooped the Excellence in Promotion Award and Paying it Forward Award.

    InterStudentsNZ is the brainchild of budding entrepreneurs Mackenzie Roskruge (CEO), KimSreng Keo (Production Manager), and Russle La Morena (Finance Director), who met through the college’s international student buddy scheme. They bonded over a shared interest in education and curiosity about their cultural differences.

    Mackenzie and Russle are both domestic students, but Kim arrived in New Zealand in 2018 as an international student from Phnom Penh, Cambodia, knowing no-one and understanding little of what seemed to be a strange, new culture.

    He believes that international students enrich New Zealand communities and have much to offer, but that many don’t make the most of their time here because they face challenges integrating into the community and planning a future beyond school.

    “Understanding how people think and how to communicate is important,” he says. “When we first arrive many of us have a big language barrier. There are even subtle cultural differences which we don’t understand, and which need explanation.”

    Platform driven by students, for students

    Sharing his insights of the challenges that international students can face, the friends determined that more support was needed and that a platform driven by students, for students, was the answer.

    The opportunity to enter the Young Enterprise Scheme through their Year 13 Business Studies course, gave the students a chance to turn their ideas into reality.

    InterStudentsNZ has big plans. The team want to create a one-stop shop for resources tailored for students to better understand New Zealand’s education system, work environment, and culture.

    “For example, if a student came to us and wanted to learn about New Zealand slang, we could direct them to a one-hour course with video tutorials, quizzes and written explanations to help them master slang,” says Mackenzie.

    “Or a student might want to learn about social innovation in New Zealand. We could potentially provide a one-two hour course each week for a month with case studies, opportunities for mentorship, and tools for how they could move into social innovation themselves.

    Empowering international students in New Zealand

    "We hope students will feel empowered to learn new subjects and inspired to remain studying and working in New Zealand."

    And it’s not only international students who stand to benefit. Surveys of domestic students at Waitakere College showed that they were also interested to explore topics which would likely make them more engaged and invested in their education.

    The InterStudentsNZ team all plan to study at the University of Auckland next year and hope to continue developing their business. With more funding, they would like to add workplace mentorship opportunities for international students, courses in te ao Maori, New Zealand history, and New Zealand industry pathways. They also plan a blog space and a social media presence. “We’re creating a digital Aotearoa for rangatahi all around the world to explore.”

    Giving international students a sense of belonging

    Kim is proud of how much he has achieved since arriving in Auckland as a shy 14-year-old, and grateful for the support he has received from his New Zealand friends. “Working alongside them has been amazing and allowed me to gain so much more confidence. Now we’ve come up with this idea on how to help international students, it’s really strengthened our relationship as a team. “Our business motto is ‘Encouraging Connections’ and that sums up our goals,” says Mackenzie. “It’s about building bridges and supporting international students, giving them a sense of belonging and a great future in New Zealand.”

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