Services of the CFT: International Teaching Assistant Program

This article was originally published in the Spring 1999 issue of the CFT's newsletter, Teaching Forum.

By Darlene Panvini

The International Teaching Assistant Program (ITAP) employs a three-pronged approach to helping International Teaching Assistants (ITAs) adjust to their new culture and teaching duties by providing support and practice in three areas: English language, teaching techniques common to U.S. educational systems, and cultural adjustment to the U.S. and Vanderbilt. We call this TLC (Teaching-Language-Culture) for ITAs!

This past fall, 55 new ITAs participated in the orientation for all new teaching assistants. Each ITA also took a SPEAK test and gave a short videotaped presentation to identify language and teaching areas that may need developing before the ITA is ready to assume actual teaching duties. To assist ITAs as they prepare for their teaching responsibilities, a wide variety of services are available.

Student Consultants : The most widely used and definitely the most popular service offered by ITAP is the opportunity for an ITA to meet with an undergraduate Student Consultant three hours per week to focus on TLC. In their meetings, they engage in a wide variety of activities in which an ITA may: practice teaching concepts from the ITA's discipline and receive immediate feedback from the Student Consultant, review technical vocabulary, practice problem-solving skills, practice conversational English skills, learn common idioms used by undergraduates, meet for lunch and talk about U.S. culture, or tour campus and discuss student life.

Teaching Skills Course : ITAs meet with Dr. Darlene Panvini, who coordinates ITAP, for three hours per week for a semester-long course. Class size is limited so that each ITA has a chance to engage in discussion and to practice the pedagogical and communication skills he or she needs to be an effective teacher. Homework exercises, to be completed with a Student Consultant, reinforce and expand the concepts discussed in class.

Videotapings : ITAs are videotaped twice per semester either in the classroom or in a practice session at the Center for Teaching. Videotapings encourage ITAs to think about their style of teaching in the context of a U.S. classroom and the ITAs get feedback on their language skills.

TAP NOTES : This biweekly newsletter for ITAs and Student Consultants includes teaching tips, conversation ideas, interviews, language exercises, and dialogues for the pair to use during their meetings.

ESL Courses : In conjunction with the English for Internationals program, ITAs can take a wide variety of ESL courses for language and communication development.

Discussion Groups and Workshops : ITAs attend discussion groups and workshops for continued development of their TLC skills. Topics this past summer included: Communicating in the Workplace, Communicating with Undergraduates, Social Etiquette, Value Systems, and Work and Money.

Other Activities : ITAs take advantage of the full range of services offered by the Center for Teaching in that they have small group analyses and classroom observations done in their classes when they begin teaching. A special section of the CFT's library is devoted to teaching, language, and cultural materials that ITAs can use either alone or with their Student Consultants.

ITAs are constantly adapting and learning how to cross, extend, and maintain borders with their students.

HOME | ABOUT CFT | PROGRAMS | SERVICES | RESOURCES