Despidos individuales conciliados

As highlighted in the sandwich analogy in the quote above, the student from Bangladesh has found a need for creativity for learning in the UK in comparison to Bangladesh. She believes that her previous experience of education suppressed creativity.

When I came here it’s like totally opposite, again struggling, because I already lost a lot of creativity. Here you need creativity; you have to create your own way. [1|2]

The need to be able to critically evaluate was raised in all three focus groups with Central African and Asian students having less experience than students who had previously been educated in Europe.

[In Nigeria] no critical evaluation, just to give back lectures what they give you in the notes and I didn’t like that. [3|3]

The European students in focus groups 1 and 3 both alluded to critical thinking at undergraduate study. The student in group 1 who had been at a British school in Germany and studied veterinary medicine in Slovakia made reference to the increase in critical appraisal from her undergraduate experience but did not state whether there would have been an increase in criticality had she continued her studies in Slovakia.

You’re not just writing about it but you are having to say what is good, explaining the arguments then sating what you think about it. There was a little bit of this at undergraduate but much more now here for master’s. [1|1]

In the second focus group, students were asked when they were first encouraged to think critically by teachers. The Danish student who had completed her first degree in Norway had always been encouraged to think critically. Her quote below immediately follows the Indonesian student who had only recently considered herself a critical thinker.

We have to do these assignments. I think [critical thinking] starts much earlier. We have to find things out and discuss why, like what is chlorophyll? We’ve always had to do discussions and comparatives. Why is this better than that? What is the difference … We always had debates at school, had to read up and debate on that [topic]. You know how to be critical … But it starts properly at uni, you have to say this is a bad model for this, you can’t do this without reading upon the subject. Here you have to be really critical of everything, it’s really hard being positive critical. [2|3]

Like the Bangladeshi student in group 1, the Indonesian student in focus group 2 found the teaching approach very different. She, however, places more emphasis on the difference in independent thinking than critical thought.

Our lecturers back home created our thinking step-by-step … you must learn the steps. [2|2]

Independent thinking was also an issue for the Chinese students.

The difference between Chinese study and here, I think, is the tutorial … they give you a topic and [you are expected to engage in] independent thinking. In China they give you the points [you have to learn] and you pass the exam.

[3|2]

The move from conformist learning to independent thinking was also raised in relation to academic achievement for the Bangladeshi student in focus group 1. This student shows a preference for independent learning.

Here it is a crime if you follow someone exactly but in my country it is a crime if you don’t. It’s like for me different. If I try something new in my country I get zero, if a do a math in a different way even if answer is same, I get bad mark. We must do it same way we are taught … I don’t want to learn like this, I want to learn my own way. [1|2]

This move from providing students with theoretical knowledge, encouraging intellectual conformity, to independent thinking is certainly the direction that is expected from undergraduate to post-graduate study in the field of health and life sciences. It could be argued that conformist learning is a continuum with independent thought at the other

end. Students are expected to progress along this continuum throughout their learning journey. Students with different cultural learning experiences will join that continuum at different points. There is certainly support from the students that they are learning to be independent, critical learners.

I think students in master’s degree should be independent, in learning. Most of the assessment here, they give you a topic and you have to search for it and do it as perfect as you can. In Oman they give you sub point and sub point and direct you to the sources and references … This is the big difference, but this is what master’s degree should be. [3|1]

When the Chinese student was reporting the difference in critical thinking between her undergraduate experience and her current programme, the Nigerian student, who had completed her undergraduate degree in the UK, did not find the same distinction.

To be honest, I don’t see much difference [between master’s and

undergraduate]. Less assessment. More tests at undergraduate, more lab report. The skill you develop at master’s is more focus. [3|3]

She later goes on to explain that her experience in critical thinking is from her undergraduate study in UK and this was helped by feedback and studying.

I got the critical thinking from the UK. Feedback is really, really important and investing lots of time into private study, I try to ask questions and really think now. [3|3]

From the above quotes there is much evidence that the students in the focus groups, particularly those who had not had any previous experience of European education, had found a significant difference in pedagogy. The expectation for creativity, criticality and independent learning is greater in their post-graduate programme for all students but those who were not from a European education system found the difference greater. This is interesting as the literature suggests learning conceptions develop in relation to the learning context (Richardson, 2000). Those who foster a deeper approach to learning will have higher learning conceptions, yet European students rated ‘personal development’ and ‘broadening horizons’ (higher learning conceptions) lower than their non-European counterparts, particularly those from Central Africa.