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Show lessons, Spring/Summer 2002 page 5 Adapting to American Styles of Teaching and Learning BY darleen meier Photos by sarah birdsall Relocating to America from a foreign country is one thing, but teaching in America is a whole other story. Although instructors at the college level have more freedom in their teaching styles, non-native instructors still find it difficult to blend their cultural mannerisms with American expectations. Peter von Sivers, associate professor in the history department, recalls the dramatic differences between teaching history at the University of Munich in Germany and teaching history at the University of California-Los Angeles. Born in what is known today as Northern Poland, von Sivers grew up in West Germany. He received his doctorate in Middle Eastern History at the University of Munich and taught there for one year. The culture shock came when he took a teaching position at UCLA. During his first week, one student walked into class and von Sivers' eyes widened as he noticed the young man's height-he was abnormally tall, like a giant. Von Sivers wondered how the colossal student was going to manage to squeeze his lanky body between the chair and the fixed table. What he didn't know was that this goliath was Kareem Abdul Jabar, a star basketball player for UCLA who later went on to become a nationally known professional player for the Los Angeles Lakers. With the help of his students, von Sivers learned that Americans love basketball. "Basketball just wasn't a big sport played in Germany," he recalls. "So that year I tried to learn a lot from the students about the [American] culture." Not only did he have to catch on to the country's quirks and become comfortable speaking in English without deliberate thought, but he also had to revamp his teaching style. "Teaching works very differently here than in Europe," von Sivers explains. "Teaching in America is less formal. Interactions among students are casual." Although European classes are much larger (50 students is considered a small class), students there never open their mouths unless it's to contradict the professor (von Sivers Associate Professor Peter von Sivers, who came to Utah from the University of Munich, teaches in the history department. Interacting with students at the U has taught him a lot about American culture. |