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TEACHINGTHANATOLOGY IN AFOREIGN COUNTRY:IMPLICATIONS FORDEATH EDUCATORSMark A. ShatzPublished online: 11 Nov 2010.

To cite this article: Mark A. Shatz (2002) TEACHING THANATOLOGY IN AFOREIGN COUNTRY: IMPLICATIONS FOR DEATH EDUCATORS, Death Studies,26:5, 425-430, DOI: 10.1080/07481180290086754

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TEACHING THANATOLOGY IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY:IMPLICATIONS FOR DEATH EDUCATORS

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MARK A. SHATZ

Ohio University7Zanesville, Zanesville, Ohio, USA

Although an increasing number of death educators will have the opportunity to teachabroad, many may not be fully aware of the issues that arise in intercultural instructionand are not prepared to handle the pedagogical challenges associated with teaching thana-tology in a foreign country. On the basis of experience of teaching in China, the authordescribes the challenges of intercultural teaching, strategies for adapting instruction toaddress the pedagogical obstacles, and the ways an international teaching experience canenrich instruction.

As American universities establish faculty exchange programs with for-eign institutions, an increasing number of death educators will have theopportunity to teach abroad. Teaching an international course oftenrequires content and pedagogy significantly different from traditionalpractices (e.g., Miserandino, 1996; White & Ransdell, 2000). Unfortu-nately, many death educators may not be fully aware of the issues thatarise in intercultural instruction and are inadequately prepared to han-dle the pedagogical challenges associated with teaching thanatology in aforeign country. Drawing on my experience of teaching in China, Iguide death educators through the process of preparing for and teachingan overseas thanatology course. Idescribe the challenges of interculturalteaching, strategies for adapting instruction to address the pedagogicalobstacles, and the ways an international teaching experience can enrichinstruction.

Received 2 February 2001; accepted 30 May 2001.A version of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the Association of Death

Education and Counseling,Toronto, Canada, March 2001.Address correspondence to Mark Shatz, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, Ohio University7

Zanesville,1425 Newark Road, Zanesville, OH 43701. E-mail: shatz@ohiou.edu

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Death Studies, 26: 4257430, 2002Copyright # 2002 Brunner-Routledge0748-1187/02 $12.00 + .00DOI:10.1080/07481180290086754

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Background

Ohio University has offered a degree program in conjunction with HongKong Baptist College since 1988. During1996 and 2000, I taught thana-tology (and an additional psychology course) during a 4-week term,with 4-hr class sessions, for 3 days a week. The classes were comprisedof approximately 20 students who spoke English as a second (or third)language and had previous experience withWestern instructors.

Thanatology is one of several senior-level courses (designated asTierIII) that fulfill the final element of the Ohio University general educa-tion requirements. The purpose of aTier III course is to teach studentshow to investigate a topic, in this case, thanatology, using multiple theo-retical perspectives and synthesize the information into a coherentpicture. In addition to using an interdisciplinary approach to studythanatology, I required the Hong Kong students to synthesize thecultural similarities and differences in Chinese and American deathattitudes and behaviors. The textbook for the course wasThe Last Dance(DeSpelder & Strickland,1999).

Challenges of Teaching Thanatology in a Foreign Country

There are numerous challenges associated with teaching abroad. Forany international teaching assignment lasting more than a few days,the primary challenge is culture shock. Instructors must learn how toteach and, perhaps more importantly, function in a new cultural context.The second obstacle is limited or nonexistent instructional resources(e.g., audio-visual equipment, computers, support personnel) availableat the host institution. Death educators can also expect that thanatologyreference materials, such as books and journals, will not be readily avail-able. Language and communication differences is another barrier thatexists, even when teaching classes in English. Most foreign students arelikely to be unfamiliar with the terms and euphemisms associated withdeath, dying, and bereavement. The fourth hurdle is the cultural differ-ences in instructional expectations, such as instructor and student roles,academic norms, and acceptable classroom behavior. Instructors mustanticipate classroom cultural differences, avoid common misunder-standings and miscues, and make short-term adaptations. The finalobstacle is the cultural differences in death attitudes and behaviors.

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As Farrell (1982) noted,`̀Death is a cultural event, and societies as well asindividuals reveal themselves in their treatment of death.’’ Death educa-tors must be aware of the cultural differences in death attitudes andbehaviors and be ready to make appropriate pedagogical changes.

Addressing the Challenges of Teaching Thanatologyin a Foreign Country

Culture shock, stereotyping, misperceptions and misunderstandings,and other common intercultural perils may be minimized when aninstructor anticipates cultural differences and is prepared to make alter-native responses. Cultural adaptation information can be found in manysources, such as travel guides, the books and videotapes offered by Inter-cultural Press (Intercultural Press, 2000), a series of country-specificbooks called Cultural Shock! (e.g.,Wei & Li,1995), National Geographic, andthe World Wide Web. Some of my most valuable insights into Chinesecultural practices came from surfing web sites of newspapers, govern-ment, and community groups in Hong Kong. Another excellent sourcefor cultural information is faculty and students with internationalexperience.

Preparation is the key toaddressing the resource problems thataccom-pany mostoverseas teachingassignments. Idevoted an extensive amountof time determining which lecture notes, audiovisual materials, hand-outs, supplemental materials, and office supplies were essential andnon-essential, and ended up taking everything that Icould. I also copiedselections from various death, dying, and grief videotapes (e.g.,Trip of aLifetime[Palmer,1993],TheAmeche Family[GroupTwo Productions,1987]).(Some countries use different videotape formats, and instructors willneedto have videotapes transferredto that format.) To address the limitedavailability of thanatology reference materials at the host site, I madecopies of various articles and prepared reference lists of death-relatedweb sites. I made multiple copies of all the materials and shipped oneset, carried another aboard the plane, and kept a backup set in my office.

For my first teaching assignment, I decided not to take a portablecomputer because of compatibility and security issues and concerns thata high-tech approach would increase the probability of Murphy’s Law.Although I did encounter several compatibility problems when I tooka laptop computer for the second assignment, having immediate access

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to a computer was an invaluable resource for answering student e-mailmessages, creating new course materials, and recording student grades.

Although English competence was required for the Hong Kong stu-dents, the differences in language competency was immediately appar-ent when I discovered that most students could not pronounce mysurname (and I thus became `̀Dr. Mark’’). To address the pedagogicalbarriers created by the language differences, I prepared overhead trans-parencies, lecture outline handouts, and term lists including key con-cepts, euphemisms, and slang. During class, students were assigned tosmall groups to discuss topics in Cantonese while a group spokesperson,a student with the best English skills, shared responses with the class.I also encouraged students to audiotape lectures and submit daily listsof thanatology terms or concepts that were difficult to comprehend.

In addition to language differences, I encountered communicationbarriers. In order to maintain the attention of students, I often usehumor in my lectures. However, I soon learned that the Chinese studentswere not able to read my deadpan delivery. After experimenting withvarious approaches, I discovered by accident (when I spilled tea onmyself) that physical comedy was the most effective tool for bridgingthe humor gap. I also underestimated the impact of nonverbal gestures,such as pointing at a student to personalize an example (e.g., `̀ What ifyour family member died?’’). Eventually, I learned that pointing at a stu-dent was viewed as bestowing bad luck upon the identified student.

To manage the classroom cultural differences that may arise in theexpectations of student and instructor roles and acceptable classroombehavior, instructors must be flexible and prepared to modify significantaspects of their pedagogy. Although I anticipated potential differencesby asking students to anonymously submit characteristics of goodand bad teachers, soliciting frequent written feedback, and meetingwith students outside of class, I still encountered classroom culturalbarriers.

My authoritative, democratic teaching style encourages student parti-cipation in decision-making and group discussion. In Hong Kong, how-ever, a more authoritarian approach is expected from instructors. TheChinese students were reluctant to offer dissenting opinions because ofthe cultural precept called `̀saving face.’’ I adopted a more authoritarianteaching style and changed my expectations of group discussion. Therewere also cultural variations in `̀acceptable’’classroom behavior, such ascoming late to class and answering cellular phones and belching during

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lectures. Rather than impose my instructional values on the students,I chose to adjust to the cultural differences.

The unique aspect of an international teaching assignment that con-fronts death educators is the cultural differences in attitudes towarddeath, dying, and bereavement. To anticipate the differences that mayarise, death educators need to be well versed in the death attitudes andpractices of thehostcountry. Informationconcerningcultural differencesin death attitudes is available from avarietyof sources including thanatol-ogy journals (e.g., DeathStudies,Omega, JournalofDeathand Dying), variousculture books (e.g., Berger, Badham, Kutscher, & Perry, 1989; Irish,Lundquist, & Nelsen,1993; Parry & Ryan,1995), andtheWorldWideWeb.

Although a review of Chinese death attitudes and practices helped mepredict potential cultural differences, the impact of the differences onmy instruction was not fully apparent until Itaught the course. I quicklyrecognized that the students were more comfortable writing about thesubject rather than discussing during class, and I revised my instruc-tional practices accordingly. For example, I created a daily assignmentcalled the `̀Contributing Editor’’ that required students to gather mate-rial concerning a specific thanatological topic andprovide a briefwrittencommentary. I also strongly encouraged students to use e-mail to discussany subject mentioned in class. The written assignments and e-mailexchanges gave me the opportunity to encourage dialogues with thestudents that would have not occurred during class.

Death educators must be prepared to modify course content to reflectlocal interests and trends. For example, I significantly expanded the sui-cide unit to address the unusually high female suicide rate and the recentincrease of charcoal fumes inhalation deaths in Hong Kong. Death edu-cators also must be flexible in their instruction to take advantage of`̀ teachable moments.’’ During my first teaching assignment, the tragicdeaths of 39 individuals in a high-rise building fire led to extensive classdiscussion of accidental death, grief, and mourning rituals.

Lessons Learned

Nothing can be taken for granted when teaching in a foreign country.The obstacles associated with intercultural teachingösuch as cul-ture shock, limited resources, communication barriers, and culturaldifferences in death attitudes and behaviorsöforce death educators to

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reconsider and modifycourse content, instructional strategies, and peda-gogical beliefs.

Although teaching thanatology in a foreign culture is profoundlychallenging, the experience can also be enriching and rewarding.Teach-ing in Hong Kong forced me to re-examine every aspect of my peda-gogy. As a consequence of this self-reflection, I became a better deatheducator. I gained a greater appreciation for cultural diversity and thepower of cultural influences on death attitudes and behaviors. For thetraditional classroom, I now recognize fully the importance of helpingstudents change their ethnocentric orientation and construct a moreglobal view of how culture and death are intertwined.

References

Berger, A., Badham, P., Kutscher, A. H., & Perry, M. (Eds.). (1989). Perspectives on deathand dying: Cross-cultural and multi-disciplinary view. Philadelphia: Charles Press.

DeSpelder, L. A., & Strickland, A. L. (1999).The last dance (5th ed.). MountainView,CA: Mayfield.

Farrell, J. J. (1982). The dying of death: Historical perspectives. Death Education, 6,1057123.

GroupTwo Productions. (Producer). (1987).The Ameche family [Videotape]. (Availablefrom Research Press, Champaign, IL.)

Intercultural Press. (2000). Books and videotapes catalog [Brochure]. Yarmouth, ME:Author.

Irish, D. P., Lundquist, K. F., & Nelsen,V. J. (Eds.). (1993). Ethnic variations in dying, death,and grief: Diversity in universality.Washington, DC:Taylor & Francis.

Miserandino, M. (1996). Teaching a personality course inVienna.Teaching of Psychology,23, 2407241.

Palmer, G. (Producer). (1993).Trip of a lifetime [Videotape]. (Available from AmbroseVideo Publishing, NewYork, NY.)

Parry, J. K., & Ryan, A. S. (Eds.). (1995). A cross cultural look at death, dying, and religion.Chicago: Nelsen-Hall.

Wei, B., & Li, E. (1995). Culture shock!: Hong Kong. Singapore: Times Books Interna-tional.

White, L. T., & Ransdell, S. (2000). Teaching in Estonia. Teaching of Psychology, 27,2177219.

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