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1. What does wellbeing look like for international students?
What does ‘wellbeing’ look like for international students in their own personal and cultural contexts? In Understand Mental Health and Wellbeing topic, we review Mason Durie’s Te Whare Tapa Wha model, which illustrates how physical, emotional, social, and spiritual aspects of a student work together to support their wellbeing. This holistic view of wellbeing helps practitioners and students consider all of the factors that strengthen and support ‘wellbeing’.
Durie’s model has proven useful and applicable across education, health, and social work settings, inspiring further development of models for practitioners tasked with wellbeing support. The Meihana model has been developed and taught by health experts and educators over the last 15 years to understand their role in encounters with people they support (Pitama et al., 2014). The Meihana model envisions wellbeing as the journey of a waka hourua (double-hulled waka), where the practitioner must board and become part of a person’s navigation and support structures for a time. Drawing from Durie, aspects of wellbeing that strengthen the waka appear as aku (cross beams) – including Tinana (the body, physical health) and Wairua (spiritual health).
The model (Pitama et al., 2014) illustrates the contextual social forces that will impact the journey. Supportive currents help guide the waka on its journey, such as Tikanga (cultural principles) and Whānau (relationships and responsibilities, including family). Broader structural forces and experiences beyond a person’s control are also incorporated into the model – winds such as migration and racism that can steer the waka off course if not accounted for and addressed.
You can take a look at Pitama et al.’s breakdown of each element of the model here.
Some practitioners in international education have adapted the Meihana model for planning services and support. In doing so, they recognise that the second ‘Whānau’ hull alongside the student’s hull is the student’s extended support network, including overseas family, local friends, and key support people. The Meihana model’s dynamic and contextual view of wellbeing aligns with increasing calls in education for “a shift from an individual to a social view of student support” (Roberts, p. 30). Evidence-based education practice is continuing to reframe thinking about student wellbeing away from individual ‘deficit’ models of viewing a student as a problem or automatically the source of the challenges they face. The Meihana model allows practitioners to plot an integrated picture of these factors.
So what might using this model look like in practice? Let’s consider one practitioner’s response to pandemic challenges:
PRACTICE EXAMPLE
When the pandemic started, one of the serious and regular student issues was their financial struggles. International students lost jobs due to the lockdowns, and their parents/guardians lost jobs in their home country and were struggling themselves. All of this caused immense stress and anxiety for the students. As a support team, we started with wellbeing calls to all our students to make sure they were okay and to see if they needed any support from us. A large chunk was the financial pressures. We supported our students with a Manaaki Hardship fund to help with day-to-day living expenses like rent, food, utility bills, hospital bills, etc., and we also offered grocery vouchers. We guided students to community support like Salvation Army, Red Cross, and NZ Police Aid. We also provided employment resources for them to have a good opportunity of being employed. All of that support did make a great difference in our student's financial worries and pressures. (International education practitioner)
This practitioner’s team recognised the context the students and their families faced, offering tangible support as well as social connections. By recognising both the external pressures through immediate relief, as well as students’ strengths and abilities to face the situation (continue studying, get further employment), the team steered alongside students through demanding circumstances.
As this example shows, students’ wellbeing is dynamic and in flux. The Meihana model is one tool to better understand and prepare for what these ongoing changes might look like. How can you know what to expect? Let’s consider some principles and myths about international students’ journeys.
2. How does wellbeing change along international students’ journeys?
PRACTICE EXAMPLE
One of the international students I was working with had a regular academic monitoring meeting with me each semester. He was traditionally shy and took a lot of courage to ask me about a personal matter on his mind. He was overwhelmed with a new relationship with a New Zealand student and was having a lot of difficulty navigating the vastly different cultural approach to relationships. He was unsure what to do, as this was taking a toll on his mental health and he didn’t know where to get advice. I linked him with the health centre nurse for a one-on-one chat and advised him to work through the dilemma with the pastoral care advisor he had seen in the past. Even though our meetings were about academic progress, I think this student opened up to me because I have always made sure to express that he could talk to me about any concerns and I would put him in touch with the right people. (International education practitioner)
There’s no prescribed path or magic formula to predict when students will flourish or when something will appear that disrupts their balance. For the student in this practitioner’s reflection, a positive experience of a new relationship also brought unexpected challenges. Nevertheless, because of a trusting relationship built through regular contact, the student believed that it would be worthwhile to overcome their shyness and raise the issue. The practitioner upheld their message that any topic could and should be raised by proactively linking the student to appropriate support.
If you were to plot this student’s well being over time, it might look something like this:
There is a persistent myth that most international students’ wellbeing follows one predictable ‘curve’, from a honeymoon phase at arrival, to a drop in wellbeing as ‘reality’ sets in, followed by recovery. Of course, students will be adjusting and adapting to their host culture more so in the early phase of their stay, and likely less so as they become accustomed to norms. However, their journeys are personal and contextual, rather than neat and predictable.
In Demes and Geeraert’s (2015) longitudinal study of 2,500 international students across 50 countries, they found that students’ levels of stress over time could be characterised by at least five different trends over time. Some had relatively steady states of high or low stress, while others had a significant increase or decrease in stress over the course of their stay at their host institution.
Therefore, the ‘curves’ of their stress levels over time took very different shapes:
Most importantly, Demes and Geeraert found that none of these temporal patterns were easier or more difficult to manage in and of themselves. Far more significant and important for managing stress over time were:
- Personality
- Lower stress: Honesty-humility, extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness lower stress
- Higher stress: Emotionality, e.g. ‘I feel like crying when I see other people crying’
- Coping strategies
- Lower stress: The ability to take perspective, e.g. ‘I try to look at everybody’s side of a disagreement before I make a decision’
- Lower stress: The ability to accept and reframe problems
- Higher stress: Avoidance and self-blame
- Psychological adaptation
- Stress significantly lower when students feel adapted to the culture (e.g. able to adapt to norms and fewer experiences of feeling out of place)
- Support in their host community
- Lower stress: support from local/host communities, a common finding across studies of international students
- Higher stress: where students relied heavily on distant/home support
Supporting and encouraging these factors for your students will improve their wellbeing throughout every phase of their study journey.
Transitions
There are multiple points in time when international students experience transition moments – significant times of adaptation and learning that occur over the course of their journeys.
These moments of transition present both chances to boost and strengthen students’ wellbeing as well as potential challenges. Being able to draw on their skills as well as support will help students navigate through these times.
An obvious example is when students begin their studies. However, it is important to be mindful that ‘orientation’ doesn’t just occur at the start of a programme, but involves many transitions students undergo before, during, and after their arrival. See Transitions topic for more on this process.
Assessments
Students’ first experiences of written assignments, exams, marks, and selecting courses or NCEA levels are also key moments of adaptation. Returning students may also wobble when faced with a very different teacher or new type of assessment. During key transition times, encourage students to reflect on their existing wellbeing networks and strategies and remind students about the support services most relevant to their current situation. Because students are often bombarded with lots of information about many different services, they may not register that a service is relevant to them until the point in time that it becomes relevant in their circumstances.
Cultural events
In addition to academic experiences, sharing culture is another way in which international students transition into their lives in host communities. Significant cultural events are key moments in time to connect, offer support, and celebrate. As Chinese people make significant effort to be with their family during Lunar New Year, Chinese students may feel more homesick or lonely during this time. Conversely, students may develop better relationships and a sense of belonging through celebrating the holiday with their peers and host communities.
Plan ahead for the significant holidays your students celebrate. How does your institution hinder or support these celebrations? What would embracing these holidays at your institution look like? See Fostering international student inclusion topic for more.
Key transition moments for international students can include:
- Completing their first written assessment (adjusting to language and academic conventions)
- Celebrating significant cultural holidays
- Semester breaks
- Completion of a semester/term
- Completion of short course(s) timed differently than the semester
- Visa deadlines
- Making choices about courses, NCEA levels, and continuing study.
Common pressures that may arise any time include:
- Financial pressures
- Changes in their home environment (moving flats, etc.)
- Changes in their personal relationships
- Issues arising for family members back home (illness, financial changes, pandemic response, political changes, etc.).
Students adjust to these changes through developing adaptation skills and networks of support.
Reflection question: How can you and your team connect with students during their transition moments?
PRACTICE EXAMPLE
We as a pastoral care team for international students try to establish good and consistent communication, visibility, and a friendly approach to our students. From the start, we try to be there with the students in their journey – from orientation to day-to-day support and drop-ins, therefore students are familiar with us and trust is developed slowly and gradually. We also regularly remind them that we are here for them and are here for their wellbeing and support. Therefore, when they have some serious issues, they tend to come to us with the trust of giving appropriate support. (International education practitioner)
As this reflection illustrates, students will be more likely to seek out support if consistent and trusting relationships are built. This remains the most important element of monitoring students’ wellbeing – developing good quality relationships that enable students and practitioners to stay informed. Let’s explore how to build those relationships.
3. Quality relationships beat quantity of services/activities
“We spend a lot of time trying to figure out and negotiate how to cut the pie, but I want us to think about how we are going to make the pie.”
(International education practitioner)
As the quote above highlights, budgets, timelines, and student numbers can frame our thinking about student monitoring in terms of resource allocation. However, both research and practice demonstrate that the quality of interactions and relationships determine whether students approach or trust their instructors and the services institutions provide.
Many studies find that students tend to go to friends or family for advice because those relationships provide more culturally aware and supportive advice (Ling & Tran, 2015). Initial interactions with practitioners at your institution make a significant impact on whether international students feel invited or reluctant to ask for help:
“Because I mean like, in order for me to talk to someone I have to say: ‘OK they want to help me.’ But I don't feel that. And just the way they answer me and the way they situate the looks on their face, it's like, it's not inviting. Their look is not inviting. So basically, even if I am struggling I know I'm not going to go there again because I embarrassed myself one time and I don't want to embarrass myself again” (student as cited in Prescott and Hellensten, 2005, p. 82).
Reflection question: How can your institution’s services be more culturally aware and effective at communicating across international students’ cultures? See Intercultural competence in education contexts topics.
Roberts et al. (2018) found that international students rated support services as adequate, but lacking knowledge about the structural issues that international students face. Moreover, the perceived usefulness of services depended on the quality of the interactions that international students had with staff in those services.
Their findings emphasise the importance of relationships with international students, by growing the culture of services themselves to be approachable, respectful, and appreciative of students’ contexts.
4. Using student interviews to encourage reflection
PRACTICE EXAMPLE
Monitoring international student wellbeing is easier said than done. This year with lower student numbers, we’ve trialled interviewing students who’ve been flagged as at risk of not passing… We try to fully understand their situation, ranging from who they live with, whether they cook for themselves, how many hours of sleep they get, whether they’re financially secure, through to what it was that caused a barrier to their learning the previous semester and supporting the student to reflect on this… It’s a lot of work but the turnaround in their performance is unlikely to have happened without those ‘drilling down’ conversations. (International education practitioner)
This practice example illustrates the principles of the Meihana model in action. By developing a full picture of the student’s situation, the advisor and student together address the different aspects of the student’s wellbeing. Together, they can create a plan for addressing what needs to change and identify the specific types of support most relevant to the situation. In addition, the process of the interview conversation develops stronger relationships that build the students’ ability to connect with support.
Reflection question: Think of an international student you have interacted with recently. How many of these aspects of their wellbeing are you informed about?
Take a look at this example interview template to kickstart your own student interview process.
You may not have the capacity to conduct interviews with all of the students under your care. Nevertheless, consider how you could gain a fuller understanding of these aspects of students’ lives.
In the example template, practitioners targeted students who were at risk of not passing their courses for proactive, time-intensive support. Using this academic indicator is practical and common across institutions. Nevertheless, it is important to be mindful that there is no perfect indicator to identify everyone who needs support. As discussed above, the unexpected will occur. The practitioner below emphasises how quick response is also critical to wellbeing support:
PRACTICE EXAMPLE
At one time we had a system of interviewing all the international students who didn’t pass more than half of their courses. But the transcript doesn’t tell the only story. One student had just received As in all of her courses, but her flatmates got in touch with us. Her behaviour at home had changed dramatically and they were very worried. It turned out that she had been assaulted and was in severe distress. We were thankful that they contacted us, because once we knew we provided the support she needed. (International education practitioner)
In this example, there were no data indicators that this student had faced violence. However, her relationship with her flatmates meant that they were aware that something had changed and that the student needed help. These flatmates also knew that they could and should contact the international support team.
The support team was also prepared to respond to the student’s situation. Going back to the Meihana model, the team had accounted for the structural external forces that could impact their students. In this case, accounting for the possibility of gender-based violence meant having systems in place to respond.
The Covid-19 pandemic presented an unforeseen and sweeping challenge, radically altering how international education is imagined and delivered. Nevertheless, online learning and support in itself was not new or unexpected. Learning about improving online availability and delivery during the pandemic response has better prepared practitioners and students to adapt to increased online learning and service provision. In the next section, we’ll look at how to encourage relationships with and between students in online environments.
5. Strategies for more connection and belonging online
The global pandemic response made it necessary for practitioners to quickly pivot courses, workshops, and social gatherings online. Even as face-to-face connection returns, online learning is now well-established and expected. Practitioners can use online spaces to grow the possibilities for connection between international students themselves as well as with their domestic peers.
Review the following table of strategies for engaging online. How can you use these strategies in sessions you host? You can also download a worksheet with this table to work through your own reflections and brainstorming.
Tice et al. found that employing these strategies enabled relationships to grow between their students despite being unable to meet in person:
“[Students] began to know each other from these frequent albeit brief meetings. There were multiple anecdotal reports of these groups extending their incipient relationships to outside the virtual classroom, into other (still virtual) domains. Some of them arranged to all watch a movie ‘together’ in TeleParty or similar. Some had virtual birthday parties. Clearly, none of these extracurricular activities would likely emerge from discussion groups that met only once” (Tice, et al., 2021, p. 5).
6. Connecting support: Whole-of-provider and privacy principles in action
The support mechanisms explored above demonstrate how monitoring students’ wellbeing is never a one-person task! Delivering effective support requires connecting with several different teams across your institution to ensure that all are aware of a student’s context and situation. This is why the Code of Practice 2021 calls for a “whole-of-provider approach” to student wellbeing “within and beyond pastoral care staff and teams” (NZQA, 2021, p. 18). Yet how can this be achieved across educational institutions with many different teams, all while making sure that your communication meets Privacy Act requirements?
Let’s take a look at a practice example that shows how experienced practitioners balance these factors:
PRACTICE EXAMPLE
An offshore student was enrolled in part-time online study to get started on their Masters. The student had a habit of approaching multiple staff at the same time via different methods (e.g. call, email, online messaging, webpage), often for the same issue without waiting for a response. This included academic staff, international support, international recruiters, their agent, their student peer-mentor and the university pastoral care international advisor. The student was either trying to seek an immediate answer by reaching out to as many contacts as he had, or to find a larger audience to voice concerns. It was incredibly difficult to find out what was going on at any time, and on a few occasions different staff worked on the same matter. (International education practitioner)
This resulted in a small need-to-know group of staff keeping notes on a secure SharePoint site and with each other over the phone. This worked so the student received consistent advice and was redirected back to the appropriate staff. We learned to educate offshore students more about expectations for time zone differences and staff response times. We also learned about setting more boundaries for peer mentors and using more clear instructions to offshore students. (International education practitioner)
This example demonstrates how to collaborate on issues and avoid the common pitfall of duplicating and confusing efforts. The central and secure information point is key to ensuring that sharing information still upholds Privacy Act requirements. Systems will look different across tertiary institutions and schools – the Ministry of Education is in the process of developing a standardised learning register for schools. In any context, these key principles for collecting and using student data apply:
- He tāngata: use data to benefit the learner
- Manaakitanga: use data to uphold the mana and dignity of the learner
- Mana whakahaere: give learners choices and access to their own information
- Kaitiakitanga: keep data and information safe and secure and respect its value
- Mahitahitanga: bring people together to share information, exchange ideas, grow collective knowledge, and create shared solutions to challenging issues.
Take a look at this Ministry of Education guidance document for more on how to apply these principles.
The practice example illustrates how to share information as well as who is involved. Note the many actors involved in the student’s support network, including a student mentor. Peer support roles are increasing as institutions recognise how peers can relate to international students’ backgrounds and facilitate their integration. Yet effective peer support also requires the student mentors to be fully trained about your institution’s privacy policies. Are students on casual peer support contracts inducted into their roles as thoroughly as other staff members at your institution? Shared understanding of these policies is critical to sharing information ethically.
Has the student reached age 16 or 18, when information sharing requirements change? International students may have different pathways from their cohort, and their age cannot be assumed from their grade level or year.
If you or other members of your team could use a Privacy Act refresher, take a look at these free modules from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, which includes Privacy ABC for Schools.
Nevertheless, remember that privacy does not equal secrecy – keeping staff in the loop about students’ needs can still be achieved. As one international student support advisor notes:
“We like to keep teachers in the loop with students whose personal issues impact on their studies. We just provide them very general info ‘this student is having some personal issues going on at the moment’ without breaching privacy. But it’s enough for teachers to know the student needs extra support during these times (International education practitioner).”
In the practice example above, ‘need-to-know’ staff collaborated on the issue at hand, but they also looked beyond the present moment to assess the roots of the issue and adapt their practice. What had this institution missed in its communications with the student that led to the flurry of messages? Learning how to improve communication and set better expectations enabled offshore students and staff to better understand how they work together.
It is also important to set appropriate expectations with international students’ families and support networks back home. Have you ever had thousands of kilometres, time zone differences, border restrictions, and technological difficulties separate you from someone you love? An international student’s family overseas may feel frustration and confusion about how they can offer support from afar. This can lead to someone contacting you, very eager to find out personal information from you or other staff. Empathy for their position can help smooth over firm messages that privacy policies must be upheld.
7. Summary
The Code of Practice 2021 calls on institutions to develop clear plans for the ‘whole-of-provider’ to support international student wellbeing, yet it does not define for institutions what those systems should look like. While it is understandable for institutions to want a ready-made template for international student monitoring, this topic demonstrates how the factors of students’ wellbeing are not neatly measurable or predictable over time. The Meihana model accounts for the interconnected personal, collective, and societal factors that influence wellbeing, so that practitioners can develop a full picture of international students’ potential strengths and challenges.
This topic outlines how moments of transition occur throughout international students’ journeys, and can be accounted for whether or not they arise at a prescribed time. Through good communication and developing relationships of trust, practitioners demonstrate to international students that support is available for them at the point in time when it becomes needed.
Using techniques like online relationship-building and student interviews, practitioners can develop these relationships while getting a fuller understanding of the range of factors that boost and strain students’ wellbeing. And through considered collaboration and information sharing with other staff across your institution, relevant and cohesive support can be provided to students while maintaining their right to choice and privacy.
References
Bethel, A., Ward, C., & Fetvadjiev, V. H. (2020). Cross-Cultural Transition and Psychological Adaptation of International Students: The Mediating Role of Host National Connectedness. Open access: https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2020.539950
Demes, K. A. & Geeraert, N. (2015). The highs and lows of a cultural transition: A longitudinal analysis of sojourner stress and adaptation across 50 countries. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 109(2), 316–337. Open access at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000046
Irish Council for International Students (ICOS). (2015). Diverse voices: Listening to international students. Retrieved from: https://www.internationalstudents.ie/training-and-events/icos-training-services/diverse-voices
Ling, C. & Tran, L. T. (2015). Chinese international students in Australia: An
insight into their help and information seeking manners. International education
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Mann, C. (2020). Advising by design: Co-creating advising services with students for their success. Frontiers in Education. Open access at: https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2020.00099
Ministry of Education (n.d.). Principles to follow when using data. Retrieved from https://assets.education.govt.nz/public/Documents/Ministry/Changes-in-education/Guidance-document-Principles-to-follow.pdf
Ministry of Education in partnership with Te Mana Akonga, New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations, Tauira Pasifika, and the National Disabled Students’ Association. (2021). Whiria Ngā Rau: Progressing from student voice to partnerships. Retrieved from: https://www.students.org.nz/whiria-nga-rau
New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) (2021). Guidance for tertiary providers: The Education (Pastoral Care of Tertiary and International Learners) Code of Practice 2021. Retrieved from https://www.nzqa.govt.nz/assets/Providers-and-partners/Code-of-Practice/Tertiary-and-International-Learners-Code-2021/NZQA-Code-2021-Implementation-Guidance-November-2021.pdf
Pitama, S.G., Huria, T., & Lacey, C. (2014). Improving Māori health through clinical assessment:
Waikare o te Waka o Meihana. The New Zealand Medical Journal, 127(1393), 107–199.
Open access at: https://journal.nzma.org.nz/journal-articles/improving-maori-health-through-clinical-assessment-waikare-o-te-waka-o-meihana
Prescott, A.E. & Hellsten, M. (2005). Hanging together even with non-native speakers: The international student transition experience. Internationalizing Higher Education, 1, 75–95. Open access at: https://opus.lib.uts.edu.au/handle/10453/11750
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