Programmes for Remote Counselling of International Students in the Higher Education Institutions of the United States of America

Abstract

The relevance of the study lies in the necessity of developing the remote forms of counselling work with foreign students during the adaptation period. In this regard, the purpose of the present study is to analyse the programmes of remote counselling of international students at HEIs in the US to determine the potential for extrapolation of foreign experience into the higher education systems of other countries. We applied a number of methods, such as analysis, synthesis, abstraction, the method of moving from abstract to concrete, which enable a comprehensive review of the issue of remote counselling of international students. The article studies the aspects of online counselling of international students. Psychological support has been observed to be an element of the acculturation triad and therefore should be considered in the context of the education process. The article emphasises that since international students are exposed to the negative influence of the phenomenon of “culture shock”, and they should participate in relevant initiatives aimed at the development of skills for overcoming emotional and psychological issues. We have analysed the programmes, courses, and seminars of the University of Minnesota and the Florida International University, which allowed determining the algorithm for the development of the online counselling system, namely providing international students with informational reference materials (including reading materials and videos) for their personal guidance and general understanding of the challenges relevant for foreign students; holding personal meetings between a student and a counsellor via video conferences, which allows discussing the existing psychological issues and build interpersonal relationships. The practical benefits of this study reside in the fact that the development of remote programmes, courses and seminars (with the introduction of foreign experience to such activities) will have a positive impact on the psychological support system at the country level and will facilitate further development of remote education systems and ensure the increased use of modern ICTs in education and other areas

Keywords

• culture shock
• negative psychological acculturation system
• informational reference material
• psychological support platform