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ioe.ac.uk

Internationalising the

curriculum: advantages and

challengesDr Lesley Gourlay

Oct 2014

Overview

1. „Internationalisation‟ as policy discourse

2. Approaches to the curriculum

3. Managing for diversity

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1. ‘Internationalisation’ as a policy

discourse

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Internationalisation as ‘enrichment’

…overseas bases to enrich further internationalization of the university

… the talents, experience and knowledge of students to enrich

('internationalise') the curriculum.

...to enrich the academic network of the university.

…to enrich the cultural mix of the campus

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Internationalisation as ‘enrichment’

Rhetoric of inclusivity is unassailable

„Enrichment‟ seen as arising via co-presence alone

Denial of process & struggle

Appropriation of discursive space,

Silence/ing

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Utopian discourses?

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Infantilisation?

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Neo-colonialism?

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1. ‘Internationalisation’ as a policy

discourseDepersonalisation in policy discourse (Smith 2008)

Abstraction & authoritarianism (Beecham 2008)

Positioning of social actors in response to policy (Fanghanel 2007)

International students assumed to be „lowering standards‟ (Devos 2003)

McLellan (2008)

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2. Approaches to the curriculum

Recruitment-based

Internationalisation at home

Graduate attributes / literacies

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2. Approaches to the curriculum:

recruitment-basedFocus on recruitment (Haigh 2008)

Locates internationalisation in the student profile

Assumes „communities of practice‟

Neglects issues of language & culture

„Home‟ students absent from model

Academic staff unsupported

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2. Approaches to the curriculum:

‘internationalisation at home’ European Association for International Education (EAIE)

Most students are not mobile

„Internationally competent professionals‟

Focuses on: „...academic learning that blends the concepts of self,

strange, foreign and otherness‟ Teekens 2006: 17

http://www.eaie.org/networking/ps/conference/index.asp?PS=IaH

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2. Approaches to the curriculum:

‘internationalisation at home’Literature & content

Case studies

Guest lecturers

Incoming students

Staff development

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2. Approaches to the curriculum:

‘internationalisation at home’ A more truly reciprocal model?

Places „home students‟ as beneficiaries

Active and structured

Focus on values not co-presence

Potentially encourages „the internationalisation of the academic self‟

(Sanderson 2008)?

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2. Approaches to the curriculum: graduate

attributes / literaciesMelbourne, Sydney, Kings‟ –Warwick

Aberdeen University:

Academic Excellence

Critical Thinking and Communication

Learning and Personal Development

Active Citizenship

http://www.abdn.ac.uk/graduateattributes

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2. Approaches to the curriculum: graduate

attributes / literaciesFocus on „producing graduates‟

Curriculum-embedded model

May be perceived as overly „top-down‟

May disregard what is already there

Close to „skills & employability‟ model?

Erodes / elides disciplinary difference?

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3. Managing for diversity:

academic staff

Fallon & Brown (1999) language & „cultural differences‟

Robertson et al (2000) reluctance to discuss, mismatched study

practices, adaptations

Robson & Turner (2007): time & effort, impacts, notion of „burden‟

Zepke & Leach (2007) Integration & adaptation discourses

Staff exhibited elements of both

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‘More stressful’

“…the current minimal number of academic staff

we have at present cannot keep on taking on

more and more academic and social tasks.

Teaching mixed groups at high levels is simply

more stressful and more strenuous. … academic

achievement has declined in general, resulting

from teaching advanced science in simplistic

English and the decline of discussion of ideas”.21

‘Vast amounts of extra time’

“Acknowledge the vast amounts of extra time

that has to be spent adapting teaching methods

for the international students, and in dealing with

the problems experienced by these students ... I

am happy to have to change my teaching. …but

feel there is little recognition in the university as

to the actual amount of hours this costs me

(usually at weekend, and in the evenings)”.22

3. Managing for diversity: academic

development

The extent of the challenge should be recognised

Recognition of hybridity of roles (Gourlay & Grieg 2012)

Staff development may be viewed as remedial (Hyland et al 2008)

„Safe‟ spaces for development needed (Barron, Gourlay & Gannon-Leary

2010)

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3. Managing for diversity:

policy and practice

Alignment of philosophy, mission & curricula (Kings and Warwick 2010)

Offshore & online enhancement / quality

„Unpacking‟ of implicit ideologies

True motivations and goals?

What is not written on the policy?

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3. Managing for diversity: language &

educational practice

Beyond deficit models (Wingate 2006)

Academic literacies (Lea & Street 1998)

Curriculum work( Mitchell 2011)

Central role of „support‟ units

University as multilingual space (Preece 2009, 2010)

World Englishes, code-switching, hybridity, plurality

Pedagogies for diversity

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Internationalisation at the IoE

Website resource

Case studies

Staff development

http://intercurr.ioe.ac.uk/

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Any questions?

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