The changing nature of international institutional activity: international joint degree programmes and the EHEA policy discourse

Jan Bamford,HEA Annual Research Conference “Great Expectations – are you ready?” University of Manchester 2012

“Joint degrees are the brave new world of education – everybody wants to do it."Daniel Obst, International Institute of Education, New York Times March 28th 2011

Changing nature?•Active internationalisation versus

‘symbolic’ internationalisation ( Turner and Robson 2006)

•Enhancing institutional attractiveness ( Sweeney 2010)?

•Institute for International Education (2011) 84% of 245 institutions surveyed offer double degree programmes, 33% joint degree programmes

•Encouraging a culture of mobility ( Sweeney 2010)/European integration

•Internationalising the curriculum•Intercultural skills /cultural fluencies

International Higher Education drawing on Knight’s (2004) definition of the internationalisation of higher education:

“...the process of integrating an international, intercultural or global dimension into the purpose, functions or delivery of post-secondary education.”(2004:11)

subject knowledge

/course of

study

Country A

Country B

language learning/

intercultural

knowledge

International classroom

Some key issues?•Joint and Double Degree Programmes•“Europe of Knowledge” – Lisbon Agenda•Is higher education becoming more

European ?( Papatsiba (2006)•The Bologna Process – 47 countries in

EHEA to enhance the quality, attractiveness, and compatibility of qualifications and student and staff mobility

•Does a “Culture of Mobility” change the nature of UK HE?– Sweeney (2010)

Joint and double Degree Programmes• Two or more institutions in two or more countries are participating.• The duration of study outside the institution should be substantial and

continuous eg: 1 year at bachelor level.• Joint degree programmes should require a joint study programme

settled on by cooperation, confirmed in a written agreement between institutions.

• Joint degrees should be based on bilateral or multilateral agreements on jointly arranged and approved programmes with no restrictions concerning study fields or subjects.

• Full use should be made of the Diploma Supplement and the ECTS in order to ensure comparability of qualifications.

• A joint degree should preferably be documented in a single document issued by the participating institutions in accordance with national regulations.

• Joint degrees and study programmes should require student and staff/teacher mobility.

• Linguistic diversity in a European perspective should be ensured.• Joint study programmes should have a European dimensions whether

[sic] physical mobility or intercultural competence is in the curriculum.(Stockholm Seminar on Joint Degrees within the framework of the Bologna Process 2002:2-3)

 

Joint degree structure

Semester 1 Country

ATaught

Semester 2 -

Country BTaught

Internship4 months

Dissertation

Europe of Knowledge

•Dale (2010) – wealth creation is linked to the production and dissemination of knowledge which is linked to the field of research, education and training – Bologna is inexorably linked to the Lisbon Agenda

•Leuven Communiqué (2009) – “mobility shall be the hallmark of the European Higher Education Area”

•Europe 2020 – 20% mobility

QAA position and Ethical considerations•‘Two fishes with one hook’?•QAA position is the need to maintain the

standards of a UK postgraduate degree• ... in allowing the partners of dual awards to be considered

as 'equal partners', taking full responsibility for assessment and the confirmation of marks but not requiring the independent scrutiny of student work, the University is failing to ensure the proper oversight of the standards of its awards. Accordingly it is essential for the University to assure the standards of all its awards in collaborative provision, with particular reference to external examiners' oversight of dual award programmes.

( QAA 2006:27,)

Ethical perspectives

•Issues of transparency•Quality of the academic experience•Difference and monitoring of academic

standards – subjective perspectives•Acting for the sake of financial

imperatives

The Ethical dimension• ...few have thought about the ethical base of

mobility and international study. This is fertile ground for development. The ethics of recruiting students, earning profits from international higher education, charging fees, immigration policy, and other issues deserve study, and action. Issues such as transparency in exchange relationships, mutual understanding of countries and social systems, and of course, ensuring that exchanges benefit everyone involved, are all part of the ethical dimension. (Altbach and Teichler, 2001:23-24):

 

Practical DifficultiesCredit Weighting

Workloads/Learning Hours

Difference and compromise

Staff and institutional perspectives•10 practitioner interviews•AACSB – strategic financial motivations

and need to rely on international accreditation and international benchmarking

•Finance•Accreditation•Difference•Institutional Culture•Need for transparency and understanding

Financial imperatives“A clear lead from the top has encouraged the development of the relationship. The lead is based on a personal friendship but also a recognition of the financial imperatives which characterise any joint initiative. Each director has helped the relationship by appointing a liaison person at each institution and although the personalities may have changed in the course of institutional reorganisation, the recognition of the value of the relationship remains as strong as ever.”

( Course Leader, France)

 

Accreditation and reputation“The French school is a business school of some standing in the European scene, and it has to be said that their reputation was significant in my decision to progress this relationship. That being said, its genesis I think relates to the fact that I take the view that in the world in which we’re currently living, globalisation being the way that you might describe that world, it’s extremely important that students get exposed to alternative ways of looking at business and management practice. So the idea of a collaboration with the French School in the course area was attractive to me because I think it allowed those students to have that exposure to ways of looking at business and management practice. So I think that was the primary motivation for the collaboration, and we’ve attempted to develop similar models with other institutions in different parts of the world. “( Dean of the London institution)

 

Difference

“...the profs are the doyen, the knowledge base, espousing their own research and their own professional experiences to the students ...And so the idea that you will have checks and balances in a curriculum that ascertain where the learning outcomes have been met, don’t exist.” (International Director of French GE)

Conclusions

•Mobility is seen as a key aspect of the higher education process and linked to that the importance of ‘joint’ programmes of study

•Encouragement of a ‘culture of mobility’ whether or not there is an ethical dimension

•The importance of mobility to a Europe of Knowledge

•Different motivations for engagement•Internationalising drivers are key

References• Dale, R., (2010), Constructing Universities' Responses To Europe's Lisbon

Agenda: the Roles of the European Commission in Creating a Europe of Knowledge, Centre for Learning and Life Chances in Knowledge Economies and Societies (LLAKES), Research Paper 19

• Knight,J ., (2004) Internationalization Remodeled: Definition, Approaches, and Rationales, Journal of Studies in International Education , vol. 8 no. 1 5-31

• Leuven Communiqué (2009). The Bologna Process 2020 - The European Higher Education Area in the new decade. Joint Declaration of the European Ministers. http://www.ond.vlaanderen.be/hogeronderwijs/bologna/conference/documents/Leuven_Louvain-la-Neuve_Communiqu%C3%A9_April_2009.pdf

• Papatsiba, V. (2006) Making higher education more European through student mobility? Revisiting EU initiatives in the context of the Bologna Process. Comparative Education, Vol. 42 No 1.

• Sweeney, S., (2010) Bologna Process: Responding to the post-2010 challenge. HEA.

• Turner, Y., & Robson, S. (2007). Competitive and cooperative impulses to internationalization: reflecting on the interplay between management intentions and the experience of academics in a British university. Education, Knowledge and Economy, 1(1), 65-82.