Internationalising modules:

What does it mean?Where and how might you make changes?

Who can implement the changes?

Jude Carroll

‘What does it mean?’

Internationalisation

of the

Curriculum

‘Internationalising a module’

How does this fit into my responsibilities asprogramme leader?

A few words of warning

This is complex & tough to do

[I may take an approach which is differentfrom what you are expecting….]

Doing it takes thinking, persuading,perseverance

Loads of ideas and suggestions ….. onlysome will fit or work for you

Knowing what you might do is not thesame as knowing how you might do it

Let’s start with what you hope toget this afternoon….

What do you want to discuss or explore?

What do you NOT want to discuss orexplore?

What do you hope to leave with?

‘Internationalising’: aproduct (the curriculum) and

a process‘International

university’

Internationalprogramme

Modules:

international content+ intercultural skills

Classroom arrangements

‘Whole university’ issue

‘.. prodigious intellectualand practical effort’

McTaggart, 2003

Looks very different indifferent contexts

Different ideas about

Whether it should be done

Why it should be done

When it should be done

Who should do it

How it should be done

‘the incorporation of aninternational andintercultural dimensioninto the content of thecurriculum as well as theteaching and learningarrangements andsupport services of aprogramme of study’.

Leask, 2009

A few reminders

Curriculum

Formal and informal

‘Everything that shapes the student’s learningexperience’

Includes content but it is not a synonym for‘syllabus’

Content

Knowledge

Skills

Attitudes, professional values

Reminders (continued)

‘ … teaching andlearningarrangements’

‘ … the supportservices’

‘the incorporation of aninternational andintercultural dimension intothe content of thecurriculum as well as theteaching and learningarrangements and supportservices of a programme ofstudy’.

Leask, 2009

What do you already do?

Where would an observer already see that youhave internationalised? What’s theevidence?

Think about

University level

programme level

support services

teaching and learning arrangements

Why do it?

Achieve international standards for branding purposes, ‘play toour strengths’

Enhance international understanding

We have students from 112 countries here

Solve global problems, address global questions

Grow the university

Build students’ skills for global employment

Ensure students have appropriate Knowledge / Skills / Attitudesfor a culturally diverse and globally interconnected world

Generate additional income

Our student satisfaction data is getting worse

Develop strategic alliances

Foster international collaboration in research and knowledgegeneration

and?

Different sorts of ‘why’ [‘whyinternationalise?’] Why ….. how we got to this point

Why …. what has caused us to think likethis

Backward looking – about causes

Why …. what we want to achieve

Why …. what are the values, beliefs andgoals we intend to achieve

Forward looking – shared purpose & beliefs

Why do it? Achieve international

standards for brandingpurposes, ‘play to ourstrengths’

We have students from 112countries here

Grow the university

Generate additional income

Our student satisfactiondata is getting worse

Develop strategic alliances

Our International studentsstruggle

Solve global problems,address global questions

Build students’ skills for globalemployment

Ensure students haveappropriate Knowledge / Skills/ Attitudes for a culturallydiverse and globallyinterconnected world

Foster internationalcollaboration in research andknowledge generation

Create a curriculum for all

No single answer to‘why do it?’

local, discipline-specific answers

local, role-specific answer

Takes time and shared discussion to reacha consensus

Risk: tokenism, superficiality, unsustainable

Suggestion: focus on forward-looking

Internationalising: what sort ofdiscipline?

(Clifford, 2009)

…. for humanitarian values& sustainability

…. to produce graduates capable ofsolving problems in a variety oflocations with cultural andenvironmental sensitivity.

Aulakh et al, 1997

…for a globalmarketplace

…….. geared to operating in internationalsurroundings, under international marketconditions and with an internationalprofessional orientation

Harlov, 1997

Our students are “going out there in the world’’ …and we need them to be ready

… to ensure students’graduate competence

…. an education that will allow them to performsuccessfully, professionally and socially, in a multi-cultural environment.

……. about students developing global perspectives andcross-cultural capability (Clifford and Joseph, 2005)

The world is getting global and we needstudents to be ready.

education for inclusion

All students are ‘our students’

-teachers must adjust their practice and accommodate

-students must adjust to ‘how it is here’

-teachers and students share responsibility for participation

All students should be able to succeed, to participate, to learn…….

All students should be able to use their previous experiences andknowledge

All students should leave with knowledge that is useful and relevant

Before focus on modules, establishthe programme graduate capabilities

..to prepare for professional practice in a globalmarketplace

…for graduates’ intercultural competence in a diverseworld

… to ensure the course and classroom use inclusive,respectful, relevant teaching and learning practices

… for knowledge generation, exchange and use in aninternational context

Task: agreeing programmeoutcomes / goals

Requirements:

….with the whole programme

….with enough time

…. [often] with facilitation

…. with a stated and agreed outcome

‘This programme will train graduates whoare able to….’

Programme mappings

‘This programme will turn outgraduates who are able to…..’

Task:

Talk about how youwould be able toagree programmegoals….

Can you do it forthe programme?

‘the incorporation of aninternational andintercultural dimensioninto the content of thecurriculum as well as theteaching and learningarrangements andsupport services of aprogramme of study’.

Leask, 2009

No wonderinternationalisation is so

complex

Different approaches (through activity, by changing the ethos, todevelop competent graduates, by making everything we dointernationally sensitive)

Different levels (national, local, institutional, programme, course,classroom)

Different rationales / reasons

Different degrees of understanding and authority

[Loads of blockers and enablers for change …..]

Rationale for nursing (Leask,2011)

education can and should create theconditions necessary for health, peace andharmony as fundamental human rights inevery society

nurses and midwives can make a valuablecontribution to the promotion preservationand maintenance of these conditions

(Sandstrom 1998, p.146)

Nursing: Learning Outcomes Ability to co-operate and collaborate in joint

efforts across national and cultural boundaries

Intercultural communicative competence requiredfor provision of professional health care to patientsfrom diverse cultural backgrounds

Ability to obtain and utilise ideas and experiencesfrom different parts of the world

Ability to function within the healthcareorganisations of the future

(Sandstrom 1998)

Applied Sciences: rationale forIoC a curriculum based on a critical analysis of

the connections between culture, knowledgeand professional practice in science within aglobalised world

employs problem-based methodologies

prepares students to be flexible, adaptiveand reflexive problem solvers who canconduct community-based as well asindustry-based investigations

(Carter 2008 p.629)

Medicine: addressing the ‘why’

How do we ensure that our graduates are equippedto provide effective health care to patients fromdiverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds?

How do we know that graduates are appropriatelyequipped – Knowledge, skills, attitudes?

To what extent does our program focus ondominant Western paradigms of medicine?

Is this focus appropriate today?

What about in the future?

Biological Sciences: rationale

The big problems in biology areinternational problems that requireinternational solutions

There are many important problems to besolved in the developing world

Journalism ‘Our aim is to promote a transformative educational

experience for communicators of the future, who areable to work across diverse inter-cultural contexts’.

But the pervasiveness of westernised thought (mainlyin the English language) dominates modes ofdissemination which tends to produce a homogenousperspective from which other non westernexperiences are excluded.

Focus: can we de-Westernise?

Journalism: how they wentabout itMapping the current programme: 2 courses fully focused

on international and intercultural content

Claims that the programme draws upon non-westernpractice, theories and assessment in a number of areas

Where the claims are delivered is unclear; unclear how‘other ways’ are incorporated into the curriculum.

Action plan: not yet complete.

several ways to tackle ‘internationalcurriculum and experience’

The ‘add on’ approach

Same course, same programme, same campus (+ halal food) Newreading list; add a case study; design a module on ‘internationalxxx’; run an extra course in cross cultural communication

The infusion approach

Use students ‘cultural capital’, change assessment to draw onexperiences; bring in diverse guest lecturers; review the readinglist, add new topics

The transformational approach

Send out students with new world views [‘…, all of us understandingthe world differently’]; Respectful, co-operative learning strategies

Transformation requires anintegrated model

International aims and graduate attributes

Programme level planning.

internationalising the content

internationalising the teaching and learning activities

internationalising the context (campus, college, contacts)

Internationalising the module

activities for identifying and using ‘cultural capital’

authentic cross-cultural communication

Internationalising the classroom

activities for inclusion and integration

Internationalising the teacher

Nested transformationat all levels

Marketing and reputation; ‘brand’Links and partnershipsRecruitment of diverse staffHospitality factors; campus planning

Lecturing forparticipationCross-cultural skillsFair & valid markingKnowing students’ pastexperiences … and more

university

programme

module

classroom

Graduate capabilitiesBeliefs and values

(inclusion, multipleperspectives, globalcitizenship)

Epistemology [knowledge-making]Induction & progressionAdmissionSupport and guidance

Learning outcomes (content andskills)

Reading listGroup work tasks

Assessment criteriaGuest speakers

Where and why for placement / fieldtrips

Internationalising themodule:

university

programme

module

classroom

Not every course: what is the student’soverall experience?

Range of opportunities: not just thesyllabus

Often requires new skills / staffdevelopment/ research

Use the ‘enablers’, especially diversestudents [‘cultural capital’]

Tools for moduleinternationalisation Learning outcomes

Assessment

Interactive learning activities:

discussions

projects

group work tasks

Resources for moduleinternationalisation

Case studies, projects, examples

Issues in professional practice

Investigation of practice elsewhere

Reference to international content

Addressing global issues

Ethical topics, e.g. on ethics of globalisation

Historical background to current professional practices

Int’l textbook or journal articles

Exploring knowledge construction from culture toculture in discipline area

Students reflecting on learning in relation to their owncultural identity

Inclusive teaching: diversestudents’ learning issues

‘It’s not the passport they carry, it’s theirprevious learning experience thatmatters……’

These factors inter-relate

educationalmobility

learning inEnglish

pedagogicvariation

The case for teacher adjustment and accommodation

Denial ‘I teach. It’s up to them to learn.’

‘I teach Chemistry. Oxygen is the same everywhere’

‘I didn’t admit this student who can’t speak English’

‘Repair’ ‘These students can’t ….. They aren’tmotivated..’ [‘You fix them and then I’ll teach them’]

The students must adapt ‘They want an education …. so, theyshould be ready for our kind of education.’

Teachers accommodate and adjust their practice:

These are my students: what do they bring? What do they needto succeed? What can I do to help them succeed?

Students’ key learning issues:

Language [studying in English]

Academic transition: new

practices assumptions andexpectations; new standards

Having appropriate skills

Engagement andparticipation

Collaboration, mixing.Having their knowledge andexperience valued

educationalmobility

learning inEnglish

pedagogicvariation

Early support for social inclusion

Organised ‘getting to know’ chances

In-class discussion: purpose explained andparticipation supported

Language enhancement activities

Lighter cognitive load in lectures

Fewer, longer, safer group tasks

Group tasks which

bring students together’

Teaching Cross-cultural skills

INTEGRATIONCOLLABORATIONINCLUSION

What more couldyou do?

Which change(s)would make adifference?

Inclusive teaching

Pick three areas for today

Focus on teacher adjustment andaccommodation

What could