Internationalisation

Ian WillisEducational Development Division, CLL

PGCert Module 402

Curriculum Agendas at the University of Liverpool

InternationalisationThe process of integrating an international, intercultural and/or global dimension into the goals, functions (teaching/learning, research, services) and delivery of higher education (Knight 2004)

This is a very commonly cited definition

• Note: integration• Note: international, inter-cultural, globalCan be interpreted in a number of ways

Internationalisation is it....• Recruiting international students• For international students• International delivery– Off shore campuses, Laureate

• Recruiting international staff– To enhance research

• About international research and international league tables

• Promoting intercultural relationsNote different levels of focus: students, teaching, curricula, university, global aspirations

Shameless plug for internationalisation

• Internationalisation of the curriculum can be used as the major ‘vehicle’ for many of the goals of curriculum review (and university strategic aims)– Programme relevancy: global themes

• Branding, recruitment (see Life Sciences)

– Inclusivity– Research led teaching– Employability - global focus– Placements (see Allied Health)

• University: international recruitment, league tables, NSS– NB International recruitment shown to raise standards in

some courses (UoL)

For this discussion:Internationalisation of the curriculum

But what does that mean??• International content• International opportunities• Taught by international staff• Informed by international research

At some point it’s about our students• What do we want them to be??

...graduates need attributes...!

“To live and work successfully within this globalising world, all our graduates need attributes which extend beyond the knowledge and skills traditionally delivered within a purely discipline-focussed curriculum”

Killick 2008

Agree or not?• If you agree, what does it mean for the curriculum

for graduate attributes• How should we think about graduate attributesWhat graduate attributes does your current curriculum claim to develop???

Anything international/global in there, in reality?

Against employability

Well sort of....IF graduate attributes becomes captured by a

(mostly) narrow employability agendaThen are we acceding to the economic agenda

whereby universities purpose is to service industry's needs for workers????

(drawing on Barnett 2004)

employability is rightly important but surely there’s more???

Surely there’s more

• Universities are value laden organisations• Education is NOT value – free

(good) higher education ‘can impart tolerance, openness, and the capacity to inject positive forms of social interaction’ (Dearing, 1997b: 23)

• Students come with ideals and aspirations

Do our ideas of graduate attributes live up to this??How would you like your graduates to BE

An internationalised curriculum

• “A curriculum which gives international and intercultural knowledge and abilities, aimed at preparing students for performing (professionally, socially, emotionally) in an international and multi-cultural environment”

Nilsson (2000)

How would you evaluate your current curriculum?

A graduate of the University of South Australia:

1. operates effectively with and upon a body of knowledge of sufficient depth to begin professional practice

2. is prepared for life-long learning in pursuit of personal development and excellence in professional practice

3. is an effective problem solver, capable of applying logical, critical, and creative thinking to a range of problems

4. can work both autonomously and collaboratively as a professional 5. is committed to ethical action and social responsibility as a

professional and citizen 6. communicates effectively in professional practice and as a member

of the community 7. demonstrates international perspectives as a professional and as a

citizen

Each of the qualities has indicators which serve as a guide to their development

But• Is internationalisation essential in all programmes?• Sector wide ‘challenges’ with ‘integration’• UoL has (and needs) a high proportion of Chinese (XJTLU) students

– Arriving as a cohort to an existing cohort– Real practical challenges for teaching staff– Interesting areas of research around international students networks and

use of social media• International PGT/PGR recruitment is critical• Commitment to internationalisation at UoL seems to be limited

(my opinion) – to recruitment and research partnerships (hugely important)– rather than curriculum or campus change???????

Yes – but what can be done?Analyse what you do well already– similarly: where do you know of good practice?

How much, when and where you want to move E.g.:

• Content: where can you easily increase international examples/ articles/ perspectives?

•Assessment: where can you make international students an asset?•Policy: does your department/school have an internationalisation policy, do you know it?– See Social Science DeptHow would you evaluate your current curriculum?

Yes – but what can be done?•Placements: good practice at UoL re international placements– See Allied Health•Graduate attributes: where can you internationalise?– Use UniSA or similar as a checklist•Supporting students: variety of UoL systems– International Student Team– Peer mentoring schemes; see Betty Leask, UoL– Induction; see Chemistry (re XJTLU) •VITAL: can provide space and time for international students to contribute• HEA International Student Lifecycle Resources bank

– Next slideHow would you evaluate your current curriculum?

International Student Lifecycle Resources bankHEA.ac.uk

http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/international-student-lifecycle

Writing – a specific example• Many writing difficulties stem from:

– generic lack of experience or skill – little or no experience of reading academic texts– lack of familiarity with the disciplinary conventions, including those for writing

• Approaches for developing international students’ academic writing: – empathy and knowledge about students’ transitions to UK academic writing

conventions– patience while students develop their language capability– assessment strategies which include

exemplars, formative feedback, and practice– organisation to ensure students know what is expected and deadlines for

completion that are mindful that many will take significantly longer than home students

– How much of this is true/comparable for many home students?http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/detail/internationalisation/ISL_Academic_Writing

How would you evaluate your current curriculum?

!

• Last chance comments= yours

How would you evaluate your current curriculumin terms of internationalisation (however you define it)?

Barnett (2004) The purposes of higher education and the changing face of academia 2(1) London Review of Education

Killick (2008) Internationalisation: Graduate attributes for a globalising world. Higher Education Academy Annual Conference

Knight (2004) Internationalization Remodelled Definition Approaches and Rationales 8(5) Journal of Studies in International Education

Leask (2009) Using formal and informal curricula to improve interactions between home and international students 13(2) Journal of Studies in International Education

Nilsson (2000) Internationalising the curriculum. In P. Crowther et al., Internationalisation at Home: a position paper, Amsterdam: EAIE

http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/international-student-lifecycle

A graduate who demonstrates international perspectives as a professional and a citizen will

7.1 display an ability to think globally and consider issues from a variety of perspectives

7.2 demonstrate an awareness of their own culture and its perspectives and other cultures and their perspectives

7.3 appreciate the relation between their field of study locally and professional traditions elsewhere

7.4 recognise intercultural issues relevant to their professional practice

7.5 appreciate the importance of multicultural diversity to professional practice and citizenship More

A graduate who demonstrates international perspectives as a professional and a citizen will

7.6 appreciate the complex and interacting factors that contribute to notions of culture and cultural relationships

7.7 value diversity of language and culture7.8 appreciate and demonstrate the capacity to apply

international standards and practices within the discipline or professional area

7.9 demonstrate awareness of the implications of local decisions and actions for international communities and of international decisions and actions for local communities

What about this?

A university should provide an education for all its students which is ‘fit for purpose’;

An education offering ‘fitness for purpose’ today means one which will enable all our students to live and work successfully in the world of today and the worlds of tomorrow

The curriculumThe formal curriculum = a sequenced programme of teaching and learning activities and experiences organised around defined content areas, topics, and resources; the objectives of which are assessed in various ways

The informal curriculum= the various extracurricular activities that take place on campus:those optional activities that are not part of the formal requirements of the programme, which nevertheless contribute to and in many ways define the culture of the campus and thus are an important part of the landscape in which the formal curriculum is enacted Leask 2009