International academic staff in UK higher education: campus internationalisation and innovation in academic practice

Abstract

Amidst opportunities for universities to consider international academic staff in supporting internationalisation and innovation in academic practice, there is very little research to provide insights into their attitudes towards institutional approaches and frameworks in place to enable this. This article focuses on this research gap, suggesting that this academic community might enhance the development of internationally-informed and innovative pedagogic practice. The research reported within the article constitutes a preliminary study, set within a UK higher education case study setting. Methods included focus groups and themed in-depth interviews with a sample of 34 international academic staff from over 15 countries. The findings and discussion provide insights into the perspectives and experiences of international academic staff in relation to the Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning and other institutional practice. Innovative pedagogic practice as enabled by international academic staff is discussed, as are approaches to the internationalisation of the curricula. The findings are relevant to the UK higher education context but also to the global context: academic institutions need to consider whether curriculum and processes are limited and limiting in favour of a narrow cultural lens.     

Empowerment for individual agency: an analysis of international organizations’ curriculum recommendations

Much recent research stresses the increasing relevance of international organisations (IOs) for national education policymaking. Yet, IOs’ curriculum recommendations have remained largely out of scope, although they provide a forceful example of ‘soft’ governance. Based on a content analysis of 83 documents from 42 inter/-nongovernmental, global and regional organisations involved in international education networks between 1990 and 2015, this paper identifies an expansive field of IOs directing growing attention to such curricular issues as student needs, educational goals and content, as well as issues of teaching and learning. In line with much cross-national curriculum research, analysis provides evidence for the trend towards a global curriculum model stressing empowerment, individual agency and psychosocial development. The article argues that the strong focus on human capabilities and human capital in IOs’ curriculum policies reflects wider cultural transformations in contemporary world society. The article concludes by arguing for an expanded analytical scope of IOs’ educational work and a reconsideration of causal explanations in curriculum theories.     

The International Baccalaureate in England and Wales: the alternative paths for the future

The year 2007 was a significant one for the International Baccalaureate (IB) in England and Wales. Several milestones were reached, and the number of schools offering the curriculum reached one hundred. This article charts the growth and development in England and Wales of this continuum of international education and shows how the Diploma Programme, in particular, has reached a fundamental crossroads. On the one hand, the IB looks set for further growth and has the ability to be an influential and respected catalyst for the movement towards international education in curriculum development. On the other hand, the IB is emerging as an elite programme of study alongside other ‘baccalaureate’ curricula and in competition to A level, and other ‘Diploma’ developments. The ability of the IB to be a divisive force is explored.     

Transnational accreditation for public schools: IB,PISA and other public–private partnerships

ABSTRACT

This article examines a particular type of public–private partnership (PPP) that is rarely studied in comparative educational policy studies: one in which a government funds privately run international schools. The aim of this PPP is to enrich and thereby improve the regular curriculum or to the quality of education in public schools. As the exponential growth of International Baccalaureate (IB) illustrates, such forms of PPP have increased significantly over the past few years. The authors show that transnational accreditation holds a special appeal for the middle class that is committed to cosmopolitanism, international mobility, and global citizenship. However, international standards schools such as IB are not alone with advancing a transnational accreditation of their educational programmes. Symbolically, Programme in International Student Assessment also provides a transnational accreditation, albeit not on individual education programmes but rather on entire educational systems. The article examines the reasons for the popularity of this type of PPP, analyses the interaction between the private and public education sectors, and investigates how governments explain, and what they expect from, the close cooperation with private education providers.     

Being a mobile international postgraduate research student with family in the United Kingdom: Conflict,contestation and contradictions

The internationalisation of higher education has influenced the dramatic rise in the mobility of students, academics and knowledge across borders. There has been growing research interest focusing on international students studying abroad. While the student experience is an area of education that is often researched, most research focuses on experiences of undergraduate students. Also in the context of international students, greater research emphasis has been placed on the academic experiences and support available for undergraduates. While such research is important, less attention has been paid to the non-academic experiences of International Post-Graduate Research Students with Families (IPGRSF). This article seeks to fill this gap by focusing on the social worlds of IPGRSF in the UK, examining students’ nuclear family contexts that are often marginalised in discourse. The article legitimises the IPGRSF subaltern world by focusing on how students negotiate its demands; how they negotiate their roles as research students with their other roles as spouses and parents, and the interrelationships among these roles; and how the university as an institution interacts with the students’ subaltern world. The findings show that language plays a significant role in shaping the process of mobility as well as influencing the students’ and their families’ integration and networking in the host country. Also, the findings suggest that students often had positive experiences at departmental level, but felt let down by the wider university support.     

International students in the higher education classroom: initial findings from staff at two post‐92 universities in the UK

A significant body of work has emerged over the last 10 years investigating the experiences of international university students. These studies have covered various challenges faced by some groups of international students relating to culture, language and integration and have been prompted by the increase in international students studying in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. A smaller strand of research has also begun to focus on the experiences, perspectives and reactions of academic staff who have seen the composition of their cohorts change substantially over recent years in terms of numbers of international participants. This article reviews relevant literature in this field, reporting on a questionnaire study based at two UK post‐92 universities. Respondents associated a range of traits with international students and suggested that the increasing number of international students enhanced the environment, but also required a higher level of support. This study also found that staff resorted to informal methods when developing means of adapting their practices to the increasing number of international students, preferring discussion with colleagues and students themselves to formal development programmes or advice from specialist departments such as student support. The article concludes that in order to encourage diversity in a meaningful way, universities need to recognise the challenge of increased numbers of international students and support staff accordingly.     

Understanding aspirations and expectations of international students in Australian higher education

The aspirations and expectations of the growing international student cohort in Australia are implicitly incorporated into recruitment and internationalization strategies but have received little academic analysis. To address this gap in the literature, this paper develops a conceptual model built upon earlier research by Tim Mazzarol and Geoffrey Soutar, which focuses on the push and pull factors relating to home country and country of destination, respectively, in relation to students' decisions to seek international study. Focusing predominantly on Chinese and Indian students, we conceptualise, extend and place the push and pull factors within a social psychological framework in relation to students' aspirations and expectations of international education, indicating factors that can be influenced by higher education (HE) institutions and their programmes, and those which cannot. We then interrogate the model and its applicability in Australian HE through the case study of an Indian international Study Tour conducted in our Australian HE institution in 2009. In the present context of decreased international student enrolments in Australia in 2010, where we seek to better understand our international students, the proposed model provides a basis for identifying international students' expectations and aspirations and developing prospective international relations.     

MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION – GOOD FOR BUSINESS BUT NOT FOR THE STATE? THE IB CURRICULUM AND GLOBAL CAPITALISM

ABSTRACT:  In the 1970s and the 1980s, multicultural education spread in many countries. However, in the mid-1980s the golden age of multiculturalism came to an end. Neo-conservative political forces attacked multicultural policies and progressively a neo-liberal discourse pervaded economic and social policies, also affecting national education systems. In contrast, multicultural approaches have emerged with tremendous vigour in the field of business management. Juxtaposing cognitive, emotional and socio-communicative multiculturalism found in organisational studies onto multiculturalism in the International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum indicates whether multiculturalism in international schools aims to respond to the needs of global capitalism. The findings show that emotional, cognitive and socio-communicative multiculturalism are seen as essential traits for good performance in transnational corporations, and they are strongly encouraged in the IB curriculum. The relevance of multicultural skills in global management alongside the decay of multiculturalism in public education systems entails a growing educational disparity between lower class and higher class children. A new educational structure in which two differentiated systems – a national system and an international system – emerges and redefines the terms of inequality of opportunities.     

The international flow of scholars and students: A vehicle for cross-cultural understanding,international co-operation and global development?

This article is a shift away from the narrow socio-psychological focus of student flows towards an examination and analysis of the mutual educational, political and economic advantages and disadvantages to both sending and receiving countries and to global development through educational exchange. The, article within its limited framework goes on to outline the impetus for the origin and development of the international flow of scholars and students in a global context. It then examines the implications and contribution this movement makes towards cross-cultural understanding, international co-operation in higher education and a global development in knowledge. It outlines the educational, cultural and economic advantages and disadvantages that sending and host countries have derived and continue to derive from these flows. However, the benefits seem to outweigh the disadvantages, particularly in the light of the growing new international economic order accompanied by an interdependent world economic system. In spite of this, a number of the developed host countries, mainly for parochial economic and political reasons, have introduced a series of protectionist measures to curtail the number of overseas students coming into their institutions of higher education. This has adversely affected particularly the poorer developing countries and their students. The article also points out that this exchange of scholars and students is a useful marketing mechanism for the developed countries, as students returning home take back with them a considerable amount of knowledge of their host country and this is helpful in a highly competitive world market system.     

International elite,or global citizens? Equity,distinction and power: the International Baccalaureate and the rise of the South

The 2013 UN Human Development report predicts the middle classes of ‘The South’ a five-fold increase by 2030. Globalisation has resulted in national conceptions of business: education and identity being in flux. Emerging middle classes of the South are already embracing international forms of education for instrumental reasons of advantage and distinction. The International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum continues to experience a strong growth in this area and appears to offer a globalised and international form of education, which may offer the chance of educating a global citizen, despite the fact that it is much valued for the relative advantage it may offer. This article reviews the data surrounding the rise of the South and explores the identity of the IB, as it exists in international schools, particularly the dilemma between its internationalist and the globalist outlook. The theory of Pierre Bourdieu facilitates a critical examination of the role of global citizenship education in this paradigm, and the instrumental role it may play in conferring symbolic capital and distinction on this form of social reproduction. Finally, Global Citizenship Education in IB curricula represents a pastoral (religious) component as is common in elite school systems, yet in its globalised form: secular and inclusive whilst equitable and distinct.     

教师教育课程改革的国际趋势

我国《教师教育课程标准》的研制建立在对国际教师教育课程改革研究的基础之上,本文对美国、英国、德国、法国、澳大利亚和日本等发达国家教师教育课程改革的理念和实践展开比较分析,指出教师教育课程改革的国际趋势表现在:开展旨在教师终身专业发展的、以学习者为中心的教师教育课程改革;注重教师教育课程的前沿性、灵活性和实用性;注重模块式课程的开发和教育临床研究;注重以学生为中心的课程实施方法;注重质的评价和严格把关相结合的课程评价。     

我国在线高等教育发展的国际比较及推进策略

我国历来从战略上重视信息技术发展及其对教育的革命性影响。近20年来我国在线高等教育课程及其平台建设,与世界在线高等教育课程的发展节奏基本保持一致,且起点较高,但在学科类型、课程提供主体、课程语言、教学形式和课程共享性等方面,与其他国家相比存在差异。就国际影响力而言,我国在线高等教育课程还存在以下不足:在线课程开发缺乏全球化视野,课程内容及质量国际吸引力不足;在线教育平台建设机制不灵活,世界范围内传播效率不高;教师信息化素养不高,开展国际在线教学动力不足;在线教育缺乏质量标准和学分互认体系,国际认可度不高;高校内部支撑体系不完善,缺乏线上与线下的融合发展。对此,提出以下建议:加强顶层设计,整体布局规划;多方协同推进,打造中国品牌;引领标准建设,拓展国际空间;打磨专业团队,贡献中国智慧。     

Bridging further education and higher education in the formation of spiritual directors

This article examines those aspects of curriculum relating to programmes that have developed across the further and higher education divide. It analyses one particular spiritual direction formation programme that has transitioned from a vocational training programme in the further education mode to a post-graduate academic programme in a higher education context. In identifying the core elements of this formation programme, it suggests several complementary educational approaches that resonate with the formation approach within academic contexts and examines whether these approaches adequately address the breadth of learning styles and relational aspects of learning that contribute to effective pedagogical approaches. The article recommends further research to assess the relevance of curriculum design to guidelines and standards demanded of both the further and higher education sectors.     

When the demand for educational equality stops at the border: wealthy students,international students and the restructuring of higher education in the UK

In the context of the increasing internationalisation of higher education, there is a pressing need to think through how demands for educational equality and justice, that currently tend to be framed at the national and sub-national level, should be conceptualised at a global level. This article compares two recent media and policy debates in the UK, over admitting wealthy students off-quota to university and restricting international student visas, in order to demonstrate the contradictions that are created when demands for educational equality stop at the national border. Based on a discussion of these debates, the article calls for the principle of educational equality to be extended outwards, beyond the national border, to apply to domestic and international students alike.     

The way collaboration benefits vocational students: a case study of a joint venture college in China

International collaborations in the vocational and training (VET) sector have grown significantly in the past three decades in China as well as in other parts of the world. Despite its growing prominence, it remains a largely under-researched field compared to the large volume of research on universities’ internationalization. In particular, it is unclear how internationalization practices improve vocational students’ academic and social competencies and readiness for employment. This case study was intended to fill this current gap in the literature by investigating a selected joint venture VET college in China. This study employed a wealth of data as evidence that international programmes could benefit vocational students in their English skills, professional knowledge, intercultural competence, and personal and career development. In additional to the opportunities created for vocational students, international programmes are expected to offer workplace experience and design a curriculum that suits students with different future plans. The findings of this study indicate that international collaborations in the VET sector have the potential not only to better prepare vocational students for life and employment, but also to address the challenges facing the VET system in developing economies.     

英国高校国际学生学费的变化及其对高等教育的影响

在全球化时代，高等院校学生的全球流动给国际学生输入国的政治、经济以及高等教育带来了重要影响。英国作为国际学生的主要接收国之一，其优质的高等教育吸引着来自世界各地的学生。在新自由主义意识形态、国际教育服务贸易理念与高等教育财政拨款投入制度的影响下，英国逐步向国际学生收取高额学费。英国高校国际学生学费的变化呈现出新的特点，影响着国际学生的来源结构、生源数量与质量，可能导致高校课程调整与师资流失。国际学生学费的变化引发了英国社会对高等教育市场化取向与国际学生公平教育权益的讨论，并实施了将国际学生学费与院校国际教育质量挂钩、以奖助学金形式平衡国际学生学费压力等具体改革举措。     

The promise of advantage: Englishness in IB international schools

For the ‘global middle classes’, cultural reproduction increasingly involves the international school as they promise considerable distinction [Bourdieu, P. 1984. Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press] granting University passage past Anglo gate-keepers. This paper draws on research providing a multiphase exploration of the character of senior leadership in IB international schools. Participants emerged as white ‘English’ and Christian. However, data collected show that these leaders do not operationalise (organisational) international values; instead, they draw upon their own societal values in leadership. Yet, their stories and outlooks of global-mindedness sit uncritically, framed in ‘Inner Circle English’ [Kachru, B. 1985. “Standards, Codification and Sociolinguistic Realism: The English Language in the Outer Circle.” In English in the World: Teaching and Learning the Language and Literatures, edited by R. Quirk and H. G. Widdowson, 11–34. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press] advantage. Participants lean on a power-narrative of middle-class ‘Englishness’. As powerful policy-makers, this orientation defines the international school’s mission and vision. It appeals to the surge of international education, particularly in the global South, where international schools can be seen as incubators of ‘English’ epistemic advantage. It is unlikely that the consolidation of the ‘Brand of Britain’ will affect this demographic and their choices to ‘go UK’. The affordance of diminishing EU participation in the UK higher education system may work in favour of globalising middle classes and elites. Conversely, it is unlikely that lower income EU or UK domestic HE participation is likely to profit from this move.     

International HE in the UK: leveraging the policy-institution-expert nexus in uncertain times

ABSTRACT

Long-established paradigms around intensifying internationalism and ‘borderless-ness’ in the UK higher education (HE) sector are being challenged and disrupted by the nationalist drift of global political and socioeconomic forces. The UK’s international HE space is fragmented with neither a coordinated national policy nor a central agency overseeing sector-wide activity. Instead, national stakeholders interact in a ‘policymaking-sector expert nexus’ that itself engages internationally. UK institutions create structures to support ‘global engagement’ to help them to transcend national policy concerns and weather global ‘storms’, and to shape policy proactively. However, growing national policy divergence and competing policy priorities mean that enhanced coordination through a sector-level body must precede, and facilitate, the development of any UK-wide international HE strategy. A strategy will face the challenge of embracing institutional autonomy and mission diversity, recognising and value the full spectrum of international HE activities, and providing sufficient funding to leverage the implementation of institutional strategies.     

Global perspectives: aligning agendas?

In recent years there has been a growth in interest amongst a number of universities in the UK and elsewhere in the world on reflecting upon the contribution of higher education to a global society and exploring ways to broaden the curriculum to enable students to make a positive contribution to the world as ‘global citizens’. This paper will suggest, using the UK as an example, that the policy context provides a favourable environment for such developments. However, policy documents often confuse rather than clarify precisely what needs to be addressed, despite their recognition that change is required. Students are increasingly demanding more opportunities to learn and reflect upon their role and contribution to global society and at the same time employers are seeking graduates who have a ‘broader world view’, who can manage across cultures, and who understand the need for sustainable development. Summarising the influences of these drivers, the paper proposes that through a framework of global perspectives developed at Bournemouth University in the UK, these agendas around internationalisation and sustainable development can contribute to better learning and enhance the broader work of the university.     

Crossed looks: globalisations and curriculum in Guinea-Bissau

This article focuses on education in Guinea-Bissau in the context of globalisations, examining the concept of globalisation and its relation to education and the curriculum. It focuses on the relatively neglected area of national education policies in Guinea-Bissau, comparing differences and common points of interference/influence of multilateral (international and regional) and bilateral organisations in these policies. Data collection was based on content analysis of a corpus of documents – the Education Act, the document of Portuguese Cooperation Programme, the Education Sector Policy Paper, the Education for All National Plan of Action, and Policy n. 3/2007/CM/UEMOA – and field notes collected from 2009 to 2012. The article argues that there is a tendency for the homogenisation of curriculum policies, at least at the macro-level, due to the different types of pressures coming from international/regional organisations.