What we “see” depends on who we ask what questions

1. Transforming the Culture of LearningRace to Globalize Higher Education in CanadaOCUFA Conference / Toronto 2011

2. People within institutions are not spectators to the story being written by those at the top…they actively make their own meaning when a radical departure is taken

3. What we “see” depends on who we ask what questions

4. What: Complexity of the ConceptInternationalization involves … Knowledge about alternative constructions of knowledge and worldviews Alterations in how one responds to cultural difference Awareness of culture within our thinking as it (silently) informs ways in which our worldview is privileged over the “other” How to maintain one’s own cultural identity while understanding and working with others

5. Conceptual FrameworksInternationalization at Home (IaH)Campus-wide environment (Wachter,1999) Internationalization of the Curriculum (IoC)Undergraduate curriculum and classroom(Mestenhauser, 2000)

6. Population & Methodologies • Faculty members holding full-time academic appointments at 12 universities (n=1200) • Institutional ethnography involving multiple methods including focus groups, survey, and content analysis of policies and course outlines.

7. The challenge of internationalizing learning … • Who • What • Where • How

8. Who finds the concept of internationalization meaningful? • Administrative voice • Faculty voice • Student voice • Public voice

9. Where does leaning occur? • Mobility-based approaches • Internationalization-at-Home • In courses/extra-mural sites

10. How:Conflicting Assumptions …Knowledge is universal and implicitly superior because it is based on objectivity, truth, and rationalityKnowledge is culturally constructed and as such truth is subjective, contextualized by context and historical moment

11. Different Perspectives • We tend to hold that scientific principles underling our curriculum are universal and thus transcend the notion of internationalization (154) • I attempt to work in international perspectives at least to counteract the tendency that there is only one way to accomplish our objectives (129)

12. Internationalization reshaping … OURSELVES OUR INSTITUTIONS OUR GRADUATES

13. The guiding research question … Overall, how are faculty and students experiencing the internationalization of the curriculum and classroom?

14. Factors influencing participation in the internationalization of undergraduate curriculum • Prior international experience • Language competency • Gender • Disciplinary affiliation

15. Teaching is an isolated activity • Most faculty report they do not see their teaching as a source of research and publication. • Most faculty report they are not likely to collaborate with colleagues, let alone professional staff including international student advisors • Faculty are cautious about drawing on student knowledge and expertise

16. Active Case Studies Group Discussion Problem Solving Role Play Seminar Inactive Lecture WomenMen 70% 35% 30% 65% Preference for Teaching Strategies / Gender

17. Student Voices … Active Learning Most Preferred (92%) Lecture is least preferred teaching style (90%)

18. Student Voices Prior to University … 52% lived or worked in another culture 35% have been on exchanges

19. International/Intercultural Experiences of Undergraduate Students 1. International Students in English Programs 2. International students in degree program 3. Exchange students who have come to Canada 4. Domestic students who have been on exchanges and returned to Canadian classrooms 5. Aboriginal students 6. Student groups/NGOs with international experience 7. Students who as part of their degree have studied in universities abroad. 8. Recent immigrants 9. Canadian students raised in multicultural contexts

20. Commentary • In a class of 60, I ask how many have traveled to a country outside of North America, ¾ of the hands go up. I ask how many have lived in another country for more than six months, more than 1/3 of the hands go up. That did not happen before but it does now. (10)

21. The emperor has no clothes … • What do faculty mean when they say they internationalize their courses?

22. He said, she said … • Institutions report their faculty are infusing an international/intercultural perspective in courses • Faculty report they are more likely to use the add-on approach • Faculty who have lived or worked abroad or who are literature in more than two languages or who are women are more likely to report they infuse/transform their curriculum.

23. How can I internationalize the content of the course? • Three approaches were identified: • 1. Add-on • 2. Infusion • 3. Transformation

24. Add-on Approach • The add-on approach to internationalizing curriculum is the easiest to do and has the most narrow focus. • Examples: • Invite a guest speaker • Add a reading from an author from a different cultural context • Add an assignment whose focus is a international /intercultural perspective of the subject matter

25. Infusion approach • Infusion requires more preparation by the faculty member and involves introducing international/intercultural perspectives in all aspects of the course. • Examples: • Rethinking course goals to include international/intercultural issues and approaches • Selecting course readings that reflect diverse points of view on events/issue • Introduce students experience into the course

26. Transformation approach • For those of us who teach in disciplines that are not already internationalized, this approach is the most demanding and difficult to achieve. It also produces the greatest results and is the closest to an immersion experience such as a study abroad where the student lives with the local people.

27. Transformational strategies • Enable students to move between two or more worldviews comfortably. • This requires embedding the different ways of seeing and organizing the world in all aspects of the course. • It also requires that the faculty member and students move easily between the different worldviews.

28. Encouragement & Obstacles (Faculty) • Lack of discussion & debate about critical issues • There is no money, no recognition, no continuing professional education • There is no discussion about what kind of student we should be nurturing • Doing more with less or doing things differently Given all the changes that have already occurred in the curriculum, I don’t have enough time to undertake an internationalization of my courses In theory this would be a good idea, time constraints on likely participants probably would limit the usefulness of this exercise,especially lunch-time sessions Few faculty have time for lunch outside their office • To internationalize the curriculum, you have to internationalize the faculty. • Faculty are being expected to internationalize the curriculum without any resources, not even continuing professional education (10)

29. Most faculty use pedagogical approaches to teaching that work against students learning from one another Departments are seen to encourage students to go abroad but do little to support internationalization at home. Individual faculty members are making a strong contribution to the intl. of learning but the university does not support them. Peer-based interactions make the strongest contribution to the internationalization of learning.

30. THANK YOU For detailed information on any of the studies, you can contact me at slb2@queensu.ca