Topic 1: Defining IoC, institutionalised contexts
The course starts off this week with a bang! The tasks are varied, from considering your own personal motivations for engaging with IoC, to looking at some of the literature on 'What is IoC', to collecting and sharing examples of IoC in practice, to exploring your own institution's website to begin to understand the orientation of your institution to IoC.
See the course timetable for more information about the timing of topics; you might find it helpful to print out the timetable so that you can quickly refer to it.
Activity 1: A story to tell
Aim to post this before Tuesday of week one.
We continue to 'get to know each other' this week through this second ice-breaker task. I have found, when talking with people about IoC, that their interest has often been triggered by a specific event or experience and I would like to invite you to 'tell your story'.
Can you recall an experience that sparked your interest, started you asking questions about IoC? Share your story with us in the Activity 1: Story to tell discussion forum.
What do you feel that you have learnt from the experience? When you have written your story, read and respond to the stories of at least two other course members.
Ideally you should all have posted response to other people within a couple of days. It can feel very uncomfortable and isolating when you post something and no-one replies, so we need to ensure that everyone receives a timely response to their posts. In this way we can each contribute to establishing a strong and inclusive learning community.
You might like to look at Sally Davis's story in chapter 8 of the course book.
Activity 2: Defining 'internationalisation of the curriculum'
Aim to have done this reading and posted by Thursday of week one.
First read: Clifford, V. (2013), The elusive concept of internationalisation of the curriculum.
Then read: Chapter 1 Introduction: Internationalising the curriculum for global citizenship in higher education, in the course book that you have been sent.
These readings introduce a range of ideas about IoC and may have had you reaching for the dictionary if you are not used to reading education articles! I think that one of the main points to realise is that IoC can present a challenge to disciplinary knowledge and traditional ways of teaching attached to that knowledge, especially in the science, mathematics and Information Technology (IT) areas. This challenge can produce a hostile reaction because of fear of the unknown and an unwillingness to have a lifetime of beliefs questioned. The readings also emphasise that IoC is an ongoing process with which we are engaging, there will be no neat package indicating that we have reached the end of the journey!
When you have done the reading, reflect on the following:
- How had you defined IoC up to now?
- What is new to you in the ideas presented in the readings?
- Are there ideas here that you think you could find useful in your work?
- Are there ideas here that you think might not be useful - why is this?
Write a paragraph in response to the readings and these questions and post it to the 'Activity 2: Defining IoC' discussion forum.
Read and respond to the posts of at least two other course participants.
Activity 3: 'How to' ideas
Aim to post before Friday of week one.
The question that academics constantly ask me is 'What does it look like?'
When exploring new territory it is comforting to have examples of what you are aiming to achieve. If you are an educational developer finding examples may be one of the helpful things that you could do to engage your colleagues with IoC.
For this task we would like you to add your ideas/examples into the 'Ideas for IoC in action' collection. We have left a few of the ideas offered by previous course participants on the list to get you started. You might also like to offer extensions or adaptions to some of these ideas as well as offering new ones.
Activity 4: The institutional environment
Aim to post this by Friday of week one.
For this task we want you to focus on your own institution and explore how IoC is positioned in your institution, what support it is receiving from senior management, and what is happening in different schools / faculties / departments, especially your own!
To do this, search your institution's website, talk to senior members of staff and talk to colleagues about what is happening.
Questions to frame your quest:
- Does your university have an 'Internationalisation Strategy' in any form?
- Does the strategy mention IoC, if so, what does it actually say?
- Is there an action plan attached to the strategy?
- What is supposed to be happening?
- Who is responsible for the actions?
- Can you talk to them about progress and factors that help or hinder the progress of IoC?
- What structure is in place to support IoC?
- What is happening on the ground?
- Are there projects in progress? How are they funded?
- What is happening in your own department?
When you have done your research, write a paragraph describing your institution's position on IoC:
- How it is defined;
- What structures are in place to support IoC?
- How it is resourced?
- What is happening in your particular area?
If your search has revealed little institutional action in this area why do you think this might be? What do you think would need to happen to get some engagement?
Post your paragraph to the 'Activity 4: Institutional positioning' discussion forum.
Read the postings of at least two other participants to get a feel of what is happening at other institutions and comment on the differences you perceive.
You might like to look at Wendy Green and Patricie Mertova's chapter 4 on the 'gatekeepers' of IoC in our institutions in the course book. Also Michelle Barker, Ray Hibbins and Brona Farrelly's chapter 3 on institutional support.
Key readings
- Course text: Barker, M., Hibbins, R. & Farrelly, B. (2011). Chapter 3: Walking the talk: fostering a sense of citizenry amongst staff in higher education.
- Clifford V. (2013). The elusive concept of internationalisation of the curriculum
- Course text: Clifford, V. & Montgomery, C. (2011). Chapter 1: Introduction: Internationalising the curriculum for global citizenship in higher education.
- Course text: Green, W. & Mertova, P. (2011). Chapter 4: Engaging the gatekeepers: faculty perspectives on developing curriculum for globally responsible citizenship.
Further reading
- Course text: Davis, S. (2011). Chapter 8: What is my PhD teaching me about the implications of using culturally sensitive concepts for educators and students? In this chapter Sally tells of her journey to enhance her teaching.
- Haigh, M. (2005). Geography and the 'European Year of Citizenship through Education'. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 29 (2), 173-182.
This article looks at citizenship education, at what sets of knowledge, skills and attitudes individuals need to have to be active citizens in Europe in the twenty first century, and how these can be developed. Citizenship is a contested concept, however this article offers a very digestible critique of the concept. [This article is not free access; you may have access through your institution.] - Haigh, M.J. (2002). Internationalisation of the Curriculum: designing inclusive education for a small world. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 26 (1), 49-66.This article looks at the challenge for course developers in designing a curriculum that serves global rather than national priorities and does not rely on prior knowledge of the 'local' so that all students have equal opportunities of advancement. [This article is not free access; you may have access through your institution.]
- Nilsson, B. (2003). Internationalisation at Home from a Swedish perspective: the case of Malmö. Journal of Studies in International Education, 7 (1), 27-40.This article describes the development of the Internationalisation at Home perspective and the action plan put in place by Malmö to involve the whole university. [This article is not free access; you may have access through your institution.]
- Schoorman, D. (2000). What really do we mean by 'Internationalization?' Contemporary Education, 71 (4), no page numbers. [This article is not free access; you may have access through your institution.]