Internationalisation of the learning experience should not be treated as a passing fad. We have in various previous blogs discussed the relevance of internationalisation to develop relevant 21st century skills, and prepare our students for ‘future work’. Although there is some variation in what skills actually constitutes 21st century skills, there is widespread agreement from many sources, including the OECD that critical thinking, global citizenship, communication and collaboration, inter-cultural competency, social and ethical responsibilities, flexibility, foreign languages, diversity of ideas, etc. are some of the essential 21st century skills that students need to develop to be future ready.
Internationalisation of the learning experience, when done effectively, can be used to develop many of these skills. Higher education is not immune to the ever increasing border-less world of education and business. Australian higher education institutions are experiencing record numbers of international students and this trend is unlikely to slow down anytime soon. This provides Australian higher education institutions fantastic opportunities to embed the development of some these 21st century skills on our curriculum. We might differ in our understanding about what exactly is intercultural competency, and how to go about developing it, but one thing we can agree on is that when students from different backgrounds are given opportunities to interact, in meaningful ways, with each other, they are more likely to develop appreciation of diverse ideas and thinking. This idea can be taken even further in more structured and deliberate ways to develop higher order internationalisation skills. Popular discourse around international education in Australia, and many other education exporting countries, is on the financial incentives for higher education institutions to attract international students, and with public funding for higher education declining, many institutions focus significant resources on their international student recruitment. One of the things that is often overlooked in many of these discourses is that international students have agency. They are also making deliberate decisions about developing their own future ready skills, including what to study and where to study to give them the best chance for the future of work. International students are also, just as we are, making deliberate decisions about developing their own intercultural competencies, among the other 21st century skills. What better way to understand another culture than to immerse yourself on it. Many international therefore may already have an upper hand, and with many already speaking a language other than English, some might argue that international students are much better positioned for the future of work. Higher education needs to move beyond the financial focus on international students, and start to treat international students from a strength based position, with agency and forethought about their future. International students provides higher education institutions with amazing opportunity to internationalise the learning experience in meaningful ways for all out students.
0 Comments
|
For more information and/or to collaborate please contact:Dr Pranit Anand Archives
December 2019
Categories |
Photo used under Creative Commons from Philippe Put