Internationalisation and global citizenship in higher education

Internationalisation and global citizenship in higher education – reviewing case studies from Brazil, Poland, the UK and the USA

Speaker: Monika Kraska Birbeck

Internationalisation (IHE) and global citizenship (GC) are two important phenomena that have been influencing and changing contemporary higher education (HE). There is a variety of literature about each concept and it has also been claimed that they are inter-related. However, there are limited studies about how these relationships are formed and how they look in practice. This presentation will introduce a model of the relationships between IHE and GC, based on the studies of the literature and empirical findings from four case studies in Brazil, Poland, the UK and the USA.

The model of relationships uses a tool of three lenses (i.e. neoliberal, liberal and critical) to highlight the connections and tensions between the different approaches to internationalisation and GC. It illustrates how and where internationalisation activities connect to graduate GC attributes. The relationships are then studied in practice by means of four in-depth case studies of universities in different contexts: Brazil, Poland, the UK and the USA. Thematic analysis is undertaken of institutional strategies, other relevant documents and semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders involved in internationalisation at each university.

The findings reveal that there are four factors influencing the relationships between IHE and GC, which make them unique to each institution. They include: context, institutional particularities, people and the creative use of the third space. Examples from the four case studies will be used to illustrate these points.

Curriculum Internationalisation and global citizenship in an African university

Speaker: Simon Eten

The presentation will draw on findings from a case study on curriculum internationalisation and global citizenship in one African university. Employing interviews and focus groups as well as document analysis, the research assessed the views and experiences of lecturers, students, and institutional heads on curriculum internationalisation within the international discourse on global citizenship. The analysis and interpretation of the findings is done within a theoretical framework of a Critical Global Pedagogy. This framework draws on three theoretical perspectives of a Pedagogy for Global Social Justice, Critical Pedagogy and Postcolonial Theory. Eten uses insights from these theoretical perspectives to address questions on the skills/values dimensions of global citizenship, the inclusive uptake of marginalised knowledges in teaching and learning as well as issues around the continuity of colonial forms in practices of curriculum internationalisation and global citizenship formation at the case study institution. The rationale for the use of the proposed framework of a Critical Global Pedagogy is in enabling a situated analysis of curriculum internationalisation and global citizenship development at the case study institution drawing on its socio-cultural and historical specificities.

This webinar is part of the free public seminar programme hosted by the Centre for Global Higher Education (CGHE).