Embedding internationalisation,
employability and inclusive education
through graduate attributes:
A case study of
“A Global Outlook”
Laura Dean
David Killick
“Education has been redefined as
primarily a means of skilling more
and more young workers…
…rather than about expanding the
minds and developing the capacities
of citizens”
(Leonard 2000, 182. Cited in Morley, 2011) .
“Corporate interests play a more
powerful role in determining the
purposes of higher education.
There is a more explicit concern with
universities producing new workers
and the values of the consumer
society are now embedded in
educational relationships”
(Morley 2001, 131).
“…with the Higher Education Funding
Council for England (HEFCE) taking
on a new role as consumer
champion for students” (BIS 2011, 6).
“Sadly many universities have
embraced the student-as-consumer
model.
For example the 1994 Group of UKbased universities has adopted the
idea that the customer is always
right and that flattering them is the
way forward” (Furedi 2011, 3)
…universities…can be characterised as performing
three functions:
produce the knowledge that underpins
economic growth
produce the worker/consumer
citizens…on which such growth
depends.
represent important areas of profitable
business opportunity in a globalised HE
environment.
(Adapted from Boden and Nedeva 2010, 40).
“There is a rationalist, modernist
certainty embedded in these
employability discourses that might,
ironically, be out of step with the
turbulence of the market forces that
employability is supposed to serve.”
(Morley 2001, 132)
 communicate with the diversity of people they are
likely to encounter in the wider world
 understand who they are themselves, what their
own values are, and why it's important to
recognise these things in others
 take a critical stance towards how things are, and
to see things as they appear from other
perspective.
 see how what they study, and what they do as
specialists in that subject fits into the wider world
 recognise the possible value of doing things
differently
 recognise their responsibilities when they take
decisions which affect other people
Level playing field
Inclusive environments
Working across socio-cultural
boundaries
Source:
Tan Meng
Chwen
Graduate Attributes
“… the skills, knowledge and abilities
of university graduates, beyond
disciplinary content knowledge,
which are applicable in a range of
contexts and are acquired as a
result of completing any
undergraduate degree”
(Barrie 2006, 217).
A Global Outlook
Enabling effective and
responsible engagement in
a multicultural and
globalising world.
Inclusivity
A
global
outlook
Global
Relevance
Inclusivity
Meeting diverse
needs AND
affording others
equal respect.
 valuing diverse
perspectives and
experiences brought into
the course (whether in
informal discussions, in
seminars, or in assessed
work, for example);
 enabling students also to
see the value in these;
 providing meaningful
integration into
class/group activities (i.e.
avoiding ‘tokenism’);
 building sensitivity
towards/ acceptance
of/respect for different
ways of working together
The subject is being
studied by students
who (will) carry out
their lives, in a globally
interconnected world.
Global
Relevance
 ensuring the student sees
how their discipline and
the professions to which it
relates fit into this rapidly
evolving global context;
 equipping them with
attributes such as crosscultural capability and
global perspectives;
 enabling them to ‘make
their way’ responsibly in
this world, professionally
and personally.
• how does [this issue or action] look to or impact upon
somebody living in a different country, on a different
continent, etc?
• how does [this issue or action] look to or impact upon
somebody living locally who has a different belief
system, etc?
• how is [this issue or action] impacted by concerns or
events in other global contexts?
• how will the way I respond to [this issue or action]
impact upon the way others see it/respond to it?
• how does my own culture represent, judge, value
[this issue or action]?
• how is [this issue or action] dealt with by relevant
institutions, industries, governance or political
structures elsewhere?
• what are the practical, ethical, social, professional and
personal consequences of [this issue or action] for a
diverse local and/or global community?
a global outlook is not limited to
‘international’ knowledge
Original Learning
Outcome
Modified Learning
Outcome
Students will be able to …
Students will be able to …
analyse market
opportunities in
the international
business environment
analyse market
opportunities in two
contrasting international
business environments
where multicultural/international
dimensions are very likely to be
assumed/inherent/understood/deeply
embedded in the discipline/profession
Original Learning
Outcome
Modified Learning
Outcome
Students will be able to …
Students will be able to …
debate the ethical
responsibilities of
science in society with
reference to current
issues
debate the ethical
responsibilities of
science with reference to
current issues in a
multicultural society
where multicultural/international
dimensions are very likely to be
assumed/inherent/understood/deeply
embedded in the discipline/profession
Original Learning
Outcome
Modified Learning
Outcome
Students will be able to …
Students will be able to …
consider how different
kinds of bodies [for
example, fat, thin, old,
impaired, sporty, ‘fit’],
and their various
meanings, are socially
constructed
consider how different kinds
of bodies [for example, fat,
thin, old, impaired, sporty,
‘fit’], and their various
meanings, are socially
constructed by different
communities
UK-centric subject areas, where
students are focusing on UK/English
practice
Original Learning
Outcome
Modified Learning
Outcome
Students will be able to …
Students will be able to …
identify and describe
issues which have been
created and debated
due to changes in the
modern British
education system since
1988
identify and describe key
issues which have been
created and debated due to
changes in the modern
British education system
since 1988 with reference to
contrasting practice in one
other national context
How a local context can be given a
more global and/or multicultural focus
Original Learning
Outcome
Modified Learning
Outcome
Students will be able to …
Students will be able to …
review the role of
sustainable construction
within the changing
context of the wider
sector
review the role of
sustainable construction
within the changing local
and global contexts of
the wider sector
Can you suggest a learning outcome
from your own subject area?
Original Learning
Outcome
Modified Learning
Outcome
Students will be able to …
Students will be able to …