ISANA Conference 2006
Education, internationalisation and
cosmopolitanism: some
considerations
Gavin Sanderson
BEd, BEd Hons, PhD [Flinders], MEd (Int Ed) [Monash]
Senior Lecturer in Academic Development
(Internationalisation), Learning Connection,
UniSA
Today’s schedule
1/ John Biggs’s (2003) three levels
of teaching.
2/ Towards a cosmopolitan outlook.
The inward journey of personal
discovery and the outward journey
of discovering others.
What is internationalisation?
“The process of integrating an
international, intercultural, or
global dimension into the
purpose, functions or delivery of
post-secondary education”
(Knight, 2004, p. 11)
Figure 1 The depth & breadth dimensions of the reach of
internationalisation in Knight’s (2004) definition
National level
Intercultural,
international,
and global
flows of
technology,
economy,
knowledge,
people, values,
and ideas
Sector level
Institution level
Breadth dimension of the reach of internationalisation
Source. Sanderson, 2006, p. 149
Depth dimension
of the reach of
internationalisation
Figure 2 The true extent of the depth dimension of the reach of
internationalisation (Source. Sanderson, 2006, p. 149)
Global level
Supranational level
Regional level
Intercultural,
international,
and global
flows of
technology,
economy,
knowledge,
people, values
and ideas
National level
Sector level
Institution level
Faculty/Department level
Within-institution level
Individual level
Breadth dimension of the reach of internationalisation
Depth dimension
of the reach of
internationalisation
Limits of
Knight’s
(2004)
depth
dimension
The Profile and its qualifications
Q1: General.
Q2: Issues related to using a non-native language
of instruction.
66% of
Profile’s
Q3: Factors related to dealing with cultural
criteria
differences.
Q4: Specific requirements regarding teaching and
learning styles.
Q5: Using media and technology.
Q6: Specific requirements connected with the academic
discipline and diploma recognition.
Q7: Knowledge of foreign education systems.
Q8: Knowledge of the international labour market.
Q9: Personal qualities.
The international classroom
Teaching approaches and strategies which
are traditionally driven by national
perspectives and needs might no longer be
wholly sufficient for the novel teaching and
learning environment of the international
classroom.
(Teekens, 2000, p. 5)
John Biggs – the fly in the ointment?
Figure 3 The focus in cross-cultural teaching (Source. Biggs, 2003, p. 124)
Level 1 teaching: assimilate
Based on stereotypes
What are the stereotypes
of international students?
(… and Australian
students?)
Learning problems
attributed to students
Students must assimilate
into the local system
▼
A deficit model of
education
Figure 4 The ‘typical’ Australian male
(Source. Mezger, 1992, p. 22)
Level 2 teaching: accommodate
Based on the teacher
adjusting to the
characteristics of the
students
▼
‘Multi-grid reference ►
curricula’
▼
Teachers have culturespecific knowledge
Minor-to-radical
adjustments to curricula
▼
A deficit model of
education
Level 3 teaching: educate
Based on the teacher
meeting the learning
needs of the students
▼
Curricula are
‘constructively aligned’
▼
The only justifiable
approach to teaching
students
Biggs (2003) says
“ethnicity is beside the
point” (p. 134).
▼
“Teach better, and you’ll
address the problems
presented by ISs
[international students]”
(p. 138).
Level 3 teaching: educate
Figure 5 Explaining social taboos (Source. Mezger, 1992, p. 37)
But what about …
“Teaching with an awareness of
cultural diversity is simply good
teaching” (Prosser and Trigwell,
1998, p. 170).
What to do lah?
Figure 6 Country index scores for Hofstede’s cultural
dimensions (Source. ITIM Culture & Management Consultants, 2003)
Table 1 Key differences in schooling between low & high
PDI societies (Source. Hofstede, 2001, p. 107).
Australia (Low PDI)
Malaysia (High PDI)
Teachers treat students as Students depend on
equals
teachers
Students treat teachers as Students treat teachers
equals
with respect, even
outside class
Student-centred education Teacher-centred
education
Students initiate some
communication in class
Teachers initiate all
communication in class
Teachers are experts who
transfer impersonal
truths
Teachers are gurus who
transfer personal
wisdom
Examples of suitable teaching strategies
Inculcate students into Australian academic culture;
Establish names (including pronunciation) early in the
semester;
Provide opportunities for students to use their English writing
skills for non-assessment tasks;
Provide explicit expectations about assessment;
Provide clear instructions for oral presentations;
Provide opportunities for success. For example, allow
students time to discuss issues in pairs or small groups before
speaking to the whole group;
Use a staged assessment schedule to enable students to
build skills.
But are these just for international students?
Inculcate students into Australian academic culture;
Establish names (including pronunciation) early in the
semester;
Provide opportunities for students to use their English writing
skills for non-assessment tasks;
Provide explicit expectations about assessment;
Provide clear instructions for oral presentations;
Provide opportunities for success. For example, allow
students time to discuss issues in pairs or small groups before
speaking to the whole group;
Use a staged assessment schedule to enable students to
build skills.
Level 3 teaching
Is it possible to make ‘culture’ invisible in the
classroom from the point of view of a strict
interpretation of teaching?
Do good teachers look beyond stereotypes?
Interculturality – perhaps the best practical and
achievable outcome for those wanting to
aspire to Biggs’s (2003) Level 3 teaching.
What are we talking about?
Cross-cultural? Multicultural? Intercultural?
Interculturality is primarily concerned with
“issues of identity and engagement”
and contains both a
“culture-general (and) culture-specific
component” (Liddicoat, 2003, p. 19).
Interculturality
Begins with knowing yourself (culture-general
enquiry):
“Before we can recognize the ‘Other’,
we have to know ourselves well”
(Stromquist, 2002, p. 93).
“Only when we have clearly defined our
own person and identity are we able to
understand other identities” (Breuer,
2002, p. 15).
Interculturality
“A degree of confident self awareness is
not necessarily to be seen as a
conservative force in society. It can be a
pre-condition for a sustained program of
social or economic revival” (Milner,
1996, p. 17).
“Respect for the other presupposes that
a person has considerable selfawareness” (Djebar, 2002, p. 229).
Interculturality
“If one is to understand others, one must
first understand oneself” (International
Commission on Education for the
Twenty-First Century, 1996, p. 93).
“Harmony with others depends on
knowing ourselves and our cultures”
(Pedersen, 1988, p. 74).
Interculturality
“The best thing we can do for our
relationships with others … is to render
our relationship to ourselves more
conscious” (Hollis, as cited in Cranton,
2001, p. 74).
“In order to learn about another culture,
we need to learn about our own”
(McLaughlin & Liddicoat, 2005, p. 6).
Interculturality
… and the exhortation from Socrates to
know thyself…
Cosmopolitanism
Whilst considerations of ethnicity are
‘beside the point’ in teaching
international students at Level 3
teaching, it can be argued that the
teachers are ultimately comfortable with
cultural difference. They have good
intercultural sensibilities. Compared to
Level 1 teachers, they exhibit a
cosmopolitan disposition.
A cosmopolitan outlook
I am a citizen of
the world –
Diogenes
(around 350BC)
Definition of ‘cosmopolitan’
“Belonging to, or representative of, all
parts of the world … Free of national
prejudices; international in experience
or outlook” (Manser & Thompson,
1995, p. 289).
“belief in a cosmopolitan outlook”
(Manser & Thompson, 1995, p. 289).
Cosmopolitanism
“Feeling at home in the world”
(Gunesch, 2004, p. 256).
“An intellectual and aesthetic sense of
openness towards people, places and
experiences from different cultures,
especially those from different
nations” (Tomlinson, as cited in
Matthews & Sidhu, 2005).
Cosmopolitanism
Grounded, or rooted, cosmopolitanism.
“the global me: local people who are
neither limited to their particularities
nor doomed to an empty we-are-theworld universalism” (G. Pascal Zachary,
2000, p. xv).
References
Biggs, J. (2003). Teaching for quality learning at university (2nd ed.). Maidenhead: Open
University Press.
Breuer, R. (2002). Freedom’s twin. In S. Stern & E. Seligmann (Eds.), The end of tolerance?
(pp. 11-16). London: Nicholas Brearley Publishing.
Cranton, P. (2001). Becoming an authentic teacher in higher education. Malabar: Krieger
Publishing Company.
Djebar, A. (2002). Return to Islamic roots? In S. Stern & E. Seligmann (Eds.), The end of
tolerance? (pp. 228-232). London: Nicholas Brearley Publishing.
G. Pascal Zachary. (2000). The global me: why nations will succeed or fail in the next
generation. St Leanords: Allen & Unwin.
Gunesch, K. (2004). Education for cosmopolitanism? Cosmopolitanism as a personal cultural
identity model for and within international education. Journal of Research in International
Education, 3(3), 251-275.
Hofstede, G. (2001). Cultural consequences: comparing values, behaviors, institutions and
organizations across nations (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications
References (cont)
International Commission on Education for the Twenty-First Century. (1996). Learning: The
treasure within: report to UNESCO of the International Commission on Education for the
Twenty-First Century. Paris: UNESCO Publishing.
ITIM Culture & Management Consultants. (2003). Compare your home culture with your host
culture. Retrieved 3 May, 2005, from http://www.geert-hofstede.com/hofstede_dimensions.php?
Knight, J. (2004). Internationalization remodelled: definition, approaches, and rationales. Journal
of Studies in International Education, 8(1), 5-31.
Liddicoat, A. (2003). Internationalisation as a concept in higher education: perspectives from
policy. In A. Liddicoat, S. Eisenchlas & S. Trevaskes (Eds.), Australian perspectives on
internationalising education (pp. 13-26). Melbourne: Language Australia Ltd.
McLaughlin, M., & Liddicoat, T. (2005). Teachers’ professional learning in the context of
intercultural language learning. Babel, 40(1), 4-12, 38.
Manser, M., & Thomson, M. (Eds.). (1995). Chambers combined dictionary thesaurus.
Edinburgh: Chambers.
Matthews, J., & Sidhu, R. (2005). Desperately seeking the global subject: international
education, citizenship and cosmopolitanism. Globalisation, Societies and Education, 3(1),
49-66.
References (cont)
Mezger, J. (1992). Bridging the intercultural communication gap: a guide for TAFE teachers of
international students (2nd ed.). Hobart: National TAFE Overseas Network.
Milner, A. (1996). Defining Australia in Asia. In G. E. Jones (Ed.), Cunningham Lecture and
Symposium 1995: Australia in its Asian context (Vol. Occasional Paper Series 1/1996).
Canberra: Academy of Social Sciences in Australia.
Pedersen, P. (1988). A handbook for developing multicultural awareness. Alexandria: American
Association for Counseling and Development.
Prosser, M., & Trigwell, K. (1998). Teaching in higher education. In B. Dart & G. Boulton-Lewis
(Eds.), Teaching and learning in higher education (pp. 250-268). Camberwell: ACER Press.
Sanderson, G. (2006). Examination of a profile of the ideal lecturer for teaching international
students. Adelaide: Flinders University.
Stromquist, N. (2002). Globalization, the I, and the Other. Retrieved May 29, 2003, from
http://www.tc.columbia.edu/CICE/articles/nps142.htm
Teekens, H. (2000). Introduction. In H. Teekens (Ed.), Teaching and learning in the international
classroom (pp. 5-7). The Hague: Netherlands Organization for International Cooperation in
Higher Education (NUFFIC)