The Teaching International Students Project: Lessons learnt and where to from here

Janette RyanDirector

Teaching International Students ProjectHigher Education Academy

Run by the Higher Education AcademyFunded through the Academy, UKCISA & PMI2

2 year project

TIS Team: Janette Ryan, Jude Carroll, Fiona Hyland (ESCalate), Simon

Steiner & Andrew McLaren(Engineering) , Inna Pomerina (Economics), Caprice Lantz (Psychology), Richard Atfield

(BMAF), Katherine Gent, Adam Child &Matt Watkins (HEA)

Why TIS: Changing contexts in higher education

• International students in UK 15% and rising (22.9%↑2010, UUK) plus increases in TNE, IS no longer a ‘minority group’ (a majority in many courses)

• Radical changes in student population yet relatively little change in teaching and learning practices

TIS Project aims

• ‘One stop shop’ – database of research and teaching resources with specialist resources

• Encourage understanding and ‘meta-sensitivity’

• Multi-disciplinary approach (from pre-arrival to employability) – primary audience is lecturers

TIS activities

• Website & ‘International Students Lifecycle’ database

• Outreach activities and partnerships

• Collaborative events with Academy Subject Centres and universities

• Building a Community of Practice

http://www.economicsnetwork.ac.uk/themes/internationalisation

UK National Student Survey Q22 Overall, I am satisfied with the quality of the course

75

7677

78

79

8081

82

83

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

UK students

Int students

Responses

• 15,500 website hits (880 per month)

• Critical Thinking, Independent Learning, Lecturing, Assessment and Feedback

• 770 subscribers to TIS newsletter

• More than 50 universities hosted event/provided resource

• Over 30 case stories from students and staff

What we’ve learnt

• Lecturers understand internationalisation but need guidance and support in translating it to practice

• Needs to be embedded within disciplines

• Move beyond ‘problems’ - focus on solutions – through sharing ideas, resources and expertise

• Multidisciplinary approach (less ‘siloed’)

• Connections with other agendas (inclusiveness, disability)

• A lot of interest and support - goodwill and generosity

• People are listening – convergence of discourses

Questions for the future• Are we taking advantage of opportunities for the

generation of new knowledge and skills or is the direction of travel (and learning) mainly ‘one-way’, especially TNE – are we exporting a Western model?

• In rapidly globalising contexts in higher education are our programmes still fit for purpose?

• Can we move beyond Western paradigms of knowledge and skills to create truly international universities and graduates?