Internationalisation of the Curriculum: Designing inclusive education for a small world

TLDR

Universities are increasingly marketing their programs internationally, driven by global commerce and competition, and this has prompted calls for redesigning instruction to meet international standards. The paper seeks to review Western universities’ strategies for internationalising the curriculum and to guide course developers in creating inclusive curricula that serve global priorities without relying on local provenance. It achieves this by analysing suggested strategies and outlining design principles for inclusive learning environments that provide equal opportunities for all students. Keywords: Multicultural, Inclusive Education, Curriculum Change, Teaching Strategies, Internalisation.

Abstract

Responding to the globalisation of commerce and communication and driven by competition in the multi-billion dollar international market for higher education, many universities are seeking to market their educational provision internationally. Feedback from some disappointed 'customers' has created pressure for change in the way that instruction is designed and delivered. This pressure is beginning to affect teachers in subjects perceived as international in perspective. This paper reviews the strategies suggested by Western universities to achieve internationalisation of the curriculum. Internationalisation is a major project that affects all aspects of a university's provision, including its priorities for staff development and career rewards. The challenge for course developers is to design a curriculum that serves global rather than national priorities, which does not rely on prior knowledge of local provenance, where students from all sources share equal opportunities for advancement in an inclusive learning environment, and which serves to introduce stay-at-home students to the demands of an increasingly multinational world of work. Keywords: MulticulturalInclusive EducationCurriculum ChangeTeaching StrategiesInternalisation