Internationalization of General Education Curricula in Community Colleges: A Faculty Perspective

Abstract

Providing global educational experiences for students in higher education has been viewed as a desirable educational objective for decades. Although there is a common appreciation that students should be exposed to, and gain awareness of, other peoples and cultures, the majority of community colleges in the United States have done little to provide such opportunities. To better accommodate this need, some are now striving to internationalize both the curriculum and the culture of the institution. This study examined factors that might contribute to, or impede, the development of internationalized general education curricula in Missouri community colleges. Data were collected from 243 general education faculty members who responded to an online questionnaire from each of the 18 community college campuses in Missouri. The paper applies Human Capital Theory and the Developmental Model for Intercultural Sensitivity as theoretical constructs for explaining why colleges should be more actively engaged in globalizing curricula and student experience. This article also applies these constructs for examining how successfully one system of community colleges is internationalizing through its general education offerings.

Notes

^a A number further from one indicates less support.

^b U = urban, S = suburban, R = small town.