Academic development to support the internationalization of the curriculum (IoC): a qualitative research synthesis

ABSTRACT

While the literature acknowledges the central role of academics in internationalization of the curriculum (IoC), little has been published regarding training of academic developers themselves to support IoC initiatives. However, higher education institutions around the globe are responding to strategic demands for IoC that prepare students as global citizens. We employed qualitative research synthesis to identify journal articles that consider academic development to support IoC. Despite their diversity, we found common themes in the five selected studies. We weave these themes with Betty Leask’s five-stage model of the IoC process, and Cynthia Joseph’s call for a pedagogy of social justice.

KEYWORDS:

• Educational development
• faculty development
• internationalization of the curriculum
• pedagogy of social justice
• qualitative research synthesis

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Katherine Wimpenny

Dr Katherine Wimpenny is Professor of Research in Global Education at Coventry University in the Research Centre for Global Learning: Education and Attainment. Her national and international collaborations research internationalization of the curriculum, the inclusive curriculum, open educational practices, and interculturality in teaching and learning.

Jos Beelen

Dr Jos Beelen is Professor of Global Learning at The Hague University of Applied Sciences, where he leads a research group exploring the internationalization of home curricula in higher education. For fifteen years, he has shared this expertise in Europe, South Africa, Australia, and South America; collaborating, leading, and publishing.

Virginia King

Dr Virginia King works with the Research Centre for Global Learning: Education and Attainment at Coventry University. She studies the staff experience in higher education, using metaphor, visualization, and corpus analytics.