Re-thinking internationalization as social curriculum for generative supervision: letters from the international community of scholars

ABSTRACT

This paper concerns research issues on curriculum, pedagogy and the creative use of method in international higher education. It is motivated by the witnessing of a recent shifting in consensus within the global research communities on international education, towards curriculum renewal of shared knowledge within the field. The article enters into an imaginary of alternative pedagogical routes in IHE and contributes to the collective dialogue by way of a case example using creative writing for transitioning from the actual to the possible in international education. The paper narrates a creatively assembled case study on interdisciplinary methodology. It culminates through correspondence between an international doctoral researcher of Fine Arts and a senior scholar of International Education. The article explores autobiographical research accounts about geographical displacement, the subjectivities produced in international scholarly spaces and their new epistemological imprints on the international student transition experience. The article offers generative curriculum insight that combines interdisciplinary methods through which to feasibly implement pedagogical strategies for renewal of internationalized curriculum beyond times of educational crises.

KEYWORDS:

• International pedagogies
• international community of scholars
• narrative method
• autobiography
• international imaginary
• curriculum as narrative

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Meeri Hellstén is Associate Professor in International and Comparative Education at Stockholm University where she lectures on the Master Program in International and Comparative Education, the Doctoral Research Program and professional Development in Higher Education. Her research interests focus on the pedagogy associated with international teaching and learning. She has published two collections on the topic of internationalizing higher education and is particularly interested in communities of international scholar-practitioners.

Lilian Ucker Perotto gained a PhD in Fine Arts and Education at the University of Barcelona (Spain). She holds the position of professor at the Faculty of Visual Arts of the Federal University of Goiás (Brazil) and coordinates the Art Education Degree in the distance education. She works in the pedagogical coordination of the Network Learning Centre of the Federal University of Goiás.

ORCID

Meeri Hellstén http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5835-9011

Notes

1. In this article, the ’Letter’ spelled with a capital L refers specifically to Chapter 4 in Ucker Perotto's 2015 thesis.

2. The ethical policy of the University of Barcelona applies to the narratives collected by Ucker Perotto. No ethical approval for the study was deemed necessary. The study follows the Declaration of Helsinki.