Becoming cosmopolitan and other dilemmas of internationalisation: reflections from the Gulf States

Abstract

Drawing on the concept of cosmopolitans and locals within competing discourses regarding the aims of higher education and international marketization, this paper suggests that cultural cosmopolitanism may be developed through intercultural dialogue. It reflects on the findings of an action research-based teacher professional education programme in Qatar, with further delivery in other Gulf States, and suggests that potential negative outcomes of uncritical ‘othering’ forms of marketization, potentially resulting in epistemological mnemocide through the exercise of cultural imperialism, may be avoided through developing dialogical communities of inquiry, where issues of values pluralism may be negotiated according to participants’ needs and capacities for knowledge creation. These ideas may be significant for negotiating appropriate criteria for judging the quality of delivery and methodological ethics of the increasing numbers of international programmes using practice-based forms of enquiry. They are essential if international development work is to encourage sustainability through independent knowledge creation.

Keywords:

• higher education
• cosmopolitans and locals
• intercultural dialogue
• assessing quality
• international development