Constructing a “Glocal” Dimension in Internationalisation of the Curriculum

By Tiffany Ko

Internationalisation of the curriculum (IoC), in its broad definition, refers not only to the design of teaching materials, pedagogy and assessment that foster understanding of global perspective, but also the effective mechanisms that connect such elements with the local context. Taking a point of departure at the dynamics of “global” and “local” in the IoC, we invited three speakers from different institutions and academic departments to share their approaches to cultivating a “glocal” awareness among their students.

The event started with Dr. Tracy Zou’s recap of the aims, approaches, focal areas, and the latest development of CoP – ITL, followed by the presentations from our three speakers, Prof. Kara Chan (HKBU), Dr. L. H. Li (HKU) and Prof. Julian Groves (HKUST). They shared with us how various approaches of the IoC were taken to achieve some intended learning outcomes with reference to their respective disciplines: Prof. Kara Chan’s Localising an Interdisciplinary Course on Consumer Culture; Dr. L. H. Li’s A Cross-City and Inter-disciplinary Learning Platform for Real Estate Students in Hong Kong; and Prof. Julian Groves’s Internationalisation of the Curriculum from the Perspectives of Sociology.

Their sharing inspired a robust discussion between the panel speakers, facilitators and participants. Take a look at some of the interesting bites below.

1. What are the major challenges in helping students make sense of the global-local connections?
Some students were found to limit themselves to primarily acquire knowledge of their discipline in the local context. In order to preprare students’ mindset for an international learning experience, one of the approaches was to emphasise that there might be chances for them to work overseas or cooperate with people from different backgrounds in this global society and that the importance of being culturally competent should be one of the very skills they need to hone.

2. How could we effectively assess students’ multicultural knowledge and/or competence?
Assessing multicultural knowledge or competence may be achieved through having students undertaking group projects that leverage cultural diversity. According to the discussion, one possible approach would be looking at the level of student participation in group assignments. Those who take the initiatives to start their presentation with the confidence of being a professional and those who are not afraid of asking ‘stupid’ questions would be praised. It would also be good to examine closely how students prepare their field work which has involved groups interviewing ethnic minorities and how they design interview questions, particularly how such questions demonstrate the global nature of investigation.

3. How could we help students overcome certain cultural presumptions? Or how may a teacher handle conflicts between students caused by cultural stereotypes or misunderstanding in class?
Teachers could attempt to resolve students’ cultural misunderstanding, with the caveat that cultural stereotypes are so ingrained that it is hard to change within a course. If there are issues about teamwork of mixed groups, students were reminded to inform instructors as early as possible to allow timely mediation and intervention. Teachers might try to deconstruct students’ cultural presumptions by asking them questions which develop their perspective taking skills.

4. What could be done to students (and teachers) who seemed to close their minds to internationalisation?
According to the discussion, the reluctance to internationalisation might be a joint result of the localisation movement in Hong Kong and some of the over-reactive classroom behaviours demonstrated by local and non-local students towards their cultural identities. The teachers may motivate students to be more open-minded to different cultures. It was equally important for institutions to provide more training and support to international students, in terms of language courses or culture debriefing, to better integrate them into the campus as well as the society.

5. Is it easier to incorporate global elements in some courses or disciplines than in the others?
It might be challenging to enhance the global dimension in some degree programmes, such as Law, Dentistry, and Medicine which have had tight teaching schedules packed with a particular focus on the local content (e.g., local regulations, government policies, and community needs). An active incorporation of global content in those curricula might, therefore, upset the students as it potentially would increase study loads. To help students in these programmes make sense of global elements, one possible approach would be helping them gradually realise that cultural competence or cultural knowledge is useful in our globalised society, no matter where they choose to practice their profession.

6. Students may consider internationalisation a burden to their studies. Is it better for teachers to tell students openly about the rationales behind internationalisation?
Openly sharing with students the rationales behind internationalisation would probably be seen as the first step in developing a partnership with students in curriculum development. When they see the ownership in their learning, they would not regard internationalisation as much as a burden. With a mutual understanding, innovations adopted by teachers will be likely to receive less resistance from students.

The workshop ended with a round of applause to our speakers, whose succinct presentations and frank exchange of insights had provided fellow colleagues with food for thought on the IoC. We look forward to more fruitful conversation in the near future.