Transcript Slide 1

EMBRACING GROWTH IN THE INTERNATIONAL STUDENT POPULATION:
A TRANSFORMATIVE PROCESS FOR BOTH UNIVERSITY AND COMMUNITY
Wayne Myles
Director
Queen’s University International Centre (QUIC)
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THE INTERNATIONALIZATION PROCESS
International
Research
International
Students
Internationalizing
the Curriculum
Internationalizing
the campus and
community
Exchange & Study
Abroad Programs
Internationalization
at home
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INTERNATIONAL STUDENT NUMBERS IN CANADA (2012)
Total:
University:
The growth rate:
265,377
145,107
3.3% - 12.2% (2005-2012)
A World of Learning. CBIE. 2013
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OPPORTUNITIES FROM INCREASED FLOWS OF STUDENTS
• Alternate source for and increase in revenues
• Increased flows of professional workers
• Strategy for internationalizing our campus and
our community – mix of students will
stimulate increase in cultural sensitivity
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ADDRESSING SPECIFIC CHALLENGES
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Capacity of our institutions
Channeling new revenues
Quality of academic programs and support services
Appropriate policies and practices
Internationalization through international students
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INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY
A head of department says that “standards have
dropped”. He noted that “we can see it in the
growing number of international students and
the quality of their work and their command of
English”.
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THE CHALLENGE OF NEW REVENUES
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QUALITY OF ACADEMIC PROGRAMS AND SUPPORT SERVICES
International students pay attention to:
• Canada’s academic reputation
• the quality of the education at an institution
• the availability of a particular program
• safety
• affordability
• the opportunity for obtaining work
• The opportunity for permanent residence
A World of Learning. CBIE. 2013. p.25.
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QUALITY OF ACADEMIC PROGRAMS AND SUPPORT SERVICES
Over 90% of students are satisfied or very
satisfied with their Canadian educational
experience.
A World of Learning. CBIE. 2013. p.27.
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QUALITY OF ACADEMIC PROGRAMS AND SUPPORT SERVICES
An undergraduate international student is recruited 18
months in advance to her arrival in Canada; when she
arrives she learns that the program has been cancelled
due to lack of funding.
A graduate student is offered admission to a program.
The faculty states in its materials that all students
receive a bursary. He does not receive one.
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APPROPRIATE POLICIES AND PRACTICES
A graduate student from western Africa was
admitted into a Masters program. No flexibility is
tolerated under the policy – all students must
complete in the 12-month period. The student is
three weeks late due to a delay in receiving his
visa to Canada.
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APPROPRIATE POLICIES AND PRACTICES
Our policies and practices were generally created
for a domestic constituency of students who are
rooted in local and provincial academic traditions
by administrative and academic members who
have emerged from that very same constituency.
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INTERNATIONALIZATION THROUGH INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
A department head requests advice. Students in his lab have
divided into two groups. Those who speak English
together and those who speak Chinese. What can he do to
solve this problem, he asked?
Staff members in the lunch room solved the problem by
telling the Chinese students who were talking in Chinese
at lunch that if they wanted to use the lunch room they
had to speak English.
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INTERNATIONALIZATION THROUGH INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
[I]ncreasing evidence shows that simple crosscultural contact is not particularly valuable in
itself. For the contact to acquire educational
value, it must be prepared for, facilitated, and
debriefed in particular ways.
Milton Bennett, 2012.
http://www.idrinstitute.org/allegati/IDRI_t_Pubblicazioni/50/FILE_Documento_Universidad_2012_pa
per.pdf
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INTERNATIONAL STUDENT INTEGRATION
• 45% of international students had some Canadian friends
• The remainder had friends from their home country or other international
students
• 60% of students said that staff and students showed interest in their culture
and country
• Over 50% said that they would like more opportunities to experience
Canadian culture and family life.
• Over 30% said that they preferred to mix with people from their own
culture.
A World of Learning. CBIE. 2013
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If the groups are not adequately prepared and the
conditions met, then a reinforcement of stereotypes
and prejudice is likely to occur.
Allport, G. W., 1954.
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WHAT ABOUT DISCRIMINATION?
Students indicated that they had experienced some form of
discrimination while interacting with
– Faculty members: Racial (15%); Culture/religion (13%)
– Staff: Racial (17%); Culture/religion (15%)
– Students: Racial (23%); Culture/religion (21%)
– Community: Racial (25%); Culture/religion (21%)
A World of Learning. CBIE. 2013
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A CHALLENGING QUESTION
How do we bring the diverse worlds of the
international students into the traditional
world of our home town or home campus?
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INTEGRATING INTERCULTURAL & INTERNATIONAL
“Intercultural education, as opposed to international
education, is a more inclusive formulation, in that
interculturality includes both international and domestic
students.
All students, [staff and faculty]… need to develop the
capability to contribute in the intercultural construction,
exchange and use of knowledge”.
Crichton et al., 2004
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.116.5500&rep=rep1&type=pdf
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WHAT DOES ‘INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE’ MEAN?
Intercultural competence
The ability to think and act in appropriate ways that support
the achievement of goals in culturally diverse contexts.
Darla Deardorff. How will we know? Assessing Students’ Intercultural Learning in Education
Abroad Programs. 2013.
http://cis.wfu.edu/files/2013/02/WISE-2013-deardorff-session-handouts.pdf
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“Is something intercultural
happening here?”
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In short, we not only need to know how to be able to
work with difference in the classroom and on the
campus; but also at a personal level in our responses
to cultural situations that are not familiar to us.
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LEARNING OUTCOME: INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE
Cognitive frame-shifting:
The ability to shift mentally into the ways that persons in the host
culture think about things. Taking their perspective. Knowing
how persons think about things in the host culture.
Behavioral code-shifting:
The ability to adapt behavior to the norms and values of another
culture. Knowing how people do things in the host culture.
Michael Paige. Study Abroad Integration Conference. 2009.
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The golden rule
“do unto others as you would have done unto you”
The platinum rule
“do unto others as they would have done unto them.”
Milton Bennett (1998 ).
“Overcoming the Golden Rule: Sympathy and Empathy”. Basic Concepts of Intercultural Communication. p. 213.
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Culture and intercultural competence play a
significant role in how we personally perceive
our interactions with the students and how we
behave in our programs and classrooms to
make their participation a success.
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Achieving an “internationally-minded and
cross-culturally sensitive university” is not a
simple task.
Queen’s University International Centre (QUIC) Mission Statement. 1985.
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HOW MANY IS ENOUGH?
The question is not how many do we admit;
rather it is how do we welcome and support those
we do admit.
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Proactive and considered preparation for the
changes that our universities will experience as
our student complexion changes may indeed be
good practice in managing risk.
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If we tackle the challenge of introducing intercultural
competence into the internationalization agenda,
then we will see a change not only in the ethos of our
universities but also in the larger community.
In this way not only will we be able to host a growing
number of international students but we may also be
transformed in the process.
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PRESENTATION SITE
http://quic.queensu.ca/resources/international
-educators/quic-papers-presentations/
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