International Joint Double Degrees and International Transitions in Higher Education

The Self, Pedagogy and Culture

Jan Katherine Bamford

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN:
  9783030486211
• eBook ISBN:
  9783030486228
• Topic: Bildung
• Subtopic: Vergleichende Erziehungswissenschaft

This book explores the interplay between culture and pedagogy within the student experience of international joint double degree programmes. The author posits that international higher education can be seen within a construct of mutuality, with the experience of internationalisation being a driving force for the development of agency and cultural awareness. This direct, lived reality of experiencing cultural difference as part of the educational process presents an opportunity for the internationalisation of the self: international joint double degrees provide an ideal vehicle for the development of knowledge and broadening of the mind. Drawing together cultures of learning, differing approaches to pedagogy and the international classroom, this book argues that international joint double degrees constitute an active cultural engagement within a higher education context. 

© The Author(s) 2020

J. K. BamfordInternational Joint Double Degrees and International Transitions in Higher Educationhttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-48622-8_1

Begin Abstract

1. Introduction to Joint Degrees and the Debates, Tensions and Influences in International Higher Education

Jan Katherine Bamford¹

(1)

Guildhall School of Business and Law, London Metropolitan University, London, UK

Jan Katherine Bamford

Email: [email protected]

End Abstract

Introduction

The purpose of this work is to consider the role of international joint double degrees in the context of international higher education, along with the international transitions of the individuals participating in these degree programmes. In this introduction, I focus on some of the broad debates around the internationalisation of higher education and explore the way in which international joint double degree s can be seen to represent the essence of internationalisation, recognising that the market environment is a key driver for international activity. The work focuses for the most part on the level of the individual and the individuals participating in international joint double degree s who originated from countries other than the UK. Although the analysis is grounded in the micro, the meso and macro levels of internationalisation are given some attention in order to better understand that experience and the agentic outcomes for the individual participating in such programmes of study.

This view from the ground considers the development, context and implementation of international joint double degree s, exploring the intellectual challenges, attractions and rewards, with an understanding of the recipient in mind. The work focuses on these recipients’ experiences, who were international students, as a consequence of their participation in the international joint double degree s. I invite readers to consider the vehicle of culture as key to unlocking the international transitions students make in the international spaces offered by such programmes of study, such as the culturally heterogeneous groups on a programme delivered in more than one country who travel across borders together. It is these international transitions situated in a context of cultural interactions that are at the heart of this work. The importance of seeing culture as a vehicle in contemporary society, for understanding the individuals’ experience in higher education, is underpinned by theorists such as Benhabib (2002) and his work on culture in the global era and also previous work undertaken on the cultural interactions of students in higher education (Bamford and Pollard 2019). Further, due to the interconnectedness that the international classroom represents, we need to ‘distill coherence out of the multiplicity of conflicting narratives and practices’ where we can be ‘attentive to the positioning and repositioning of the other and the self, of “us” and “them” in this complex dialogue’ (Benhabib 2002: 41). This leads us inexorably to underlining the importance of an experiential approach as an aspect of the learning in higher education.

International education provides an overarching construct for the development of participants’ agency. This agency can be seen to arise from the international transitions that are steeped in the relational cultural encounters. These cultural encounters represent a mutuality context to international higher education that is rarely acknowledged. The students become partners in their educational experience and the cultural encounters occur between them, the institutions and the countries they visit. The student experience of internationalisation therefore informs the direction and flows of internationalisation for these individuals, teaching staff and institutions and ultimately at governmental level. The book allows us not only to reflect on the expectations of political actors as posited by Papatsiba (2005) but also to understand the influence on the individual actors—here the students—on the process of the internationalisation of higher education, which has further import for both economies and other globalising drivers. This involves dealing with difference at the level of the individual, so internationalisation is experienced and that experience is framed by mutuality between the actors. Asgary and Robbert (2010) acknowledged that there is a dearth of research on international dual awards. This remains the case and little of the current research offers a glimpse into the student experience of these programmes of study and the challenges that they navigate when experiencing this form of internationalisation.

Culture and Pedagogy

The underlying thematic axis of the book is the interplay between culture and pedagogy and the way in which these themes play out in the field of international higher education and demand the attention of educators. They are foci for this work that seeks to understand the juxtaposition of culture and pedagogy in relation to the student experience of international joint double degree programmes. Through developing a lens of the lived reality of such programmes of study and the interplay between culture and pedagogy, we understand better the way in which policy may affect the educational experience. The glimpse of the experience through a construct of mutuality permits us to explore in greater depth what the nature of international higher education is and the implications of the European Union (EU ) policy and promotion of a culture of mobility through initiatives such as international joint double degree s. It provides a link between the individualism of the experience and the universalism displayed in the policy context as well as underlining the importance of the consideration of the individual and seeing the student as a partner in the international transitions that such degrees epitomise. A construct of ‘thou affects me’ (Buber 2004)—this includes staff and institutions as well as students—can be seen to be at the heart of these types of programmes. The discourse that follows offers an approach for practitioners and a background for developing an understanding of the students’ perspective. Ultimately, it allows for a glimpse into the experience of such international programmes that, to date, has been limited in the literature.

Alexander’s (2000) work on culture and pedagogy established how interlinked the cultural context is to the educational process. It is worth noting that there is some alignment of this work with those of Alexander (2000: 32), in terms of ‘commitment to the pursuit of understanding, the improvement of policy and the amelioration of practice’. Although the methodological dimensions which Alexander provides for policy-directed international comparative study cannot be aligned with the present work, his linking of the macro position with the micro, together with the need to understand the human face of education rather than purely national constructs, is all important for the amelioration of practice. He describes his own project as having an ‘eclectic’ paradigmatic basis as it employs both quantitative and qualitative methods that are not driven by a policy study. Similarities can be drawn with the research that was undertaken here; however, it should be noted that the focus for Alexander’s extensive research was comparative of primary education, whereas this study is a case study of international higher education. However, the importance of the link between national culture and pedagogy, established by Alexander, is acknowledged here and applied in the field of higher education thus seeking to distinguish this work from others looking at the experience of the international classroom.

The link between culture and pedagogy has been further developed by the growth of students who are mobile across international borders for educational purposes driving a need to consider a cross- and intercultural element to pedagogic practice where educational spaces are linked to the development of intercultural awareness. Recent work by those such as Deardorff and Arasaratnam-Smith (2017)—in terms of the development of intercultural competences in international higher education—and Jackson and Oguro (2018) has looked at the development of intercultural interventions in study abroad. To some extent this work represents an extension of this work in the specific context of international joint double degree programmes of study. It links the two aspects of culture and pedagogy: that is, national cultures and pedagogy and culture in the international classroom within the context of international joint double degree study. In addition, international joint double degree s add the dimensions of international mobility and different learning environments to the experience of students’ relationality with each other and the way they learn. The chapters draw together the themes of cultures of learning, different approaches to pedagogy and the international classroom and student mobility. The work thus offers a reinterpretation of the definition of international higher education that focuses on and is generated at the individual level through the student experience. The value of cultural encounters as an agentic vehicle is promoted by such programmes of study and therefore they are inexorably linked to notions of being in education, offering the potential for the self-formation that Marginson (2014) discusses.

Seeking Relevance in International Activities

As institutions seek to offer ‘relevant’ higher education experiences for students, arguments justifying the need for contemporary and engaging perspectives to the design of the curriculum in higher education have been promoted by a number of authors. International activities inevitably form part of this search for relevance in the contemporary competitive international higher education environment. Barnett and Coate (2005) outline that responsibilities fall on both tutors and stu...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Front Matter
• 1. Introduction to Joint Degrees and the Debates, Tensions and Influences in International Higher Education
• 2. Contextualising International Joint Double Degrees
• 3. The International Higher Education Environment: Adding Value Through International Joint Double Degrees
• 4. The ‘Lived’ Experience of International Joint Double Degrees as an Internationalised Curriculum: A Glimpse of a ‘Window to the World’
• 5. Experiencing Cultural Difference as part of an International Joint Double Degree
• 6. Differences in Institutional and Nationally Framed Approaches to Pedagogy as Part of the International Joint Double Degree Experience
• 7. The Use and Importance of Group Work on International Joint Double Degrees
• 8. Final Reflections
• Back Matter