2018
The education value is an ongoing concern of both, students and post-secondary institutions. Students are concerned of their return on monetary and time investment in education. The institutions are concerned of providing the right return on students’ investment in education, in order to increase enrollment and graduation rates, keep or even improve their rankings, and nevertheless have alumni who enter the job markets right after graduation. Therefore, whether internationalization contributes to the value of higher education, has been a question addressed by higher education around the world which emphasized that internationalization needed a more specific approach that addresses the international dimensions of curriculum (de Wit, 2017; Beelen and Elspeth,2015).
Each program has a curriculum that mirrors the overall value of the program and therefore, Internationalization at Home does not ask for a change of curriculum but for an adjustment which brings improvement. This readjustment of curriculum is based on socio-economic events caused by globalization, opened international job markets and cultural transformations within local societies due to immigration which has caused local multiculturalism (de Wit, 2017; de Wit and Knight, 2018). Post-secondary education must prepare students with the right knowledge of how to perform in their specific field of studies within multicultural societies, multicultural corporations and target the global job markets. This means that students must graduate with well-rounded international knowledge in a specific field of study. The curriculum should drive therefore, the academic learning of individuals to career success within today’s’ global socio-economic and political transformations. This stand point indicates that adding an international component to the curriculum means improving its educational value because graduates have the knowledge and abilities to function beyond national socio-economic and political limits. A traditional curriculum helps students to learn how to become professionals in a specific field of study, in a specific community. The international and intercultural dimensions take students’ professionalism a step higher, which is within a global society (de Wit, 2011). As each program relates to socio-economic markets differently, each program must adjust its curriculum according to the correlation between knowledge provided and open global socio-economic markets. Some programs might focus on language training, some on more specific multicultural understanding in a workplace, some on more economic trade markets. All programs however, must acknowledge what exactly would characterize internationalization of curriculum in their field and be transparent into the intended learning outcomes. From theory to practice however, intervene the misconceptions of Internationalization at Home which may cause delays or wrong international education practices at institutional level. However, institutional organization and governance should adjust management policies to support the international orientation of the curriculum .
References :
Beelen, J. and Jones, E. (2015). Redefining Internationalization at Home. Chapter in The European Higher Education Area. Between Critical Reflections and Future Policies. Available at https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2F978-3-319-20877-0.pdf.
De Wit, H. (2011). Misconceptions about Internationalization. University World News. April 10, 2011, Issue 166.
De Wit, H. (2017). The Importance of Internationalization at Home. In a Time of political Tensions. TheMa. Vol5. Available at: http://www.themahogeronderwijs.org/assets/Preview-bestanden/Thma-2017-5-The-Importance-of-Internationalization-at-Home-.pdf
De Wit, H. and Knight,J. ( 2018). What contribution has internationalization made to HE? University World News. Issue 524. Available at: http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20181010093946721#.W8P5rXymGnc.email