Internationalisation
Overview
The University of Reading is an international university and is immensely proud of its strong and long-standing tradition in hosting and supporting international students from around the world. Our international connections have helped to establish global teaching and research partnerships, leading Reading to be recognised as one of the top 200 Universities in the world.
In addition to supporting international students who choose to study at Reading or through one of our partner institutions, internationalisation is also about supporting staff to deliver a curriculum which prepares all our students for an increasingly global market, and, for all staff and students, to celebrate and encourage diversity as an enriching experience for everyone in HE.
CDoTL is working to support the University's current thematic review on internationalisation, and we are further developing our expertise in this area to support colleagues across the University as they consider their teaching and learning in the context of a global university. The Centre is keen to hear from colleagues with thoughts or ideas about any aspect of internationalisation relating to teaching and learning, and welcomes contact from colleagues to talk through ideas.
Internationalisation Initiatives Fund
To promote development in this area, the University has established the IIF (International Initiatives Fund) for 2011/12 to provide an additional funding resource for projects. The fund has been established by Professor Steve Mithen who is the PVC for International and External Engagement and has special responsibility for leading the internationalisation of the University of Reading and for external engagement with the local community, national and international bodies. Bids must be authorised by your Head of Department/School/Directorate, and must be submitted using a proforma which may be obtained from your Head of Department/School or else from Sue Jones, PA to the PVC for International and External Engagement (s.w.jones@reading.ac.uk). Completed forms should be emailed to Sue Jones for circulation to the IIF Advisory Group.
CDoTL are happy to work with anyone on a Teaching and Learning related bid, or to discuss your ideas.
Professional development:
CDoTL is keen to offer professional development to staff in the area of internationalisation and would also like to offer sessions on a School or Departmental level through the central staff development programme. Please contact us if you would like to discuss your local requirements.
OCSLD (The Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development) at Oxford Brookes offer a four week online course entitled 'Internationalising the curriculum for all students'. This course is designed to introduce teachers in higher education to the wide-ranging concept of an internationalised curriculum. It offers the opportunity to explore curriculum, teaching and assessment strategies in terms of global perspectives, inter-cultural capabilities and responsible citizenship. Click on the following link to find out more: Internationalising the curriculum - OCSLD course.
Good Practice
There is a summary of Examples of innovations & good practice of engagement with Internationalisation (which have been collated from the information on the Thematic Review on Internationalisation) which illustrates the varied ways in which schools and departments have embedded Internationalisation in their curriculum and practices. There's a huge variety of ideas which can be transferred or adapted across disciplines.
Literature available within CDoTL
The Centre has a range of printed resources relating to internationalisation which is available to view or loan. Please contact Jane Adams in CDoTL (jane.adams@reading.ac.uk) if you are interested to view any of the following:
Internationalizing Higher Education edited by Elspeth Jones and Sally Brown. London: Routledge, 2007.
Internationalisation and the Student Voice: Higher Education Perspectives edited by Elspeth Jones. London: Routledge, 2009.
Enhancing the International Learning Experience in Business and Management, Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism edited by Richard Atfield and Patsy Kemp. Threshold Press Ltd, 2008.
Working with International Students: a Guide for Staff in Engineering Kay Bond and Rachel Scudamore. HEA Engineering Subject Centre, 2010.
Teaching International Students (TIS) An engineering perspective with a focus on group and project-based work Richard Dales, Andewr McLaren and Simon Steiner. HEA Engineering Subject Centre, 2011.
Arriving shortly: Moving towards Internationalisation of the Curriculum for Global Citizenship in Higher Education edited by Valerie Clifford and Catherine Montgomery. Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development, 2011.
Useful resources are also available from:
TIS (Teaching International Students) project
The TIS project was funded for two years through PMI2 and HEA funding and is due to complete at the end of the 2011 academic year. TIS will then be integrated into the HEA's work on internationalisation and into other areas of staff development work that the HEA do.
The aim of TIS is to provide a 'one stop shop' of research and teaching resources which is primarily aimed at lecturers. A key output from the TIS project is the International Student Lifecycle Resources Bank.
CAPRI (Centre for Academic Practice and Research in Internationalisation)
CAPRI, based at Leeds Metropolitan University, aims to develop a global community of practitioners interested in enhancing practice in education, in particular in sharing and collaboration re research, projects and resources relating to internationalisation.
CICIN (Centre for Internationalised Curriculum and Networking)
CICIN, based at Oxford Brookes University, aims to facilitate networking and dissemination amongst universities through events, research and publications and via an e-listserv. Conference resources:
Presentations are now available from the recent conference at the University of Warwick entitled Internationalisation of Pedagogy and Curriculum in HE: Exploring New Frontiers hosted by the HEA and UKCISA TIS (Teaching International Students) project. They can be accessed from the following link: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/events/detail/2011/academyevents/16_17_June_TIS