Internationalization in the Formal Curriculum as Interpreted and Experienced by International Graduate Students in Canada – An Interpretive Case Study
Creators: name: Liang, Siyin
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: Higher education
subject: internationalization
subject: formal curriculum
subject: international graduate students
subject: Canada
subject: Education
subject: Education--Curriculum and Instruction
subject: Education--Adult and Continuing

description: Many universities in Canada have dedicated themselves to internationalization as an educational approach to enhance students’ awareness of global complexities, engage with diversity, foster global citizenship, and encourage meaningful contributions to society. Despite the growing attention to modifying curricula to align with the internationalization agenda, the literature offering guidance on approaching this endeavour remains limited, particularly concerning insights from students and within the specific academic realm of education. In order to contribute to the ongoing discourse surrounding curriculum internationalization, deepen the comprehension of how recent international students interpret and experience this approach, and explore ways to enrich student learning experiences, I conducted an interpretive case study, the details of which are presented in this dissertation. Specifically, I delved into a case study centred on internationalization in the formal curriculum through the perspectives of international graduate students enrolled in a school of education at a comprehensive academic and research university in Canada. Using qualitative content analysis and reflexive thematic analysis, I analyzed data collected from public documents, semi-structured interviews with nine international graduate students, and my reflexive research journal. Guided by the framework of practice architecture theory, I identified and shared interpretations on four key themes: 1. Influential cultural-discursive arrangements in shaping interpretations; 2. Diversification of course content: The deliberate commencement; 3. Advancing inclusion in course design to mitigate inequalities; 4. Crucial social-political arrangements in facilitating intercultural learning. In dialogue with existing scholarship, my findings elaborate on the meanings and value of content integration in an ‘internationalized’ formal curriculum, as some international graduate students interpreted. The research findings also highlight the importance of being aware of the practice traditions on the site and incorporating inclusive course design to mitigate inequalities and the risk of system exclusion in an internationalized formal curriculum. Furthermore, the findings suggest that institutional discussions on diversity and inclusivity are notably influential in shaping how international graduate students interpret an internationalized curriculum. In addition, as my findings revealed, being aware of the hierarchical structure within a university and understanding the power dynamics between instructors and students can potentially lead international graduate students to perceive instructors as the primary initiators of the course internationalization process. Simultaneously, they tend to predominantly view their role as that of responsive participants. The study seeks to contribute to empirical and practical knowledge on international studies of internationalizing the formal curriculum in higher education. It shows the necessity for more recent, in-depth, and regional-specific studies regarding curriculum internationalization from students’ perspectives. It concludes by offering recommendations for higher education institutions to support curriculum internationalization.