wayne myles director queen’s university international centre (quic)

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EMBRACING GROWTH IN THE INTERNATIONAL STUDENT POPULATION:

A TRANSFORMATIVE PROCESS FOR BOTH UNIVERSITY AND COMMUNITY

Wayne MylesDirector

Queen’s University International Centre (QUIC)

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THE INTERNATIONALIZATION PROCESS

Internationalizing the campus and

community

InternationalStudents

International Research

Internationalizing the Curriculum

Exchange & Study Abroad Programs

Internationalization at home

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INTERNATIONAL STUDENT NUMBERS IN CANADA (2012)

Total: 265,377 University: 145,107 The growth rate: 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

• 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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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.

APPROPRIATE POLICIES AND PRACTICES

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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.

APPROPRIATE POLICIES AND PRACTICES

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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 cross-cultural 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_paper.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 competenceThe 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/