Reconceptualising how to internationalise-at-home: Using dialogue to stimulate intercultural capacity within university students.

Abstract

In an increasingly globalised world approaches to internationalisation continue to evolve within the education sector. Calls to reframe how higher education approaches internationalisation are clearly noted in the literature. Additionally, most education institutions have adopted mission statements promising to produce graduates with the capacity to work successfully across international borders and cultures. This means creating students who are interculturally competent and capable of interacting effectively in a range of contexts. However, in the current global climate, a host of challenges have presented obstacles for moving the well-intentioned internationalisation agenda forward, and in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, many Australian higher education institutions have been left questioning how internationalisation-at-home can best be achieved, if at all. This paper presents findings from a purpose- built internationalisation-at-home program piloted at a regional Australian university. A mixed group of domestic and international students participated in this program, founded on dialogic forums designed to promote intercultural interactions. This paper reports on shifts found in participants’ knowledge, attitude, and skill development, all framed as vital for intercultural competence to flourish. The importance of adopting a dialogic approach to stimulate intercultural competence development in students was key to the success of the internationalisation-at-home initiative. Embracing dialogic interaction as a teaching and learning pedagogy is presented as one way to promote internationalisation as we grapple to move the internationalisation agenda forward in a much-changed higher education arena.