ABSTRACT
Approaches to internationalisation at British universities are dominated by neo-liberal economic objectives and instrumentalist goals and practices. There is increasing recognition of the need for internationalisation to focus more on social and educational values and practices that address intercultural dialogue, with calls to rethink pedagogy and course content through internationalizing the curriculum. In this chapter, I examine how internationalisation of the curriculum (IoC) is understood, viewed, experienced and implemented by academics and senior managers in an education department at a Russell Group university in London (UK). Semi-structured interviews were thematically analysed revealing that the recruitment of international students was viewed as a major element of internationalisation as they enhance the quality of education through intercultural dialogue. Moving beyond local, national and Western perspectives and paradigms and incorporating international issues and comparative studies into the curriculum were seen as essential. Challenges to IoC included a perceived lack of support, appropriate resources and time, given increasing demands for academics to support international students academically.
Keywords: internationalisation of the curriculum; intercultural dialogue; higher education; academics’ perceptions
