Craig Whitsed

Fostering the Intercultural Dimensions of Internationalisation in Higher Education: Metaphors and Challenges in the Japanese Context

The sustainability of many Japanese institutions of higher education is dependent on the injection of large numbers of foreigners. This requires addressing the intercultural dimensions of internationalisation. In this article, the authors contrast the literature on internationalisation in Japan (kokusaika) with the Anglo-European discourse on internationalisation and highlight the limited attention given to intercultural dimensions in the Japanese context. The authors examine how the constrained professional situation of foreign English teachers seems to inhibit the generation of opportunities for promoting reciprocal intercultural understanding. The authors discuss how these teachers’ use of metaphorical constructs, such as uchi/soto and omote/ura, to frame their experience in the Japanese higher education context provide conceptually powerful tools with which to consider internationalisation in the Japanese higher education context. The authors conclude by arguing that metaphors that stress notions of difference and otherness are problematic as they create challenges for addressing the intercultural aspects of internationalisation in the Japanese context.

Perspectives from within: Adjunct, foreign, English-language teachers in the internationalization of Japanese universities

This qualitative study is part of a broader study that explored how adjunct foreign English-language teachers (AFELT) in the Japanese university sector conceptualize their role against the backdrop of internationalization. Forty-three teachers across a range of universities participated in this study. The results report on AFELT perceptions of higher education in Japan, teaching English and the role of AFELT in that context, and reveal a discontinuity between the governmental rhetoric of internationalization concerning English-language education and how this is enacted at the institutional level.

What’s in a Name? A Theoretical Exploration of the Proliferation of Labels for International Education Across the Higher Education Sector

Across the higher education sector international education has been described as experiencing a “crisis of identity.” The recent proliferation of new terms advanced to label “internationalization,” it has been suggested, represents little more than “tautology.” Here, we address questions posed by de Wit regarding this phenomenon: “Why is it new labels are emerging?” “What do they mean?” “How are they used?” And, “will they advance the debate on the future of internationalisation?” We argue the phenomenon of renaming highlights a deep unease among scholars and points to the need for further theoretical consideration of the subject/agent nexus in the context of internationalization. First, with Strauss (1997), we argue the renaming phenomenon reveals more about those attributing the labels than that which they name. Second, drawing on positioning theory we argue renaming “internationalization” can be equated to reflexive positioning in the context of uneven distributions of power across contested storylines. As such, current efforts to rename “internationalization” are not necessarily tautological; rather, they could be integral to systematic changes in understandings, activities, dispositions, and rationales across the higher education sector.

A Systematic Literature Review of Teamwork Pedagogy in Higher Education

Teamwork pedagogy has received considerable attention across a wide range of academic literature. Yet employers continue to argue that universities need to do more to better prepare graduates to work in team-based environments. Grounded in the social constructivist paradigm, this article uses a two-phase systematic literature review methodology to explore the conditions and influences affording or constraining teamwork pedagogy. A complementary thematic analysis of the articles revealed two broad themes: pedagogy and transaction costs. In almost all 57 articles, a range of factors influencing teamwork pedagogy were elaborated. Temporal, fiscal, and human resource transaction costs were identified as constraints in the application of teamwork pedagogy. An overlap of educator, student, and institutional factors are discussed as contributing to the transaction costs of implementing process-oriented teamwork pedagogy. However, the interdependent interactions among educators and students, within and across institutions, remained largely underexplored and are presented as part of a future research agenda.

Critical Perspectives on Internationalising the Curriculum in Disciplines

Universities around the world have embraced internationalisation at the policy level, but struggle to put that policy into practice, particularly at the coalface of teaching and learning. To date, faculty voices have been largely silent in the literature on internationalising the curriculum. This book begins to address this gap. What does ‘internationalisation of the curriculum’ (IoC) mean in practice? How is it conceived, implemented and assessed within specific disciplines, locales and types of institutions? Why does it matter? These questions are addressed in this book by academics teaching in the fields of business, education and health, in a range of institutions across North America, the Middle East, Europe, East Asia and Australia. Reflecting critically on personal experience, through a scholarly engagement with current research, each chapter offers new ways of thinking about internationalising curricula in an increasingly interconnected world. The editors’ commentaries draw out the tensions between personal, disciplinary and institutional motivations, imperatives, and interests – in other words, tensions between the ideal and the do-able – which come into play in the practice of internationalising the curriculum, and offer insightful suggestions for future research and practice. Critical Perspectives on Internationalising the Curriculum in Disciplines: Reflective Narrative Accounts from Business, Education and Health is essential reading for academics and administrators invested in exploring new ways to better prepare students for life and work in the 21st century.

Positioning foreign English language teachers in the Japanese university context

This study employs positioning theory to explore the experiences of adjunct foreign English language teachers (AFELT) in the Japanese university sector. The research is located in the broad internationalisation discourse and considers AFELT positions as ‘foreign’ teachers at a time when the Japanese university sector is aiming to increase internationalisation. The data were drawn from focus groups and interviews with 43 AFELT who between them were teaching across 66 universities in Kansai. Three subject positions emerged from their reflections on their experience: commodification, disempowerment and desideration. The usefulness of positioning theory to interrogate higher education internationalisation discourse is discussed.

Engaging Academic Staff in Transnational Teaching: The Job Satisfaction Challenge

Transnational education (TNE) is an important facet of the international education learning and teaching landscape. Ensuring academics are positively engaged in TNE is a challenging but necessary issue for this form of educational provision if the risks inherent in TNE are to be successfully mitigated. This article explores job satisfaction for academics using the job characteristics model (JCM) to better understand the conditions that influence their involvement with TNE. The results highlight the important role that teaching-related interaction with host-country students and staff (the Feedback and Task Significance JCM dimensions) plays in academics’ satisfaction. Feelings of ownership and control of the TNE course (Autonomy and Task Identity) were also shown to be important determinants of satisfaction. It is therefore recommended that these aspects of TNE be encouraged and supported through university procedures and policies. Similarly, those aspects of TNE teaching that contribute to dissatisfaction, such as additional administration, need to be better understood, managed, and their impact mitigated where possible.

Introducing Critical Perspectives on Internationalising the Curriculum

The idea for this book was conceived one fine spring day in a meeting room at the Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan. An eager and very international group of policy makers, researchers and teaching academics from a range of disciplines had gathered at the University’s Centre for Higher Education Internationalisation to discuss the topic ‘Internationalisation at Home: 10 years on’.

Why Authenticity in Corporate and Employee Volunteering Matters for Employee Engagement: An Organisational Behaviour Perspective

Corporate and employee volunteering is increasingly significant within the context of organisational behaviour, receiving increased attention around the world. The research exploring this is scattered and uneven, with different perspectives shaping disparate discourses. While there is limited definitional consensus, corporate and employee volunteering is considered an employee engagement initiative and a corporate social responsibility activity. Placing emphasis on the behaviour of individuals, the giving of time, planned activity and the recipient as external, non-profit or charitable organisation Rodell et al. (J Manag 42(1):55–84, 2016: 57) defines employee volunteering as “employed individuals giving time during a planned activity for an external non-profit or charitable group or organization”. While Volunteering Australia (n.d.) promotes corporate volunteering as the provision of opportunities to employees to develop staff and teams skills which can bolster a company’s reputation within the community .

Critical Reflections on the Internationalisation of the Curriculum

We commenced this volume with these words spoken by a disciplinary academic reflecting on internationalisation of the curriculum. The sense of frustration is palpable. And, as the chapters collected in this book indicate, this sense of frustration is not uncommon. While the importance of internationalisation of the curriculum (IoC), as a concept, is increasingly recognised, it is not generally embraced enthusiastically within faculties.