Internationalising the Curriculum: Teaching and Assessing Diverse Groups

Description

Universities and colleges across Europe are becoming increasingly international.

In the same classroom, teachers may work with students from different countries, languages, cultures, and previous education systems.

Unfortunately, however, most lectureres are not formally prepared for this kind of educational environment and tend to manage this diversity by instinct, with no clear method.

In fact, these conditions can enrich learning, but can also create very practical teaching challenges (examples that are clear to some students may be unfamiliar to others; participation styles may differ; language confidence may affect classroom interaction; and assessment may unintentionally reward cultural or linguistic familiarity rather than subject understanding, etc.).

At the same time, most students will never take part in long-term study abroad experiences.

This means that international education can’t depend only on mobility but needs to happen at home, through the curriculum, the classroom environment, and the way subjects are taught.

This course introduces a practical approach to internationalizing the curriculum and teaching culturally and linguistically diverse groups.

Drawing on Internationalization at Home and UNESCO’s Global Citizenship Education framework, the central idea is to help participants design learning experiences that give all students international and intercultural learning opportunities, whether or not they ever leave their country.

Participants will be challenged to examine their own teaching through an international lens.

They will learn how to design content, examples, and assessments that work for a mixed-nationality and multilingual group, and build intercultural awareness and inclusive practice into everyday teaching.

The course shows how small but intentional changes can make a course more inclusive and globally relevant (e.g., adapting materials for students working in a second language; designing intercultural tasks).

Throughout the week, participants will redesign one of their own courses, seminars, or programmes, and by the end of the course, they will be able to teach a culturally and linguistically diverse group with confidence, design a curriculum that gives every student an international education without leaving home, and embed intercultural understanding into their own subject.

They will leave with one of their own courses redesigned and ready to teach.

Concept by Veerle Ponnet

Learning outcomes

The course will help participants to:

• Understand what internationalizing an higher education curriculum means in practice, and why it matters for every student, not only those who have the chance to study abroad;
• Apply the principles of Internationalization at Home to bring an international education to all students;
• Use ideas from UNESCO’s Global Citizenship Education framework to support intercultural awareness and inclusive practice.
• Design course content, examples, and reading that reflect diverse cultures and perspectives;
• Teach and assess fairly in a mixed-nationality, multilingual group;
• Build intercultural awareness and inclusive practice into everyday teaching, drawing on the Global Citizenship Education framework;
• Adapt communication, instructions, and materials for students working in a second or third language;
• Encourage participation across different cultures, learning backgrounds, and language-confidence levels.
• Redesign one of their own courses to embed international and intercultural perspectives.

Tentative schedule

Day 1 – Introduction to the course

• Introduction to the course and the Academy;
• Introduction to the host city and the week’s cultural activities;
• Icebreaker activities;
• Presentations of the participants’ schools and institutions.

The international classroom today

• What internationalizing the curriculum means, and why it is now a core business in higher education;
• Internationalization at Home: giving every student a global education, not only those who go abroad;
• The diverse classroom: many nationalities, languages, and prior education systems in one room.

Day 2 – Designing an international higher education curriculum

• Reviewing your content, examples, and reading from a single national perspective;
• Bringing diverse cultures, sources, and viewpoints into the subject;
• Designing learning outcomes that include an international and intercultural dimension;
• Workshop: auditing your own course through an international lens.

Day 3 – Teaching the multilingual classroom

• Teaching students who are working in a second or third language;
• Making explanations, instructions, and materials clearer without lowering academic expectations;
• Encouraging participation across cultures and different language-confidence levels;
• Workshop: adapting one of your sessions for a multilingual group.

Day 4 – Intercultural awareness and inclusion

• How culture shapes learning, communication, and classroom expectations;
• Building intercultural awareness using the Global Citizenship Education framework;
• Inclusive practice: helping every student feel they belong and can succeed;
• Handling misunderstandings and differences with confidence.

Day 5 – Fair assessment and your redesign

• Assessing a diverse, multilingual group fairly, without penalizing language when judging content;
• Embedding international and intercultural perspectives into assessment;
• Finalizing your redesigned course and an action plan for your department;
• Peer feedback on the redesigned courses;
• Course evaluation: round-up of acquired competencies, feedback, and discussions;
• Awarding of the course Certificate of Attendance.

Day 6 – Structured cultural activities

• Structured cultural activity(ies) according to the hosting location;
• Learning journal: individual written reflection on the course experience;
• Course reflection: self-reflection and review of course materials and resources.

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