Teaching and learning for international students: towards a transcultural approach

Discourses of internationalisation in higher education often neglect one of the most effective sources of intercultural knowledge and understanding; the international students who increasingly inhabit university campuses around the world. International education is now big business in Anglophone universities such as in the UK and Australia, with 15% of students (United Kingdom Council for International Student Affairs, 2010) and 21% of students (Australian International Education, 2010a) respectively being international students. However, benefits for nations and universities are at risk due to a range of teaching and learning issues that affect the learning experiences of international students and are problematic for both staff and students. This paper draws on research over the past two decades to discuss the nature of these issues and provides an overview of the three stages that can be discerned in universities’ responses to the influx of international students. This analysis points to a changing pattern of responses which are tied more closely to discourses of globalisation and internationalisation. It also shows that although many of the difficulties experienced by staff and students are well known, there is still much to be done to address curriculum, pedagogical and assessment practices. A necessary precursor to this work is the examination of underlying attitudes, values and systems that may give rise to difficulties for both staff and students. A new approach is needed that positions international students not as ‘problems’ to be solved but as ‘assets’ to internationalisation and the generation of new knowledge and new ways of working in the academy.