Reflections on an Alternative Approach to Continuing Professional Learning for Internationalization of the Curriculum Across Disciplines

Abstract

Academics at the coalface of teaching and learning often feel undersupported, underprepared, and underconfident in "internationalizing the curriculum" (IoC). The formal, structured programs designed by institutions to meet the needs of academics for continuing professional learning (CPL) in our rapidly changing sector fail to engage many academics. As centrally situated higher education/student learning academics, the authors present one alternative approach to CPL, developed in the context of an Australian Learning and Teaching Fellowship: "Internationalization of the Curriculum in Action." First, the authors reflect on the engagement of disciplinary academics throughout the project; this underscores the value of critical, reflective conversations within and across disciplines. Second, the authors reflect on their own role in creating this critical (inter)disciplinary space; this underscores the value of introducing a theoretical framework for reviewing and developing IoC, providing a structure for the process, igniting the imagination of participants, and questioning and collectively acting on institutionalized enablers and blockers to IoC. © 2012 Nuffic.