Ethically engaging international students: student generated material in an active blended learning model

Abstract

In the context of increasing international mobility in higher education, educators experience multiple challenges in the classroom. In the UK, policy discourses often frame international students as desirable resources. However, international students are frequently problematised as in academic deficit. Cultural reasons are posited for different patterns of participation in seminar discussions and critical engagement. This deficit narrative is neo-imperialist. A critical and ethical pedagogy should position international students as equals and as co-contributors. This article suggests that by changing pedagogical structures of traditional higher education classroom in the UK, subverting norms for epistemological interactions, international students can be empowered to engage actively and critically. This approach draws on the principles of Active Blended Learning to develop an ethical pedagogy, with equitable epistemic access for internationally mobile students. This paper explores how a module designed in keeping with ethical pedagogy [Madge, Clare, Parvati Raghuram, and Patricia Noxolo. 2009. “Engaged Pedagogy and Responsibility: A Postcolonial Analysis of International Students.” Geoforum 40 (1): 34–45] succeeded in critically engaging students.