Understanding student participation in the internationalised university: Some issues, challenges, and strategies

Abstract

The globalisation of higher education has resulted in an increasingly culturally and linguistically diverse student demographic and, with it, a number of significant challenges as well as frequently cited benefits. This article looks specifically at the issue of student participation, highlighting, in particular, its culturally contexted nature and the need for pre-and in-service teacher training and development programmes that raise teachers’ intercultural awareness and furnish them with the skills and strategies needed to manage the effects of diversity on patterns of participation in the classroom. It offers a number of concrete proposals for dealing effectively with participation-related issues in the classroom.