‘You just get used to waiting’: Exploring the temporal dimensions of in-country educational experiences

Abstract

This article explores the temporal dimensions of in-country educational experiences in relation to their potential to contribute to the development of intercultural capacities. Given trends in higher education towards ‘globalising’ students and the perceived benefits of study abroad, this article argues for a detailed and nuanced examination of the temporal dimensions of such experiences. This analysis reveals the complex and multiple ways in which relations to ‘time’ might act pedagogically upon participants. Drawing on a study of Australian university students undertaking semester-long programs in Indonesia, qualitative data gathered over a period of time (pre-departure, while in-country, and post-return) demonstrates the ways in which temporality operates in the potential development of interculturality. Firstly, engagement with alternate temporal framing is considered, through a discussion of students’ navigation of ‘Indonesian time’. Secondly, the multitude of times operating in this context are examined. Finally, the significance of diverse temporal rhythms in-country is discussed. Utilising Bourdieu’s conceptual tools, particularly the notion of habitus, these three areas of analysis indicate the significance of understanding the development of intercultural capacities as a range of pedagogic processes that are both cumulative and embodied. This research demonstrates how engaging with diverse temporal relations in-country can function pedagogically to expand one’s repertoire of dispositions; not only through an opening up to new ‘possibles’, but also through allowing time to establish new responses and ways of being in the world.