in cooperation with Wannes Gijsels (Domain coordinator, International Relations Office, UAntwerp), Bianca Roseaux (Domain coordinator, Education Policy), Sebastian Van Hoeck (Global Engagement Officer, UAntwerp) and Prof Dr Tom De Herdt (Chair, Working Group on Global Engagement and Office of Global Engagement)

Investing in the internationalisation of courses is not an end in itself. It can, however, act as a  springboard for students’ international, intercultural and global citizenship competences so that they can function to their best ability in a globalised context and contribute to complex global challenges. So how do you encourage such competences in every student? When you purposefully integrate international and intercultural dimensions into the formal and informal curriculum for all students (Beelen & Jones, 2015), you provide an international experience at home that benefits all students. In other words, you offer students international learning experiences within your own institution, allowing them to benefit from the rich diversity and knowledge of the global community (Manning & Marku, 2024).

Although the European Association for International Education (EAIE) reports that 64% of European universities say they are involved in internationalisation at home, many universities are still uncertain as to what exactly is meant by the term and how it can be implemented (Jones & Reiffenrath, 2018). Is it about trying out a different language of instruction in your programme component? Offering a guest lecture? Interacting with the Erasmus students in your classroom? Partly, but the scope of internationalisation at home is broader: ‘Internationalisation at home is the purposeful integration of international and intercultural dimensions into the formal and informal curriculum for all students within domestic learning environments’ (Beelen & Jones, 2015). International competences help students to function within a specific discipline in diverse national contexts and regional settings worldwide. Intercultural competences enable students to appreciate cultures without judging and to communicate and collaborate effectively and appropriately with people of all cultures (CeQuint, 2017).

 In this teaching tip, we give you practical examples of how you can work on international competences with all students in your programme (components).

One aspect of Internationalisation at home is bringing in different perspectives: ‘elsewhere in the world things are done differently than they are here’ (Beelen in Yoo, 2021). But it’s also about critically questioning and testing one's own perspectives, frames of reference and knowledge systems against those of the rest of the world. In essence, then, it’s about bringing multi-perspectivity into your programme (component), where different voices are heard and allowed to debate. As Professor Van Hecken (Institute for Development Policy, UAntwerp) puts it (in Deckers, 2024): ‘It means being open to different ways of looking at the world. In doing so, it is important that we also dare to question the dominant values within our own society. [...].’

Multiperspectivity enables students to approach complex global challenges from various angles to work towards a solution.

Approach for promoting international competences

Want to introduce students to multi-perspectivity and sharpen their international competences? Then it’s best to invest in a safe learning environment that recognises and values cultural diversity (De Leersnyder et al., 2021) and this is best approached on three levels: (1) the formal curriculum, (2) the informal curriculum, and (3) the hidden curriculum.  Here’s how to get started in practice.

(1)    Formal curriculum

The formal curriculum, according to Gregersen-Hermans et al. (2024), refers to programme components or initiatives that are assigned credits. It also includes the intended final competences, the associated teaching and learning activities, and the assessment of student learning. In other words, it concerns the competences teachers explicitly teach students.

Below are tips and examples to integrate internationalisation and multiperspectivity into the formal curriculum.

Refer to subject knowledge in a global context

Approach your field from a broad, global perspective. Clarify the relevance of the subject matter at international/intercultural level and integrate international approaches/comparisons of the subject area where possible, engaging with students on these points. For example, how is research into environmental health issues in other parts of the world conducted? Are the ethical implications of AI approached differently depending on the region? How do different countries deal with euthanasia in their legislation? How is animal welfare translated into legislation in, for example, Australia compared to Chile? To what extent do sustainable water management practices differ globally depending on geographical and economic conditions?

Work with globally diverse reading lists, course content, case studies and guest lectures

Use scholarly literature by authors from different countries and cultures, paying special attention to historical and current underrepresented voices from the Global South [1] (rather than just Eurocentric voices from the Global North). Introduce examples and case studies from different countries and cultures. When choosing guest lectures and course content, be mindful to select diverse and global perspectives. Encourage your students (as co-creating partners) to provide different perspectives/resources themselves.

Key questions to ask yourself and your students during a source analysis:

  1. What could be the author's underlying aims, ideologies and assumptions?
  2. What possible influence does an author's background (positionality) have on the production and dissemination of knowledge?
  3. Which voices and perspectives are central to the curriculum? Which ones are excluded or marginalised?
  4. Is a diversity of cultural, geographical and epistemological backgrounds reflected in the selection of authors?
  5. What forms of knowledge are considered valid, and who decides what counts as important or academic knowledge?

Internationalising the curriculum is not only about incorporating voices that are hardly ever or never seen in course content, but also about asking the following critical questions:

  • What exactly do these contributions add to the existing debate?
  • Why have these voices only been added now?
  • How do the identities and experiences of the added authors challenge or reinforce existing power structures?
  • Do we consider the new voices to be equal to the existing dominant voices, or do we see them merely as a minor addition?

See how the programme component Political history of Belgium taught by Professor Van Goethem (bachelor programme in law, UAntwerp) has seen an evolution in content towards more emphasis on human rights and diversity, with Congo as a case study.

[1] The Global South refers to countries that share a history of exploitation, oppression and colonisation, and that today still bear the consequences of this past, in economic, political, social and environmental terms.

Incorporate diversity into your teaching

Consider the views, experiences and needs of international students and students from diverse backgrounds when planning, implementing and evaluating your programme component. Actively and consciously try to develop intercultural competences in students by exploiting the diverse composition of the student population.  For example, encourage students, national and international, to work together by dividing them into heterogeneous groups. Be aware that it’s not enough to simply put your own and international students together for adequate development of international and intercultural competences (Leask, 2009; Zimitat, 2008). To achieve a truly international classroom (see also UAntwerp policy paper 2019, only for UAntwerp staff after logging in):

  • deliberately discuss the international dimension
  • try to increase the well-being of international and national students
  • make students mutually aware of cultural differences and counteract polarisation in the process
  • teach students to deal with any difficulties that students from other worlds may encounter
  • strive to make students better understand each other and/or the world better by making international comparisons

In this good practice Stronger together: Peer learning (only for UAntwerp staff after logging in) you can find examples of an international classroom, putting forward Socratic dialogue, intervision groups, a paper workshop and the co-creation of a lesson as examples of peer learning in an international context. 

Commit to language, intercultural and digital skills

For students to function to their best ability in diverse and international settings, they need specific skills, including language, intercultural and digital skills. A good knowledge of English, for example, is often essential. Learning other languages, such as French or Spanish, can also make sense in certain contexts.  Will students for your programme component soon need to work with international colleagues? Then you can have them do a preparatory assignment that requires them to use, for example, an online language platform (e.g. Altissia).

It's also essential that students gain an understanding of what intercultural communication entails, the challenges involved and how to deal with them effectively. Finally, it may also be appropriate for students to become familiar with the operation of international communication platforms, ways of sharing files, data analysis, etc.

Organise Collaborative Online International Learning projects (COIL)

COIL stands for Collaborative Online International Learning and refers to ‘online learning in an international environment, with the interactive engagement of students and teachers from different international and intercultural backgrounds in and outside the classroom’ (Leask, 2020). In other words, COIL projects bring together students from various geographical locations to work on a group task in terms of content through virtual collaboration, while at the same time developing their intercultural skills. They can be set up within any academic discipline and can even be interdisciplinary.

In the second year of the Bachelor of Laws at UAntwerp, a COIL project is organised within the programme component International legal systems and terminology. During the semester, the groups meet online twice to get to know each other and to discuss and critically analyse their respective legal systems. This is followed by a plenary session with all 220 students comparing the findings of the different countries. Find out in this good practice how it’s organised and how students are prepared for this internationalisation at home experience (only for UAntwerp staff after logging in).

Consider a Blended Intensive Programme (BIP)

Blended Intensive Programmes combine a virtual collaboration between students with a short physical component. This physical mobility of students tends to be shorter than a traditional exchange: minimum 5 days and maximum 30 days. Students from at least three higher education institutions from European countries participate in these programmes, which take place through Erasmus+. By enabling new and more flexible mobility formats that combine physical mobility with a virtual part, the European Commission (2024) aims to reach students from all backgrounds, fields of study and cycles through BIPs.

The Construction study programme at UAntwerp initiated a Blended Intensive Programme on Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure and Buildings. In collaboration with eight renowned partner international institutions, a programme was developed to enable students to delve into the latest technologies in the field of sustainability..

If you’re considering devising a Blended Intensive Programme yourself, then this handy toolkit, developed as part of Erasmus+, can support you.  If you want to implement a BIP at UAntwerp, you can find all relevant information on this page (after logging in).

Organise a Summer or Winter school

A Summer or Winter school is an intensive, short-term academic programme during the summer or winter months. Themes of these programmes are always international and often interdisciplinary in nature (e.g. climate change, animal rights, sustainable fashion, leadership). During the school, try to respond to the diverse backgrounds of the participating students by working with cases, having them share their experiences from their country of origin, encouraging them to have debates, working in heterogeneous groups, etc. To encourage your own students to participate in these international learning experiences at their own institution, thus maximising the international setting, curricular recognition of participation is recommended. Participants can indeed earn credits when they successfully complete the Summer or Winter school.

The Faculty of Business and Economics (UAntwerp) organises several Summer and Winter schools at home and abroad. Students from different study programmes have the opportunity to participate in these, with the earned credits being recognised in the curriculum. To ensure intercultural exchange, the programmes make use of interactive teaching and working formats. Discover the offer and approach here or here.

(2)    Informal curriculum

The informal curriculum also plays a role that should not be underestimated in achieving international competences in all students. These include extra-curricular activities that support the formal curriculum but are not assigned credits within a particular study programme (UUKi Outword Student Mobility Network, 2024). Examples of such extra-curricular activities are:

  • promoting engagement between home and international students by setting up buddy programmes, welcome events or international student associations (e.g. faculty buddy work organised by the Faculty of Business and Economics at UAntwerp - only accessible to UAntwerp staff after logging in)
  • activities and courses on intercultural awareness and world citizenship (although these can also be included in the formal curriculum), e.g. a conference day with international speakers and in front of an international audience, student exchanges in the framework of development cooperation see, for example, USOS exposures to UAntwerp. Would you like to organise something yourself at UAntwerp? Then check out the Open Call Global Engagement, where both staff and students can apply for funding.
  • interculturally themed events, festivals and cultural exchange (e.g. activities for international students, Faculty of Business and Economics, UAntwerp)
  • language teaching to which no credits are attached (e.g. Monitoraat op maat: Nederlands niet je eerste taal?)

(3)    Hidden curriculum

Finally, the hidden curriculum includes the implicit expectations, assumptions and norms that subconsciously play a role in shaping a learning environment. The way you organise your teaching, the unwritten codes of conduct you apply, what is and is not allowed in the lecture hall, what your classroom management looks like, the amount of autonomy you grant to students, the way you communicate with them, etc, these all reflect a certain view of people, a certain outlook and certain values that are implicitly passed on (AP University of Applied Sciences and Arts, 2022).

However, the general culture of education can vary from country to country, as well as within countries. In some higher education cultures, for example, critical thinking, reflection, debate and discussion are at the forefront. In general, the relationship between teacher and students is quite close. While in other countries or institutions, the focus is more on acquiring knowledge where students are mainly expected to listen. These students aren’t familiar with active participation, and the relationship between them and the teacher is rather distant. So, it’s important to make these unwritten rules and expectations explicit from the start as a teacher and to invest in activities that expose this hidden curriculum (see also ECHO education tip Welcoming international students, 2023). Critically examine your learning content, learning activities and learning materials in advance and try to incorporate multi-perspectivity where possible (see tips and examples above on formal curriculum). If necessary, ask students how they view the roles of student and teacher respectively (from their different traditions), including their social interactions and positions, in order to uncover the hidden curriculum.


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