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Disrupting internationalisation of the curriculum in Latin America

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Abstract

Internationalisation of the curriculum (IoC) is typically approached very differently across national, institutional and disciplinary contexts. This paper reports on research on internationalisation of the curriculum in Latin America and discusses its potential to provoke disruptive innovation in higher education internationalisation. Traditionally, approaches to internationalisation of the curriculum in Latin American universities have been focused almost solely on student mobility programs. The research reported in this paper was conducted by a project team from Brazil and Australia in 2021–2022. A qualitative methodology was used. Methods included a tri-lingual literature review of scholarly publications on curriculum internationalisation in English, Portuguese and Spanish and a modified e-Delphi methodology with a panel of experts comprising international higher education scholars and practitioners working in Latin America (and conducted in Spanish, Portuguese and English). The purpose of the research was to identify ways in which existing approaches to internationalising the curriculum in Latin America might be enhanced in order to provide more students with opportunities to develop international perspectives and intercultural knowledge and skills. The research found that there is significant potential to achieve this outcome if the process of internationalising the curriculum is approached as a long-term project involving complex collaborative boundary work.

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Data Availability

The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article [and/or] its supplementary materials (see, Whitsed et al., 2022).

Notes

  1. https://www.dfat.gov.au/people-to-people/foundations-councils-institutes/coalar/grants

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Curtin University, Perth, Australia

    Craig Whitsed

  2. Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande Do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil

    Carla Camargo Cassol & Marilia Costa Morosini

  3. La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia

    Betty Leask

  4. Australian Embassy Brazil, Brasilia, Brazil

    Cristina Elsner

  5. Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia

    Diep Nguyen

Authors
  1. Craig Whitsed
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  2. Carla Camargo Cassol
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  3. Betty Leask
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  4. Marilia Costa Morosini
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  5. Cristina Elsner
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  6. Diep Nguyen
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Correspondence to Craig Whitsed.

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Whitsed, C., Cassol, C.C., Leask, B. et al. Disrupting internationalisation of the curriculum in Latin America. High Educ (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-023-01163-0

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