Internationalizing curricula. Needs and wishes of alumni and employers with regard to international competencies. Internationalization has become of great importance for universities acrossthe globe. The labour market is becoming international, with internationalopportunities and international competition. Emerging markets such as India, China and Russia are gaining economic power. Global challenges demand world-wide solutions. Production and marketing networks span the globe and various forms of migration have resulted in a large cultural diversity within nations. As a result, societies and labour markets are changing as well. In order to deal with these societal changes adequately and to succeed in today’s labour market, graduates need to be equipped with international competencies. In a survey among 500 chief executives, ICM Research (on behalf of Think Global and The British Council, 2011) showed that employers strongly value staff members who are able to work in an international and multicultural environment. Similar results were found in Diamond et al. (2011), in which ‘multicultural teamwork’ was considered most important. The Hague University of Applied Sciences seeks to prepare its students adequately for the world of tomorrow. The University’s development plans (e.g. HogeschoolOntwikkelingsPlan, HOP 7, 2009-2013 and HOP 8, 2014-2017) indicate that its vision is to train students to be globally-minded professionals with an international and multicultural perspective, who are world-citizens, interested in global issues and able to deal with diversity in a constructive manner. They are to be professionals, who possess the competencies to function well in an international and intercultural environment. Internationalization is therefore high on the agenda of The Hague University of Applied Sciences (THUAS) which is illustrated by the fact that, as of 2014, new students in all academies have to fill 12.5% (30 ECTS) of their four-year Bachelor program with international activities. These activities can range from an internship or semester abroad (student mobility) to participating in full programs of study or minors in which English is the medium of instruction, or an internationally themed minor (Internationalization at Home, IaH). And this is only the beginning. Internationalization is a means, not an end. All THUAS courses are looking into ways in which they can internationalize their curriculum. And in doing so, they need to be innovative (Leask, 2009) and keep in mind the specific needs and wishes of alumni and their employers with regard to international competences. The THUAS research group International Cooperation supports these internationalization policy objectives by investigating various aspects, such as: • The acquisition and development of international competencies among students. • The extent to which lecturers possess international competencies and what their needs and wishes are for further development. • The international competencies THUAS graduates have acquired as part of their degree and how THUAS has stimulated this development. • The international competencies that employers and alumni consider important. Although international competencies and employability have received growing attention in internationalization research, existing studies have mainly focused on: • The effects of study abroad on the development of international competence (cf. Hoven & Walenkamp, 2013). • The effects of an experience abroad (study, internship, voluntary work) on employability. • A more general analysis of the skills employers look for in prospective employees.
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Introduction and theoretical background In the past few years, there has been a growing interest in the specific position of beginning teacher educators. In the book 'Becoming a teacher Educator' (Swennen & Van der Klink, 2009) several chapters deal with this subject. In conclusion, teacher educators have to deal with stress and uncertainty during their first years in the profession. They have to find a place within the university (organisational induction) as well as to grow into the role of teacher educator (professional induction). Swennen, Shagrir & Cooper (2009) give some examples of organizational induction which beginning teacher educators encounter, such as workload (a combination of new tasks and the wish to perform these tasks well) or a sense of isolation (being the only one with this problem, being thrown into the deep, no 'peers' in the same situation). Murray (2008) also describes professional induction. Beginning teacher educators have to get used to several things: being confronted with teaching students (young adults), uncertainty about the sufficiency of their subject knowledge, and uncertainty about their role as teacher educator being a 'second order teacher' (Murray and Male, 2005). Design of an induction program At Fontys Teacher College Tilburg, the Netherlands each year, new teacher educators get started. According to a quick scan amongst beginning teacher educators in their first year, many of them would like some kind of support. Supportive aspects which are mentioned are partially organisational related (getting to know the institute and its rules), partially related to the organisation of the work (planning, workload) and partially related to the content of the work (how to deal with young adult learners, theory about teaching methods). At Fontys University of Applied Science, we would like to support beginning teacher educators in order to retain them for the organisation and for the profession. To support the new colleagues, a special induction period was designed to support their grow within the organisation and the profession. The induction period consisted of two components: (1) personal support from a 'buddy' e.g a colleague, 2) weekly meetings in which an experienced colleague supports a small group of beginning teacher educators. Evaluation of the induction program This induction program was offered to all new colleagues during academic year 2010-2011. What is gained out of the program by new colleagues was investigated through an evaluative inquiry. In this inquiry, a questionnaire was used and some interviews were held. At the conference in April 2012, the results of the evaluation will be presented. Aditionally, we will also discuss some recommendations for the induction of beginning teacher educators. References Murray, J. and T. Male (2005). Becoming a teacher educator: evidence from the field. Teaching and teacher Education 21 (2005), 125-142. Elsevier Ltd. Murray, J. (2008) Teacher educators' induction into Higher Education: work-based learning in the micro communities of teacher Education. European Journal of teacher Education, Vol 31, no 2, 117-133 Swennen, Anja & Marcel van der Klink (eds) (2009). Becoming a teacher educator. Theory and practice for Teacher Educators. Springer Science+business Media B.V. Swennen, Shagrir & Cooper (2009) Becoming a teacher educator: Voices of beginning teacher educators, 91-102 in: Swennen, Anja & Marcel van der Klink (eds) (2009). Becoming a teacher educator. Theory and practice for Teacher Educators. Springer Science+business Media B.V.
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