Symposium Summary

Engaging Students and Teachers in Internationalisation of Teaching and Learning

The symposium, held on 20 May 2019 at the University of Hong Kong and by the Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning, HKU, Center for Education Innovation, HKUST, and Centre for Holistic Teaching and Learning, HKBU, was filled with those who are committed to advancing students’ learning in multiple aspects.

At the first sharing session facilitated by Dr. Tracy Zou, an attentive room listened closely to Dr. Wendy Green, Senior Lecturer in the School of Education, University of Tasmania as she delivered her recent projects that mapped students as partners (SaP) in internationalising the curriculum. She talked us through how students and teachers could contribute equally, although not necessarily in the same way, and inspired us to think of two key questions: (1) how did SaP translate across cultures and (2) in what ways did the core values of SaP – Respect, Shared Responsibilities and Reciprocity – interact with each other. Following some lively discussion which could have continued well into the afternoon, Dr. Wendy Green concluded that having students as co-agency was not always peaceful; however, it was also this journey that enabled teachers to rediscover the joy of teaching.

In the afternoon, we brought together eleven principal investigators of our CoP – ITL pilot projects to showcase how they make internationalisation a reality. These projects have started from the premise that internationalisation of teaching and learning could be enhanced through an expanded scope of domain, spanning developing students’ global citizenship and intercultural competence, leveraging students’ diversity, internationalising the teaching content as well as supporting students’ mobility, both physically and virtually. As of this stage, the set objectives of these projects have been achieved while students’ learning outcomes have gone beyond what were intended. Students were motivated to hone their soft skills, expand their territory of comfort, reflect on their own learning, and envision their careers.

This symposium has continued the momentum on internationalisation of teaching and learning issues that resonated with teachers across different institutions and disciplines. With us, we hope that you have enjoyed yourself in an intellectually rich and supportive environment. We look forward to meeting you soon.