International Education at the University of Hail - Case Study Example

Introduction Higher education is a vital social the main function of which is meeting the social needs and responding to social changes and processes. The growth of openness in international cultures is the main global trend in the human civilisation. Its peculiarity is refracted in the education system. In particular, the ever-increasing volume and versatile content of the world economy by developing requirements creates the need for universal staffing specialists (Walker 2004, p.13-15). It leads to the fact that the content of a national higher education system naturally tends to the so-called "international standards" generated due to the world of science and technology (Hayden 2006, p.5). Modern technologies, with their powerful infrastructure, make the information available, virtually, to every corner of the globe. They universalise the content of higher education, providing an exchange of knowledge, and train the leading educational centres. Globalisation, an objective reality, requires national higher education systems of the new orientation target; it takes the need for international solidarity on the values of human ethics into account (Hayden & Thompson 2008, p. 44). In almost all countries, the expansion of democracy and strengthening the rules of law enhances a role of education. Mainly it concerns in the young people’s education in the spirit of democratic citizenship (Walker 2004, p.11). The University of Hail in Saudi Arabia, because of the reality of globalization and the fact that the world is interconnected, should strengthen its international educational program to attract students from a diverse body, and so that it can become an institution that is fit for the realities of the 21st Century. This essay will focus on this, by looking at the University of Hail, and examining what international education means. This will provide a framework for how the University of Hail may update its international educational system, so that it may compete in the global world. The University of Hail The University of Hail in Saudi Arabia is an international university, which provides many opportunities for its graduates. The student population in the university is almost 3,000 and there are 10 colleges. It proposes different education for its students. According to many scholars and lecturers of the University of Hail, the internationalisation of higher education acquires the features of a new stage, which is the integration as evidenced by the appearance of appropriate political and legal superstructure integrated complex. So the university tries to follow the new approaches to overcome the difficulty with the international education. Now, the university is only developing in terms of international standards. What Is International Education? Characteristics and Defining Features Wilson (1994) states that international education is “the study and practice of various types of educational relations across national boundaries” (p. 481). While this definition is vague and broad, it can be narrowed down to its components – international education deals with the transfer of culture, cultural relations and education, and the “exchange of persons” (p. 481). That said, there is often a problem with defining it – it may include to curriculum content that deals with other countries and other societies, or it may deal with international relations among countries, assistance to other countries’ educational development, or “training of specialists for diplomatic and other international work, cultural relations programs between nations and the general informing of the public of world affairs” (p. 481). Wilson (2003) states that international education is the application of analyses and insights learned in a group or nations, or one nation, and applying this to other nations’ educational systems and institutions. James (2005) states that, even though there is difficulty defining the term, there are certain characteristics regarding the term international education, as used in this particular essay. He states that the term does not must mean education for internationally mobile students in international schools – international curricula is increasingly being offered in national schools. He also states that there are two different general types of international education – top down and bottom up. The top-down approach means that the curriculum of the international education program is designed to resolve large problems, such as the causes of war and the promotion of peace. This means that the curricula is designed to give its students a better understanding of the citizens of the world, their values and beliefs, and values such as tolerance, acceptance, respect and cooperation for others is what is stressed in these courses. A bottom-up approach means curricula that is designed to develop the individual student, with regards to interpersonal skills and intrapersonal awareness (James, 2005). How these Defining Features can Provide a Framework for Analysis of the University of Hail The above analysis, along with the literature review below, would provide a a framework for how the University of Hail will be analysed. Specifically, the need for good information and communications technology will be paramount. Moreover, the recommendations will center around the core of international educational standards, which means that the recommendations for the college will provide information about how the school may develop curriculum that speaks to the concerns that are laid out for the international education school – such as ways to develop cultural component, training for international work, and how the school may use its international educational component to solve large problems, as well as teach the student tolerance, acceptance, respect and cooperation with others. The University of Hail has a special emphasis on learning English, which is one of the hallmarks of international education – learning a second language. They offer a “preparatory year” in which the students are immersed in English – the students have to take two courses regarding English, and the students are expected to enter the college having had six years of English courses beforehand. That said, the students are only required to have two course in English. It would be better if they would immerse the students more in English, maybe by offering the other preparatory courses, mathematics and science, in the English language. That said, the Colleges English courses are intensive, as the students spend 20 hours per week in English instruction, emphasising reading, sentence structure, vocabulary, and oral interaction. Then, after a successful completion of the English courses, the students are required to take three more courses in English, which are forty-five hours in duration. These courses are in English composition and technical report writing. Therefore, the University appears to have an emphasis on the students learning English, which fulfills at least part of a good international educational curriculum. However, the information that the school provides in its prospectus does not indicate that it offers any of the other components of an International Education curriculum. Therefore, the school needs to either boost its international education status, or, if it does offer excellent international education, it needs to emphasise it more in the information that it provides to prospective students and parents. Personal Interest in the Topic As a teacher of English and a Foreign Language in the English Language Centre, I have a personal interest in international education. I understand that when students are learning English that it helps them to put the language into context, and a well-rounded International education system would help the students put their new language into perspective. Therefore, because having a well-rounded international education programme in place would help my students learn English better and faster, and also show them the importance of learning this language, this topic is timely and important to my profession. Literature Review Globalisation Globalisation is a fact of life in the modern age, and it is a major reason why international education is so important. Wilson (2003) states that the concept of globalization is not new, but, rather, it is been around since the time of Genghis Khan and Imperial Rome. However, what is new is the way that the world is connected. Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) plays a large part in how the world is connected. Therefore, globalization is not only economic interdependence between different private and public institutions, and governments, but also the way that the world communicates through ICT. A third aspect of globalization is that the world has been transformed through the New Information Age, which trades knowledge between societies, as opposed to capital. International Education There is increasingly a need for an international curriculum or an international dimension in undergraduate education around the world (Kushigian & Parsekian, 1998). However, a positive development for international education is that it is not necessarily offered in a piecemeal fashion – such as language majors, area study majors, off-campus study office, etc., all of which are components of international education, and, while helpful, should be integrated so that the actual educational experience is more holistic towards the global world (Kline & Weissman, 1998). This concept for international education has been around since at least the time of Charles Dickens, who, as Ellwood (2012) noted, envisioned a school where the boys are learning several languages among others who are from all nations, and that all the international schools would have similar curricula. Dickens also believed that such a school would make the students more empathetic to other cultures, which is a goal that is sought through today’s international schools (Walker, 2012). The challenges of a global society, which is the reality of this millenium, demands that the students of the world be immersed in other cultures. Kline & Weissman (1998) see international education as a complement to a liberal arts orientation, which means that the liberal arts are expanded upon and the students may study abroad, along with studying a foreign language. This is the very basics for international education, but Kline & Weissman (1998) go further, stating that the optimal way of immersing students in international education is the globaliberal approach. This approach, outlined by Kline & Weissman (1998), includes a strong liberal arts core, globaliberal studies and a cocurricular component (p. 109). Levinson (1998) states that in the globaliberal approach, the faculty involvement is the key to the success, as the faculty is able to look at how the model elements are interconnected, and the faculty would be the ones who sponsor and supervis the international internships. Moreover, they may serve as mentors, and champions of interactive and quality learning, while providing opportunities for the students to get involved in their own research projects, which might be on the cutting edge of international studies. At the core of the liberal arts are writing classes, classes on traditions of other countries, courses regarding social institutions and behaviors, and courses regarding natural sciences. The core also encourages strong foundations in politics, economics, research methods, statistics, and foreign language studies. The core is also where a student may get their international foundation courses, which are built upon the four components of international communication, international development, international economics and foreign policy. These are the courses which are oriented towards the country of origin, so, in other words, in the liberal arts core for the University of Hail would be oriented towards Saudi politics, economics, etc. In conjunction with this strong liberal arts core, Kline & Weissman (1998) recommend that this be paired with what they call a globaliberal curricular model. This would include requirements for two multidisciplinary specializations, in addition to a regional concentration from one of six areas of the world. The student may select the area, and the functional concentration for that area. A student may choose a humanities and social science based immersion in that region, for instance – in this case, they would learn about the history, culture, literature, politics and economics of that particular region. The student would also learn the foreign language for that particular region. A functional concentration would be paired with this, which would include “international and cross-cultural communication, international development, international economic policy, Islamic studies, international peace and conflict resolution, international politics, international law and organization, and foreign policy” (p.109). Integrated with the regional and functional concentrations is a capstone experiences component. With a capstone experience component, the students may integrate, apply, and actively learn by studying abroad, or being a part of an exchange program. A Senior Seminar would also be a part of this, which means that the students may get the opportunity for independent research and may conduct an oral presentation on their findings (Kline & Weissman, 1998). Other real-world experiences that the students may gain would be learning from a mentor, and engaging in volunteer work related to international experiences - such as refugee rights group, or volunteering with a resettlement organization. Kline & Weissman (1998), also envisions that students may participate in monthly international issue series that would bring the faculty, students and experts on different topics together for a public dialogue. International studies may be a growth strategy for the University of Hail, and Ward & Ward (1998) explain how this might happen. They examined how an international studies curriculum revitalized a small college in America – Cedar Crest College in Pennsylvania. Before the international studies curriculum was introduced to this college, the students at the college were homogeneous, which means that most of the students came from Pennsylvania or the neighboring states of New Jersey and New York. There was not a critical mass of international students at the college. Along with the solidifying of an international studies curriculum at this college, the school also concentrated upon recruiting international students. This was done by the representatives of the college visiting different countries, including Japan, Puerto Rico, Taiwan and Hong Kong. They also hired an international admissions recruiter, who developed ties with agencies abroad (Ward & Ward, 1998). For recruiting foreign students to the program, Gomes and Murphy (2003) states that web site information and e-mail responses play a large part in influence the choices of the prospective students. During the second stage of the active recruitment of international studies students, the college realized that they needed to become more multi-culturally aware, so they hired a new director of intercultural students, developed programs for cultural awareness in the residence halls, and developed a program for English and a Second Language (ESL). They also learned to address cultural differences , prejudice and language barrier issues. The college grew because of these activities, the recruitment, and the addition of the international curriculum (Ward & Ward, 1998). Jones & Killick (2007) write about how to internationalise the curriculum. This may include designing a curriculum which suits the needs of the international body of students, and it also may be designing a curriculum that benefits all students. They state that international curricula might be pragmatically based or values based, or might be a hybrid. They state that pragmatically based international curricula would consist of teaching students skills and understandings that might help them work and live in a global world. Performance for the graduates is key to this kind of curricula. With a values-based curriculum, the students would learn about values such as global citizenship, responsibility, ethics and justice, and also might learn about poverty reduction, human rights and sustainable futures. Whereas students who are enrolled in pragmatic courses might learn skills and content, students enrolled in a more values-based international curricula would learn about attitudes such as openness, tolerance and cosmopolitanism. It is through these avenues of study that international education can aid towards developing a global society, and help students see the globe as the context and fundamental referent for their lives (Skelly, 2008). There are many advantages to international education, not the least of which is that students who gain this kind of experience become more employable in todays global world than those who do not (Brooks et al., 2012). Leggott & Stapleford (2007) states that international education might prepare the students for what employers in different countries might expect from them. Moreover, it is helpful to students, because employers in todays world increasingly look for people who have a foreign language proficiency, not only because having proficiency in more than one language is helpful for communicating with people who speak that particular language, but also because it helps them develop communication skills in their own language, and independence. Employers also value, according to Leggott & Stapleford (2007) cross-cultural awareness and the capability to understand global perspectives. Leggott & Stapleford (2007) talk about internationalising a curriculum by carrying out a cross-cultural capability audit of all courses and encouraging the use of international examples and reading lists. Employability aspects of the curriculum would be embedded into the first year of the study, which means that the students can begin to think about how they can gain the relevant work experience and build it into their study programme. The audit can be helpful, in that it can highlight the lack of student development in career management skills in the curriculum, and may also highlight the need to encourage recruitment and engage the students in an active and critical way regarding employability skills. These are the skills that would be developed throughout the course of study, as opposed to encouraging these skills only in the final year. They also recommend work experience through exchange programmes or international volunteering, which might serve as an alternative to writing a dissertation. En lieu of this, they further recommend researching work-related topics or issues that are in different parts of the world. As for teaching students another language, they recommend the content integrated learning approach, which means that the course content is offered in the target language of the learner. Leask (2002) states that international teachers is an integral part of international education. Specifically, she states that the teachers who are a part of the international education process must not only be skilled at teaching, but also must be sensitive, interculturally. They must be flexible and able to adapt to a monocultural environment, which means that they have engaged with and learned from other cultures, and have become interculturally competent themselves. They also must be self-reflective, and able to critically examine the interactions and communications that they have with students that come from different cultural backgrounds. This is the best way to understand these students, and how these students thoughts, values, actions and feelings are dependent upon, and influenced by, their cultural influences. These teachers also must have the ability to engage students in the course content, which means that they must be able to locate and incorporate a range of culturally appropriate materials into their teaching, according to Leask (2002). The students also should be able to “see themselves” in the curriculum – this would mean that should be able to see themselves through the use of case studies and examples, to which the students can relate. This also might include showing how accountants, social workers and teachers, for example, are in different cultures, and what this means for their professional practice. Also, a teacher must understand that there are different learning styles of students, and that sometimes these learning styles are culturally based – individual students learn in different ways, and there might be a cultural block to learning, and the teacher must know how to circumvent this. The teacher also must understand how to manage multicultural group work, as well as know how to encourage and stimulate students from diverse cultural backgrounds to work with one another. The teacher also should be able to know that groups may not work efficiently, and be able to get the groups on track, and be able to prepare students for this eventuality. Also, the teacher should know and understand how to provide good feedback on student learning, as this was ranked as the highest characteristic of the international teacher. The teachers must recognize that there are different educational systems throughout the world, and that the learners and teachers are different in these educational systems, and that they cannot take much for granted (Leask, 2002). How the University of Hail should approach international education The literature review and the overview of international education provides guideposts for how the University of Hail should develop their international education program. First, it needs to focus upon recruiting the students, which means that they must make sure that their website is enticing, and that they answer e-mail responses to the students, as these are aspects that the international students initially look at when they are choosing a school. And, having a diverse body of students from around the world is crucial in developing its program. Ward & Ward (1998) shows how recruiting may also occur through the representatives of the college visiting different countries, and through developing an international admissions recruiter, who acts as a liaison with agencies from other countries, and the University of Hail should follow this lead. In addition to hiring these recruiting officers, the University of Hail should also concentrate upon hiring a director of intercultural students, as this would be an important position, in that he or she would be tasked with ensuring that students get along with one another, as he or she would be on hand to help the students address cultural differences and language barriers. While it needs to make sure that it gets international students, it also should make sure that it is sending Saudi students to foreign exchange programs, so this should also be a major focus for the program. This way, the Saudi students may gain an understanding for other cultures while they study at the school, and they can broaden their understanding of other cultures when they study abroad. This would help all the students in accomplishing one of the major goals of international education, which is exposure to other cultures, which breeds empathy and respect for others, and helps all the students in the programme see how they are an intergral part of a global world. Moreover, sending students overseas will also help them with the pragmatic aspects of dealing with other countries, such as helping them learn different languages by immersing them in these cultures, and by helping them see different customs, values and beliefs. Their international educational program should not be designed in a piecemeal fashion. Rather, the components must be integrated. Kline & Weissman (1998) offered an interesting approach, which should be explored by school – offer a core liberal arts program, along with a regional concentration, in which the students can immerse themselves in the humanities and social sciences of their chosen country, and learn that country’s language. The functional component of the globaliberal orientation for the student will include multi-disciplinary studies that focus on different aspects of conflict resolution, politics, law, and policy for the chosen country. So, if, say a student wants to learn about the United States, and this is probably a country that the students should learn more about, considering the United States’ position in the world, that student may learn English, as well as take courses that focus upon the humanities and social sciences of that country. They may learn about the artists of the country, the movies, the literature, and the customs. They may also learn about the politics of the country, the sociology of the country, the laws of the country, and the policy of the country. Interacting with students who have been recruited from this country would provide that student with further exposure to the culture, values and beliefs of that country. They may learn about different regions of the country, and how diverse people are from the country, depending upon in which region they are living – how people from the South are completely different from people in the Northeast, for instance, and how both of these populations are different from people in the West and Midwest. These studies for this student who has a United States concentration will be strengthened by that students’ core liberal arts emphasis, which would give the student knowledge of his or her own country. The student would also be required, in order to complete his degree in United States’ studies, to study abroad for one semester, living with a host family and learning the culture and language of the country through immersion. Another area of concentration that the University of Hail must examine would be the hiring of the faculty for the programmes. Leask (2002) demonstrates what kind of qualities these teachers must possess, so that they would be the optimal candidates for the job, and the University of Hail should look for individuals who embody these characteristics. This means that they should look for individuals who have cultural sensitivities for others, and people who have actually learned from other cultures and have intercultural competencies. The teachers who have the ability to look at themselves and their cultural interactions, and use this self-reflection to ensure that they can understand their international students is another quality that the new teachers should possess. The teachers should also have the ability to design curriculum by using culturally appropriate materials to which the students can relate, while ensuring that they are sensitive to different learning styles that might have a cultural basis. Conclusion There is much information regarding international education, and how the University of Hail can incorporate it into its curriculum so that it might be a global player for years to come. Students know that they are living in a global world – while the world has always been global, to a certain extent, it has become much more so with the advent of the Internet, and by the fact that countries must deal with one another more than ever before. Different countries trade with one another, and multi-national corporations are prominent on the world stage. This means that students who have multi-cultural experience will be in hot demand. Which, in turn, means that students will increasingly look for a school that will provide a strong program that will prepare them for international work. It is crucial that the students of today not only know different languages, but that they are culturally sensitive. If a student from Saudi Arabia gets a job in a Western country, there will be cultural barriers. However, these cultural barriers may be circumvented if the student not only is immersed in the knowledge of that country, but also has lived in that country. Therefore, it is also crucial that there are strong overseas programmes for the students, in which they can stay with a host family, after studying about that country at length. Furthermore, it is important that the University of Hail begin an active period of recruitment for the best faculty to teach these students. The instructors need to not only be culturally aware, but also able to design culturally aware curricula, and be able to engage the students at a level that is relevant to them. Rounding out the recommendations is that the University should be looking at strengthening their recruitment of students from around the world. They not only need to actively look for these students, by sending out ambassadors into different countries, but also hire an admission recruiter and a director of intercultural students, who would be on hand to guide the students through the process of learning about one another. This is important, because the students at the University of Hail will not only become more culturally aware when they visit their target country, but will be immersed in different nationalities and cultures while they are still at the University, if there is a strong and diverse student body that consists of people from all over the world. If the University of Hail takes the above steps, then it will be ensured that it not only will be relevant, but will be a University that students from around the world will seek. It will also be a beacon for the students who are in Saudi Arabia, who are interested in learning about other cultures and peoples. And, of course, it will be seen as a University that prepares its students for the real world, and will be able to prepare students to explore jobs that are international in nature, such as working for the United States branch of a company based in Saudi Arabia, for instance. As global skills are in hot demand, if the University of Hail prepares its international education curriculum correctly, it can become a leader in this field. References Brooks, R., Waters, J. & Pimlott-Wilson, H. (2012) “International education and the employability of UK students,” British Educational Journal, vol. 38, no. 2, pp. 281-298. Ellwood, C. (2012) “Charles Dickens’ international school,” International Schools Journal, vol. XXXI, no. 2, pp. 4-7. Gomes, L. & Murphy, J. (2003) “An exploratory study of marketing international education online,” The International Journal of Educational Management, vol. 17, no, 3, pp. 116-125. Hayden, MC 2006, Introduction to International Education: International Schools and their Communities, Sage, London. Hayden, MC & Thompson, JJ 2008, International Schools: Growth and Influence, in UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) Fundamentals of Educational Planning series, UNESCO, Paris. James, K. 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