Engaging “Students as Partners” in Global Learning: Some Possibilities and Provocations

Abstract

Engaging 'students as partners' in global learning: some possibilities and provocations Many educational institutions aim to engage students in 'global learning' at home and abroad through the process of 'internationalisation of the curriculum' (IoC). Yet research indicates that students experience and understand IoC in diverse, often unintended ways, and instances of students' diverse perspectives informing IoC development are rare. Framed by the concept of 'students as partners' (SaP), an Australian Learning and Teaching Fellowship brought together students and academics from diverse disciplinary, cultural and national backgrounds to codevelop rich global learning experiences in the formal and informal curriculum. Surveys and narrative interviews showed that adopting a partnership approach enabled all participating staff and students to engage in global learning. Characteristically, those who engaged in critical transformative learning framed their partnerships in terms of reciprocity, recognized their cultural ignorance productively, and engaged in global learning as ontoepistemological explorations. Further, this study demonstrates how the authentic engagement of 'students as partners' challenges naturalised institutional practices concerning access and equity, outcomes and process, and power and privilege. I frame these challenges as provocations; that is, as invitations to critically analyse and creatively respond to such historically entrenched practices through staffstudent partnerships in global learning, 'as if' they were already our way of life.

The Case for Inclusion of International Planning Studios in Contemporary Urban Planning Pedagogy

“…It was a "situated learning context", actualizing the classroom and text book education intrinsic to planning pedagogy [8]. At a broader level, the studio experience supports the university goal of engaging students and academics in offshore 'global learning' [1]. With collaboration from students and teachers from ITB, the studio allows students to effectively engage in an unfamiliar environment on a major global sustainable development challenge.…”

“…In the Australian setting, the only universities whose planning schools offer international planning studios and include urban design education on a consistent basis are the University of Sydney, University of Melbourne, University of Queensland, and the University of New South Wales (UNSW). These studios are disciplinary-specific, and importantly, can be seen as part of a broader push by universities to encourage students and staff to embrace notions such as "global connectedness" and "global learning" [1]. For example, the University of Sydney Strategic Plan 2016-2020 acknowledges that higher education is "inherently global" and refers to the need for developing an approach to global engagement that leverages the university's reputation in "global leadership in research and teaching".…”

“…Education facilitates our ability to live, work, and learn effectively and ethically in an increasingly interconnected world [1]. Urban planning academics, their knowledge pools, and the institutional settings they work within all play a crucial role in this process.…”

“…The cultural diversity of student cohorts is also changing, with the student cohort in postgraduate planning degrees in Australia increasingly characterized by international students. In this setting, the studio should embrace the diversity of cultural and ethnic backgrounds, their socio-cultural capital often underrecognized in its contribution to the learning process [1]. Incorporating such approaches in studio design will enhance the student learning experience, workplace readiness, and the application of core planning competencies and skills in differing cities and sustainable development settings, all of which students will need when eventually working as professional urban planners, urban designers, and architects.…”

Re-Thinking the “Problem” in Inquiry-Based Pedagogies through Exemplarity and World-Oriented

“…Empirically, it forces all actors within higher education to reflect on how globalisation, diversity, and pressures for international performativity transform the purposes and practices of higher education institutions, and how the strategic and practical actions of higher education institutions transform the wider environment. Normatively, it provokes consideration of how we should respond to such transformations [37]. One response to these challenges is to adopt internationalisation strategies.…”