Globalization is impacting our economies and societies locally, nationally, regionally and worldwide. This changing environment and context places new demands in terms of education and sets new requirements for university graduates. They need to be able to understand “the nature, scope and consequences of global transformations” (Rivzi 2009: 263) and how to relate to these in geographically, economically, politically and culturally diverse contexts. They also need to be able to conceptualize and behave inside and outside of a local context in culturally sensitive collaboration with the local environment while being mindful of the wider regional or global implications (Gregersen-Hermans, 2016). Because of globalization, internationalization of the curriculum (Leask 2015) has become a necessity for all Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), with the result that HEIs are experiencing an increasing diversity of learners. These trends are facilitated in Europe by an increasing use of English Medium Instruction (EMI) in Higher Education (HE) for bachelor's, master’s and PhD programmes. The present project - Educational Quality at Universities for Inclusive International Programmes (EQUiiP) - will directly address quality issues related to these developments, using frameworks, standards and tools which are theory based, and building on current research into Internationalization of the Curriculum (IoC), EMI, Internationalization at Home (IaH), and Intercultural and Global Competence Development (ICGC). The expertise and experience of the partners will enable the project to support HEIs in building an integrated and evidence-based internationalization strategy. EQUiiP's main objective is to develop a modular set of methods and materials for the use of educational developers (EDs) working in the internationalized curricula of HEIs. EDs are key university staff members who support university teaching staff in the effective delivery of these internationalized curricula in HEIs across Europe. The project will develop five modules for Continuing Professional Development (CPD), which will be related to an internationalized competence profile for EDs working in internationalized curricula. EDs will be able to incorporate this modular CPD programme into their support of university teaching staff. EQUiiP is a partnership of seven European universities that already have proven experience in delivering various dimensions of CPD in the context of internationalized curricula and EMI in HE. All participants in the project are front-runners in internationalization of the curriculum in their respective countries. The size of the partnership means that partners will be able to cooperate intensively in building the materials that comprise the CPD modules through a structured exchange of experiences. Each partner institution brings its own cultural specificity and perspective to the consortium, as well as complementary expertise in the following areas:• Pedagogy and teaching methods with groups of diverse students in the international classroom, facilitating IaH; • The development and embedding of international and intercultural learning outcomes (IILOs) in the HE curriculum; • Assessment, feedback and reflection processes for university teaching staff;• Intercultural and global competence development (IGCD)and facilitation;• The role of languages in the multilingual and multicultural learning environment.The EQUiiP project is innovative because of the combination of input from the literature, existing experience and expertise of the participating HEIs, as well as the insights gained in the transnational piloting activities, short training sessions and (regional) multiplier events. The methodology of the project ensures a rigorous development of a package of CPD modules which can be used separately or as a residential integrated intensive CPD programme (winter/summer school), and which are in line with the related competence profile for EDs. The project will build on relevant literature and locally valid, contextually related examples, resulting in a comprehensive approach to the CPD of university teaching staff, which is currently lacking in the contexts described above. EQUiiP will conclude with national and international events including a final conference, allowing for dissemination of all outcomes, including policy recommendations and research findings, to a wider audience. All outputs will be made available through a dedicated online platform, EQUiiP.eu. The project will promote inclusivity by ensuring that EDs are competent and equipped to support university teaching staff in providing an internationalized learning experience for all students while addressing their diverse learning needs. Thus, EQUiiP will have a strong impact on the internationalization of HEIs throughout the educational process, from classroom level to policy level.
Globalization is impacting our economies and societies locally, nationally, regionally and worldwide. Because of globalization, internationalization of the curriculum (Leask 2015) has become a necessity for all Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), with the result that HEIs are experiencing an increasing diversity of learners. These trends are facilitated in Europe by an increasing use of English Medium Instruction (EMI) in Higher Education (HE) for bachelor's, master’s and PhD programmes. EQUiiP has developed a modular set of methods and materials for the use of educational developers (EDs) working in the internationalized curricula of HEIs. EDs are key university staff members who support university teaching staff in the effective delivery of these internationalized curricula in HEIs across Europe. The project has developed five modules for Continuing Professional Development (CPD), which are related to an internationalized competence profile for EDs working in internationalized curricula. EDs will be able to incorporate the materials in this modular CPD programme into their support of university teaching staff. EQUiiP is a partnership of seven European universities with proven experience in delivering various dimensions of CPD in the context of internationalized curricula and EMI in HE. All participants in the project are front-runners in internationalization of the curriculum in their respective countries. Each partner institution brings its own cultural specificity and perspective to the consortium, as well as complementary expertise, which has developed further in the course of the project. The expertise and experience of the partners has resulted in an evidence-based set CPD materials (30 activities spread across 5 modules) which can be used to support the internationalization strategy of HEIs.. The EQUiiP project is innovative because of the combination of input from the literature, existing experience and expertise of the participating HEIs, as well as the insights gained in the transnational piloting activities, short training sessions and (regional) multiplier events. The package of CPD modules are flexible, and can be used separately or as a residential integrated intensive CPD programme (winter/summer school) depending on the needs in any given HEI context. Furthermore, the materials are calibrated with the related competence profile for EDs, and activities are mapped against these competences. The competence profile allows EDs at differing levels of experience and expertise to make full use of the materials in a reflective process resulting in a portfolio that enables them to define and redefine their professional development needs in relation to the international classroom and international programmes. The EQUiiP programme has built on relevant literature and locally valid, contextually related examples, resulting in a comprehensive approach to the CPD of university teaching staff, which is currently lacking in the contexts described above. In the final phase of the project, all outputs have been made available through a dedicated online platform, www.EQUiiP.eu. A particular strength of this platform is that it does not only provide the materials, but also supports their use with a detailed User Guide. An innovative feature of the User Guide is the combination of time-lapse videos and thematic texts which allow users with different starting levels to access the CPD programme in different levels of detail. The project will promote inclusivity by ensuring that EDs are competent and equipped to support university teaching staff in providing an internationalized learning experience for all students while addressing their diverse learning needs. Thus, EQUiiP will have a strong impact on the internationalization of HEIs throughout the educational process, from classroom level to policy level.