Lo scopo di questa tesi è affrontare l'internazionalizzazione di un’università in termini di sviluppo e valutazione della competenza interculturale attraverso un intervento pedagogico efficace e sostenibile che prepari gli studenti a vivere in un mondo globalizzato. La mia ricerca ha utilizzato un approccio randomizzato e metodi misti sperimentali con una combinazione di otto distinti studi longitudinali e trasversali che hanno coinvolto un totale di 16.787 studenti iscritti presso università statunitensi, esaminati nel corso dei quattro anni di studio, dal primo anno fino alla laurea, con una particolare attenzione per 3.725 studenti della Bellarmine University di Louisville, in Kentucky. Si è lavorato inoltre con il più grande insieme di dati di studi IDI intrapresi fino ad oggi, con 1.812 partecipanti contro i 1.159 dell'ultimo lavoro sull’impatto degli studi IDI sui corsi all'estero, il Georgetown Consortium Study, facente riferimento al periodo 2003-2005. La mia ricerca su queste serie di dati si è concentrata in particolare sull’efficacia di uno specifico curriculum d'intervento per studenti coinvolti in programmi di studio all’estero. Ho analizzato il livello di sviluppo della competenza interculturale attraverso la somministrazione di test precedenti e successivi al loro periodo all’estero in merito a una varietà di esperienze universitarie, dando particolare attenzione sia in termini quantitativi sia qualitativi all'impatto dei corsi interculturali seguiti all'estero. L'approccio pedagogico è stato progettato dal ricercatore con l’intento di riflettere l’attuale cambiamento di paradigma in atto nell'apprendimento all'estero e si basa su un intervento guidato allo scopo di raggiungere risultati di apprendimento espliciti piuttosto che lasciare l'apprendimento interculturale al caso. I risultati dei miei vari studi forniscono risposte decisamente positive alla domanda centrale di questo progetto: “Se l'internazionalizzazione dell'istruzione superiore è in parte misurata dal livello di competenza interculturale sviluppata dai suoi laureati, può allora un’esperienza universitaria di quattro anni, come quella delle università statunitensi di studi umanistici, sviluppare competenze interculturali attraverso una serie di attività ed esperienze di apprendimento curricolare ed extracurricolare, sia all’interno dell’università che al di fuori di essa? Se sì, in che misura?” 7 Le conclusioni tratte dai risultati dei vari studi quantitativi e qualitativi contenuti in questo elaborato supportano fortemente il mio quadro di intervento pedagogico, denominato Framework for Reflective Intervention in Learning Abroad (FRILA) e basato sulla teoria dell'apprendimento esperienziale, il modello di sviluppo della sensibilità interculturale (la teoria DMIS) (Bennett, 1986) e la pedagogia culturalmente rilevante per l'apprendimento all'estero. Le implicazioni di questa ricerca nell’ambito dell'istruzione internazionale sono tali che, per ottenere una vera trasformazione durante l'apprendimento all'estero, è fondamentale che le università offrano agli studenti la possibilità di accedere a un programma guidato che ponga l’enfasi sul coinvolgimento e la riflessione. / The purpose of this study is to address the internationalization of a university in terms of the development and assessment of intercultural competence via an effective and sustainable intervention pedagogy in support of preparing students for a globalized world. My research utilized a randomized experimental, mixed methods approach with a combination of eight separate longitudinal and cross-sectional studies referencing a total of 16,787 students at U.S. institutions over four years from freshmen year until graduation with particular focus on 3725 students at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky, including the largest data set of IDI studies undertaken to date, 1812 participants versus 1159 in the last IDI study abroad impact study, the Georgetown Consortium Study in 2003-2005. My research involving these data sets focused specifically on the effectiveness of a special intervention curriculum for students engaged in learning abroad. I analyzed the level of intercultural competence development through pre and post testing vis-à-vis a variety of high impact college experiences, giving special quantitative and qualitative research attention to the impact of intercultural course work abroad. The pedagogical approach was designed by the researcher to reflect the current paradigm shift in learning abroad, relying on guided intervention to achieve explicit learning outcomes rather than leaving intercultural learning to chance. The findings from my various studies provide compelling positive answers to this research’s central question: “If the impact of internationalization of higher education is in part measured by the level of intercultural competence developed by its graduates, can a U.S. liberal arts college experience over four years develop intercultural competence via curricular and extracurricular learning on and off campus, and if it can to what extent?” 5 Conclusions from the findings from the various quantitative and qualitative studies reflected in this dissertation, strongly support my intervention pedagogy framework, referred to as the Framework for Reflective Intervention in Learning Abroad (FRILA), based on experiential learning theory, the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS theory) (Bennett, 1986), and culturally relevant pedagogy in learning abroad. The implications of this research for the field of international education are such that in order for real transformation to occur during learning abroad, it is imperative that universities give students access to a guided curriculum with emphasis on engagement and reflection.

There are seventeen million people in the world who are stateless, not considered as citizens by any state. They suffer due to the current function of citizenship in the nation-state system, occupying a legal space outside of the system, yet, their lives are very much blighted by the system itself. This research examines the possibility that global citizenship could be a means to address statelessness. Global citizenship, unlike (national) citizenship, is, in theory, inclusive, and membership is based on our shared humanity. However, when approaching the global citizenship literature, two concerns became apparent. First, there is a significant lack of theorisation on the stateless in the discourse, and second, some scholars make the assumption that a global citizen has citizenship of a state – which the stateless do not. To begin to overcome these concerns, this research develops and implements a stateless centric perspective on global citizenship, using it to analyse the situation of the stateless in the case of Lebanon. The stateless centric approach developed here, views global citizenship through the actions and perspectives of those addressing statelessness. With four large and protracted stateless populations, Lebanon provides an empirically rich context, within which to undertake this research. The findings of the stateless centric perspective problematise the received wisdom of citizenship, the nation-state and allows for the exploration of the expressions and tensions in the practices of global citizenship. Drawing on a contextualised understanding of these practices, a ‘patchwork’ approach to global citizenship is proposed. This sees the creation of a public political space as an act of global citizenship, when it draws on universal principles. These universal principles are used to justify this space, taking on an instrumental role. It is a patchwork as these spaces can be seen in the wider global context, as either directly or indirectly connected, through their shared use of universal principles. By centralising the stateless in our conceptualisations of the nation-state, citizenship and global citizenship, the value of taking a stateless centric perspective, and its ability to draw out further nuances in the debate, is shown.

In this qualitative study, I examine two elementary-intermediate teachers’ understandings and pedagogical practices of global citizenship education in the Ontario and British Columbia classroom contexts. Key findings reveal contrasting portrayals of global citizenship education that foreground particular themes and practices found in the literature and curriculum guidelines. One teachers’ understandings and goals highlight an environmental global justice angle whereas the other teacher focuses on critical thinking. Three broad themes appeared to underpin their pedagogical practices – child-centred learning, critical thinking, and authentic performance tasks – although each theme is portrayed in distinctive ways. Both teachers identified factors such as the departmental and school culture, a collaborative learning community, and suitable resources as either encouraging or hindering their ability to transform their preferred learning goals into practice. These findings reveal a level of ambiguity and uncertainty regarding the teacher participants’ understandings and practice, which is complicated by varying levels of support.

In this qualitative study, I examine two elementary-intermediate teachers’ understandings and pedagogical practices of global citizenship education in the Ontario and British Columbia classroom contexts. Key findings reveal contrasting portrayals of global citizenship education that foreground particular themes and practices found in the literature and curriculum guidelines. One teachers’ understandings and goals highlight an environmental global justice angle whereas the other teacher focuses on critical thinking. Three broad themes appeared to underpin their pedagogical practices – child-centred learning, critical thinking, and authentic performance tasks – although each theme is portrayed in distinctive ways. Both teachers identified factors such as the departmental and school culture, a collaborative learning community, and suitable resources as either encouraging or hindering their ability to transform their preferred learning goals into practice. These findings reveal a level of ambiguity and uncertainty regarding the teacher participants’ understandings and practice, which is complicated by varying levels of support.

Controversy, as a vital principle of democracy, plays a central role in education for critical democratic global citizenship. Controversial issues, however, raise pedagogical challenges for teachers in that they are not only explicitly political, but also potentially threatening to the reproduction of status quo ideals and embedded national narratives – themselves keystones of citizenship education. The findings from this dissertation study report survey data on teachers’ attitudes toward teaching controversial issues from 202 Canadian teachers, as well as findings from interviews conducted with 16 Alberta teachers about how their multiple identities, and those of their students, intersect with their attitudes toward teaching controversial issues. The findings are discussed against indicators of critical democratic global citizenship education (CDGCE) which I advance in the thesis following from my investigation into the relationship between critical theory of a) democracy, b) globalization, and c) education. I engage the findings through the lens of critique and possibility and the reproduction and interruption of hegemonic discourse. Read through this lens, I found that hegemonic discourses of neutrality and universalism are being both reproduced and interrupted in complex ways that do affirm, but mostly refute, the promise of education for deepening democracy under conditions of globalization. Discourses of neutrality and universalism are being reproduced through insidious practices that affirm difference-blind and blank slate ideals and these need responding to. These have implications for how students in Canadian classrooms may be being prepared for critical democratic global citizenship education. Despite the misguided emphasis on the danger of teachers’ expressing extreme views in dominant discourses of education that question the place of controversial issues in school, I argue that the greater threat to deepening democracy is not teachers who express extreme views; it is curriculum and teachers who do not question familiar ones. In turn, I call for critical discursive and reflexive practices for teaching and learning with controversial issues that foreground identity, difference, and feelings as explicit material for learning. Finally, I delineate specific recommendations that are crucial responses for realizing the promise of education for deepening democracy under conditions of globalization.

Controversy, as a vital principle of democracy, plays a central role in education for critical democratic global citizenship. Controversial issues, however, raise pedagogical challenges for teachers in that they are not only explicitly political, but also potentially threatening to the reproduction of status quo ideals and embedded national narratives – themselves keystones of citizenship education. The findings from this dissertation study report survey data on teachers’ attitudes toward teaching controversial issues from 202 Canadian teachers, as well as findings from interviews conducted with 16 Alberta teachers about how their multiple identities, and those of their students, intersect with their attitudes toward teaching controversial issues. The findings are discussed against indicators of critical democratic global citizenship education (CDGCE) which I advance in the thesis following from my investigation into the relationship between critical theory of a) democracy, b) globalization, and c) education. I engage the findings through the lens of critique and possibility and the reproduction and interruption of hegemonic discourse. Read through this lens, I found that hegemonic discourses of neutrality and universalism are being both reproduced and interrupted in complex ways that do affirm, but mostly refute, the promise of education for deepening democracy under conditions of globalization. Discourses of neutrality and universalism are being reproduced through insidious practices that affirm difference-blind and blank slate ideals and these need responding to. These have implications for how students in Canadian classrooms may be being prepared for critical democratic global citizenship education. Despite the misguided emphasis on the danger of teachers’ expressing extreme views in dominant discourses of education that question the place of controversial issues in school, I argue that the greater threat to deepening democracy is not teachers who express extreme views; it is curriculum and teachers who do not question familiar ones. In turn, I call for critical discursive and reflexive practices for teaching and learning with controversial issues that foreground identity, difference, and feelings as explicit material for learning. Finally, I delineate specific recommendations that are crucial responses for realizing the promise of education for deepening democracy under conditions of globalization.

The purpose of this study was to inform global citizenship practice as a higher education (HE) agenda by comparing retrospective experiences of a range of community engagement (CE) partners, including the often silent voices of non-researcher partners. HE-CE aims to contribute to social justice as it constructs and transfers new knowledge from the perspectives of a wide range of CE-partners. This qualitative secondary analysis study was framed theoretically by the transformative-emancipatory paradigm and meta-theoretically by phenomenology. Existing case data, generated on retrospective experiences of CE-partners in a long-term CE-partnership, were conveniently sampled to analyse and compare a range of CE-experiences (parents of student-clients (n = 12: females 10, males 2), teachers from the partner rural school (n = 18: females 12, males 6), student-educational psychology clients (n = 31: females 14, males 17), academic service learning (ASL) students (n = 20: females 17, males 3), and researchers (n = 12: females 11, males 1). Existing data sources included verbatim transcriptions of (i) audio-recorded Participatory Reflection and Action (PRA)-directed group sessions (parents, teachers, student-clients), (ii) telephonic interviews (ASL-students, researchers) and semi-structured interviews (ASL-students); as well as rural school context observation data documented textually (audio-visual recordings and photographs) and textually (field notes). A significant insight from this study is that a range of CE-partners experience similar benefits and challenges when a university and rural school partner. Whereas all CE-partners experience HE-CE as beneficial for human capital development, they all experience that HE-CE is challenged by the structural disparity between a rural context and operational miscommunication. CE-partners with higher education levels experienced that the HE partner is an agent that facilitates knowledge generation. These CE-partners indicated that both academic researchers and non-researchers should be valued as equal knowledge co-generator partners. CE-partners within a rural school had expectations of material gain as part of their experience of participating in this CE-partnership. CE-partners involved in educational psychology (ASL) experienced connectedness and support as a result of participating in the FLY intervention. These CE-partners also experienced FLY relationships as a great platform for establishing bonds, whilst learning from peers. I theorise the Progressive Global Citizenship conceptual framework as a guide that points towards boundless engagement in the era of globalisation. This suggests that HE-CE should focus on innovative interventions that have support structures aimed at establishing connections across socio-economic, cultural, racial and academic backgrounds. Therefore, I propose that HE should make a concerted effort to enhance insight, awareness, reflection, exploration and develop critical consciousness among global citizens. In my view, this calls for innovation that moves away from traditional practices in global citizenship. HE should strive to partner with many role-players as an alternative way of broadening the scope towards understanding and enriching CE interventions. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Educational Psychology / PhD / Unrestricted

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This dissertation explores the University of Cape Town’s Global Citizenship (GC) Programme as a site for teaching citizen leadership. We live in times that are marked by complexity, uncertainty, and a plethora of global challenges, many of which have resulted in injustices in people’s lived experiences. Increasingly ordinary citizens are calling for new ways of leading change which combats social injustices. This form of leadership values social justice, democracy, equity, shared agency, active and engaged citizenship – this is regarded as citizen leadership. Higher education institutions have a role to play in developing student leaders who are equipped with the capacities to confront uncertainty and thrive in a changing world. This study recruited student participants of the GC programme courses. In total, ten students participated in one of four focus group discussions which were guided by semi-structured interviews, and ninety students consented to have their reflective essays on the GC programme courses analysed. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, the participants’ experience of the programme, in the focus group discussions and reflective essays, was examined to determine how they understood citizenship, social justice and leadership in relation to the programme’s teachings. The findings revealed that most students regarded the programme as developing their capacities for active and engaged global citizenship. Most students did not view the programme as teaching leadership; however, based on the definition of citizen leadership, I argue that the programme is indeed a site for teaching this form of leadership. It is recommended that the programme staff make the connection between active and engaged citizenship, social justice, and leadership more explicit in their curricula and teaching. It is believed that this change to the programme will enable students to have a clearer understanding of themselves as leaders prepared for the world beyond university and enabled to bring purposeful change to the world.

This dissertation explores the University of Cape Town’s Global Citizenship (GC) Programme as a site for teaching citizen leadership. We live in times that are marked by complexity, uncertainty, and a plethora of global challenges, many of which have resulted in injustices in people’s lived experiences. Increasingly ordinary citizens are calling for new ways of leading change which combats social injustices. This form of leadership values social justice, democracy, equity, shared agency, active and engaged citizenship – this is regarded as citizen leadership. Higher education institutions have a role to play in developing student leaders who are equipped with the capacities to confront uncertainty and thrive in a changing world. This study recruited student participants of the GC programme courses. In total, ten students participated in one of four focus group discussions which were guided by semi-structured interviews, and ninety students consented to have their reflective essays on the GC programme courses analysed. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, the participants’ experience of the programme, in the focus group discussions and reflective essays, was examined to determine how they understood citizenship, social justice and leadership in relation to the programme’s teachings. The findings revealed that most students regarded the programme as developing their capacities for active and engaged global citizenship. Most students did not view the programme as teaching leadership; however, based on the definition of citizen leadership, I argue that the programme is indeed a site for teaching this form of leadership. It is recommended that the programme staff make the connection between active and engaged citizenship, social justice, and leadership more explicit in their curricula and teaching. It is believed that this change to the programme will enable students to have a clearer understanding of themselves as leaders prepared for the world beyond university and enabled to bring purposeful change to the world.