The portfolio explores the construction, representation and interpretation of internationalisation at the University of South Australia (UniSA) within the broader concept of internationalisation in higher education. The research is situated within a postmodern, postcolonial world and is influenced significantly by the work of Foucault ([1972] 2003), Fairclough (1989; 1992), Said (1995 [1978]) and Cherryholmes (1988). / The portfolio consists of three related research reports and a meta-analysis which both connects these individual reports and conducts further analysis of the issues and themes arising from the research. The literature reviewed in Research Report 1 describes a range of approaches to internationalisation and issues associated with its definition and implementation in universities. It is concluded that internationalisation in higher education is part of a network of constantly developing and changing discourses all of which both influence and are influenced by political, social and economic contexts and agendas. The nature of the discourse of internationalisation at UniSA and the power/knowledge relations which are embedded within and support it are the focus of the second research report which consists of a critical discourse analysis of a corpus of documents related to internationalisation and Graduate Quality #7 at UniSA. Five discourses of internationalisation at UniSA are identified and the roles associated with the primary subjects of the discourse (academic staff, Australian students and international students) are described. Significant shifts in the discursive construction of internationalisation at UniSA over time are also identified, including the tendency for the economic discourse to be viewed as dominant and the associated ideology to be naturalised. / The third research report consists of snapshots of the experience of internationalisation in different places and from different perspectives. It strives for a deeper understanding of the complexity of internationalisation at UniSA through exploration of the construction of Graduate Quality #7 (that students of UniSA will develop international perspectives as professionals and citizens) in two different cultural and educational contexts, Adelaide and Hong Kong. The research highlights the need to embed and integrate intercultural learning into the culture of UniSA, to assist all staff and all students to move into uncomfortable intercultural spaces; to learn from and with each other within those spaces; to challenge their stereotypes and prejudices and to move on from them. / The three reports are drawn together in the meta-analysis which concludes that although there are signs of ideological struggle within the discourse of internationalisation, the constructions of internationalisation and its subjects and actors at UniSA and beyond are consistent with a construction of internationalisation as a neo-colonialist activity. It suggests a modified approach to internationalisation one that challenges the stereotypes and hegemonies currently associated with it. This has implications for the focus of professional development and student services to support internationalisation at UniSA and other Australian universities. / Thesis (PhDEducation)--University of South Australia, 2004.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/267503 |
| Creators | Leask, Betty. |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | copyright under review |
Page generated in 0.0019 seconds