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Hamshire C.1, O'Connor D.1, Barlund E.2, Hyrkkanen U.2, Wright J.1, Rooney J.1
1Manchester Metropolitan University, Health Professions, Manchester, United Kingdom, 2Turku University of Applied Sciences, Health and Well-Being, Turku, Finland
Background: Physiotherapy is an international career and the goal of undergraduate programmes is to prepare students to be competent to practice throughout their career in a multicultural world. Students need to have global perspectives, intercultural communication and be able to analyse situations with sensitivity to the perspective of others.
Respect and empathy for other people, their culture, values and way of life; are integral to intercultural competence (Nilsson 2003)for practicing as a Physiotherapist. Internationalisation therefore needs to be embedded throughout programme activities, so students can develop multicultural awareness and skills to facilitate their development as global citizens.
Internationalising curricular entails teachers and students making paradigm shifts and understanding the perspectives of different, racial, culture and gender groups (Banks 1999). However, this is not always easy to translate into actual curriculum activity. Small numbers of both staff and students are able to gain international experience through exchanges, but it is not an opportunity available to all.
Respect and empathy for other people, their culture, values and way of life; are integral to intercultural competence (Nilsson 2003)for practicing as a Physiotherapist. Internationalisation therefore needs to be embedded throughout programme activities, so students can develop multicultural awareness and skills to facilitate their development as global citizens.
Internationalising curricular entails teachers and students making paradigm shifts and understanding the perspectives of different, racial, culture and gender groups (Banks 1999). However, this is not always easy to translate into actual curriculum activity. Small numbers of both staff and students are able to gain international experience through exchanges, but it is not an opportunity available to all.
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the potential for enhancement of Physiotherapy curricula with the introduction of international student collaboration via online classrooms across two universities; one in the UK the other in Finland.
To gain an in-depth understanding of the benefits and challenges of internationalising the curriculum and a greater understanding of international differences and similarities in the assessment and treatment of patients with complex neurological conditions for both students and staff.
To gain an in-depth understanding of the benefits and challenges of internationalising the curriculum and a greater understanding of international differences and similarities in the assessment and treatment of patients with complex neurological conditions for both students and staff.
Methods: The evaluation strategy for this project was an exploratory design with qualitative data collected via semi-structured one to one interviews (students) and a focus group (staff). This methodology was chosen in order to gain both breadth and depth of insight into the students perceptions of the shared online resources in supporting their learning (Cresswell 2003). In addition, the staff focus group offered insights into their experiences of developing a collaborative approach to Physiotherapy curriculum delivery.
All data were digitally recorded; transcribed verbatim and analysed using a thematic approach to identify staff and students perceptions. Common themes and subthemes were extracted and subsequently analysed in relation to the apriori themes.
Results: The results of this study indicate that although the students were positive overall about the international sessions there is an on-going challenge for programme teams in identifying and promoting opportunities for internationalising the curriculum. Tensions can arise when there is a lack of consistency between the expectation of students and the reality of the support that is available in the online environment.
Conclusion(s): Internationalising curricular to give students opportunities for gaining global perspectives and intercultural communication is vital for their development as professionals. However, the constraints of different academic, regulatory and funding systems can make the process unwieldy and unattractive and time differences can make synchronous communication problematic.
Implications: Whilst acknowledging that there will be institutional variations the findings of this research provide valuable insights to inform the development of international curricula.
Enabling students to compare their national healthcare systems to those of others and to analyse events and problems from an international perspective facilitates their development as global citizens.
Funding acknowledgements: This work was funded by Manchester Metropolitan University, United Kingdom and Turku University of Applied Sciences, Finland.
Topic: Education: methods of teaching & learning
Ethics approval: The study was given ethics approval by Manchester Metropolitan University Faculty of Health, Psychology and Social Care ethics committee.
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
