File
O'Connor D1, Hamshire C2, Forsyth R3, Barlund E4, Maguire C5,6
1Manchester Metropolitan University, Health Professions, Manchester, United Kingdom, 2Manchester Metropolitan University, Faculty of Health, Psychology and Social Care, Manchester, United Kingdom, 3Manchester Metropolitan University, Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, Manchester, United Kingdom, 4Turku University of Applied Sciences, Turku, Finland, 5Berner Fachhochschule, Bern, Switzerland, 6Bildungszentrum Gesundheit Basel-Stadt, Basel, Switzerland
Background: Respect and empathy for other people, their culture, values and way of life are integral to intercultural competency1 and to addressing health inequalities2. In order to become effective practitioners, healthcare students need to develop culturally competent practice that is mindful of the beliefs and values of every patient2.
The INSTEP (Internationalising Student Education in Physiotherapy) project was set up to support intercultural communication and competence1 and was a collaborative venture between Manchester Metropolitan University and Turku University of Applied Sciences. International student collaboration via online classrooms, in English within one specialist topic was implemented and evaluated favourably by staff and students. Opportunities to extend the project were explored.
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the potential for enhancement of Physiotherapy curricula by introducing international student collaboration via online classrooms across three universities in the UK, Finland and Switzerland. The aim was to develop intercultural competence by providing a stay-at-home international experience, integrated within the curriculum, accessible to all students, that would promote cultural awareness and develop students' professional skills. Both staff and student perspectives provided an in-depth understanding of the benefits and challenges of internationalising the curriculum across three countries.
Methods: An exploratory design with qualitative data collected via both staff and student focus-groups was implemented. This methodology was chosen to gain breadth and depth of insight into the staff experience of developing a collaborative approach to Physiotherapy curriculum delivery with an additional international partner and student experience of a tri-national online classroom collaboration.
All data were digitally recorded; transcribed verbatim and analysed using a thematic approach. Common themes and subthemes were extracted and subsequently analysed in relation to the apriori themes.
Results: The results indicate that cross-cultural academic collaboration creates exciting opportunities for international student education. Staff perspectives indicated that strong communication networks, clear action planning and shared goals are essential ingredients to ensure successful curriculum enhancement. Building opportunities that fit with individual faculty strategy, requires complex problem solving, creative solutions and celebration of successes. Student perspectives from both native and non-native English speakers indicated increased awareness of the central-role of language use in successful cross-cultural communication. Patience and clarity from native-speakers and a non-judgmental, supportive atmosphere for non-native speakers were identified as important to prevent misunderstandings. Students welcomed the recognition of common physiotherapy practices across cultures reinforcing the sense of a mutual profession, as well as increased understanding of differences in context.
Conclusion(s): Internationalising curricular to give students opportunities for gaining global perspectives and intercultural communication is vital for the development as professionals. It is the responsibility of faculty to find creative solutions to the constraints of different academic, regulatory and funding systems. Whilst time differences can make synchronous communication problematic, this can be overcome with collaborative academic engagement and the desire to achieve the shared goal of facilitating new and exciting international student experiences.
Implications: Enabling students to improve cross-cultural communication skills facilitates their development as global citizens. Cross-institutional staff engagement facilitates growth, fosters creativity, communication and academic collaboration. This enhances opportunities for research, networking and enriched student experiences.
Keywords: student, collaboration, international
Funding acknowledgements: This work was funded by Manchester Metropolitan University, Turku University of Applied Sciences and Bern University of Applied Sciences.
The INSTEP (Internationalising Student Education in Physiotherapy) project was set up to support intercultural communication and competence1 and was a collaborative venture between Manchester Metropolitan University and Turku University of Applied Sciences. International student collaboration via online classrooms, in English within one specialist topic was implemented and evaluated favourably by staff and students. Opportunities to extend the project were explored.
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the potential for enhancement of Physiotherapy curricula by introducing international student collaboration via online classrooms across three universities in the UK, Finland and Switzerland. The aim was to develop intercultural competence by providing a stay-at-home international experience, integrated within the curriculum, accessible to all students, that would promote cultural awareness and develop students' professional skills. Both staff and student perspectives provided an in-depth understanding of the benefits and challenges of internationalising the curriculum across three countries.
Methods: An exploratory design with qualitative data collected via both staff and student focus-groups was implemented. This methodology was chosen to gain breadth and depth of insight into the staff experience of developing a collaborative approach to Physiotherapy curriculum delivery with an additional international partner and student experience of a tri-national online classroom collaboration.
All data were digitally recorded; transcribed verbatim and analysed using a thematic approach. Common themes and subthemes were extracted and subsequently analysed in relation to the apriori themes.
Results: The results indicate that cross-cultural academic collaboration creates exciting opportunities for international student education. Staff perspectives indicated that strong communication networks, clear action planning and shared goals are essential ingredients to ensure successful curriculum enhancement. Building opportunities that fit with individual faculty strategy, requires complex problem solving, creative solutions and celebration of successes. Student perspectives from both native and non-native English speakers indicated increased awareness of the central-role of language use in successful cross-cultural communication. Patience and clarity from native-speakers and a non-judgmental, supportive atmosphere for non-native speakers were identified as important to prevent misunderstandings. Students welcomed the recognition of common physiotherapy practices across cultures reinforcing the sense of a mutual profession, as well as increased understanding of differences in context.
Conclusion(s): Internationalising curricular to give students opportunities for gaining global perspectives and intercultural communication is vital for the development as professionals. It is the responsibility of faculty to find creative solutions to the constraints of different academic, regulatory and funding systems. Whilst time differences can make synchronous communication problematic, this can be overcome with collaborative academic engagement and the desire to achieve the shared goal of facilitating new and exciting international student experiences.
Implications: Enabling students to improve cross-cultural communication skills facilitates their development as global citizens. Cross-institutional staff engagement facilitates growth, fosters creativity, communication and academic collaboration. This enhances opportunities for research, networking and enriched student experiences.
Keywords: student, collaboration, international
Funding acknowledgements: This work was funded by Manchester Metropolitan University, Turku University of Applied Sciences and Bern University of Applied Sciences.
Topic: Education
Ethics approval required: Yes
Institution: Manchester Metropolitan University
Ethics committee: Faculty of Health, Psychology and Social Care
Ethics number: 1356
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
