Paving the way to Cultural
Agility & Internationalisation
of the Curriculum:
International Faculty
Perspectives
Petros Kefalas
IF Learning & Teaching Director
The profile of the IF
Departments: 3
Research Centers: 1
The 6th Faculty of
TUOS since 2009
Staff: 90
Academic: 38 Students: 900
Admin: 52
UG: 43%
In collaboration
with TUOS since
1993
IoC, October 2013
PGT: 57%
PhD: 30 UG Programmes: 5
PGT Programmes: 9
Executive Prog: 1
Doctoral Programme
The profile of the IF
Distributed &
Collaborative
provision
Thessaloniki:
7 Bachelors
11 Masters
IoC, October 2013
Abroad:
1 Bachelor
10 Masters
The profile of the IF
30 Nationalities
For Greece: 66% International
For UK: 100% International
IoC, October 2013
Internationalisation in IF
Given the specific profile of the Faculty,
does this imply that internationalisation is
achieved by default?
The Antikythira mechanism
Gears are in place but we
don’t know exactly how it
works out.
IoC, October 2013
The region of SEE
An extremely interesting region
for a number of reasons
history
ethnicities
cultures
conflicts
politics
IoC, October 2013
religions
… in the absence of definition
…
Internationalisation is an emergent
process that arises through the synergy of
individual actions:
 Each one contributes its share
 Each one is not sufficient by itself to achieve
it
 The potential of all acting together is greater
than the sum of individual actions
IoC, October 2013
Sheffield Graduate
• … someone who sees the big
picture and understands the
importance of context
• …. experienced in working with
clients, communities and partners
outside the University
• … an active citizen who respects
diversity and has the cultural agility
to work in multinational settings
IoC, October 2013
Work in g w ith
clien ts,
com m u n ities &
partn ers
CCP
Active Citizen
w h o respects
Diversity
ACD
Cu ltu rally
Agile
CA
Actions required by and also
targeted to …
Students
Institution
IoC
Other
Activities
IoC, October 2013
Programmes
Staff
It works two ways
International
Incoming
Outgoing
Local
IoC, October 2013
Actions in the IF
We apply the usual practices; most of
them already discussed in this event.
But we are going to focus on some
that bring added value in our base
and abroad.
IoC, October 2013
Actions in the IF
Brief description of action.
Interesting Notes for consideration/Discussion
IoC, October 2013
Mono-cultural groups
Students from all cities where the
MBA is delivered spend a week in
Sheffield and a week in Thessaloniki.
They engage in team building
exercises, they visit industrial sites,
they participate in social activities
etc.
Note: delegates in MBA consider these as most
valuable for networking
IoC, October 2013
Mono-cultural groups
UG Students in Sofia do 3
years in Bulgaria and the final
4th year in Thessaloniki.
In the meantime, Bulgarian
students visit once or twice
Thessaloniki for events, joining
students at base.
Note: Bulgarian students are not in favour of
spending a year abroad.
IoC, October 2013
IF staff visit other locations
Academic staff of IF fly over to different
cities to participate in module delivery
during the weekends in block teaching.
Most of times give open talks to the
public organised by local partners.
IoC, October 2013
IF staff visit other locations
Note: all those staff increase their cultural agility by
observing the students behaviour in their home
country.
Staff bring back in base their understanding of the
student culture and are more able to interpret the
student behaviour when they study in Greece.
IoC, October 2013
EU Visiting Lecturers
Lecturers of UK and EU Universities fly
over to different cities to participate in
module delivery during the weekends.
These lecturers bring a more “western”
European flavour into the programme.
Note: it took a while for those lecturers to adjust to
an audience that is studying in its own country
IoC, October 2013
Case studies
Lecturers try to include
international examples / case
studies but at the same time refer
to local ones, which look more
familiar to students.
Note: significant percentage of SEE students prefer
to have only local case studies than international one
because they see themselves tied in their country
IoC, October 2013
Summer Schools
We organised a summer school
together with Management School
and USE for students coming from
EU institutions (UK, Russia, Greece,
Netherlands etc)
Note: dates, topic, engagement in class activities,
attendance load and social programme seem to be
the keys to a successful summer school.
IoC, October 2013
Internships
Students have the opportunity to
work in another (than their home)
country during summer.
The network of the IF in SEE
makes this easier to implement.
Note: Greece is more popular among choices for
the non-Greek students. Greek students rarely
choose to go to another SEE country.
IoC, October 2013
Mobility
Students from Sheffield
attended a (block teaching)
module in one of the countries
offered and gain credits.
IF staff came to Sheffield for a
week to teach on block
teaching part of the modules.
Note: restrictive only to few Departments.
IoC, October 2013
Course on Communication
There are modules in Communication
aspects in which students act as
interviewers or peer assessors in mock
interviews.
Note: very interesting to see what assessment
criteria each ethnic group of students apply to
assess fellow students.
IoC, October 2013
Working in multi-national
teams
• In group projects, teams are formed by
lecturers by selecting students from
different nationalities.
• Small group tutorials
• Interactive Lectures
Note: not very popular among students who might
prefer peers who speak the same language.
IoC, October 2013
Career Days
An event is organised by the IF,
where the students attend
personal development seminars
on interviewing, CV writing,
career paths etc. We organise
mock and real interviews for all
students willing to work in
Greece and elsewhere.
Note: Many students ignore the opportunity to us
elements from the Sheffield Graduate attributes
IoC, October 2013
Use of contemporary IT
We use a number of new tools for online collaboration and work sharing as
a routine procedure in several
modules.
Note: although familiar with modern tools and social
media, getting to know how these could enhance
international collaboration could take a while.
IoC, October 2013
Community Projects
Modules like “Making Ideas
Happen” or “Industrial Projects”
with a real client, offer excellent
chance for student to engage with
culture of the business and
community.
Note: it is interesting to see how students struggle to get
the grasp of the project, especially if this is concerned
with a social problem in the country of study.
IoC, October 2013
Community of Learning
Activities outside the
classroom by organising
groups of international
students carrying out projects
for the community.
Note: People in this region have not been cultivated in
volunteering. It is a challenge to motivate them and
“infuse” the culture.
IoC, October 2013
Conferences
A Student Spring
Symposium (an
interdisciplinary forum) is
organised by students for
students. They gain a lot by
cooperating in preparing the
event.
Note: few students from Sheffield participated in S3
already (a couple by presenting on-line). We need to
disseminate the event further.
IoC, October 2013
Conferences
In SEERC Doctoral Conference,
PhD candidates from various
Universities of the SEE region
present preliminary and final
findings of their research.
Note: interesting to observe what constitutes “original”
research finding in some countries of the region.
IoC, October 2013
International Research
SEERC, the South-East European
Research Center, conducts regional
and international funded research
projects.
Note: experience acquired is again brought back to
teaching & learning , through case studies, reports, etc.
IoC, October 2013
IF Vision
TUOS STRATEGIC THEMES
Achieving
Excellence
University Strategies
Cultivating
Ambition
IF Vision
Working Together
Strong
Civic
Engagement
Lear ning & Teaching:
Excellent Research-led
Teaching strongly
connected to
professional practice
A base
– gateway –
for the whole
University
M aking a Difference
Inter nationalisation:
A truly International
Faculty with
operations in many
countr ies
Research &
Innovation:
High quality
Research with
Research Centres in
many locations
M ultidisciplinar ity &
Interdisciplinar ity:
main focus on social
sciences
Protecting
the Future
IoC, October 2013
Leading
the Way
The IF within TUOS
The International Faculty contributes
to the Internationalisation Strategy of
the University.
We welcome any proposals that could
facilitate IoC for other Faculties and
Departments.
IoC, October 2013
What’s next?
We Shape
the Future
Together
Thank you!