TRANSNATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING: MYTHS, MOBILITY AND INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE

Abstract

Transnational education and training programmes are often hailed as the key to an organization′s international development. They produce “international mind‐sets”, develop “mobility” and help to “capitalize on diversity”. Such initiatives expose both learners and trainers to pressures which remain largely unexplored. How much can or should local approaches and methodologies be adapted to other environments? What are the implications of learning in culturally mixed groups? Introducing alternative perspectives into organizations through transnational processes brings internal pressure to change. What new skills are necessary and how can they be developed? The author describes a recent two‐year programme run by a transnational partnership of training institutes for a multicultural team of 14 trainers. He discusses his learning and the programme′s relevance for organizations involved in EC‐sponsored schemes, and recommends intercultural development processes that can help learners face the challenges that transnational mobility implies.