Global, international, and intercultural learning in university classrooms across the disciplines

Abstract

Classroom pedagogies that foster global, international, and intercultural (GII) learning across academic disciplines have the potential to reach all matriculated students, preparing them for diversity in their immediate communities, the international reach of their professions, and their responsibilities as citizens in the world. A number of empirical research studies and professional reports present instructors’ experiences with innovative pedagogies that embed GII learning within existing courses or lead to the design of new courses totally dedicated to the development of intercultural communicative competence. In this article, a review of these studies summarizes the basic features of these efforts, identifies commonalities across practices, and takes note of innovations showing promise for emulation or further study. Of particular value is the analysis of the outcomes the authors report from their efforts and the ways they have assessed their results. These assessments reveal degrees of success in meeting stated learning goals as well as limitations with regard to what has been achieved. The article concludes with a proposed research agenda that would help academics strengthen GII classroom learning. Future research could (a) provide an understanding of GII competencies needed by alumni in their professions and civic engagement, (b) consider how GII learning might take place with an intentional plan across the course of degree programs, and (c) examine how to address gaps and limitations in current classroom practice.Keywords