A paper presented by Fiona Hyland of ESCalate at the ECER Conference 2010.
Introducing the 'Teaching International Students' initiative
Increasing student mobility and successful national policies to recruit international students have led to more culturally diverse higher education landscapes around the world. In the UK the second phase of the Prime Minister's Initiative (PMI2) was launched in 2006 to encourage managed growth of UK international education and to work towards improving international student experiences. This initiative recognised that teaching and learning experiences are central to any improvement. In 2009 PMI2 combined forces with the Higher Education Academy and the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA) to launch a new two-year project called 'Teaching International Students'.
The aims of the 'Teaching International Students' initiative are to:
- raise the profile of teaching and learning for international students
- establish a repository of resources and research on teaching and learning for international students
- identify and disseminate information and guidance
- provide guidance on staff development strategies
- establish a network of interested people.
The TIS website provides a 'one stop shop' for staff who teach international students and who are looking for networks events and resources (both academic and practical) to support their teaching. In addition a series of events are being run throughout 2010 and 2011 to focus on research evidence-based practice case studies and staff development.
