Internationalisation of the curriculum at home : a comparative case study on undergraduate programmes of accounting at a Vietnamese university and a New Zealand university.

Abstract

Research shows that only a marginal percentage among students worldwide have opportunities to study abroad. Therefore, the focus of research and practice has recently shifted from Internationalisation Abroad, which emphasises cross-border education to internationalisation of the curriculum at home (IoCaH), the process of curriculum internationalisation in domestic settings for the benefit of all students. Addressing the shifting trend, this thesis examines how IoCaH is conceptualised and enacted at programme, discipline and course levels through the conduct of a qualitative, comparative case study.

Two cases studied undergraduate programmes of accounting at Sen University in Vietnam and at Silver Fern University in New Zealand. The ontology of relativism and the epistemology of constructionism are adopted as the philosophical perspectives of the study. The national and institutional documents were collected and the in-depth interviews with 29 academics and staff were conducted at the two universities to obtain empirical data. The data were analysed based on thematic approach (Braun & Clarke, 2006) and the vertical and horizontal axes of comparative case study approach (Barlett & Vavrus, 2017).

The study found that IoCaH at programme level across the two universities is conceptualised and enacted in alignment with political, economic, socio-cultural and academic aspirations of the national and institutional agendas of internationalisation. IoCaH at discipline a course levels is enacted by a range of disciplinary requirements including international accounting standards (IFRS), the forces of the professional bodies and the goal of producing globally and locally responsive accounting professionals. The infusion approach to IoCaH embedding both home and abroad dimensions in formal and informal curriculum areas is the common approach across the two universities. The conceptualisation and enactment of IoCaH at all levels at

both settings show features of inward – looking and outward – looking internationalisation which focus on both local and global dimensions.

The study found that IoCaH is considered as a curriculum innovation at Sen University while it is regarded as an activity or process embedded in internationalisation agenda and the graduate profile development plan at Silver Fern University. At Sen University, IoCaH at accounting discipline and course levels is enacted from foreign curriculum learning and adaptation as well as curriculum partnership with the professional bodies. Meanwhile, the infusion approach to IoCaH at Silver Fern University is demonstrated in efforts to achieve two graduate attributes of bi-cultural competence and global awareness and to meet accreditation requirements.

The study found that the two universities share the shortage of stable budget, lack of focused professional development for IoCaH and little space for intercultural dimensions development. The layer of global, regional, national, institutional contexts acts as essential conditions for the enactment of IoCaH at both settings. At the same time, the dimensions such as curriculum, conditions, resources and capacity associated with linguistic, cultural, institutional and personal issues are also driven by such above contexts. These dimensions and issues play as either enablers or constraints at both settings despite differing extent and representation.

The findings of the study add local as critical elements in the process of IoCaH, supporting an extension of the conceptual framings of Marginson & Rhoades’s Glonacal Agency Heuristic (2002). In addition, the study demonstrates the nexus of stakeholders, contexts and curriculum areas, extending conceptual framings of internationalisation of the curriculum by Leask (2015). These lead to the formulation of the proposed frameworks of IoCaH suggesting a more holistic way of conceptualising IoCaH. The frameworks would bring conceptual insights into IoCaH at programme, discipline and course levels and to act as practical guides for policy making and practice implementation at institutional contexts.