1. The Stepping Stone Principle for Internationalisation at Ghent University: What Does It Mean?

The stepping stone principle refers to a type of curriculum design, by means of which every student receives maximum opportunities for acquiring international and intercultural competencies (IIC). Throughout, the curriculum offers students international and intercultural learning opportunities, the intensity of which gradually increases as graduation approaches. These international and intercultural learning opportunities, in other words, start with low-threshold I@H initiatives such as an international case study or guest speaker, followed by short-term mobility (excursions, short work placements), and finally resulting in longer periods of credit or degree mobility (Erasmus+ exchange programmes or an international joint programme).

The first learning opportunity that is offered thus becomes the stepping stone to go on and discover the next. There is a broad range of possible stepping stones for internationalisation (cf. 3.4 How to Design My Curriculum). Incorporating such stepping stones into a curriculum necessarily goes hand in hand with designing a learning pathway for the acquisition of international and intercultural competencies. It is a way for the study programme to achieve Ghent University’s strategic education objective on Internationalisation.

2. Investing in Stepping Stones for Internationalisation: Why?

Stepping stones for internationalisation are a way to make your study programme more future-proof: it will help you prepare students for today’s and tomorrow’s globalised and diverse society and labour market. 

Many of our study programmes already invest in valuable, long-term study-abroad initiatives for their students. Although there is no question that study-abroad initiatives are a powerful medium for acquiring international and intercultural skills, such opportunities are often still available only to the happy few. The reasons for opting out on study-abroad initiatives are manifold: a lack of interest, a lack of (self-) confidence, a lack of financial means, a disability, family circumstances, etc...  Moreover, some countries may be less accessible than others due to e.g. big cultural differences or intolerance of the LHBTQIA+ community.

And needless to say, internationalisation is so much more than ‘embarking on an Erasmus adventure.’ Familiarising oneself with an international context can also be achieved by e.g. inviting guest speakers, by honing the students’ communication skills during an (online) group assignment with international peers, or by reflecting on cultural sensitivities in the aftermath of a short-term work placement at a multinational in Brussels. 

The incorporation of such stepping stones into the curriculum is a way of offering your students a more diverse set of international and intercultural learning opportunities. In so doing, you also foster a more inclusive approach to internationalisation. The use of stepping stones gives students the opportunity to acquire international and intercultural skills gradually throughout their study career in a way that is stimulating and well-considered.  A gradual introduction to internationalisation may possibly trigger more students to embark on a study-abroad experience. However, a study-abroad experience is not a prerequisite to acquire the intended international and intercultural skills.  This is why, ideally, a study programme consists of mandatory I@H components as well as elective mobility components, allowing students to acquire the intended competencies albeit by means of different learning tracks. Mobility, in other words, is just one means to an end. The ultimate goal that any study programme should bear in mind is that each student acquires 100% of the intended international and intercultural competencies. 

Student A embarks on a study-abroad initiatieve during the programme. Student B does not embark on a study-abroad initiative during the programme.
Both acquire 100% of the intended international and intercultural competencies.

3. Incorporating Stepping Stones for Internationalisation into the Curriculum: How?

Stepping stones for internationalisation are always custom-built. After all, not every study programme can readily appeal to an international student population, or create enough room in the curriculum for a study-abroad term. 

Although the implementation of stepping stones usually happens at the instigation of individual lecturers, it is important to have an overarching vision that is endorsed by all, and comes with a well-considered programme-wide strategy. There is a roadmap to come to such a vision and strategy. This is not to say that the process is linear per se: it is perfectly possible to skip from one step to another. Still, the roadmap can serve as a guiding principle. 

3.1 Bring Together a Commited Team

In consultation with your Programme Committee (PC), bring together a group of people who are committed to this theme. Who are possible key players in this process of change? Think for instance of:

• lecturers or other staff members associated with the study programme who have an interest in, or already work on internationalisation;
• staff members of the Faculty Committee for Internationalisation (FCI);
• (International) alumni and students of the study programme;
• stakeholders from the (international) professional field;
• faculty support staff: curriculum managers, education support staff and/or quality assurance staff ....;
• central support staff: process facilitators for study programme support, International Relations Office staff

The more diverse the team, the more guarantee for the study programme to be looked at and helped from various perspectives, and for gaining a broad outlook on things. In the past, the students' critical perspective has consistently proven to be very valuable in opening up the discussion about the curriculum and increasing receptiveness to new/different opportunities.

3.2 What is the Importance of International and Intercultural Competencies for the Study Programme?

Does your study programme prepare its students to a sufficient degree to meet the expectations of a globalised and multicultural society and labour market? If you want to implement change, you have to identify your goals first. These goals can be made explicit in a study programme’s vision (text).  Such a vision (text) explains to a broad audience what the study programme stands for, which (future) objectives it aspires, and how. Find out if, and in what way, internationalisation already features in the study programme’s vision (text), or adjust said vision (text) to incorporate internationalisation further. Taking your cue from that vision, you can then start (re)designing the curriculum.

The following reflections may help you along. Be sure to involve as many stakeholders as possible, especially alumni and representatives from the professional field in which graduates usually end up.

1. The study programme reflects on the core question

Try looking ahead by brainstorming on the following question:

What is the international and intercultural context in which our graduates find themselves?

2. Reflection questions

The following reflection questions may help you develop a vision on internationalisation:

• what generic competencies do graduates need to be able to function in an international and intercultural context (as determined above)? International and intercultural competencies entail different aspects for a business economist, a physician, an engineer, a psychologist, a teacher, etc... Make these competencies specific for your study programme.
• what knowledge on the international context (challenges, actors, bodies, structures, work methods, ....) and other cultures (differences, sensitivities, ...) do graduates need?
• how important is multilingualism to your graduates, especially proficiency in English?
• what background do the colleagues, clients, patients, ... have with whom your graduates will mainly come into contact? Are they to be situated in a local context, or rather in a different region or country? 
• does it suffice that graduates are open to the perspectives of various ‘others’, show empathy, are able to communicate efficiently and appropriately with people of different backgrounds, or must they be able to collaborate in international teams?
• in the context of the study programme, what does it mean to deal with cultural differences and other perspectives respectfully?
• to what extent do your graduates need to be aware of, and be able to reflect on their own culturally determined frames of reference?
• do you want graduates to show active civic engagement at the Flemish, European or international level? Is this limited to taking and expressing positions on international issues, or should they also be able to look for solutions to international issues?

If you have a clear view on what internationalisation means in the context of your study programme, you can embed that view in the Education Monitor. In some cases, this may result in a refreshment of the programme-specific learning outcomes (OLR), which in turn, need to be implemented in the curriculum.

3.3 Internationalisation in the Study Programme: As Is

Internationalisation is probably already part and parcel of the curriculum, either explicitly or implicitly. To gain a full overview of the current state of affairs, it might be useful to screen the curriculum/study programme. To this end, you can make use of resources that will give you insight into where the study programme stands when it comes to internationalisation. Think, for instance, of course sheets (which course units deal with internationalisation) and cyclical surveys such as the study programme feedback survey, or the alumni survey (what feedback do students and alumni give on internationalisation in the programme). This will allow you to map: 

• the extent to which the study programme currently focuses on internationalisation, thus implementing its vision;
• where discrepancies between the vision, programme-specific learning outcomes, the programme and student and/or alumni feedback are located.

Mapping existing initiatives will garner higher appreciation of what is already in place, and will also strengthen the coherence and profile of the study programme. The Programme Committee may choose to make existing initiatives more visible to (prospective) students and lecturers. This gives the lecturers a better overview of the colleagues who focus on internationalisation. Consequently, they gain better insight into the students’ (starting) competencies for each course unit that contributes to internationalisation. Taken together, this, in turn, will help them shape their own course unit and determine which (generic) competencies they can aspire with their course unit, knowing what (generic) competencies the students have acquired previously. Should lecturers indicate that, while they do focus on internationalisation, students do not seem to pick up on it, it might be expedient to inform the students of the objectives of the course unit, and the importance of internationalisation to the study programme. Once the Programme Committee has a clear view on which teaching and assessment methods are used to implement internationalisation, they can monitor the work load for students better, too.

In the event that a Programme Committee comes across discrepancies between their vision (what it is we want to attain), the objectives (how they are translated into competencies/learning outcomes), the curriculum (which course units contribute to the learning outcomes), and alumni/student feedback (whether or not students/alumni actually capture what the study programme intends and develops/assesses in course units), they can determine an action plan for the future. For example: the Programme Committee of a particular Bachelor’s programme realises that international/intercultural learning opportunities are largely absent from the entire curriculum (first-, second- and third-year curriculum). In the context of a recent visioning exercise, alumni have indicated that the professional field actually places great store by these competencies. As a consequence, and based on the needs identified by the professional field, the Programme Committee decides to develop programme-specific competencies/learning outcomes at the level of the study programme (which international and intercultural competencies do students need to acquire during the Bachelor’s programme?). They then attend a workshop (see below) on how to incorporate international/intercultural competencies into existing (and suitable) course units. 

3.4 How to Shape My Curriculum?

International and intercultural competencies can be conveyed by many different teaching methods. The choice of a particular stepping stone and its place in the curriculum depends on a number of (pre)conditions:

• the lecturer’s personal interests and competencies;
• the students’ intended level of achievement (e.g. do you aim for pure knowledge transfer on an international context or do you want your students to develop intercultural collaboration skills?);
• the time and resources that are available;
• the logical alignment with the course contents;
• the scope of the stepping stone (part of a course unit, entire course unit, multiple course units);
• the diversity in the student population (particularly the presence of international students).

The chart below gives a non-exhaustive overview of suitable learning opportunities which can either take place in at home (I@H) or abroad (student mobility). Taken together, they can serve as guiding principles for structuring IICs throughout the curriculum. On the left-hand side of the continuum, you will find less intensive teaching methods, mainly focused on competencies such as knowledge acquisition. As you move more to the right of the continuum, the teaching methods gradually become more focused on applying competencies in controlled teaching settings (e.g. a simulation), to result in teaching methods with a focus on a fully integrated application of competencies in authentic settings. Each learning opportunity comes with a handy information sheet, as well as practical examples to serve as inspiration.

Applying the stepping stone pinciple in the curriculum of a fictional one-year Master's programme.