WORKING WITH INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS IN TEACHER EDUCATION: PEOPLE, STRUCTURES AND CULTURES

In teacher education, as in other areas of higher education, there is increasing emphasis on working in collaboration with international partners in a range of activities, including joint development of courses, curriculum enrichment through staff and student exchanges and collaborative research. These activities provide exciting developmental opportunities for institutions and individuals but also pose significant challenges which need to be resolved to ensure success. This paper reflects on one university’s experience of working in partnership with Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Holland, China and India for different purposes, including development and accreditation of courses for school teachers and college lecturers, reciprocal staff exchange programmes and comparative research studies. It draws on data from interviews with course tutors who have been involved in these activities for over a decade and focuses on the benefits and challenges for the staff and students involved, the organisational structures needed to support such activities and the social aspects of working with people who may have differing cultural expectations and norms. The findings indicate that the individuals who undertake these activities have to invest their own social and cultural capital to achieve successful outcomes which their HEI may not recognise or appreciate as success depends more on the people involved than the institution’s commitment.