Abstract:

As part of the strategy for higher education development, Russian universities promote the improvement of their programs to meet world-class standards. Following the worldwide tendencies, universities in Russia are encouraged to internationalize their programs and educate students for global competencies at home. The initiatives have led to a variety of directions and solutions how to change current courses in order to incorporate intercultural and international dimension into the content of the courses: teaching, learning and support services of study programs. The article reveals the typical strategies, trends and practical ways of integrating intercultural and international component in teaching and learning in Russian Universities.

Firstly, the paper examines the understanding of internationalization by Russian academic staff and students, including analysis of the best world practices of curriculum internationalization in terms of teaching and learning. Secondly, basing on the generally accepted approaches and levels of curriculum internationalization, it explores how and to what degree Russian higher educational institutions address global awareness in the curriculum currently and what trends and strategies prevail. Finally, using a case study method the authors focus on the analysis of experiences of integrating changes into teaching and students’ learning activities on course level.

Keywords:

Curriculum internationalization, internationalizing teaching and learning, global competencies, internationalization at home, course level.