Internationalising the student experience: perspectives from Australian domestic pre-service teachers with a focus on performing arts

Research in Australia on internationalising the student experience has almost exclusively focused on international students. Whilst both domestic and international students have an equal role in facilitating internationalisation processes, research continues to report that intercultural interaction and cultural learning are not automatic outcomes of the higher education experience. However, the development of intercultural skills and competency are important components of internationalising the student experience. This research reports the outcomes from an investigation that explored the Australian domestic pre-service teachers’ perspectives of internationalising the student experience
phenomenon with a focus on performing arts. The data collection methods included a survey, semi-structured interviews and classroom observations. Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory formed the theoretical framework on which the research was based. As such, the exploration focused on the skills and capabilities developed through the cultural diversity on campus, in the classroom, through the internationalisation of the curriculum, and any social interaction. The survey results indicated that pre-service teachers had experienced limited internationalisation at higher education and the in-depth case study confirmed this. There was little evidence of internationalisation of the curriculum and intercultural interaction.