Articles #Sweden

Interestingly while there have been numerous studies reporting on the experiences of international students attending Anglo-Saxon universities, few studies have explored the teaching and learning experiences of international students studying in Sweden, Carol Rodger's (2002) model of four functions of reflections provided a novel way to explore international students’ reflections about their learning experiences in Sweden, especially how these are shown in the following different cycles, of presence, description, analysis and experimentation

Liisa Uusimaki & Susanne Garvis (2021)

ABSTRACT 

The purpose of this article is to present a qualitative study exploring a small cohort of nine international students’ in-depth reflections about their teaching and learning experiences studying at a major Swedish University. Interestingly while there have been numerous studies reporting on the experiences of international students attending Anglo-Saxon universities, few studies have explored the teaching and learning experiences of international students studying in Sweden, Carol Rodger's (2002) model of four functions of reflections provided a novel way to explore international students’ reflections about their learning experiences in Sweden, especially how these are shown in the following different cycles, of presence, description, analysis and experimentation. Making sense of international students’ experiences allows us as university lecturers to enhance our of understanding how to better support students in their learning away from their home universities. A qualitative content analysis was employed to the data collected from 3 focus groups. Findings showed that the international students experienced several cultural and contextual differences from that of their home universities. The differences related to course structures, teaching, and learning, as well as the relationship with their Swedish university lecturer(s).

ABSTRACT This research investigates the purposes of internationalisation from the perspective of a group of international prospective teachers studying at a Swedish university. The results show that the prospective teachers’ understanding of internationalisation corresponds to three ideologies of internationalisation – idealism, instrumentalism, and educationalism – but there is also evidence of a more complex and multifaceted understanding of internationalisation. We propose that a new internationalisation ideology may be emerging that corresponds to ideas about ‘responsible internationalisation’ and is connected to the COVID-19 pandemic and changing geopolitics. The importance of taking future teachers’ viewpoints into account, as well as a considering changes to global and local educational contexts, is emphasised when formulating internationalisation strategies in teacher education.