Ethical Considerations for Internationalization: Perspectives from Global Citizenship Education

Overview & Synopsis

A variety of globalizing influences have dramatically shifted the environment of Canadian institutions of higher education in the past few decades. Increased global student mobility has quite literally brought the world to our campuses. The presence of over 200,000 international students is only one factor contributing to increased cultural diversity on Canadian campuses. Greater cultural diversity derives from steady growth in the presence of Indigenous students and new Canadian students. Judging by the numbers, it would appear that higher education is poised to become a site of intercultural and global exchange. Although higher education has always valued the mobility of scholars and ideas, the recent emphasis on international activities has evolved to encompass much more than scholarly exchange. This paper explores the links between international education and global citizenship education in order to understand the inherent convergences and divergences, and to consider how they can be connected to achieve ethical approaches in institutional policy and practice, and in teaching. The common themes in the internationalization and global citizenship education literature will be examined in order to investigate the potential future trajectory of this area of scholarship. Beginning with a brief discussion of terms, the paper discusses the ethical dilemmas posed for Canadian higher education in a globalized context where the mobility of educational resources, paradigms and students have become commonplace strategies for many institutions. The final sections will discuss the challenges of embedding global citizenship perspectives within internationalization in higher education and suggest future possibilities.