This session will explore the range of pedagogic strategies that educators can use to enhance students’ development of their identities as global citizens. The use of contemporary, global news stories as ‘triggers’ for learning about the impact of social, philosophical and political drivers on the work of organisations and the lives of individuals will also be addressed.
The case study for the session is based on the recent re-internationalisation of Nursing degree programmes at a University in the United Kingdom. Current geo-political changes provided the stimulus for a review of the current approach to global aspects of the curriculum. As student nurses are exposed to changes in the focus of countries’ social and political identities the authors re-focussed the internationalisation of current undergraduate curricula to ensure an informed approach to global citizenship and global health. The foci of these internationalisation curriculum developments are to provide opportunities for the students to consider their identities as ‘global citizens’ throughout their programme of study.
The contemporary and dynamic nature of global health is highlighted throughout the curricula by the use of ‘In the news today’ resources. Rather than fracturing aspects of global health into separate issues such as cultural awareness and accounts restricted by geographical boundaries the focus instead is on contemporary issues. The geo-political challenges of Brexit present a significant threat to the opportunities of students to undertake Erasmus funded European exchange placements within their programmes of study. This is further compounded by a change to the international placement standards of the Nursing and Midwifery Council of the United Kingdom. As a result a more flexible approach to students’ international placement opportunities has been developed.
Following the piloting of these resources and pedagogic strategies the next stage of this internationalisation strategy has been to facilitate inter-professional education and inter-disciplinary collaboration.