Engaging international students

Effective and meaningful student engagement is integral for enhancing student learning experience and outcomes. For international students who move beyond their cultural comfort zone and navigate through cross-border experiences, it is essential to conceptualise their engagement through not only the formal curriculum but also the informal curriculum. International student engagement should be viewed in relation to multiple interrelated dimensions. These may include their engagement with the learning content and learning process, the bonding between teachers and students, the interaction between international and domestic students and amongst international students themselves and their integration into the relevant networks, the community and the society that they are living in. These dimensions of engagement are anchored in the intersections of international student personal agency and personal experiences, educational practices, cultural boundaries and the broader social and political context shaping Australian international education.