Internationalization in higher education. a description based on the results from three empirical studies

A description based on data from three empirical studies conducted with a qualitative approach in order to reveal the understanding university teachers and students, within higher education in the Swedish nursing program, had of internationalization. In Sweden, intentions of internationalization, has in a general way been discussed frequently in different educational contexts in higher education. The government has increased the emphasis on the international dimension of higher education and declared universities to take responsibility in developing education in line with the international development.In this paper some main common and general characteristics are presented. The characteristics are discerned, understood and discussed from a curriculum perspective. An important background for understanding the results is that the students but mostly the teachers, represent a very selected group on the basis of their interest in and engagement for internationalizing nurse education and for increasing intercultural teaching and learning. The results are described in terms of students' and teachers' understanding of internationalization in teaching and learning in relation. In the case of teachers understanding, it is related to a didactical awareness (of the phenomenon) and, in a wider sense, problematised in relation to the phenomenographic research tradition. The results revealed; that students' conceptions of internationalization differed. (expounded in the paper.) The results revealed; that there was no developed collective idea shared among the teachers about the phenomenon of internationalization within the educational context; there was no developed didactic theoretic awareness of how to teach and learn about the phenomenon; teachers took for granted that internationalization rested on an humanistic and democratic ideology; the educational content teachers connected to internationalization were above everything else based on their own personal experiences. In the guidelines for higher education in Sweden it is said that the education shall be based on scientific knowledge (in a broad sense) and approved of experience. The meaning of approved of is that the experience is collectively shared as representing valid common sense knowledge. In the nurse education, as pictured through the results, there is no clear scientific knowledge and no approved of experience forming the basis for internationalization. This is most certainly not specific to nurse education, but probably quite common to the whole field of higher education. It actualizes the question of how the basis for internationalization could be improved for it to build on both scientific knowledge and approved of experience and this is the theme for the last comments in relation to the results presented in this paper. This is a line from the general aim to specific content which also represents a line from what is common and shared to what is varying. The picture given through the results is problematic from an educational and curriculum perspective because it is not a picture of how the more general aim is expressed in the specifics, and then by necessity with variation. It is rather a picture of that the general aim is connected to different specific contents in a rather accidental way.Key words: Higher education, internationalization, experiences, understanding, teaching, learning, cultural differences, personal growth