Process

The aim of this stage is to provoke discussions of existing paradigms and imagining new possibilities. In other words, creating a space to generate responses to internationalisation of the curriculum that are not constrained by the hegemony of the dominate paradigms in disciplines, universities and societies. As Ronald Barnett (2013) observes the issue is “the present set of dominant ideas [paradigms] (largely as to the economic power of universities) is restrictive of the framework of actual policy and practice, and that their dominance of the public debate is a restriction on thought as to the imaginative possibilities for universities” (p. 37).

The use of the imagination in this stage offers a way of liberating us, disciplines, and the university from the limited forms and ideas afforded in the current dominate paradigms (Barnett, 2013). In this stage the imagination and imaging can help us consider what Crawley (2016) coined ‘otherwise possibilities.’ This opens the potential for ‘moving toward or inviting alternative ways of being and knowing recognizes plurality, multimodality, nonlinearity, and interdisciplinarity’ (Green, 2020).

The goal of the Imagine stage is to challenge the taken-for-granted and broadening and deepening engagement with difference.  The core question in the Imagine stage is:

• What other ways of thinking and doing are possible?

One way of approaching the Imagine stage is to apply an approach termed ideation in design thinking [link to https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/what-is-ideation-and-how-to-prepare-for-ideation-sessions]. The aim of this approach is idea generation. Ideally this process is undertaken collaboratively with a wide range of people within and outside of the discipline or team and includes students. Working collaboratively, the goal is to generate as many as possible novel, big ideas, solutions and/or approaches. The core question in Ideation is:

• How might we….? Or How can things be otherwise?

Four rules of Ideation are:

1. Make sure the facilitator sets the right tone
2. Use challenge questions to focus the session
3. Go for quantity, not quality (that comes later)
4. Discourage judgment and analysis
5. Encourage wild and even “absurd” ideas
6. Make sure everyone’s ideas get captured and displayed
7. After you finish brainstorming, rank the ideas (Tucker,2017)

Activities associated with this stage might include:

• discussing the cultural foundations of dominant paradigms in your discipline
• examining the origins and nature of the paradigm within which you work
• identifying emergent paradigms and thinking about the possibilities they offer
• imagining the world of the future: what and how will your students need to learn, in order to live and work effectively and ethically in this future world?
• imagining some different ways of doing things in the foreseeable future
• negotiating possibilities.

Key resources 

The IoC conceptual framework a useful resource to prompt discussion. Case studies of internationalisation of the curriculum [active link internal page] in other disciplines, provide valuable insights into how others have approached the task.

Useful tools to help facilitate ideation are freely and readily available on the internet. Methods used in this stage can include activities like Round Robin, Opposite thinking, Mash-up method, analogy thinking, Rip & Rap, Brainstorm cards, Collaborative sketching, Storyboarding, Tech and trend mix (Board of Innovation [Link – https://www.boardofinnovation.com/staff_picks/our-favorite-ideation-tools/] )

Mattimore, B. W. (2012). Idea stormers : How to lead and inspire creative breakthroughs. Jossey-Bass. ISBN: 978-1-118-13427-6