Cultural Preparedness of Adult Educators: A Changing Dynamic in Higher Education

Numbers of international undergraduate students enrolled in Canadian universities and colleges have grown from 22,000 in the year 2000 to 2.2 million in 2022. While international students embark on their post-secondary journey of discovery, we as educators also embark on a journey of discovery to explore how prepared we are to meet the international learning community's needs. This research focused on generating understanding around cultural preparedness in learning communities and the tools needed to support the educating community. For this inquiry, I drew from the transformative learning theoretical framework, guided by a qualitative research methodological approach and methods to utilize a three-phased research design of topic-based focus groups and interviews. In this study, I drew from seminal work and insights on culture. I defined a nuanced definition of cultural preparedness in adult learning settings, specifically at a public university in Western Canada. The findings suggest that cultural preparedness is a community-wide endeavour in collaboration with students, administration, educators and begins with understanding one’s positionality. Outcomes from this study may further help educators promote best practices related to internationalization at home in the 21st century. Key words: internationalization at home, educators, students, transformative learning, qualitative, cultural preparedness, global pandemic, COVID-19

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Education Graduate Program – Educational Research

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Werklund School of Education

Year dc:date.issued

2024

Author dc:creator

• McDonald, Moira A.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Dressler, Roswita

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Kawalilak, Colleen
• Sabbaghan, Soroush

• Internationalization
• Internationalization at Home
• Cultural Preparedness

Statement dc:rights

• University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.

Language dc:language.iso

en

DOI

https://doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/42945

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:ucalgary.scholaris.ca:1880/118101