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This paper explores the role of the Canadian federal government in two foreign policy areas: overseas development assistance and international cultural relations by providing a brief history of the federal government’s engagement in both policy areas and highlighting the contributions and challenges of Canadian foreign policy to the internationalization of Canadian higher education. More broadly, the paper explores the unique characteristics of the Canadian federal government’s role in higher education policy making, and in particular, its relations with academics and the university community. Ironically in a world increasingly characterized by greater international education flows, in Canada, there has been a narrowing of vision, a focus on more short rather than long term objectives and a limited engagement of dialogue between academics and the government to promote both development assistance and international education as Canada’s soft power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Postsecondary institutions in the global north have rapidly internationalized, driven mainly by the proliferation of international students and responses to these changing demographics. This internationalization has captured attention across various platforms, including increased media focus directed toward these students and the primary and ancillary influences of their participation in PSIs and surrounding communities. The project explored in this paper examines this phenomenon by connecting internationalization of higher education research with insights from critical media studies and framing theory to investigate news media representations of international and refugee students' participation in Canadian universities and colleges. A critical thematic analysis was performed on 391 news media texts published between 2000 and 2017. Findings reveal the Canadian news media's tendency to construct issues related to international students and internationalization into one or a combination of four broad macrothemes: (1) Canada as benevolent and ideal; (2) international students and internationalization as commodified assets; (3) international students and internationalization as threats; and (4) the strategic neutrality of data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is based on a study of three Confticius Institutes in Canada. The research aims to explore the nature of operations at Confucius Institutes, ranging from the selection of partnering Chinese universities, to the program planning at each individual site. Specifically, it focuses on the perceived impacts of the Confucius Institute partnership on the Canadian hosting institutions. Data was collected through interviews with key administrative staff from three Canadian universities. The theoretical fi-amework of constructivism from international relations theory and concepts drawn from the literature on the internationalization of higher education were used to analyze the findings. Key issues revealed from the data include the host's perception of Confucius Institutes as China's cultural diplomacy and soft power strategy, the progression of partnerships between Canada and China over time, and university autonomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intercultural group work (IGW) is a valuable learning strategy to enhance deep learning and prepare university students to participate in a globalized world, so more insight is needed into what motivates students to engage actively in IGW. Using an expectancy–value theory framework, this study investigates the extent to which the different components of this theory (i.e., self-efficacy, perceived benefit, and perceived cost) relate to each other and contribute to student engagement in IGW. Responses to a questionnaire, gathered from 846 bachelor's students from six universities in the Netherlands and Canada, reveal that strong self-efficacy for IGW, high perceived benefit of IGW, and low perceived cost of IGW correlate. In structural equation modeling analyses, self-efficacy and emotional cost emerge as important predictors of behavioral and cognitive engagement; intercultural benefit is critical for cognitive engagement. As a prerequisite of cognitive engagement, behavioral engagement also mediates the effects of self-efficacy, costs, and benefits. Therefore, developing students' self-efficacy, increasing perceived benefits of IGW, and decreasing perceived costs of IGW can promote student engagement and deeper learning. Universities thus should prepare students for IGW and provide support and feedback during group work process. Based on the results, we theorize about the relationships among the components of the expectancy–value theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While much has been spoken about the benefits and risks of student mobility in large scales, little attention has been given to how professors experience the burgeoning process of internationalization of higher education and how the presence of numerous international students has affected their teaching philosophies and practices. Given the importance of teachers' beliefs to how they enact their practices, and especially in a country like Canada that takes pride on their multiculturalism policies, it is imperative to understand how professors perceive the cultural diversity they face daily in the classroom. In this phenomenological study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 professors at a Canadian university. Findings reveal how professors not only feel overwhelmed by this transforming scenario but also how their beliefs and experience pose a challenge to the process of internationalization itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Faculty members are key agents in the institutional internationalization process within Canadian higher education. In the growing volumes of literature on internationalization, however, few authors consider how faculty members perceive their role in this process. In this study I take a phenomenological research approach to explore the understanding and motivations of five Canadian faculty members toward their involvement in institutional internationalization strategies. Using de Wit’s (2002) internationalization rationale framework, I compare faculty motivations for engaging internationally with institutional positions on internationalization as articulated in strategic planning documents. Results indicate a range of faculty member engagement in the institutional internationalization process related to the alignment of personal motivations with institutional rationales. Recommendations are offered to assist in devising institutional internationalization strategies that are relevant and meaningful for faculty members and are therefore more likely to engage these key actors in the higher education internationalization process. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]