Internationalising the Curriculum in Dutch Higher Education: An International Comparative Perspective

Abstract

The Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERJ) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) oversees the Higher Education in a New International Setting project. As part of this initiative, in 1996 the OECD/CERl publisbed a study entitled Internationalisation of Higher Education. Six OECD countries, Australia, Denmark, France, Germany, Japan and the Netherlands, participated in the study, which involved an assessment of internationalised curricula and in-depth case studies. This article reports on the findings of the Dutch study in the context of the entire OECD/CERI project. The study found a large increase in the provision of internationalised curricula over the last ten years, largely in economics and business studies, the humanities, and social sciences. They include curricula with international subjects, curricula with international comparative approaches, and interdisciplinary regional and area studies. The study also examined the process of internationalising the curriculum, and concluded that it is lengthy and complex, that individual academics play a vital role, and that it requires support from a combined bottom-up and top-down strategy that is consistent with the institution's policy on internationalisation.