Learning from Others, not about Others: investigating intercultural learning and intercultural competence in the university classroom

Around the globe, higher education institutions (HEIs) are experiencing increased pressure to position themselves in a more competitive market environment. For many HEIs, internationalization is a pathway to overcoming deficiencies in state funding, remaining competitive in regards to students, staff and research grants (Altbach & Knight, 2007) and labeling themselves as progressive and quality institutions (Delgado-Márquez, Escudero-Torres, & Hurtado-Torres, 2013). Since becoming a topic of discussion in the 1980s (Knight, 2012), the internationalization of higher education (hereafter ‘internationalization’) has grown in popularity at universities.