The resource below is from AdvancedHE Pedagogies of Internationalisation theoretical frameworks. It’s meant to give a bird’s eye of what there is to choose from. These are various theoretical frameworks that can be used for far more than internationalisation for questions and issues related to, for example, critically reflective professional practice, education policy, education futures and many others.
Thanks to Sara for finding this one! I’ve slightly modified the formatting to the original source.
Theoretical frameworks are essential for guiding research about international students and framing their experiences away from deficit narratives. We’ve compiled here a list of potential theoretical frameworks for research with international students that researchers might consider, along with suggested readings to get you started with learning about them.
Please note this list is still a work in progress and is not fully comprehensive. We welcome any suggested additions.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
AdvancedHE Pedagogies of Internationalisation.
Theories about international students’ transitions and broader experiences
| Theory | Purposefully over-simplified description | Suggested reading(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Ecological systems theory | The multiple environmental and social systems that impact on an individuals’ experiences | Original: Bronfenbrenner, 1979 Further conceptualisation in higher education: Jones, 2017 Example in practice: Elliot et al., 2016 |
| Multidimensional transition theory | The multilayered academic, social, and emotional transitions that individuals encounter when moving from one space to another | Introduction: Jindal-Snape & Ingram, 2013 Example in practice: Jindal-Snape & Rienties, 2016 |
| Academic resilience theory | Students’ capacity to adapt and develop under uncertainty or adversity | One approach: Holdsworth et al., 2017 Example in practice: Singh, 2021 |
| Rhizomatic transitions | Construction of students’ transitions experiences away from linear pathways towards more fluid, ongoing experiences | Original: Deleuze & Guatarri, 1987 Further conceptualisation in higher education: Gravett, 2019 Example in practice: Balloo et al., 2021 |
| Student engagement model | Model of factors that impact students’ university retention and success | Original: Tinto (1975) Example in practice: Rienties et al. (2012) |
| Liminality | Transitional space that may lead to disorientation or ambiguity | Original: Turner, 1969 Example in practice: Parker et al., 2010 |
Theories about identity development and the self
| Theory | Purposefully over-simplified description | Suggested reading(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Student agency theory | Students’ capacity to make choices within the constraints of their lived realities | One approach: Biesta & Tedder, 2007 Example in practice: Tran & Vu, 2016 |
| Identity theory | The construction of the self through interactions with experiences and culture | One approach: Hall, 1996 Example in practice: Pham & Saltmarsh, 2013 |
| Capability approach | Theory that people achieve well-being through their capabilities to be and do what they value | One approach: Nussbaum, 2011 Second approach: Sen, 1973; Sen, 1995 Example in practice: Fakunle, 2020 |
| Possible selves | Approach to understanding individuals’ imagined ‘like-to-be’ and ‘like-to-avoid’ futures | Original: Markus & Nurius, 1986 Application to higher education: Harrison, 2018; Henderson et al., 2019 Example in practice: Yang & Noels, 2013 |
| Intersectional theory | Framework for understanding how a person’s multiple identities lead to different forms of oppression and discrimination | Original: Crenshaw, 1989 Example in practice: Forbes-Mewett & McColloch, 2015 |
| Critical race theory | Recognition of race as a social construct and that social structures are inherently racist | Starting point: McCoy, 2015 Example in practice: Yao et al. (2018) |
| Gendered racialisation | The intersecting identities of gender and race | Original: Selod (2018) Example in practice: Karaman & Christian (2020) |
Theories about intercultural friendships / relationships
| Theory | Purposefully over-simplified description | Suggested reading(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Intercultural friendship framework | Framework for understanding how intercultural friendships develop on higher education campuses | Kudo et al., 2019 |
| Intergroup contact theory | Theory that biases and prejudices can be minimized through positive contact with people from different outgroups | Original: Allport, 1954 More modern introduction: Dovidio et al., 2005 Meta-analysis: Pettigrew & Tropp, 2006 |
| Intergroup threat theory | Theory that encounters between individuals from different backgrounds can lead to discomforts or threatening feelings | Original: Stephen & Stephen, 2000 Example in practice: Harrison & Peacock, 2013 |
Theories about pedagogies with international students
| Theory | Purposefully over-simplified description | Suggested reading(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Critical pedagogies | Application of critical theory to education; philosophy of education that focuses on issues of social justice, power imbalances, and domination | Originals: Freire, 1970; Giroux, 2011 Linked to international students: Khalideen, 2015 |
| Engaged pedagogy | Critical pedagogy approach that values relationships between student / teacher, teacher self-actualisation, humanistic approaches to education | Original: hooks, 1994 Linked to international students: Madge et al., 2009 |
| Academic hospitality | Reflection on academic staff as ‘hosts’ to reciprocally support students as ‘guests’ | Original: Bennett, 2000 Further conceptualisation: Ploner, 2018 |
| Bernstein’s pedagogic devices | Theory focusing on the ways pedagogies represent symbolic control over knowledge | Original: Bernstein, 2000 Example in practice: Zeegers & Barron, 2008 |
| Transformative learning | Evaluation of past experience through the acquisition of new knowledge | Original: Mezirow, 1991 Example in practice: Nada et al., 2018; López Murillo, 2021 |
Theories about international students and the curriculum
| Theory | Purposefully over-simplified description | Suggested reading(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Hidden curriculum | The unwritten lessons learned about normative values, beliefs, ethics, etc. as a result of educational provisions and settings | Starting point: Apple, 1989 Example in practice: Kidman et al., 2017 |
| Internationalisation of the curriculum | Inclusion of international or intercultural elements into the content and delivery of education | Starting point: Leask, 2015 Further theorisation: Clifford & Montgomery, 2017 Example in practice: Vishwanath & Mummery, 2018 |
| Glocalisation | The blending of global and local elements in the curriculum | Starting point: Robertson, 1994 Further theorisation in higher education: Patel & Lynch, 2013 |
| Tourist gaze | Approach to learning about other cultures as a ‘guest’ or ‘tourist’ | Starting point: Urry & Larsen, 2011 Example in practice: Vinall & Shin, 2019 |
Social learning theories
| Theory | Purposefully over-simplified description | Suggested reading(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Communities of practice | A set of people who share a common interest or practice | Original: Wenger, 1998 Example in practice: Montgomery & McDowell, 2008 |
| Figured worlds | Development of the self in relation to the social types in their surrounding world | Original: Holland et al., 2001 Example in practice: Chang et al., 2017 |
| Cultural historical activity theory (CHAT) | Relationship between the mind and action within an individual’s situated social world | Original: Engestrom, 2001 Example in practice: Straker, 2016 |
Sociological theories
| Theory | Purposefully over-simplified description | Suggested reading(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Bourdieusian theory | Set of thinking tools for investigating power and the way it impacts individuals and societies through structural constraints | Original: Bourdieu, 1979 Helpful guide: Grenfell, 2013 Example in practice: Xu, 2017 |
| Foucauldian theory | Set of thinking tools for investigating power relationships in society, including how they influence language or practice | Original: Foucault, 1977; Foucault, 1972 Helpful guide: Ball, 2013 Example in practice: Koehne, 2006 |
| Gramscian theory | Theory of cultural hegemony – how the state and high economic class use institutions to maintain power | Original: Gramsci, 1971 Helpful guide: Mayo, 2015 Example in practice: Kim, 2011 |
Decolonial / postcolonial theories
| Theory | Purposefully over-simplified description | Suggested reading(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Orientalism | Negative portrayals and ‘othering’ of ‘the East’ by ‘the West’ which serve to maintain colonial power and assumed superiority | Original: Edward Said, 1978 Helpful guide: Leonardo, 2020 Example in practice: Yao, 2018 |
| Subjugation | Forced dominance of one group over another through (neo-)colonialism and violence | Original: Fanon, 1952 Helpful guide in education: Leonardo & Singh, 2017 |
| Third space / hybridity | The sense of ‘limbo’ or ‘in between-ness’ of individuals’ cultural identities | Original: Bhabha, 1994 Example in practice: Pitts & Brooks, 2017 |
| Double consciousness | The experience of dual identities in conflict within an oppressive society | Original: Du Bois, 1903 Example in practice: Valdez, 2015 |
Theories about mobilities
| Theory | Purposefully over-simplified description | Suggested reading(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Spacial theories | Relations between socially-constructed spaces and times | Original: Lefebvre & Nicholson-Smith (1991) Further theorisation in higher education: Larsen & Beech, 2014 Example in practice: Waters & Leung, 2012 |
| Migration infrastructures | Interlinking structures that enable or constrain mobilities | Starting point: Xiang & Lindquist, 2018 Example in practice: Hu et al., 2020 |
Digital Education Practices 
Cheers fer that wan Dustin man – what a set of useful summaries and links
How ya finding yer move tae Glasgow?
All best
G
Work like you don’t need money
Love like you’ve never been hurt
and dance like no-one’s watching
“Education either functions as an instrument which is used to facilitate integration of the younger generation into the logic of the present system and bring about conformity or it becomes the practice of freedom, the means by which men and women deal critically and creatively with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their world.” Richard Shaull (foreword to Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed)
“Education is the point at which we decide whether we love the world enough to assume responsibility for it, and by the same token save it from that ruin which except for renewal, except for the coming of the new and the young, would be inevitable.” Hannah Arendt (The Crisis of Education)
“it is impossible to imagine a future unless we have located ourselves in the present and its history; however, the reverse is also true in that we cannot locate ourselves in the present and its history unless we imagine the future and commit to creating it” (Anna Stetsenko, 2015).
“Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something is worth doing no matter how it turns out” Vaclev Havel
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