Faculty International Engagement: Examining Rationales, Strategies, and Barriers in Institutional Settings

The dramatic expansion of the international dimension in higher education has incited broadened and diverse interpretations of internationalization. As faculty members are integral in achieving many of the expected higher education goals, understanding their perspectives toward internationalization process is critical. Administrative leaders also play a vital role in influencing the conditions of internationalization and working alongside the faculty. Addressing the rationales, strategies, and barriers encountered, our study seeks to provide a comprehensive understanding of faculty internationalization. Employing a phenomenological design, we interviewed 22 participants, including central administrators of two public research universities and both faculty and administrative leaders of these universities’ colleges of education. Revealing diverse rationales, strategies, and barriers, our findings confirm faculty’s initiator and maintainer roles in operationalizing internationalization. Our study also corroborates the need for sustainable mechanisms and for a consensus between faculty perspectives and institutional priorities. Recommendations are made to improve faculty engagement in internationalization.

Decision Domains and Teacher Participation: A Qualitative Investigation of Decision-Making in Egyptian Schools

The purpose of this paper is to explore the gap between actual and desired decision domains as a potential factor affecting teacher participation in decision-making in Egyptian schools. In order to explore this gap, the study sets out to answer three questions: (1) what would a typology of school decisions look like in Egypt’s secondary schools? (2) How do Egyptian teachers perceive actual decisions made in their schools? (3) What decision domains are most desired by Egyptian teachers? The study employed a qualitative, descriptive research approach based on individual, semi-structured interviews with a sample of 85 school teachers and senior and middle management members in nine general secondary schools in Damietta County, Egypt. School documents were also collected and analyzed. These included minutes of meetings of school boards and Boards of Trustees (BOTs). A typology of school decisions was developed which revealed the absence of significant decisions related to curriculum. Teachers’ responses showed that they regarded school decisions as insignificant and irrelevant to their concerns, and that significant decisions are retained by central administrators. Desired decision areas were identified which included curriculum and student discipline policy. As this study is consistent with the current interest in decentralization and increased participation in Egypt’s schools, it is hoped that the findings will be useful to educational policy makers as well as practitioners as they implement decentralization initiatives in Egypt. The findings may also have relevance and applicability to comparable secondary schools in other parts of the world.