Responses. One of the main responses expressed by the participants of the School of Social Work was scholarly interest in the internationalisation of the curriculum

They were interested to engage in an ongoing dialogue with the researcher about the links between the literature of International Social Work and internationalisation of higher education. Some of them had already published papers or were in the process of publishing papers about their work with the international Social Work curriculum and their insights into internationalisation of the curriculum. They showed curiosity in trying to conceptualise their experiences in teaching in the international track by opening to the literature of

internationalisation of higher education, and some of them were interested in picking it up, in collaboration with the researcher, on a research level. These kinds of responses were evident in email exchanges, sharing of research articles and informal conversations. Finally, they were also appreciative of the space which the interview opened for them to share their intense experiences with the international programme.

7.2.2 Motivations. This section analyses the motivational forces driving the School of Social Work team to engage in internationalisation of the curriculum. Most of the

interview data in this case was derived from interviewees’ responses to the question:

What, for you, was/is the most compelling reason to internationalise the curriculum?

Data analysis, however, was not restricted to responses to this question alone, since other questions yielded responses which could be analyzed as expressions of motivation.

7.2.2.1 Academic prestige and strategic investment. A key motivational force to add an international curriculum was to elevate the prestige of the School of Social Work mostly in the national context, but also in the international one. Since this was the first international programme to be introduced in Israel, the expectation was that it would serve to attract more students and empower not only the School of Social Work but raise the profile of the entire institution. Moreover, the international programme was established during an intense security period when the college was regularly targeted by missile attacks, and there was therefore an even a greater need to attract students. Odilia further adds:

It goes beyond the pure academic motivation, it goes well with the times, it’s attractive for students and it sells well – if you tell a student that a programme includes mobility, the number of students who register instantly goes up. This was a significant driver for everyone to start opening international programmes.

Nevertheless, this kind of positioning of the international programme in the national and institutional contexts, seemed to have cultivated a sense of elitism around it within the School of Social Work and introduced some challenges. As Monica notes:

When it was set up, I think it was elitist. There was a lot of tension among the staff.

And more than any other programme in the department it brought a lot of competition around it, and a huge sense of inclusion/exclusion. Up until this year the lecturers in the programme only partly shared what was going on in their classes.

Monica describes a mix of "tension and admiration" which was initially felt towards the staff and students who were involved in the programme, a fact which possibly hindered some of them from sharing the many difficulties encountered in their experiences abroad. Rona too,

mentions the possible resistance towards the elitist positioning of the programme and says: “I know some people are against internationalisation, even in my own department…They claim it’s an exercise for the elite”. Monica, however, adds that the conceptions of the international programme have gradually changed and are currently characterised by a feeling among the staff that “we’re all carrying the students together”. She claims that the experiences of both staff and students are now more accessible to everyone.

Nelly, who is a tenured professor at a university and teaches as an adjunct in the college, offers a slightly different perspective on the unique setup of the international programme in the college. According to Nelly, it’s not simply an elitist exercise but rather a carefully constructed strategic move to empower the region and offer the weaker population of students the opportunity to engage in international activities. She says:

At [Green College] there’s an extraordinary situation, I haven’t seen that anywhere, where the college practically funds the whole internationalisation track for the

students. That’s unique! This a serious statement of commitment on behalf of the college, which is probably rooted in some ideological viewpoint of supporting weaker populations of students and realising how important this experience is. It is also a sign of a need to survive and be vital in this particular region. They want to attract students to study in the area, in the periphery. And if you want to offer a unique programme… you have to fund it. It’s something that can really define you and position you in the academic scene. And in this sense, you only have Green College in Israel who does that. (My emphasis)

Nelly also highlights the carefully constructed curriculum as an indicator of a more

comprehensive and strategic approach towards internationalisation, which includes extensive academic, mental and practical preparation towards the study and says that the “the

investment is HUGE, it’s not just financial”.

Taken together, these quotes point to a strategic institutional motivation to develop an

international programme in order to offer a unique opportunity for both the students from the area and at the same time, position itself as high-profile academic institution.

7.2.2.2 Peace-building dialogue and encounters with otherness. Some participants identified the Social Work discipline and profession as carrying the responsibility to develop a peace-building dialogue. In this context, internationalisation efforts should therefore be directed at addressing areas of tensions on both a national and international level. On the national level, the unique social, ethnic and religious fabric of Israeli society is an ongoing source of social friction which requires the facilitation of a positive dialogue. On the

international level, the political and military tensions with the neighboring Arab countries call for an alternative, peace-building dialogue to emerge. In both cases, the emphasis is on the ability to develop the capacity to acknowledge one’s own perspectives as well as those of others. As Monica notes:

Social Work has the mission to create a peace-building dialogue. That’s the mission of the discipline, worldwide…I think that if I look at sort of, now … the thread between what I did with the students in the Palestinian Jordanian community and Lublin, and our students here – in the course of my international exposure, originally to Palestinians and Jordanians, I think that it allowed in me to develop the ability, to be able to hold different views that I don’t agree with, at one and the same time.

Similarly, Rona and Nelly add:

There was a need to do something special in the college, to connect the very special local context of the college to the global one. We work in the heart of a conflict zone, next to Gaza. It’s exceptional. (Rona)

So when I think specifically of Social Work, and when we first considered potential study visit destination countries, Ethiopia and India were not random choices. And at the time also Jordan. The idea was to approach our neighbors in an effort to establish ties…(Nelly)

Max also emphasises the encounter with otherness as he reflects on what motivated him to participate in the international track:

[On] a deeper level, I went for it because it was echoing what I have been working on both in practice and in my research, which are related to what we call ‘critical Social Work’ and issues concerning ‘otherness’ and encounters with ‘the other’

And Nelly adds:

[The international track] meets the students in very sensitive places, and it generates new kinds of thinking about yourself, about the world, about the other who is close to you.

The capacity to engage in a constructive dialogue through reflection on one’s own identity and that of the other, can be seen as a strong motivational factor to internationalise the curriculum. This motivation is subsequently translated into one of the central interpretative themes in the emerging internationalised Social Work curriculum.

7.2.2.3 Fostering a glocalised perspective. The Social Work participants identified a need to promote an international curriculum in order to integrate global awareness and

experiences into the skillset of the future Social Work graduates. According to them, the local professional will increasingly be required to understand and deal with local cases which have a global context. As Odilia notes, there were several initiatives to develop an international curriculum and connect between the local and the global. One such example was a Tempus project in which a complete programme around Transnational Academic Careers in Child and

Youth Welfare was developed, in order to foster a global perspective in local matters, the so called ‘glocal’. It aimed to develop graduates who can have an international career in the field, understanding both the global trends in the field and the local adjustments to every context. Nelly further illustrates this direction and describes the kind of cases that the modern social worker would be required to address:

The idea behind this move or trend comes from our understanding that the world is becoming global and some of the problems which take place in other areas in the world have local resonance. The live example for such a phenomenon are refugees and asylum seekers - we’re talking about people who go elsewhere to advance themselves academically and professionally through various re-locations. So, we’re really talking about people who are mobile. This mobility generates psycho-social needs which are met by a local social worker who has to deal with realities coming from different places.

Rona describes the transformed mindset of a student who studies in the international track in terms of the global-local awareness:

I believe, that when you work locally you can see the global context. And then you can be active, you can understand, you know where you should put your resources and where not. Your whole attitude is completely different.

Although the formal requirements of the professional practice in Israel are not

necessarily aligned with this philosophy, and are sometimes even in tension with it, the Social Work lecturers view this development as both necessary and inevitable. As Odilia observes:

They don’t need that [for the certification]. I can say that very bluntly. They just don’t. If we talk about compulsory core knowledge, you don’t need that. But if you ask my personal professional opinion, I think EVERY professional should look

beyond the level of the local. Not necessarily India – it could be any other place: Italy, America. India is not THE highlight, it doesn’t have to be a third world experience, a student can go to Europe, where Social Work practice is very different from the Israeli one.

Altogether, there is a shared understanding that the Social Work profession is changing due to globalisation and that the local Social Work professional, wherever he or she is based, cannot afford to remain without access to a global mindset. This is a significant driver to internationalise the curriculum.

7.2.3 Interpretations. This section analyses the major themes which emerged for