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recognized his immediate need to change the way people thought about internationalisation,

and the broader benefits such a change in thinking could have for students in other
institutions in Europe, given the persistently low number of mobile students and the difficulty
of assessing what they had learned from their experiences. He coined the term
‘Internationalisation at Home’ as a way to signal a new way of thinking about

internationalisation. It was adopted by others in Europe and a Special Interest Group for IaH
was established within the EAIE in 1999. The concept has been adopted and adapted by

others since.

The original concept of Internationalisation at Home had a strong focus on intercultural

issues and on diversity. It used a fairly short definition, “Any internationally related activity
with the exception of outbound student and staff mobility” (Crowther et al., 2001, p. 8). This

definition led to numerous questions. It implied that Internationalisation at Home was a
phenomenon that could be detached from outgoing mobility. Could an international
experience at home promote outgoing mobility and enhance the quality of a study related

stay abroad? Could it equip students with skills that would allow them to make more of their
study or placement abroad? Despite these as yet unanswered questions, Internationalisation
at Home has been a useful way to shift the focus onto what teachers and learners do in their

local classrooms and communities rather than on relying solely on sending students abroad
to develop their international perspectives (Beelen & Leask, 2011).

Regional and national variations in approach
The four themes described above are prominent in the literature describing and critiquing

approaches to internationalisation of the curriculum in different parts of the world over the
past ten years. In a globalised world it is not surprising that a concept emerging in one
national and regional context is adapted to other contexts. Hence the activities associated

with internationalisation of the curriculum are both similar and different across regions of the
world. This is in large part due to the influence of political, economic and socio-cultural
drivers within the local context (Leask & Bridge 2013). There is also variation with the same

region at the same time, and over time.

For example, while Internationalisation at Home in Europe has developed strongly over the
last ten years, there are still widely different approaches across the continent. The scope
differs from country to country, university to university and discipline to discipline. The tools

for Internationalisation at Home have also evolved over time resulting in new approaches.
Technology now makes new tools available to those who want to internationalise curricula at

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