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to challenge both the nature of the curriculum and the paradigms on which it is based in

order to do this and to focus attention on all students rather than just a few, has had impact
internationally. Again, however, there are variations in approach in different universities
within the region. Increased interest in the recruitment of fee-paying international students in
some universities in the US may result in strategies to modify curriculum content as well as

pedagogy in order utilise this diversity to internationalise the learning outcomes of local
students. If this is the case there is much to be learned from the efforts of those in Australia,

the UK and Canada who have sought to do the same.

An understanding of the concept of internationalisation of the curriculum and the trends and

phases observed in Europe, Australia and the US have to some extent informed the
discourse around the possible meaning of internationalisation in South Africa. The context in

South Africa is, however, quite different. Globalisation has contributed to the dominance of
Western educational models formulated in the developed world (Marginson, 2003). These
models reflect significant similarity to Eurocentric practices, programmes and paradigms.

This hegemony of Western perspectives from the developed world is of direct relevance to
the process of internationalisation of South African higher education which has been affected
by different considerations than those described above in Europe and Australia (Zeleza,

2012). Zeleza argues that internationalisation that is not grounded and nourished by African
epistemic roots is likely to reproduce and reinforce the production of mimic knowledges, pale
copies of western knowledges of little value to Africa and no consequence to world

scholarship (Zeleza, 2012). Higher education Institutions in South Africa remain challenged
by questions of the relevance and value of the knowledge produced by scholars in their

institutions and the fairness with which this is disseminated and utilised by students and
scholars worldwide.

Commentators in other parts of the developing world have also cautioned against re-
colonisation and a continuation of oppression through the reproduction of Western policies

and practices in developing countries seeking to internationalise their higher education
systems (Mok, 2007). Debates about internationalisation often evoke nationalist reactions
akin to those against colonialism as scholars search for alternative and legitimate knowledge

regimes and paradigms. One of the challenges facing higher education institutions in the
developing world seeking to internationalise is resolving the tension between the competing
needs of local versus global development, on achieving an appropriate balance between

developing the skills, knowledge and mindsets needed to support national development and
those required for the successful participation of individuals and the country in a globalised
world.

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