Vol 3 | Issue 3 (2015) | pp. 41-45 © 2015 Journal of Perspectives in Applied Academic Practice 41 Promoting Intercultural Engagement: Developing a Toolkit for Staff and Students in Higher Education Mark Dunford, Nita Muir and Pilar Teran, University of Brighton, UK Marita Grimwood, Independent Learning and Teaching Consultant ABSTRACT This ‘on the horizon’ paper describes and reflects on the development of an intercultural engagement toolkit for academic staff in Higher Education Institutions, for use across a range of disciplines. Higher Education in the UK is continuing to grapple with two aspects of an internationalising sector: increasing numbers of non-UK students (HESA, 2015) and the need to prepare students for a globalised society (Guimaraes-Iosif, 2011). Academic staff are often uncertain about how to engage with these forces in their curricula (Barker, Hibbins, & Farrelly, 2011). While they have different levels of awareness of issues and theories relating to internationalisation of the curriculum, even those with high levels of international experience can be unsure as to how to implement effective changes to learning and teaching. A reflective toolkit to support academic staff was developed with funding from the Higher Education Academy, aiming to support universal processes of cultural negotiation in the context of programme teams and class groups. These resources have been developed following thematic analysis of focus groups and interviews with academics and students across a range of disciplines. Six key areas were identified as being influential: intercultural dialogue, global citizenship, positioning of the academic, design of curricula and assessment, international collaboration and communications. This paper will explore these themes and the theoretical framework which is the scaffolding for the toolkit, including the most recent literature (Killick, 2015; Leask, 2015). It also explores successes and frustrations experienced in the process, and ideas for the toolkit’s future development. Keywords: Intercultural engagement; intercultural communication; curriculum internationalisation Introduction This paper describes and reflects on the development of a reflective ‘toolkit’ to support academics in developing intercultural engagement in the classroom. It was a response to two aspects of an internationalising sector: an increased number of non-UK students (HESA, 2015) and the need to prepare all students, from the UK and elsewhere, for a globalised society (Guimaraes-Iosif, 2011). The toolkit, which is a series of reflective exercises, ‘talking heads’ videos, and simple self-evaluation tools, is designed for use in course teams and with class groups. It was developed by a team at the University of Brighton between January and July 2015, to be used across a range of disciplines. This paper reflects back on the process from its initial conception to the completion of the University of Brighton team’s work on it, and its submission to the funding body – the Higher Education Academy (HEA). At the time of writing, the toolkit is due to be developed into an interactive, web-based resource for the HEA’s website. Historically, the University of Brighton’s approach to Internationalisation has been rather fragmentary. The Strategic Plan (2012– 2015) set out a laudable ambition to foster internationalisation of learning and research, with commitment to nurturing values of inclusivity, yet this policy was not aligned with clear strategic drivers. The result was a series of well-intentioned activities scattered across the University – for example, two elective modules in Language and Intercultural Awareness were established in 2012 – but with some important areas inadvertently neglected. Yet with no coordination of activity, such strengths often flowed from individual commitment. The context changed in 2010, when the University of Brighton International College (UBIC) was established as the result of a partnership with Kaplan International Colleges. The college was created to provide international students with a foundation year in English Language and their chosen academic discipline. This has meant a steadily increasing number of students from different countries entering a range of the University of Brighton’s undergraduate degree programmes. Therefore the idea of an internationalised curriculum, whereby all students are supported to benefit fully from the significant intercultural learning opportunities available to them, has become even more relevant. With this context in mind, a Faculty-based team at the University began developing a co-ordinated approach to staff development in this area, building on strengths and redressing weaknesses. Following some initial workshops and awareness-raising events, the team extended to include colleagues from across the University. We gained support and funding from the HEA through a Strategic Enhancement Programme in Internationalisation. We had noted that, while levels of awareness of issues and theories relating to internationalisation of the curriculum vary widely, even those academic staff with high levels of international experience are often uncertain as to how to implement effective changes to learning and teaching. Thus, we set out to create a toolkit to support universal processes of cultural negotiation in the context of programme teams and class groups. Our initiative sought to bring a greater