The adaptation process of international lecturers in a South African university: The centrality of agency and collegiality

Loïse Jeannin (1, 2)

1 UJ - University of Johannesburg [South Africa]
2 ACTé - Activité, Connaissance, Transmission, éducation

Teaching in a new country initiates a process of adaptation requiring emotional, cognitive and behavioural adjustments. This qualitative study explores international lecturers' perceptions of their adaptation process in a South African university. The findings, based on semi-structured interviews with six lecturers from six different countries, indicate that teachers' agency and collegiality are crucial interrelated factors of adaptation. Agency and collegiality enabled lecturers to receive context-relevant information and decide how to modify their pedagogical practices. The description of the adaptation process provides new insights for staff induction programmes.

Mots clés: faculty development; Adaptation process; agency; collegiality; transnational mobility; internationalisation

Domaines: Education

Loïse Jeannin. The adaptation process of international lecturers in a South African university: The centrality of agency and collegiality. Journal of Research in International Education, 2017, 16 (3), pp.236 - 247. ⟨10.1177/1475240917746035⟩. ⟨hal-01892135⟩