Internationalisation in Norwegian Health and Social Care Curricula – a Document Analysis

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the rationale for internationalisation, and how Norwegian goals for internationalisation are expressed in relevant White Papers, regulation on a common national curriculum for health and social care studies, the Norwegian national regulations for education programmes and curricula for these education programmes at the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences. The study employed qualitative, descriptive and explorative content analysis. Norwegian government guidelines clearly emphasise the need for integrating internationalisation into higher education. The Norwegian national regulations for health and social care education hardly use terms such as internationalisation, but the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences still follows up relevant White Papers. Focus such as cultural competence can be seen as an interpretation of internationalisation, and partly bridge the gap between different policies. This gap, however, should be an issue that should be addressed in future national regulations for health and social care education.