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This longitudinal case study examines reading difficulties identified in Grade 2 and Grade 6 national assessment test (NAT) scores in relation to Grade 9 NAT in Swedish (L1) and English (L2). A norm-referenced screening was used in Grade 2 to assess word reading and reading comprehension. In line with the simple view of reading, four subgroups were identified: (1) Typical reading development, (2) Word reading difficulties, (3) Reading comprehension difficulties, and (4) Mixed difficulties. Results indicate that reading difficulties in primary school have long-standing implications for educational attainment in Swedish and English. In logistic regression models students with reading difficulties in Grade 2 and low Grade 6 NAT-scores had a higher probability to achieve low attainment levels in Grade 9. This implies that a norm-referenced screening in Grade 2 can be useful for identifying students at risk of low attainment in language subjects at the end of compulsory school.

The present volume can be linked to a growing awareness of the potential in doctoral education for international experiences to deliver the pragmatic as well as values-based benefits of internationalisation (Jones & Killick, 2007). The former include the sharing of different perspectives on the field of study, alternative approaches to research and problem-solving, creating international collaboration and publication opportunities, developing research networks and offering career opportunities. The ‘values-based’ rationale for intercultural engagement is equally relevant at doctoral level as at other stages of education. Learning to work in multinational and multicultural teams and being open to different approaches and perspectives has become even more important as professional and project-based doctorates increase. Doctoral education is now much more than preparing candidates for academic careers.

This groundbreaking book highlights the profound impact of internationalization in doctoral education, offering a variety of models to align with student interests and needs. 

It includes insights from over seventy contributors spanning more than thirty-five national contexts on six continents, who explore the values and benefits of internationalization at the doctoral level, such as social and cultural enrichment, academic and personal growth, network enhancement, and research collaboration, paving the way for meaningful career opportunities in academia or elsewhere. Evaluating the outcomes of internationalization and the development of researcher identities, the volume underscores the immeasurable value and impact of internationalized doctoral experiences while recognizing the importance of student agency. Reflections from students and graduates reveal the merits of international experiences but also address challenges and pitfalls, including environmental, economic, equity, and decolonization concerns.

With implementable recommendations for institutions, academics, and students, this important book offers guidance for the future of internationalization in doctoral education and emphasizes the importance of strategic institutional approaches. Internationalization of the Doctoral Experience: Models, Opportunities and Outcomes is essential reading for anyone interested in the evolving landscape and transformative potential of internationalization in doctoral education.

This final chapter represents the Editors’ reactions to the chapters and case reflections within this book. It is structured around the three sections – Models, Opportunities/Challenges and Outcomes – and concludes by providing suggestions for the future of doctoral experience internationalisation for institutions, academics and students.

The short-term international immersion model (STIIM) for the internationalisation of doctoral education is a meeting between groups, or cohorts, of doctoral students from at least two countries. This chapter describes STIIM, and through examples from a four-day meeting in Wales, we illustrate how STIIM meetings can be designed to support learning and internationalisation. The chapter frames STIIM in its historical context in Norway and Sweden, highlights the democratic aspects of the model, and demonstrates the importance of socialisation into the academy as a global arena as supported by the model.

Doctoral students are expected to develop internationally transferable qualities and skills alongside acquiring the disciplinary content of their thesis. However, how universities support the development of these qualities and skills through international experience can run into barriers that affect participation, experiences, and outcomes. This chapter focuses on those barriers that can be viewed as systemic, personal, and linguistic, specifically in relation to the models and cases studies presented in Section One of this volume. These challenges include the legal and administrative routes to consensus; the variation in notions of doctorateness and the examination of the dissertation; and the balancing of economic and environmental costs against cultural, democratic, and linguistic gains. This chapter highlights aspects to be considered on the route to consensus to minimise friction between academics, students, and universities and to improve the doctoral student international experience.

Teaching training can lag changes in school and society. With the onset of ubiquitous writing and mobile devices, the literacies experiences of today’s school and teacher students are different to those of most teacher trainers. In this chapter, a sequence of case studies is presented linking the school student, the teacher education student, and the teacher educator to provide a multifaceted picture of literacies development. Two questionnaires answered by 71 and 39 upper secondary school students, respectively, provided a picture of literacies use in upper secondary school (Case Study 1). The written tasks and the post-writing interviews with three upper secondary school students highlighted the tensions between out-of-school ubiquitous literacies and the in-school academic writing demands (Case Study 2). The teacher education student participatory research case study with four students challenged perceptions of how teacher education students learn academic literacies, and of student resilience (Case Study 3). Together, the case studies showed a disconnection in school between school student contemporary ubiquitous literacies and school literacies expectations. Although finding ways to ameliorate this disconnection through innovative teacher education is important, finding ways to simultaneously strengthen student teachers’ learning autonomy, strengthen the sustainability of their teaching to keep abreast of ubiquitous literacies changes is central to make school inclusive and sustainable.

This paper explores the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on university pedagogy and the lessons that can be learned from students who experienced emergency remote teaching. Unlike many countries, Sweden did not impose a lockdown or curfew, allowing students to gather in small groups on university campuses while receiving online instruction. This unique hybrid situation enhances the relevance of our findings for the post-pandemic context. Employing a participatory research methodology, we collaborated with first-year university teacher education students to co-construct their experiences as new students during COVID-19. Our research aimed to understand how the students' socio-cultural context and their university experiences influenced their learning and what insights these experiences provide regarding students' agency for learning. Through collaborative discussions and thematic analysis, we identified that students formed close-knit study groups, developed a strong sense of agency, became self-directed learners, and offered each other mutual support. Our conclusions highlight the resilience of students, the value of informal and spontaneous collaborative learning groups, the high degree of agency among students, and the potential benefits of a pedagogy that is less controlling and scaffolded, allowing for spontaneous, creative, and inquiry-directed learning. Future research could investigate whether collaborative learning groups are more effective with reduced mandatory lecture and seminar loads.

This chapter considers the language biographies narrated by two female forced migrants from the area of the former Yugoslavia that is now Bosnia. We analyse these to access defining traumatic and agentic moments towards high-level language and literacy skills in Swedish. They arrived, along with many other forced migrants fleeing the Balkan wars, during a deep economic recession. The immigrant group has outperformed other forced migrant groups in Sweden and these language biographies provide pertinent insights into adaption, and the route to the achievement of high-level literacy and language competencies. These insights should be viewed broadly and not as prototypical for forced migrants. Our findings suggest agentic acts of proactive language- and literacy-learning need to be interwoven across an individual's social, academic, and working life.