International Mindedness
entry by Julie M. Marx, Global Family Expert at Expat Valley
An orientation toward the world characterized by respect for and curiosity about other cultures, awareness of global interconnectedness, and commitment to human dignity across national boundaries. Widely cited as a goal of international education, though the term remains contested in terms of whether it constitutes a measurable competence or an aspirational disposition.
Comparable terms
Global citizenship (education — broader; includes civic participation and social responsibility) · Intercultural understanding (education — emphasizes relational and affective dimensions) · Cosmopolitanism (philosophy, sociology — theoretical framing of identity beyond nationality) · World-mindedness (older psychological research — Sampson & Smith, 1957) · International awareness (education — simpler, less theoretically loaded variant)
Why this matters
International mindedness is often the stated goal of international schooling. It moves education beyond passport‑based identity toward shared responsibility and curiosity. Clarifying what it means in practice keeps it from becoming vague marketing language.
Cross-references
Global Mindset (Identity & Belonging); Intercultural Competence (Cultural Adaptation); Expandable Worldview (Identity & Belonging); International School (Education). Global mindset describes the cognitive structure that international mindedness aims to develop; intercultural competence describes the behavioral and attitudinal capacity that makes it actionable. Expandable worldview documents the experiential outcome of genuine international mindedness in mobile populations. The international school entry provides the institutional context within which international mindedness is most explicitly pursued as an educational goal.
Sources
Hayden, M.C. & Thompson, J.J. (2013). International mindedness: Connecting concepts to practice. In L.P. Stagg (Ed.), International-Mindedness: Global Perspectives for Learners and Educators. Urban Publications.
International mindedness as a contested construct is addressed critically in: Haywood, T. (2015). International mindedness and its enemies. In M. Hayden, J. Levy & J. Thompson (Eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Research in International Education (2nd ed., pp. 45–58). SAGE.
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