Internationalization Of Higher Education Case Study

Internationalization of higher education- Challenges and opportunities

Background Historical perspective
In the last three decades, increased students mobility and collaborative research have occurred as part of an emerging trend towards ‘Internationalization of higher education’ (Barnett, 2009). However, global sharing of information and knowledge dates back from medieval times in Asia and Europe, when international scholars got the opportunity for higher learning at the host institutes. The main difference between ancient way of internationalization of higher education and modern approaches is that the later has also taken into account the amongst others the social, civic and global trends to promote students’ knowledge and learning (Welikala,
In other words, IHE has come to prominence due to (i) enhanced international students mobility, (ii) student diversity, (iii) geo-political issues, (iv) newer source of knowledge and information and (v) global information and communication technology. These global ‘multi-perspective’ demand from the ‘world, life and work’ have created responsibilities and new thought process amongst the teachers, students, researchers and policy makers to realise the aim and objective of IHE (Welikala, 2011). Challenges to Internationalization of higher education
The most important challenges to IHE are in context to existing curriculum and pedagogical approaches. Both these aspects are important as they help to define and address the problems to IHE. The ultimate challenge according to proponents of IHE is the ability to promote ‘cultural variation in a global atmosphere of diversity in an interconnected and dependent society by teaching and learning’ to establish democratic values and beliefs (Baruth, LG and Manning, ML, 2000).
Roadmap for Internationalization of higher
However, in a critical pedagogical perspective, IHE can best be described as an ‘ongoing, counter-hegemonic educational process which occurs in an international context of knowledge and practice where societies are reviewed as subsystems of a larger inclusive world (Schoorman, 2000: 5). According to Schoorman, the ultimate objective of IHE is to enable a ‘comprehensive, multifaceted program of action’ embodied into ‘every aspect of education’ to prepare global citizen. Other scholars like (Giroux and Aronwitz, 1991; Knight, 2003) have also advocated the use of pedagogy to enable IHE which is beyond the ‘influence of culture, education and a teacher centred pedagogy’. In a nutshell, the aim of IHE is to provide in diverse socio-economic contexts ‘international experiences to all university staff and students’ to enable them to perform successfully at professional, economic and social