Making international education about more than mobility

As the parable goes, many years ago there was an emperor so exceedingly fond of clothing that he spent all of his time and energy focused on being fashionable and well dressed. He surrounded himself with would-be adorers too intimidated to speak out in disagreement.

This timeless parable teaches that it is best to surround ourselves with those who are unafraid to ask questions or gently point out our absurdities.

Like the child who embarrassingly pointed out the emperor’s nakedness, the COVID-19 pandemic has begun to open our eyes to our own vanity and sense of exposure.

In spite of major economic and social transformations over the decades, higher education has, for the most part, remained fundamentally unchanged and its commitment to traditional credentialing and educational modalities has been unwavering.

As education abroad programming has gradually moved from the periphery of higher education to the educational core of many institutions, it, too, has been drawn into political and bureaucratic structures that have left many feeling unable or unwilling to criticise existing priorities or challenge the status quo.

We must not allow our pride or a romantic longing for a time prior to the pandemic to stand in our way of making important changes.

For years, the typical education abroad student profile has been a white, female undergraduate majoring in the humanities, social science or business at a major college or university.

She comes from a highly educated family, has little to no financial need and generally chooses to study in Europe on a programme of less than eight weeks.

Despite strong rhetoric and varied efforts over the years to boost participation of more diverse and representative enrolments, the general student profile has changed only modestly.

These efforts have, in part, spurred the arrival of new modes of learning and engagement, but our focus of attention has steadfastly remained on international mobility.

Although there are many challenges facing international education today, our shared goal remains the same – to graduate lifelong learners who have nuanced understandings of the international dimensions of their chosen disciplines and the intercultural competency skills needed to live and work successfully in a globally interconnected world.

Although our goal has not changed, how we realise this goal for our students has.

Not just international mobility

International mobility is but one methodology that has been leveraged to promote international learning and engagement. Alas, somewhere along the way, education abroad enrolment as a means to an end became the goal in and of itself. For some institutions, increasing the number of students who study abroad strangely became the metric of success.

This may, in part, explain the reluctance some institutions are experiencing today with embracing new modalities for international learning and engagement, despite the potential these modalities present for reaching a significantly greater and more diverse population of students.

Of course, students still want to study abroad and to live and learn alongside people of different cultures and backgrounds.

International mobility as we have known it will certainly continue, but a new and greatly expanded repertoire of strategies and methodologies that do not rely solely on mobility has emerged and begun to move into mainstream programming.

It is an exciting time to pilot new methodologies that encourage all learners, even those unable to travel abroad, to meaningfully explore the international dimensions of their chosen disciplines and develop intercultural competency skills needed for the future.

Fortunately, an increasing number of institutions around the United States have begun to successfully pilot other modalities, including COIL programming, virtual internships, course-level exchange alliances, and so on.

In particular, the University of Tennessee (UT) has begun to embrace innovative and forward-looking strategies to support the international learning and engagement of a new generation of students.

The COVID-19 pandemic has sparked a renewed commitment at UT to foster global awareness and academic, personal and professional growth among their students.

Internal systems and structures are being adapted to allow new thinking and an unburdened pursuit of new methodologies.

UT is reframing its mobility programmes, expanding access through online programming and promoting equity for all learners by integrating global expectations into the curricula and life of the institution.

Already, their portfolio of online global programmes is opening new worlds of opportunity for a broader diversity and number of students.

Students are enrolling in online courses taught by their international partners and participating in virtual exchanges, internships, service-learning and undergraduate research programmes.

Global tech programmes

UT has recently partnered with relative newcomer Podium Education to offer a series of global tech programmes to enable students to develop in-demand tech skills for the modern workforce.

This innovative partnership also allows UT to expand and diversify its portfolio, reach new students, generate revenue and collaborate with campus stakeholders in piloting new educational technologies and modalities to internationalise the curriculum.

Podium Education is but one edtech company offering new directions in international learning and engagement. At UT, it is like the emperor has a new groove.

Although the pandemic has greatly disrupted higher education around the world, it has also reset education abroad for institutions like UT. Like the emperor many years ago, it should now be evident to all that we, too, have been caught up in a myopic view of our potential.

To truly support international learning and engagement for all students will require that we avoid the temptation of returning to our exclusive focus on international mobility, but rather embrace a broader, more expansive view of the future, and preferably one in which we are fully dressed for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

Dr Anthony C Ogden is managing partner of Gateway International Group. E-mail: aogden@gatewayinternational.org. He is also co-author of Education Abroad: Bridging scholarship and practice. Anne Hulse is the interim director of Programs Abroad within the Center for Global Engagement at the University of Tennessee, United States.