Mobilising international student mobility: Exploring policy enactments in teacher education in Norway - by Dyred Pedersen [Scholarly Article - European Journal of Education, 2021]

Title:

Mobilising international student mobility: Exploring policy enactments in teacher education in Norway

Author:

Dyred Pedersen

Published:

European Journal of Education, 7 April 2021

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ejed.12451

Abstract:

This article analyses the internationalisation of higher education through the lens of student mobility, by exploring how mobility is realised in contexts that are shaped by different needs, purposes and actors. Drawing on interview data, this article explores perceptions and practices of student mobility as understood and described by a range of actors in three teacher education programmes in Norway. Findings show that mobility is mainly understood in terms of its professional relevance for students’ future teaching practice, but that this understanding increasingly competes with both academic and bureaucratic purposes. These different understandings are, in turn, found to create tensions in enactments of mobility, notably with regard to how different types of mobility are approached, how faculty and staff engage with mobility, and how the mobility agenda is constrained by student demands for mobility. The analysis suggests that (a) both programme‐specific and more general contextual factors influence the enactments of mobility and that (b) the preconditions for internationalisation may vary across higher education contexts—a point that is rarely addressed by policymakers.

Brokers of international student mobility: The roles and processes of education agents in China [Scholarly Article - European Journal of Education, 17 February 2021]

Title:

Brokers of international student mobility: The roles and processes of education agents in China

 

Authors:

Siyuan Feng & Hugo Horta

 

Published:

European Journal of Education, 17 February 2021

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ejed.12442

 

Abstract:

The study on which this article reports explored the role of education agents in international student mobility, developing a better understanding of how they operate, behave and think when dealing with the admissions processes of universities overseas. The behaviours and reasoning, the modus operandi, and positioning of education agents are analysed using agency theory; specifically, the information‐asymmetric relations that they have with the principals they serve. The context analysed was characterised by two types of admissions practices: (a) direct admissions to the university without the need for any preparatory courses and (b) dual admissions involving enrolment in the host universities' preparatory language centres before university enrolment proper. Students and their families are principals in both types of admissions processes, whereas universities overseas serve as a principal in the dual admissions process. The findings demonstrate a mix of transparent practices and those that border to unethical practices in international university admissions services, as well as student dependence on service providing agents who operate free from accountability. Agents are identified as a cog in the machine of international higher education, which increasingly works as a mechanism of socioeconomic reproduction.

 

Toward a Framework for (Re)Thinking the Ethics and Politics of International Student Mobility [Scholarly Article - Journal of Studies in International Education, 7 December 2020]

Title:

Toward a Framework for (Re)Thinking the Ethics and Politics of International Student Mobility

 

Author:

Peidong Yang

Published:

Journal of Studies in International Education, 7 December 2020

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1028315319889891

Abstract:

In recent years, scholarship on international student mobility (ISM) has proliferated across various social science disciplines. Of late, an interest in the ethics and politics of ISM seems to be emerging, as more scholars begin to consider critically questions about rights, responsibility, justice, equality, and so forth that inhere in the thorny relationships between ISM stakeholders. To date, however, these discussions remain largely scattered. Bringing together these scattered conversations in literature, this article outlines elements of a framework for (re)thinking the ethics and politics of ISM. The proposed framework identifies eight key ISM actors between whom various ethical and political relationships arise, where these relationships range from the social to the institutional. Furthermore, the framework discusses four sets of concepts from the literature deemed pertinent in thinking further about ISM ethics and politics. This proposed framework is aimed at stimulating further conversations and efforts to make ISM more socially equitable and sustainable.

Short Article - COVID-19 will speed up fall in international enrolment

Title:
COVID-19 will speed up fall in international enrolment

Author:
Marguerite Dennis

Published:
University World News, 25 April 2020

From the article:
"This is what I know about the future of international student enrolment in the United States. This will not be an easy article for US institutions to read. It was not an easy article for me to write because, for a quarter century, I travelled the world recruiting international students and saw first-hand the benefits of diversifying a campus with students from all over the world."

To read this article:
https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20200420115723916

Short Article: ‘Major disruption’ to student mobility from coronavirus feared

Title:
‘Major disruption’ to student mobility from coronavirus feared

Author: 
Jack Grove

Published:
Times Higher Education, 4 February 2020

From the article:
"The deadly coronavirus outbreak could have a major impact on international student mobility, sector leaders have warned, after thousands of learners were left stranded in China."

To read this article:
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/major-disruption-student-mobility-coronavirus-feared

Scholarly Article (Dec 2019): Toward a Framework for (Re)Thinking the Ethics and Politics of International Student Mobility

Title:
Toward a framework for (re)thinking the ethics and politics of international student mobility

Author:
Peidong Yang

Published:
Journal of Studies in International Education, Article first publised on 7 December 2019.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/1028315319889891

From the abstract:
"In recent years, scholarship on international student mobility (ISM) has proliferated across various social science disciplines. Of late, an interest in the ethics and politics of ISM seems to be emerging, as more scholars begin to consider critically questions about rights, responsibility, justice, equality, and so forth that inhere in the thorny relationships between ISM stakeholders. To date, however, these discussions remain largely scattered. Bringing together these scattered conversations in literature, this article outlines elements of a framework for (re)thinking the ethics and politics of ISM."