Exploring the Internationalization of Higher Education in Australia and Europe

The visit of Dr Honghzi Zhang marks an important milestone for not only the Learning from Asia project but also the Learning Institute.

 Dr.  Zhang is a Chinese scholar currently working at Monash University in Australia. He aims to implement Chinese methods into western education. Besides taking part in many activities and lectures planned by the Learning from Asia project he also graciously accepted the invitation to be a part of a talk regarding the internationalization of higher education alongside István Veres from the Erasmus+ institute, Gábor Dobos director of “Study in Hungary” and Gábor Halász senior researcher at the Learning Institute. The talk was moderated by János Setényi the director of the Learning Institute

We often hear about globalisation and internationalization in many contexts. The rise of the internet, open borders and elevated individual freedom makes it seem like the gradual homogenisation is inevitable. "Globalization is a trend which is going on in all fields of life... You can say that it's true for education as well. So, students, scholars, researchers, and teachers seek the best markets and the institutions want to be seen as players in the global higher education market." However we must evaluate what we gain and what we lose if we disregard the past for the sake of the future.

The goal of teachers all over the world is to equip their students with the necessary knowledge and skills to have a good foundation that they can stand on. The opinions of what this foundation entails differ greatly on not just a national level but from teacher to teacher in the same school.

The biggest fear regarding internationalization is the loss of cultural inheritance. In a market dominated by a few countries it is logical to assume that an internationalised education system would cater to their needs. "We need to think about the globalization utilization stage... Globalization is deeply connected with neoliberalism ideology, and some argue that is equates to westernization or Americanization, which can be problematic for maintaining cultural diversity."

While these concerns have their merits, the fact that internationalization is needed in many cases must be acknowledged, "European universities, especially the bigger ones, have a mission to be present in the European market, supported by the European Union not only for institutional interests but also for the interest of European identity. “  And to make better use of the Shengen zone some steps must be taken. A good example for this is the The European University Alliances. "The European University Alliances aim to go beyond joint or double degrees, moving towards truly European universities that act as single institutions and provide degrees accepted everywhere in Europe."