Globalization And Internationalization Essay

Unmuddling Globalization and Internationalization

To begin with, there is much discussion into what globalization and internationalization at the postsecondary education level mean (Altbach & Knight, 2007; Guoa & Chase, 2011; Qiang, 2003). There is even confusion in the literature between internationalization and globalization (de Wit, 1995). Globalization, as Spring (2008) argues, concerns the current reality relevant to the virtual impossibility for nations, societies and communities to sequester themselves and their educational functions from their counterparts in the world. Information and knowledge are now shared instantaneously through communication technologies. Mobility of human capital, knowledge and skills equipped individuals, across

For instance, education and its related learning and teaching undertakings are not only relevant to the economic structures of their context, but also education reflects, produces and reproduces cultural and social realities (Bowles & Gintis 1976; Bowles & Gintis, 2002). Globalization has been imposing interaction, remodeling, and sometimes what I would like to call ‘akinesia of educations’, as systems and individuals from different structures, relevant to diverse localities, engage in exchanges. The dilemma of the status of our perception of knowledge and the role of education in society today is unfolded by our limited understanding of possible future directions resulting from global exchanges.

On the other hand, internationalization in higher education, as Knight (2003) puts it, is “the process of integrating an international, intercultural or global dimension into the purpose, functions or delivery of post-secondary education” (p. 2.). Hence, internationalization in higher education includes activities such as academic (student and faculty) mobility, program linkage and partnerships of institutions at different countries, satellite campuses abroad, international programs, and international research