Cultivating global citizenship: Reciprocity, people-to-people relationships, and cultural acknowledgement for building true internationalisation

Abstract

The internationalisation of Higher Education is an evolving non-linear phenomenon, associated with the globalisation of the world economy in the way it affects the needs and objectives of education. Over the past decades it has increasingly become a fundamental part of governmental agendas, through the interconnections between student learning, employment, university governance, education diplomacy, knowledge economy, socio-economic impacts and countries’ strategies to influence international reputation. As a result, it affects global politics, and the world's economy.  In a world divided by concepts such as developed and developing economies, colonisers and colonised nations or student sources and student destinations, internationalisation became entwined with historical legacies. It is marked by contemporary challenges that created barriers for the development of a truly reciprocal and collaborative approach to partnerships. The progressive adoption of English as the mainstream language for research publication, the use of migration policies and the concept of full tuition fees for international students reinforced a colonialist, westernised idea of the world that may ignore indigenous goals and epistemologies. While the principle of reciprocity is a key element in the internationalisation discourse, its practical application can be challenging due to historical imbalances. This presentation will explore possibilities where commonalities between Latin America and New Zealand historical, geographical, and social contexts could lead into the development of a more inclusive and equitable approach to internationalisation in Education. The presentation will delve in possible answers for the question: would it be possible to leverage the values brought by diaspora communities, in alignment with those established by the Māori culture, for the development of a new model of internationalisation strategy, valuing developing a more inclusive and equitable approach to internationalisation of higher education? It contributes to an expanded understanding ot the structural aspects of internationalisation through the proposition of non-colonial approaches and a commentary on practice.