On intercultural dimension of internationalization of higher education and intercultural learning in formal and non-formal education: the experts’ views from Italy and Ukraine

This research was intended to contribute to a deeper understanding of intercultural dimension of internationalization of higher education and intercultural learning through the perception of policy-makers, representatives of higher education and civil society sectors from Italy and Ukraine. Both countries stive to become more open to the outer world and help their citizens to live and work in the global context. More specifically we have attempted to study if internationalization has operated a shift towards qualitative learning objectives, making universities to focus on intercultural learning within the internationalization process. Universities in both countries strive to be internationally highly ranked and to have numerous international studentship, however they form different multicultural contexts, ways to institutional policy and practice, have different internationalization strategies, different traditions of cultural and language homogeneity in education systems. The cases provided from Italy and Ukraine will illustrate how the policies of internationalization cultivate the intercultural awareness. This is not intended to be a comparison between the two countries but rather as a snapshot of the ways internationalization agendas enhance cosmopolitan outlook of the academia in different locations. Under the complexity of the globalized world it is an urgent need to draw attention at the historical mission of the university education concerning the formation of globally aware citizens. Challenges of globalization today continue to increase pressure for the education to change curriculum and learning environment in order to educate young generation to be capable to live and work in culturally diverse society. The research idea is to examine whether the internationalization of higher education stimulates the universities to fulfill this mission. The present research examines how these discourses interact with internationalization of higher education, taken particular universities in Italy and Ukraine as the research sites. The intercultural/global discourses are complex phenomena represented through various ideas and practices, hence they can be understood differently in different places, by different people, and also may lead to different outcomes. The research is done as a comparative study in two countries: Italy and Ukraine. The higher education institutions in both countries strive to be internationally highly ranked and to have numerous international studentship, however they form different multicultural contexts, ways to institutional policy and practice, have different internationalization strategies, different traditions of cultural and language homogeneity in education systems. The cases provided from Italy and Ukraine will illustrate how the policies of internationalization of higher education at national and institutional levels meet the stated above challenges.

本研究旨在通过意大利与乌克兰两国政策制定者、高等教育界及公民社会代表的视角，深化对高等教育国际化的跨文化维度与跨文化学习的理解。两国均致力于进一步扩大对外开放，助力本国公民在全球语境下开展生活与工作。具体而言，本研究尝试探讨高等教育国际化是否已转向质性学习目标，推动高校在国际化进程中聚焦跨文化学习。两国高校均力争跻身全球顶尖排名，吸纳众多国际学生，但二者的多元文化语境、制度政策与实践路径、国际化战略以及教育体系中的文化与语言同质化传统均存在显著差异。本研究选取的意大利与乌克兰两国案例，将阐明高等教育国际化政策如何培育跨文化意识。本研究并非旨在对两国进行比较，而是以快照形式展现不同地域的高等教育国际化议程，如何提升学术界的世界主义视野。在全球化世界的复杂语境下，唤起人们对大学教育历史使命的关注刻不容缓——这一使命即培养具有全球视野的公民。当下全球化带来的挑战持续加剧，迫使教育领域变革课程体系与学习环境，以培养能够在多元文化社会中生活与工作的年轻一代。本研究的核心思路，便是考察高等教育国际化是否能够推动高校履行这一历史使命。本研究以意大利与乌克兰的部分高校为研究场域，考察此类跨文化/全球话语如何与高等教育国际化产生互动。跨文化与全球话语是复杂的现象，体现为多样的理念与实践，因此不同地域、不同群体对其理解存在差异，且可能带来不同的实践结果。本研究采用比较研究方法，以意大利与乌克兰两国为研究对象。两国高校均力争跻身全球顶尖排名、吸纳众多国际学生，但二者的多元文化语境、制度政策与实践路径、国际化战略以及教育体系中的文化与语言同质化传统均存在显著差异。本研究选取的意大利与乌克兰两国案例，将阐明国家与高校层面的高等教育国际化政策，如何应对前文所述的各类挑战。