Evolution or Revolution? Dualities in Internationalization Through Student Mobility Programs as an Imprint of the Pandemic in Higher Education

Abstract

This chapter presents findings from a qualitative study conducted among students from Germany, Hungary, Portugal, France, and Poland on their expectations and experiences of learning in two types of international mobility (physical and virtual) during the pandemic of 2020. The authors identified imprints of internationalization onto the students’ learning. They are of a binary nature and manifest themselves in the following dualities: Duality 1: Expectations (new life experiences) versus reality requirements (empowerment); Duality 2: Formal learning (at university) versus non-formal learning (outside formal environments as a part of daily life); Duality 3: Designing (the digital environment) versus reconstruction (the “old order” of university learning); Duality 4: Latitudes (choice of method, place, and time of learning) versus restrictions (staying at home and family responsibilities). Moreover, internationalization through student mobility programs simultaneously show features of some revolutionary changes and evolutionary transformations that have come about during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Citation

Leek, J., Rojek, M. and Erdei, L.A. (2023), "Evolution or Revolution? Dualities in Internationalization Through Student Mobility Programs as an Imprint of the Pandemic in Higher Education", Wiseman, A.W., Matherly, C. and Crumley-Effinger, M. (Ed.) Internationalization and Imprints of the Pandemic on Higher Education Worldwide (International Perspectives on Education and Society, Vol. 44), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 147-161. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-367920230000044009