Experiences of International Education

Fabrizio Trifirò (international education...a force for good)

This is the last episode of Experiences of International Education. The journey comes full circle as the podcast concludes where it all began—with a conversation with Brandon Lee. In this episode, I take a turn to share my personal journey through international education. I also reflect on key insights gained from engaging with over 50 experts and practitioners from around the globe. One of my biggest takeaways is that international education is not just a profession—it represents a shared, normative vision of how we can live together in a globally interconnected world. This community not only values and celebrates diversity but also recognizes its power to address the pressing challenges of our time, and help us becoming better versions of ourselves. This collective vision can sometimes be overshadowed by the demands of our daily work. My hope with this podcast series was to hold up a mirror to the international education community, reminding us of the incredible force for change and good that we can be when we work together.

Borhene Chakroun (leaving no one behind through lifelong learning for all)

Borhene shares the story of his first involvement in international education through a teacher training program in Tunisia and how the driving force behind his career has been the commitment to ensuring no one is left behind in education. He explains how UNESCO is advancing the agenda of widening access to education, as outlined in SDG4 through a range of key initiatives. These include normative tools like conventions and recommendations, policy dialogues such as the High-Level Steering Committee that oversees SDG4 implementation, and the collection of data on education trends through resources like the Global Education Monitoring Report, which tracks progress toward SDG4 targets. Borhene highlights the importance of the Global Recognition Convention as a key instrument for fostering international cooperation, stressing the need for an integrated ecosystem involving all key stakeholders in international education, including  universities, quality assurance and qualification recognition bodies, and teachers’ associations. He also emphasized the role of the Convention in supporting lifelong learning by facilitating the recognition of learning achieved in diverse settings, including non-formal and informal contexts… and he shares his memorable involvement in the adoption of the 2015 Incheon Declaration, which for the first time included the lifelong learning agenda, as well as a project in Malawi aimed at providing foundational skills through community learning centers.

Andreas Corcoran (fostering a global conversation and cooperation in HE)

Andreas Corcoran, Deputy Secretary General of the International Association of Universities (IAU), shares his global education journey, which brought him to study in various European countries and the United States and culminated with postgraduate studies at the European University Institute in Fiesole, Florence. His professional steps after graduating took him to Canterbury in the UK and Rome as Director of Higher Education in charge of the academic and organisational development of a newly established university in Tanzania Andreas reflects on the vital role IAU plays in fostering global dialogue and collaboration among universities, addressing key challenges like those related to the SDGs, articulating the continued value and relevance of higher education in today’s fast changing world, and overcoming competition in an increasingly commodified international higher education landscape. He also emphasizes the importance of adopting fair, ethical approaches to internationalization, advocating for the equitable circulation of knowledge, students… and shares the memorable experience of an elderly man in Kenya showing him the tree under which he received his first formal education, which reminded him of education’s critical role in nurturing curiosity and passing knowledge from one generation to the next.

Andrew Atherton (TNE and Universities’ global social mission)

Professor Andrew Atherton, Vice-President International and Engagement at the University of Southampton, tells how his involvement with international education started as an undergraduate student at SOAS where he studied Chinese and economics spending his second year in Beijing. His international experience continued studying his Masters’ at Yale University where he also started his academic career, before moving back to the UK to Durham University. Andrew tells us of the University of Southampton’s strategic goal to become a global institution embracing a multi-nodal model with campuses in diverse international locations and progressing with establishing the first foreign branch campus in India under the University Grants Commission (UGC) regulations. He reflects on the broader strategic drivers behind the University's goal of establishing three branch campuses by 2030, stressing the role that TNE can play in helping institutions take their social mission to widen access to education to the global level. He shares his concerns about recent policy developments restricting international student flows in traditionally receiving anglophone countries, as well as his confidence in the future of international education where TNE will be playing a growing role in meeting growing global demand for education and training closer to home… and he shares the memorable experiences associated with achieving something collectively that you couldn't on your own.

Kyuseok Kim (a perspective from South Korea)

Kyuseok Kim, Center Director at IES Abroad Seoul, tells us how his interest in international education began when as a teaching assistant at an international summer school program in South Korea, where he worked closely with a broad range of international faculty and students, and experience that contributed to his decision to work in the international education sector, including eventually at Suny Korea, the first and the largest US campus in South Korea, operating within Incheon Global Campus education hub. KS shares his passion for facilitating transformative international education experiences for students, and how he has been able to put this passion into practice in his current work as the inaugural Director of IES Abroad Seoul. KS also shares his insights into the challenges and opportunities associated with the internationalisation of the South Korean higher education sector, and South Korea’s ambition to become an international hub in Asia, pointing to the South Korea’s strategic need to attract more international students to offset the decline in the domestic student population. KS reflects on the impact of technology and AI to enhance the learning experience of students, foster more inclusive and diverse learning environments, and embed sustainability in education.