Philosophical grounds for internationalization of higher education

Abstract

The article deals with different conceptual approaches for understanding the phenomenon of the internationalization of higher education. Particularly misconceptions and myths about nature and purposes of internationalization circulating in academic society were analyzed. There are also various types of rationales of internationalization and it is emphasized that they do not contradict each other. Conceptual differences between internationalization and globalization were carefully reviewed, the principles of the higher education as national phenomenon are emphasized. The conclusion was made that higher education understood as national phenomenon is mostly focused on national particularities rather than on existing borders. The analysis of stakeholders of internationalization resulted the statement, that this phenomenon could be the priority of national or institutional policy but could not be the goal by itself. In this regard the genesis of internationalization is described as an attempt to integrate post-socialist countries into the common European space in the 1990–2000s, which was realized through the various programs of higher education’s quality improvement. Consequently, the principles of the internationalization of higher education lie between concepts “integration” and “quality” and could be understood as institutional process located inside this dichotomy.