Refocusing the Narrative on the International Higher Education Policy

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant disruption to international higher education worldwide. This was particularly notable in countries like Australia that have heavily depended on the income from the international student fees. During the pandemic such transactional and economy-based models of international education proved to be vulnerable to changing environment. In this chapter we argue that enhancement of international education in the future will require refocusing the narrative on international education from financial or reputational gains to student learning and experience. To do so, academic community needs to be more involved in institutional international education discussions, development and decision-making. We frame our speculation about the possible futures of international education around four areas that could inform a more engaged, diverse and inclusive policy for international education. Drawing mainly on Australian context we invite readers to consider these four areas and ways to include diverse voices into the narrative on the international education in their institutions.