Think Education

Have you ever wondered what our senior academic colleagues get up to on international higher education trips?  Turns out, it is perhaps not quite as glamorous as pictured.  In the post-pandemic era, there is a very real need to demonstrate value and return for travel and this can put a lot of pressure on international trips.  Agendas are full; travel can be taxing; and there are often simply too many cups of coffee! In today’s episode of the Think Education podcast, Judith and Chris discuss Judith’s recent trip to China, as part of a delegation of senior UK higher education representatives.  Judith reflects on her China trip and provides insight on the workings of senior level delegations – the travel; the discussions; the collaborative nature of interaction; and the need to make the best use of one’s time. Judith and Chris discuss travel pre and post pandemic and reflect on some of their experiences working at distance in international higher education, including some of the real challenges – such as humidit

Have you ever found yourself at a conference and wondered, 'am I really here and where is here in fact?'  If so, this is the podcast for you! In this latest Think Education podcast Prof Christopher Hill talks to Professor Perry Hobson, Director of BUas Academy for Tourism at Breda University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands, about fake conferences and the impact these have on academia. Perry outlined work he has undertaken looking at the issue of fake conferences, how they operate and the knock on effect they can have on academic practice. We discussed the academic practice of creating and disseminating knowledge and the challenges of access – in terms of paid journal subscriptions – faced by many countries around the world.   Mounties always get their man! https://www.linkedin.com/in/professor-perry-hobson-5b7517b/?originalSubdomain=nl #fakeconferences #academicintegrity #researchengagement #publication #journals

To coincide with Judith’s trip to China, this latest episode of the Think Education sees Chris and Judith talking to Leina Shi, Director Education British Council China, about her move to China during the pandemic, leaving UK higher education after 20 years, and the scope and scale of the role she now occupies, including British Council priorities in China.   Leina reflected on the changes she has seen in western approaches to China over her career and the renewed interest and willingness to engage post-pandemic and offers insight on how this process could be managed.   We talked about digital engagement and virtual connections, as compared to face to face trust building. Leina talked about the event she is organising this week, which brings together key UK and Chinese university stakeholders to discuss collaboration and future activity. Leina gave us a sneak preview into some of the techniques she uses to increase engagement during both online and face to face events.   We asked Leina about identity in inter

In this latest Think Education episode Judith and Chris discuss the wonder that is Clearing. For those not familiar with this exciting time of the year, Clearing is the process by which UK universities and colleges fill any places they still have on their courses.  It is an action packed, and often stressful, time of the year for almost all involved.   As students around the world get ready to begin their university journey, we decided to reflect back on our own experiences with Clearing - including the need for regular sugar fueling with mars bar cakes and Jo’s ice cream - the value it has to a university and the impact this can have on people and their sense of identity and wellbeing.   We talked about the student experience and how life changing attending university can be. We thought back to our own experiences and reflected on the pressures placed on young people today to have all the answers - as opposed to having the freedom to simply learn and explore.   You may not always get what you want, but hopef

Freshly returned from his summer holiday, Mason chose to travel back to revolutionary France today.   We talked about why revolutions often happen and how people have the power to change things for themselves and for each other.   Mason pointed out that having a King who does nothing but party, and a Queen who is more concerned with styling her hair to look like a boat than with whether people have enough food, is not a good recipe for happy people.   We realised that a lot of Mason’s favourite periods in history have to do with revolutions or one group trying to overthrow another. Not unsurprisingly, we are going to talk about the American Revolution in a future episode!

In this latest Think Education Podcast episode @ProfChrisHill and @ProfJudithLamie talk about the wonderful world of academic conferences.  As many of us turn our attention to the new academic term and returning to the office and classroom, we naturally thought it made sense to talk about leaving campus in pursuit of the conference experience! During this podcast, we share some of our horror (and success) stories from the early days of our academic careers to the present day, and offer some insights into what we have ‘learned’ along the way. We reflect on the value of in person events and how best to navigate the experience, and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the online model that has been so popular and necessary in recent years. Judith and Chris compare notes on the role and value of conferences in their respective locations (UK and UAE) and think about the student experience within this space. We try to offer some guidance and support for students and early career academics here and would welc

In this latest Think Education podcast, Prof Christopher Hill talks to Dr Ahmed Shaban about his work with the Sharjah Private Education Authority and discusses the recent initiative of a four day week in the private schooling system. Dr Ahmed outlines the process involved in designing, developing and implementing the four-day week within the private education sector in Sharjah (an Emirate of the United Arab Emirates) and reflects on the initial stages of the implementation. The discussion moved to impact and wellbeing and Dr Ahmed reported on the current findings and feedback received from key stakeholders, the mechanisms in place to fully support the changes, and some of the knock on effects of the change – such as reduced traffic and increased social activity. I asked Dr Ahmed about the change in the schooling day and where the additional hours of learning ended up.  I was curious to learn how you are able to condense five days into four – and of course, you can’t, not completely.  The four days do become

Hot off the press!!  Judith and Chris discuss the release of their latest book and reflect on the process of writing it.  The Evolving Nature of Universities: What Shapes and Influences Identity in International Higher Education (Routledge 2023: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003389361) In previous podcasts, Judith and Chris discussed the start of the process and how they developed both the ideas and the practical aspects of the book.  In this episode, they reflect back on how initial ideas evolved and how new ones emerged.  It is seemingly a good idea to be open to inspiration and to allow a little freedom as you write – you never know where the next good idea will come from. Judith and Chris talked about the sheer enjoyment and opportunities to learn that come from working with collaborators and the absolute need to increase the different perspectives to which we are exposed.  A staple in our books is the student voice chapter and to this we added a parental perspective.  It is often easy to think we understan

Another repeat episode for the summer period! In this episode, Judith and I chat about our writing process and how we collaborated with colleagues around the world.  Writing can often be a tricky business but if you can find people you like working with, like listening to, and like learning from, it can be a whole lot easier! If you haven't already heard this one, please enjoy Judith and I chatting about how we write, how we work with contributors to develop ideas and to learn from alternative perspectives. #writingabook #workingwithothers #workingatdistance #collaboration #partnerships

As the summer is fully upon us and people are perhaps a little less likely to listen to podcasts, we didn't want to put up new content with interesting colleagues - for fear that the episodes wouldn't be as widely appreciated as they should be.  So instead, we thought it better to stick with just us! As our second book is now imminent, our thoughts turned back to the start of the process.  Or maybe the middle, it is hard to keep track sometimes!\ If you haven't already heard this one, please enjoy Judith and I chatting about how we write, how we come up with ideas, and how we manage to produce work at distance.  If you have already heard this (thank you for listening) and perhaps you can enjoy it anew! #writingabook #workingatdistance #collaboration #partnerships

In this latest #ThinkEducation podcast, @ProfChrisHill talks to Paula Sanderson @PaulaSanderso16 about the leadership, training, identity and space in TNE.  Paula, COO Interim Middlesex University has held Chief Operating Officer roles at Queen Mary University of London, SOAS University of London, and University of Reading Malaysia, as well as senior operations roles at the University of Sydney and University of Exeter. Paula reflects on her doctoral work on governance and ethics in international education, and her time working in various international TNE operations, to discuss issues of cultural awareness; communication; training needs; and development opportunities. I asked Paula about her work on space and how replicating the home campus exactly can actually create barriers and obstacles for TNE students, rather than the sense of sameness.  We talked about the challenges of navigating the need to replicate quality and the desire to contextualize the experience, and then – if possible – to exchange informa

In this latest Think Education podcast @ProfChrisHill talked to Hugh Martin, Registrar and Chief Administrative Officer at The British University in Dubai, about the role of universities within society and the value of education. Hugh reflected on his extensive experience in Higher Education senior management to discuss the power universities have to make a positive impact upon society, and indeed how they have an invaluable role in providing spaces for discourse, information interrogation and knowledge dissemination.  Hugh reflected that universities could certainly do more to demonstrate their value and that the power of higher education, when not viewed as a mere stepping stone to employment, can be instrumental in shaping and developing society. Our conversation moved through the learning experience and how the pressures that young people face today – in terms of deciding their future – could be better replaced with choices and options for learning.  By creating space and time to think and develop, univer

In this latest Think Education podcast @ProfChrisHill talks to Professor Perry Hobson, Director of BUas Academy for Tourism at Breda University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands, about the timely issue of international students and how they are viewed in different contexts. As students around the world are navigating the summer period and thinking about upcoming study activity, travel and new chapters and challenges, we took this podcast session to think about how we in the academic community, and society more broadly, think about international students and how they could be better supported. Perry reflects on his time in the Netherlands and the way in which international students are counted, viewed and even courted. Our attention then, rather predictably, turned to the situation in the UK and the politicization of international students.  We discussed student mobility and differing approaches to attracting and supporting international students during their studies and the ever thorny issue of what you

In this latest Think Education podcast @ProfChrisHill talked to Fion Lim, Associate Professor in General Management at UTS Business School in Sydney Australia, about TNE partnerships, online learning and the student experience.   Fion reflected on her extensive experience in TNE partnership management to discuss partnerships pre and post-COVID, what worked in the past, want doesn’t work now, and what could work in the future.   We talked about emerging trends in TNE partnership and the possible role for branch campuses and hybrid learning in this space.  Fion reflected on her experience working with partners in China to offer insights into key opportunities and challenges of engagement and partnership development.   We talked about how we measure success in TNE and the need to move away from the pure business model and focus instead on the student experience, impact and relevance of the degree.  Fion highlighted examples where the teaching material and content delivered in TNE arrangements was of little to no

In this latest Think Education podcast, @ProfChrisHill talks to @_Jacktlee Lecturer in Comparative Education and Education Policy @EdinburghUni about his recent article Romanticizing decolonization and Asian epistemology: reflections on identity and space and his journey through international higher education. In September 2023, Jack will be joining UofGlasgow as a Senior Lecturer. Jack reflected on the role of agency in international higher education and how this can dictate both identity and activity.  Jack talked about the Global South and the varying levels of development and power that exist within such a wide area.  Jack used his international experience to reflect on motivations and realities in different countries and the need to be critical of information sources and to interrogate assumptions. Jack talked about hybrid mobility and the impact that student movement can have on ideas, identity and realities.  We discussed the changing policies and motivations of countries when it comes to student mobil

In this latest #ThinkEducation #podcast episode, @ProfChrisHill talked to Prof Angela Yung-chi Hou - Professor of Higher Education and Associate Dean of College of Education, National Chengchi University (@nccu1927) Taiwan – about quality assurance in Asia.  We discussed emerging trends and the ways in which QA agencies are responding.   Angela reflected on conducting quality assurance activities during the pandemic and what changes have been retained, by agencies, as a result.  Angela explored the challenges in cross border collaboration and joint degree accreditation and discussed the role of governments and external agencies.  We talked about the role of stakeholders and the need to involve students more explicitly in the process.   Angela outlined the key challenges ahead for quality assurance and offered her perspective on what this might mean practically moving forwards.   We can all learn from each other, so let’s keep on talking.   https://www.linkedin.com/in/angela-yung-chi-hou-0b0279208/?originalSub

1066 and all that! In this latest episode, Mason wove different strands of history together to tell the story of the Battle of Hastings, moving from Harold, to William to the Vikings and back again. We talked about the role of leaders; the importance of a name; how a bad weather day can really mess up a battle; and the importance to look up to avoid arrows, and down to avoid spears!  We even managed to link a Viking king to modern technology.

In this latest #ThinkEducation #podcast @ProfChrisHill talks to Dr Cheryl Yu (@cherylqiumeiYu) about the Arts in international higher education.  We discussed how we should think about impact and value in internationalisation and how this is related to the creation and co-creation of knowledge – and the extent to which this is linked to the politics of language. We talked about the ‘traditional’ understanding and definitions in place around concepts, locations and pathways to international higher education; how this impacts the way we think about value and place; and what might happen if, and when, these concepts become defined elsewhere? Cheryl reflected on horizontal and vertical internationalisation and the need for HEIs to understand their motivations behind engaging in internationalisation, what they want to get out of it, and what their partners need and want to get out of it too.   Hopefully we can begin to think more deeply about how we think.   #China #globalnorthandsouth #collaboration #cocreatingkn

In the latest Think Education podcast @ProfChrisHill talked to @Dr_A_Bautista about the life of an international academic.  Dr Alfredo Bautista is an Associate Professor in the Department of Early Childhood Education (ECE) at The Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK) and has a wealth of international experience, having worked in Spain, North America, Singapore and now Hong Kong.   Alfredo talked about his journey from his PhD to his current position and offered reflections and advice to colleagues working in, or thinking about working in, international higher education.   Alfredo discussed, in passionate detail, his approach to learning and the need to not let our pre-judgements and assumptions get in the way of trying to understand new context and ways of doing things.   You may not always have a plan, but it is great when it comes together!   https://www.linkedin.com/in/alfredo-bautista-65a256157/ https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Alfredo-Bautista-2 https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/riya20   #inte

In today’s Think Education podcast episode @ProfChrisHill talks to Joyce Achampong (@Intl_HE) Associate Director EMEA, Executive Director and Founder of PIVOT Global Education Consulting Group about current issues regarding the youth skills agenda and employability. Joyce brought her expertise in design and delivery of learning programme development and her in-depth experience working on grass-root development projects around the world, to offer insight and analysis of where we are, where we should be, and where we might be headed. We discussed the role of higher education in the skills agenda and the disconnect felt in many places around the world in terms of skill readiness and relevance.  Traditional approaches are not agile enough and we need to rethink our approach in many areas. Joyce highlighted the need for contextual understanding to support capacity building. People need to be seen and heard. The bridge doesn’t always need to go from A to B.  It needs to go where it is needed!   #youthskillsagenda #