Critical Considerations for Optimizing the Support for International Student Engagement

Hosting international students enriches the educational, intercultural, social, political, and economic capitals of the host communities. It is therefore a significant privilege and opportunity for education providers and host countries to educate students from other countries. But it is also the ho...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of international students 2022-01, Vol.12 (3), p.I-VIII
Main Authors: Tran, Ly Thi, Blackmore, Jill, bes-Mewett, Helen, Nguyen, Diep Thi Bich, Hartridge, Danielle, Aldana, Renata
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Best practice
Career Planning
Community
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
Distance learning
Employment
Foreign students
Geopolitics
Intercultural communication
International Education
Learner Engagement
Learning Activities
Mental health
Pandemics
Student Experience
Student Mobility
Student participation
Teaching
Teaching Methods
Transnationalism
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Summary:Hosting international students enriches the educational, intercultural, social, political, and economic capitals of the host communities. It is therefore a significant privilege and opportunity for education providers and host countries to educate students from other countries. But it is also the host communities' responsibility to nurture an optimal education experience for this cohort, which in turn helps strengthen international education for all. Student engagement is vital for creating a welcoming, caring and positive experience for international students.International student engagement is often situated in physical and virtual mobilities, in-between spaces, transnational interactions with new educational, socio-cultural environment, and home-host connectedness/disconnectedness. International students' transnational movements and intersections with the new environment shape and reshape their engagement with space, people, communities as well as cultural and academic practices (Blackmore et al., 2021; Kang & Hwang, 2022; Tran & Gomes, 2017).International student engagement is often linked with and relies on optimal student experiences across a range of interrelated aspects, including:* connection between international students and domestic students and communities* engagement with support services regarding mental health and wellbeing, accommodation, finance, intercultural communication, and language and learning skills* work-integrated learning (WIL) and employability* engagement with face-to-face, hybrid and online learning and teaching* international students' navigation through crises such as, health, financial, natural disaster, geopolitical crises, or war.COVID-19 has exposed the vulnerabilities of international students as temporary residents and non-citizens in the host society and the devaluation of this cohort (Tran, 2020). The international discourse shows three main ways in which international students are de-valued: (i) the commercialisation and de-humanisation of international students as tradable commodities, (ii) the essentialisation of international students as a homogenous and deficit group, and (iii) the othering of international students, viewing them as 'others' or 'outsiders' in 'our' country and 'our' education system. However, the pandemic has, at the same time, been a catalyst for the host communities to critically reflect on the support provision for international students and the implications for future pathways, including t
ISSN:2162-3104
2166-3750