The Phases of International Education and Internationalization throughout History

Abstract

International education and internationalization have gone through distinct phases throughout world history and have become increasingly more complex and professional at each stage. Since Ancient Greece times, in different periods of history, international education included diverse student mobility patterns concentrating in particular regions of the world; and various stakeholders were involved in the international education processes with diversifying motivations. Currently, international education has become a very multi-faceted subject that falls into the fields of study of many disciplines such as educational sciences, economics, sociology, business administration, political science, public administration and international relations.

In this paper, firstly, conceptual background for international education and internationalization has been provided. Secondly, for the main purpose of the paper, the changes and the progress that international education has witnessed throughout history have been studied with a brief literature review. Findings and distinctive phases of international education are summarized within an informative and descriptive table. Remarks about the characteristics of the current situation and the prospects about the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on international education and internationalization have been added to the previous studies.