ph_international

2 |

Ausgabe 05 | 2018 | 2. Jg.

Reasoning

Borderline

To be or not to be

To think about internationalisation in education inevitably leads to the

question of the role, nature and function of borders.

Transnational cooperation and net-

working is not only inherent in econ-

omy

and

economically-oriented

sciences, but also a desideratum in

education, in particular in the case

of teacher education. And yet, it has

to be said that networking in educa-

tional systems represents a difficult

challenge, since country-specific con-

ditions have to be taken into account

when organising cross-border projects.

Educational systems in Europe are still

very much marked by national curric-

ula and syllabi in spite of continuous

demands for internationalisation. The

process of recognising teaching diplo-

mas obtained abroad or a study period

abroad frequently demands a high

degree of patience and willingness to

fulfil national standards by completing

additional lectures and seminars in situ.

There is no doubt, however, that the

European educational programmes

actively

promoting

cross-border

exchange in the last 30 years (e.g.

mobility projects within and outside

of Europe) have had a positive effect

on transnational cooperation and pro-

jects, both in general and in teacher

education. International exchange

is said to be the basis for a knowl-

edge-based society. Let us consider

that since 1992, more than 100,000

students benefitted from the Erasmus

programme. For the next programme

period starting in 2021, the European

Commission will double the funding

in order to increase the number of

mobile researchers, teaching staff, stu-

dents, apprentices and pupils. It seems

that especially since the extension of

the Erasmus programme to countries

outside the European Union (interna-

tional mobility), the world has become

borderless, at least for HEI (higher

education institutions). Students and

teaching/research staff simply have to

take advantage of such opportunities.

“Going

international”

advocates

unlimited exchange and mobility

across borders: borders are supposed

to be crossed in order to connect peo-

ple. An increasing awareness of the

inter-connectedness of the world has

brought with it a demand for open

borders. Inter-connectedness has not,

however, led to a borderless world, on

the contrary.

Recent political and socio-political

developments go in a completely dif-

ferent direction. Against the backdrop

of migration and refugees, national

borders have regained importance and

have become fences symbolising the

dichotomous world view of right-wing

parties: The rise of nationalism and

populist governments once again raises

the issue of the role of boundaries and

(national) borders which are based on

the concept of the inclusion of “US”and

the exclusion of “THEM”, the others.

Europe unfortunately is no exception.

Steps are taken to seal borders against

immigrants and refugees, the idea of

Europe as a fortress is presented as the

answer to migration, distrust between

EU member countries threatens the

Schengen agreement; toying with the

idea of exit led to Brexit. It is all about

borders and boundaries, apparently in

order to protect the interests of the

insiders against the outsiders.

In the context of these political devel-

opments, it is worth exploring dimen-

sions of bordering: I will give a brief

overview of different approaches to the

topic of borders, the way in which bor-

ders work, and the nature and function

of borders and bordering.

Human beings cannot exist in a bor-

derless world; disorientation and the

loss of meaning would be the conse-

quences.

Borders are everywhere, they are visi-

ble and invisible, they exist consciously

or unconsciously, they exist as national

borders, social borders, linguistic bor-

ders, ethnical borders, mental borders

etc.

To begin with, let us start with a gen-

eral, somewhat neutral definition:

borders or boundaries are lines which

mark the limits of an area.This defini-

tion refers to both concrete as well as

abstract borders (Oxford Dictionary).

Borders mark the end of something

and simultaneously the beginning of

something else. According to K. P.

Liessmann, borders represent a pre-

condition for enabling humans’ per-

ception and cognition. It is the distinc-

tion marked by borders which brings

something into being, which attracts

humans’ attention. Human beings can-

not exist in a borderless world; disori-

entation and the loss of meaning would

be the consequences. Needless to say

that this phenomenon also affects

language. Definitions are supposed to

unambiguously border the meaning of

terms and concepts in order to prevent

misunderstandings. The word “defini-

tion” goes back to “finis”, which means

“border”. To define something thus

aims at delimiting its meaning explic-

itly. Colleagues and students involved

in international (mobility) projects

may have experienced countless times

how important definitions are in order

to get a clear idea of how terms and

concepts are used in other educational

realities.

Thinking about borders, I am tempted

to add that they are of existential value

for human beings: Bordering gives ori-

entation and is even responsible for the

construction of self-awareness, which

can only be developed if the self is

bordered, limited against the other. In

the same way, borders also define social

groups of human beings, such as fam-

ilies, associations, political affiliations

etc. Thus, borders also give security by

facilitating orientation and identifi-

cation, allowing the development of a

sense of belonging and thus contribut-

ing to identity construction.

The coexistence of the members of a

society is constantly subject to border-

line practices, which also determine the

access to rights and privileges accord-

ing to group belongings. Everyone has

a whole range of group affiliations,

i.e. a personal conglomerate of border

openings and closures that structures

their own social life.

Borders obviously belong to the con-

stants of human thought and action;

they must be understood as complex

constructions that are subject to var-

iable consistency. For what a border

is and what its meaning is depends

on historical, political, social circum-

stances. Fears of the new, of the loss

of known values, grown identities and

“Human beings cannot

exist in a borderless

world; disorientation

and the loss of

meaning would be the

consequences.“

Spotlight

Grenzenlos

Josef Oberneder

Globalisierung und transnationale

gesellschaftliche Logiken haben

Hochschulen verstärkt seit den

1990er-Jahren in Richtung in-

ternationale Weiterentwicklung

beeinflusst. Insbesondere Europä-

ische und nationale Förder- und

Mobilitätsprogramme haben es

ermöglicht, dass Lehrende und

Studierende an internationalen

Forschungsprojekten und an Aus-

tauschprogrammen teilnehmen

und damit für globalisierte Ar-

beitsmärkte vorbereitet werden.

Im Sinne von Jane Knight können

die verstärkten internationalen

Entwicklungen von Hochschulen

umschrieben werden: „Internati-

onalisation of higher education is

the process of integrating an in-

ternational/intercultural dimensi-

on into the teaching, research and

service of the institution“.

Die Pädagogische Hochschule

Oberösterreich sieht die Internati-

onalisierung als ein zentrales Ziel,

dem ein dynamischer Prozess des

permanenten Reflektierens inne-

wohnt. Dies erfordert nicht nur

die Zählung von Teilnehmerin-

nen und Teilnehmern an interna-

tionalen Austauschprogrammen,

sondern vielmehr die gemeinsa-

me Erschließung wesentlicher

Erkenntnisse des gemeinsamen

Lernens in anderen kulturellen

Kontexten. Dabei sind vor allem

auch gesellschaftliche und bil-

dungspolitische Herausforderun-

gen von großer Bedeutung. Wir

sehen es als unsere Aufgabe eine

aufgeschlossene und engagierte

Haltung nach Lösungen für welt-

weite Bildungsfragen und Heraus-

forderungen zu fördern und ver-

schiedene kulturelle Perspektiven

und Sprachen als individuell und

kulturell bereichernd zu verstehen.

Unser Kooperationsnetzwerk um-

fasst eine große Anzahl von euro-

päischen Ländern sowie Georgien,

Weißrussland und Israel.

Das aktuelle Magazin der Päda-

gogischen Hochschule Oberös-

terreich gibt einen Überblick zu

vielen Bereichen und Aktivitäten

unserer internationalen Bemü-

hungen. Viel Freude beim Lesen!

Josef Oberneder,MASMBAMSc ist

Vizerektor für Hochschulmanagement und

Schulentwicklung an der Pädagogischen

Hochschule Oberösterreich.