Creating international partnerships: rethinking attitudes towards establishing sustainable relationships in higher education

Abstract

While there is a growing body of literature around establishing and facilitating transnational partnerships in higher education institutions, much of this work is around economic and quality assurance issues at the institutional level. To date comparatively little investigation has focused on the individual implications for academics who work in transnational partnership contexts. This article attempts, through the use of narrative, to explore the establishment of an affective relationship between a faculty of education in a large regional Australian university and a partner institution in the Asian region. The ‘space’ in which this relationship has been established is the focus. Reflecting upon the perceptual, sociological, ideological, political and ecological dimensions of the space (Gruenewald, 2003), it is clear that the issue of social relationships needs careful scrutiny. The authors postulate that to enhance learning and teaching across contexts, transnational partnership building needs to privilege the human element, as well as the more evidential quality assurance and compliance aspects of such arrangements, for staff as well as for students.