Dr. Christian Bode Secretario General 1990–2010 Servicio Alemán de Intercambio Académico (DAAD)
La Responsabilidad de las Instituciones de Educación Superior en un mundo globalizado Discurso para la 3ra Jornada Latinoamericana y del Caribe para la Internacionalización de la Educación Superior en Cali / Colombia (26.10.2011)
Respetados Señoras y Señores: Los saludo a todos cordialmente y agradezco a los organizadores por esta honorable invitación a compartir experiencias, conocimientos y expectativas con todos Ustedes. Este privilegio lo agradezco probablemente a mis 20 (veinte) años de actividad en el DAAD, una organización representante de las universidades alemanas, que trabajando con un presupuesto de más de 500 (quinientos) Millones de dólares, se ha convertido en la organización más grande a nivel mundial en el ámbito del intercambio académico y la cooperación internacional. Los programas y balanzas del DAAD son también un sismómetro del desarrollo político y educativo a nivel global: - Después de la Segunda Guerra Mundial ha dominado el intercambio con nuestros vecinos de Europa Oriental y con América del Norte.
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- Luego de la caída del Muro y de la Cortina de Hierro surgió la reconciliación y ayuda de transformación para nuestros vecinos de Oriente y los estados sucesores de la entonces Unión Soviética. - Después se posicionaron China y otros países asiáticos y - recientemente estamos involucrados con los países árabes como socios en el proceso hacia la democratización y modernización de sus sociedades... Y America Latina? En los programas del DAAD Latinoamérica ha tenido tradicionalmente un papel importante pero no dominante. Esto ha cambiado notablemente en los últimos años: desde el año 2000 (dos mil) el número de los becarios latinoamericanos del DAAD se ha duplicado a mas de 5000 (cinco mil) por ano. Sólo en Colombia el DAAD firmó acuerdos de intercambios con 82 (ochenta y dos) Universidades (en el marco del programa ALECOL) y el número de becarios ha crecido exponencialmente. Se podrían mencionar más ejemplos. Este desarrollo testifica por un lado los avances cualitativos de sus universidades que son aceptadas en Europa como socios equivalentes, y por otro lado su creciente disposición de entrar en el ámbito internacional y desde allí buscar también nuevos socios. Sigan este camino, no hay otra alternativa razonable: la universidad del siglo XXI (veintiuno) será una universidad internacional o no será una universidad. Es por esto que llega este conferencia en el momento preciso. Yo sólo puedo recomendarlos a hacer de este evento una tradición comparable a la NAFSA en Norteamérica, EAIE en Europa y APAIE en Asia. Las relaciones académicas internacionales no pueden organizarse de manera centralista como la iglesia católica. Se necesita una red universal –como el internet–, y esa red a su vez necesita fuertes lazos regionales. Estos lazos regionales deben entonces definir en diálogos conjuntos la agenda global, y comunicarla en la política y la sociedad. Visto de esta manera me entiendo entonces como un tipo de persona enlace de la red Europa. Yo no he venido a ilustrarlos: he venido sobre todo a oír y a discutir. Todos nosotros debemos aprender a ser una sociedad universal de aprendizaje si queremos superar los retos del futuro. Y no los superaremos si no los afrontamos juntos.
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Respetados Señoras y Señores, espero que se dieron cuenta, de que estoy tratando de hablar en español. Lo estoy haciendo por dos razones: Quiero mostrar mi respeto por su idioma y su cultura y por otro lado quiero animarlos a hablar un idioma extranjero, incluso cuando realmente no lo dominan. Porque no debemos aceptar que las lenguas extranjeras se vean solo como un obstáculo y su aprendizaje se entienda únicamente como una carga. Más bien deberíamos promocionar que el aprender un idioma extranjero significa un gran enriquecimiento y que uno lo puede disfrutar. No por último, uno llega a conocer mejor su propio idioma – de la misma manera que uno redescubre y re-define su propia cultura e identidad - mediante una estadía intensiva en otro país. Por otro lado: Hay alrededor de 5000 (cinco mil ) idiomas en el mundo y 4999 (cuatro mil novecientos noventa y nueve) de ellos son idiomas extranjeros. Entonces necesitamos un idioma en común en el cual todos podemos comunicarnos. Y tal como están las cosas esto solo puede ser el inglés – no el inglés de William Shakespear o de un James Joyce, sino un inglés básico como instrumento de la comunicación que en el futuro formará parte de las soft skills del ciudadano del mundo como el manejo del computador o del internet... Permítanme que ahora sea este el idioma en que desarrolle mi tema, que habla de la educación superior en los tiempos de la gloablización – y de la responsabilidad de las universidades.
Ladies and gentlemen, the main messages of my talk seem to be simple and self-evident. And since keynote-speakers usually preach to the faithful, I guess that most of you will agree to them. But at the same time, I am afraid they are far from being common sense yet. They read as follows: 1. The driving force of our times is Globalization. Globalization is unavoidable, irreversible and implies both new opportunities and new threats. But its direction, speed and outcome finally depend on us.
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2. The universities, with their research capacity and their potential to educate the future leaders, have a crucial role and responsibility in shaping a fair and beneficial version of globalization. So far they have not lived up to this challenge. 3. The academic answer to Globalization is Internationalization, that is introducing the global dimension into teaching, study and research. In research it means a stronger commitment to global challenges such as climate, poverty, water and energy supply, health and so on. In teaching and study it means nothing less than educating truly global citizens. In this sense, internationalization is a prerequisite for a peaceful survival of our globe. 4. Academic Internationalization is more than mobility - but without mobility it is vain. Mobility is no longer an individual adventure but also an institutional obligation. It is equally important for student and staff. And true mobility has to be balanced on a two way road (balanced mobility). 5. Internationalization necessarily implies cross-border competition – and as such can serve as motor of innovation and improvement. Exaggerations in the ranking business, however, can be misleading, detrimental and even counterproductive. 6. No less important than competition is cooperation and both should go hand in hand. True cooperation means individual and institutional networking on the basis of mutual respect and solidarity. North-South cooperation in education, including Higher Education, although not honoured in ranking tables, is the most efficient and sustainable development aid. South-South-Cooperation gets increasingly important. 7. With all these political dimensions, internationalization is no private luxury but a public obligation. It needs not only encouragement and good will, but also financial aid and professional support. And it needs clear strategies of all stakeholders and at all levels from the single institution via national agencies and governments up to international associations and organsations. In this sense Internationalization of Higher Education opens a chance for change, a change for a better world for the generations to come.
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Dear colleagues, Even if everybody here in this room should agree to these claims, we know very well that the reality of our institutions and policies differs a lot from them. So a few more explanations and arguments might be helpful or even necessary. (1) Firstly, a couple of words about the political background and dimensions of globalization that impact also on the university system: After the fall of the iron curtain in 1990, the total defeat of the socialist model and the break-down of the Soviet Empire the process of globalisation has accelerated with exponential speed and at the same time has changed significantly in character. It features massive growth of world trade, easier and cheaper traffic, revolutionary new media of world-wide communication and it is driving towards a knowledge-based economy with an ever growing mobility of workforce, including students and scholars. At its core this new phase of globalisation is a rather peaceful competition and it can’t be denied, that the unleashed forces of the global market have led to a formerly unknown level of wealth creation in many parts of the world, most significantly in Asia. (2) Yet there has been a price to pay: Ecological and ethical considerations including our responsibility towards future generations were often, too often, neglected and sacrificed in favour of material progress. None of the global Millenium Development goals are likely to be reached in due course. The added value has not been fairly distributed, the gap between rich and poor has been increasing and thus the potential for social tensions has grown – this applies both to the individual level within our societies as to the gap between developing and advanced countries. We pay our top football players double-digit million salaries while thirty percent of the world population try to survive on two dollars a day or less. Nevertheless, the world population grows, mainly in developing countries, by 80 million a year and we expect a world population of 9 billion within one generation (2050); worldwide unemployment and poor – sometimes slave-like – work conditions are on the up. The natural ressources of our planet are being wasted and many precious raw materials will not be available any more in just one or two generations.
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Environmental pollution is on the march despite all mitigating efforts and advanced technology, global warming seems unstoppable, biodiversity is decreasing, and one third of the world population lacks access to safe drinking water. At the same time arms production and trade are breaking records and the danger of nuclear proliferation is more real than ever before. Simultaneously once relatively peaceful societies are falling into civil war or failed statehood, local anarchy, religious clashes and terrorist activities. Slowly and often reluctantly, we are beginning to realise that these problems are global, that they are, in fact, our challenges, and that they can be solved only if we tackle them jointly. (3) But these joint solutions seem all the more difficult, since the global pattern of power and international decision-making is dramatically changing. The world is becoming increasingly multipolar; the centre of gravity is shifting towards Asia, but also other emerging countries from Latin America or old players like Russia and the European Union are claiming their share. The G 20 conferences may have provided us with a preview of the new world order. The consequences are obvious: Solutions for the aformentioned problems can only be found in a peaceful and often difficult and sluggish process of consensus-finding among partners with diverging interests. This, in turn, requires mutual knowledge and understanding, a mixture of firm values and orientations on the one side and on the other side a spirit of openness, tolerance and readiness to compromise and to accept common rules for a global “modus vivendi” regardless of cultural or other differences. This requirement does not only apply to a small political elite of world leaders but also to the general public. Politicians who want to be reelected are driven or at least influenced by the public opinion which is articulated partly by radio, TV and newspapers and increasingly through the new so called “social media” twitter facebook and Co. which, as we have seen in the recent Arab revolutions, will change dramatically the political decision making process. We are actually witnessing a development of media democratization and the emergence of a digital global citizenship. That leads me to my second observation, concerning the role and responsibility of our universities in shaping the globalization process.
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The universities of today, - or at least a vast majority of them- enjoy two almost exclusive privileges and responsabilities: They have the relevant research facilities to exploit the potentials for future welfare and to reduce the risks of collateral dammages. And, even more important, they educate the future leaders worldwide in all relevant sectors of politics, business and science. And they profit from two more privileges which correspond with respective responsibilities: They are, at least the public universities, subsidised by the tax payer, and that gives them a certain amount of autonomy and independence from pressing parties and vested interests outside their campus. Secondly they are one of the few, if not the only institutions which exist in similar fashion and mission all over the world, which creates a unique opportunity for global dialogue. Do our universities make sufficient and beneficial use of these privileges? I am afraid: “no” or at least “not yet enough”. As far as research is concerned, our universities should do more to adress the agenda of global problems and risks. And they should raise their voices more loudly when globally crucial questions are at stake. Especially in the humanities and in the social sciences which are so badly needed the dedication to global issues and the efforts to cooperate on a global scale are by far too poor. To avoid misunderstandings: I am absolutely against all attempts to politicise our universities. On the contrary, we should separate even more clearly knowledge from belief, facts from opinions, truths from values. But as far as our political controversies have a knowlege component – and most of them do – the universities should contribute to a more rational debate and a sustainable solution. Even more important is the responsibility of the universities in educating the future leaders for a globalized world. Education for a globalized world means , first and foremost, providing all individuals with skills according to their talents and to empower them to survive and to succeed in a globally competitive economy.
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That is ambitious enough - but it is not enough. The smart guys in Wall Street, the City of London or the Bankenviertel of Frankfurt who gambled our world into an unprecedented financial crisis, many of them top graduates of the top Business Schools, were, no doubt, excellently prepared for their international business. But they – and their teachers - obviously lacked a moral orientation for a fair and responsible use of their skills. They might have been internationally qualified - but they were not globally educated. Truly global citizens, as I would define them, are personalities who stand out for three globally valid and relevant characteristics: Firstly, an ethos of responsibility and sustainability in the use of our natural ressources taking into account the needs of all inhabitants of our globe including the generations to come, Secondly, an ethos of cooperation and solidarity, which complements the necessary competition, guarantees fair play and diminishes the existential risks for the losers, and thirdly, an ethos of tolerance, of dialogue and compromise - based on the understanding of the global dimension of our problems, for he cultural differences of their solutions and for the legitimate interests of the others. (3) Again, I can imagine, that many of you agree – but as many will doubt whether and how these ideas can ever be realized. Well, I am not naïve, although always optimistic. I know that only one half of us is an angel and that often enough the devil prevails. But I do believe in the domesticating power of education and culture -specially when it meets with positive personal experiences. Let me exemplify that with the concept of study abroad as an opportunity for both developing your personality and at the same time gaining a personal insight into cultural differences and their peaceful coexistence: Of course you can try and teach personal development and intercultural understanding in the classroom. That will be as successful as a swimming course in television. So important as it might be to internationalize our curricula and our campuses, to chat with facebook friends from down under and to learn a foreign language on-line: nothing of that can be a match for the personal ex-
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perience to be a foreigner among foreigners, to make friends with them, to open up to their language, culture, way of thinking and living and thus redefine ones own identity and personality. Unfortunately this benefit of study abroad is often discouraged when it comes to the recognition of international credits . Too many professors still believe they are the navel of the world and study abroad is a kind of desertation, too many bother about comparability and compatibility instead of valuing the differences. If students should learn abroad exactly what they would have learnt at home, why then send them away? All experts know what our returnees report: it is the difference that makes the difference. The added value- at least for undergraduates- are not the disciplinary achievements but the intercultural experiences and the personal development. It is of course not guaranteed, but feasible enough that these experiences will facilitate the development of a global mindset which our future leaders should have. The most recent Bologna declaration has therefore set a benchmark of 20 % graduates who should have had a substantial international experience of several months of either study or internship abroad. Germany has gone further and raised the goal to 50 %. This is ambitious but achievable. We are already at more than 30 %. Of course, this goal can only be reached if the universities themselves assume an active role in promoting student mobility through advice, partnerships and networks, scholarships and generous recognition of study abroad credentials. And that has happened indeed in many countries. Europe in general and the European Union in particular have been the frontrunner in this respect. The famous Erasmus Programme which has already moved more than 3 million students across European borders has from the very beginning combined individual mobility with institutional responsibility and that has set the tone for many international and national programs that followed. This shift from individual adventurism to institutional responsibility is one of the major achievements of the last two decades in the field of academic mobilty. It is, as I said before, the academic answer to globalisation. It is surely not by chance that this development coincided in Europe with an almost incredible process of supranational harmonization of Higher Education Policy, named after the place of its formal departure, the Bologna Pro-
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cess. This kind of internationalization in the field of education would have been unimaginable 10 years before, when the world was still clearly divided in three parts and every member of the so called Western World jealously kept any foreign influence out of its borders (France even forbid their citizens the use of the English language in conferences on French Territory- now their universities offer courses taught in English‌). The membership list of the Bologna Process is now closed since it is linked to the membership in the European Council. But the agenda of Bologna is by no means genuine European and thus can easily be communicated to and discussed with non-european partners. The main topics like mobility, degree structure and comparability, the social dimension, the competition for talent and so forth are also on your conference programme here in Cali as they are in China or South Africa. All these developments, which in my view are a direct outcome of the general globalization process, have moved the international issues from the periphery to the center of university development and Higher Education policy. This is also shown in the appearance of explicit internationalization strategy papers on all levels: for our universities it is almost a standard to have such a strategy or at least to work on it and that is also the case for all national science organisations including the DAAD and the respective departments of the federal government. The same development takes place in other parts of the world, for instance in Japan and China, which until recently had been known only as major student export countries. They now set ambitious targets of international talent to be recruited from abroad, 300.000 in Japan and 800.000 in China. Other, smaller countries have done that before, some have even defined themselves as education hubs (like Singapore and the Emirates). These strategies are at the same time getting more sophisticated. In their early versions they were often focussed on student recruitment and all kind of support measures which could increase the competitiveness and attractiveness of the country’s universities in the global education market. Meanwhile new versions have added the outgoing component to the mobility chapter and offer scholarship programs for study abroad. These programmes increasingly include a quality dimension such as double degree programmes. Strategic networks are built as umbrellas for different kinds of activities in research and teaching. Programs of cooperation are driven by rather different motivations: some aim at helping developing countries, others follow the foreign cultural policy rationale of positioning their country among the influential
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circles in the world and again others try to draw scientific profit from a close cooperation with a partner of equal or superior quality. These examples might be enough to demonstrate that internationalization can stand for rather different motivations and activities and that it is worthwhile to thoroughly define your own way. Ladies and Gentlemen, dear Colleagues, Those of you, who are active in the business know, that strategies and goodwill don’t suffice. You also need professional know how and financial support. As for the financial support I am happy to report that in Europe education is widely seen as a public good which deserves taxpayers support and that this also applies for the international dimension of Higher Education, in particular for exchange and cooperation programmes. But it is also true that money, including public money, doesn’t flow automatically into the right direction, often enough the contrary happens. It therefore needs professional skills, good arguments, continuous efforts, intelligence information, sometimes also charm and charisma to grasp your share, in short: you need professional staff at all levels. Don’t believe that this is too difficult or even impossible. The DAAD started more than eighty years ago with 7 students who wanted to see the world and a couple of private scholarships, now we support more than 70.000 academics per year. We tripled the budget during the last two decades – inventing customized programs for different sponsors,- we have now 250 programs - sometimes offering solutions to problems which had not yet arrived and answering questions which the potential donor had not even thought of, including industry, foundations, international organisations, foreign governments and agencies into our clientele – as we did for instance with Columbia ( ALECOl-Program) and Brazil (CAPES-DAAD-programs). Dear colleagues, Nothing is stronger than an idea, whose time has come. Time hast come to strengthen your existing internationalization agencies or, when lacking, to establish them. It is never too late. A Chinese saying gives the right advice: “ The best time to plant a tree was 10 years ago – the second best is today…” In this sense: ¡Adelante amigos – y gracias por su atención!
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Contacto del Servicio Alemán de Intercambio Académico (DAAD) en Colombia
DAAD – Servicio Alemán de Intercambio Académico Centro de Información Colombia Carrera 11 A No. 93-52 Bogotá / Colombia Tel. (+57 1) 6019418 Email: info@daad.co www.facebook.com/DAAD Colombia www.twitter.com/DAADColombia www.daad.co
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