Essential and Content-Related Characteristics of Higher Education Internationalization

This article aims to reveal essential and content-related characteristics of higher education internationalization. The main method to the study of this problem was the comparative analysis of scientific-pedagogical and sociological literature. The paper presents the evolution of "education internationalization" concept, the authors’ interpretation of the concept, identifies the main components of education internationalization (structural and administrative, organizational and substantive and procedural), four groups of factors of education internationalization (economic, political, cultural and educational). The materials of this paper are of value to the scientific community engaged in comparative studies in the field of higher education, for the teaching staff in educational programs designing in terms of education internationalization as well as for students of pedagogical specialties.


Introduction
In the new century defined as the century of knowledge there is the revision of the education objectives and its content in foreign and national high school.Primarily it is the formation of the student's personality creative potential, the formation of self-actualization need, and self-expression both while studying at high school and throughout life.There is the refocusing of educational process from training to developing and its result is the model of specialist which meets the following criteria: professional and social mobility, the ability to adapt to the information space, high level of intelligence, knowledge, skills, language skills, creativity, critical thinking, independence [EUN].
The UNESCO International Commission on Education for the XXI Century in the report "Education: a hidden treasure" emphasizes its crucial role both for the individual development and the whole society.According to the leading experts of the Council of Europe, the problems of the XXI century for all educational systems consist in overcoming the contradictions between: • the general and the particular, with the gradual transformation of the person (without losing his origins) in the citizen of the world who has a new way of thinking and culture based on humanistic culture of peace; • the traditions and the modernity which comprises human adaptation to the new changing conditions; • a variety of educational programs and learning technologies and guarantee of their continuity; • the content of education practice and the latest achievements of scientific thought, and others (Delors, 1996).
As noted in the UNESCO materials, solution to the problems of higher education at the international, regional, national and local levels should answer the purpose of quality improvement and internationalization which are the main criteria defining the strategic position of higher education in society and its internal organization at present.namely: -the growing needfor correspondence of the graduates general and professional training and integration of the international community, the world economy, labor and employment markets; -the need to train specialists who are ready to work in an increasingly interdependent and changing world having deep and comprehensive knowledge enriched with an international component (international competence) and intercultural communication skills; -openness of national educational systems to international cooperation based on the intention to participate in the processes of internationalization, human resources, financial and qualitative preparedness; -the need to maintain the competitiveness of education system in the international arena and to achieve international standards by education system; -strengthening specialty in the world science that pushes the intensification of international scientific cooperation; -increasing the export of educational services and products, the possibility of receiving additional funds in the budget of higher education institutions; -the need to support international security and peaceful relations between countries (Knight,1993;Mestenhausr, 1998;Dibrova, 2004;Dzhurinskiy, 2002;Kabanova, 2004).
The main objective of education internationalization was formulated by the American Association of administrators of higher education, that is: "training students (specialists) to the international cooperation and competition, which will dominate in the forthcoming decade in all spheres of society activity» (Research Agenda, 1996).
European education policy is aimed to preserve the diversity of educational systems taking into consideration their openness to the world experience and equality of opportunity to get higher education.Now it is the time of the historical development of the world higher education system that national isolation of HEEs is increasingly in conflict with the consequences and prospects of internationalization.That is why, the development trends of higher education in the beginning of the XXI century will be linked to the ongoing and increasing internationalization.The strategy of education internationalization provides the formulation of new educational purposes, adequately reflecting the change of education development strategy at the moment and involving rapid development of HEEs international activities (Perspectives, 1997).
The agent and representative of higher education internationalization ideas in the European community is the Academic Cooperation Association -ACA.This organization founded in 1993 and located in Brussels facilitates the exchange of information in the field of higher education internationalization and contacts between national ministries and agencies.It participates in management of pan-European educational programs and expertise of quality and activities in the field of higher education internationalization.
Activities of the European countries on the harmonization of their education systems was called Bologna process involving the structural adjustment, the reform of national higher education systems, large-scale reform of education internationalization, the change of educational programs and the necessary institutional reforms of HEEs.The long-term objective of this program is the creation of pan-European space of higher education to enhance the effectiveness of graduates' employment in united Europe, mobility of citizens in the labor market and strengthening the competitiveness of European higher education.
Orientation to the higher education internationalization is recorded in a number of state documents of various countries.Thus, the "Basic Act on Higher Education" in Germany says: "Higher education institutions should facilitate internationalization, in particular, European cooperation in the field of higher education and students' exchange between German and foreign institutions of higher education; they should satisfy the specific needs of foreign students» (National Policies, 1997).
The document "Planning higher education internationalization" designed by the Australian Research Council provides a complex program of national HEEs transformation into "international universities" by attracting foreign students and teaching Australians abroad, internationalization of programs and methods of higher education (Clyne & Woock, 2000).
The Ministry of Education of Japan underlines the orientation to education internationalization as follows: "Today, while the various sectors of society are involved in internationalization, the requirement to the education system is to adapt to this trend» (Monbusho, 1990).
The transformation of the concept essence of "education internationalization" as part of government policy in education has been greatly influenced by the changes in national policy of Western countries in this area, which are as follows: -1960s: emphasis is made on learning diversification, provision of equal opportunities to get higher education; -late 1960s -early 1970s: focus on individualization in designing programs and implementation of new teaching methods; -mid1970s -early 1980s: particular attention is paid to the problems of graduates' employment in the labor market; -mid1980s: emphasis is laid on management and control improvement in higher education (Teichler, 1986); -1990s: emphasis is made on globalization of academic education (National Policies, 1997).
Until the end of the 1980s internationalization of higher education was treated primarily as mobility and students and teachers exchanges.It means, above all, the expansion of appropriate educational opportunities.
Since the mid-1990s the education internationalization is considered as globalization of academic education by changing the programs and the formation of certain knowledge (National Policies, 1997).
The achievements of the technological revolution bring completely new meaning to the concept of higher education internationalization.The real mobility, i.e. international exchanges, internships, foreign trips of students and teachers, is supplemented or replaced by a "virtual mobility" by way of the latest technical facilities, which makes international cooperation closer and more intensive (Sylvia, 2000).Thus, the internationalization of higher education and the general policy in higher education is one of the essential components of higher education policy in Western countries.It is most notably in the countries of the European Union, jointly engaged in recent years in a number of large-scale educational projects presented in Table 1.In the context of these collaborative educational projects internationalization of higher education can be seen as an integral component of planning and implementing European Higher Education Policy (Sakhiyeva, 2007).As a result of these educational programs, an international cooperation in higher education is becoming more versatile and pedagogically oriented.
For example, in 1972 M.Harari included three main components in the definition of higher education internationalization: 1) international component in the content of curricula and programs; 2) international mobility of students and faculty members; 3) existence of technical cooperation and assistance programs (Harari, 1989).In 1989, he also defined internationalization as the process of the universities international orientation, specifying at the same time that international education should include not only the relevant curricula and programs, international students and teachers exchanges, collaborative programs with local communities, retraining and a wide range of administrative services, but also demonstrate a certain commitment, a global outlook (Harari, 1986).
In 1992 S.Arum and Van De Water specified the definition of internationalization having studied all the existing interpretations of this conceptat that time.However, taking as a basis the concept definition by M.Harari 1972, S. Arum and J. Van de Water (1992) identified internationalization as a complex of diverse activities, programs and services that take place within the framework of international courses, international academic exchanges and technical cooperation.
In 1994 Canadian researcher J. Knight concluded that the internationalization of higher education can be regarded as the process of international component integration in teaching, research and other functions of the university, college or specialized secondary school (Knight, 1993).
In 1995 Hans de Wit gave the following definition of internationalization: "The internationalization of education is a" complex of processes whose combined effect planned or not planned is aimed to strengthen the international component in higher education » (DeWitHans, 1995).
J. Mestenhausr, (1998), the professor at the University of Minnesota, in contrast to J. Knight, who suggestedconsidering internationalization as a process of international component integration in various functions of HEE, considers internationalization as a process of international education integration in curricula and programs (Mestenhauser, 1998).
B. Ellingboe (1997), having summarizedthe existing definitions of the education internationalization (1996), provided the following interpretation of this concept: "Internationalization is the process of international approaches integration in college or university.It is continued, future-oriented, initiated by strong leadership potential vision that motivates faculty members of HEE to change the system in order to form mentality in the international context using comparative approaches in response to changes in the multilateral global political, economic, social and cultural arenas ".She focuses on the fact that the fundamental importance in this process has the way in which the HEE adapts to the ever-changing environment that is becoming more globally oriented (Ellingboe, 1997).
A number of foreign encyclopedias describe internationalization of higher education as "a variety of educational efforts being made to encourage international students orientation to the acquisition of relevant knowledge and qualities (through internationalization of curricula, textbooks, foreign language, mass media, access to the international labor market)" (The International Encyclopedia of Education, 1985; The International Encyclopedia of Education, 1989).

Analysis of Russian Researchers Literature
Representatives of Russian pedagogical school (Egorshin, 2000 and others) consider the internationalization as academic mobility of students and faculty members; international recognition of official documents on education, academic degrees and titles.
M. I. Dibrova ( 2004) & N. M. Kabanova ( 2004) define internationalization as a process of inclusion of various international aspects in research, teaching and administrative activities of HEEs.
N. M. Rimashevskaya, V. F. Galetskiy & A. A. Ovsyannikov (2002) consider internationalization as a stage of globalization associated with the interaction of social communities not in a global scale, but at the level of particular countries (Population and Globalization, 2002).
A. N. Dzhurinskiy, determines the internationalization of higher education as an objective result and the component of globalizing modern world development as a qualitatively new manifestation of competition for the cultural, economic, political influence (Dzhurinskiy, 2002).
Analysis of the above noted researches of foreign and national scientists allowed distinguishing the following main approaches to the definition of the concept as a socio-pedagogical phenomenon: 1. Internationalization is defined with regard to the programs and activities: curricula and programs, students and faculty members exchange, etc. (Harari, 1972;Harari, 1989;Arum & Van De Water, 1992;Mestenhausr, 1998;Egorshin, 2000).
3. Internationalization is seen as the development of new competencies and skills of the students and faculty members with the emphasis on human rather than organizational factor ( (Ellingboe, 1996).
4. Definition focuses on the development of a specific HEE culture that accumulates international values with emphasis on the procedural aspect (Harari, 1989;Ellingboe, 1996).
Thus, foreign and national researchersdo not adhere to any one approach and follow several ones in the interpretation of educationinternationalization that looks, in our opinion, quite justified.

Results
Having studied and analyzed different approaches of foreign and national researchers to the definition of education internationalization we define it as a complex of processes expanding the activity scope of HEE beyond its scientific and educational environment, development of international scientific and educational relationships, bringing the HEEs activities to internationally recognized standards, as well as effective management of these processes.

The Main Components of Higher Education Internationalization
Study and analysis of different approaches of foreign and national researchers to the definition of "education internationalization" enabled to identify the main components of higher education internationalization, that is: structural and administrative, content-related, organizational and procedural.The content of these components is presented in detail in Table 2.

Economic Factors of Higher Education Internationalization
The Memorandum on Higher Education adopted by European Unionmembers sets out the basic factors of higher education internationalization which are divided into four main groups: economic, political, cultural, educational.Economic factors are closely connected with the direct financial benefits, such as revenue from tuition fees of foreign students.Indirect benefits are equally important and, above all, benefits from the internationalization of graduates training as a factor of economic development of their native country.

Political Factors of Higher Education Internationalization
Political motives and incentives are closely linked to the geopolitical interests of each country, its security issues, ideological influence and so on; cultural ones are related to understanding of the place and role of national languages and culture, awareness of the importance of familiarizing with foreign language culture.

Educational Factors of Higher Education Internationalization
Educational factors are due to objectives, content and functions of higher education.All of these factors are closely interrelated (Dzhurinskiy, 2002).

Social Factors of Higher Education Internationalization
Along with the economic, political, cultural and educational factors in the internationalization of higher education, we highlight social factors which occupy an important place in modern society and associated with the interrelation of supply and demand in higher education system and the labor market in a single educational space, the level of population social security, the implementation of social programs for students, expanding the academic mobility of the parties and the development of social infrastructure of HEE.

Discussions
Analysis of the situation in the modern world community shows that today social and political changes are undergoing that contribute to the transformation of the main factors of higher education internationalization.
Political factors are constant and the fundamental driving force of higher education internationalization in the modern era: in the world order after the World War II the restructuring relations between the former colonies and mother countries, creating the European Union.In modern conditions, political factors are less important than economic which are now coming to the fore, both in the European context, and in the life of individual countries, as in many European countries integration processes in higher education are the primary means of strengthening economic competitiveness in the international arena.Strengthening economic factors is also associated with the creation of mass higher education systems and at the same time with a relative decrease in funds for it, which is typical for the past 15 years.In this situation, the internationalization of higher education is a significant economic benefit for HEEs (Dzhurinskiy, 2002).
Social, cultural and educational factors in modern conditions are also due to economic requirements.They are determined by the need to improve the training of human resources to compete in the international arena and provide awareness of the importance to familiarize with foreign language culture, to expand learning foreign languages, to encourage mobility of students and faculty members, to implement social programs for students, to develop social infrastructure of HEE, to introduce the international component in HEE's curriculum and programs, to ensure comparability of higher education diplomas, to develop distance learning, and so on.
Analyzing the main components and factors of internationalization, it should be emphasized that there have been significant changes in higher education over the last few decades: increased number of students; the transformation of higher education from the elite in a relatively mass-scale,or more precisely, the transition from education for the elite to quality education for everyone; changed social and economic role of higher education; structural changes; upgraded content of education, technologies and facilities; new relations between HEEs and the labor market (Tregubova, 2007.).All above mentioned defines international trends emerging in higher education.We define the international trends of education as the main directions of its development in terms of internationalization.
One of the main international trends of higher education is the extension of international relations of higher education representatives with a view to dialogue and cooperation.As separate international trendsone can distinguish a trend of academic mobility expansion.For example, in the XX -XXI centuries more than 1 million students have been already trained outside their home countries.In addition, there are international relationships over the Internet, distance learning, etc. UNESCO forecasts indicate that 4.9 million people will study abroadby 2025.(Albach, 1999;Todd, 1999).
Another fundamentally important international trend is the increase in the scale of higher education due to the increasing role of education and science in industry and society.Higher education is becomingmore popular, there is a rapid quantitative growth of HEE students.For example, according to UNESCO, in 1960 the number of students in the world amounted to 13 million.Currently it has increased to nearly 100 million.In developed countries the number of school leavers entered the HEEs amounted to almost 60% and in US and Canada more than 80%.At present, there are more than 14000 HEEs in the world.
In the world of economy globalization, universities have to solve other cultural and educational tasks, primarily to provide knowledge and skills that can be an instrument of economic activity, to prepare people for life in a global market.Thus, the following internationalization trends of higher education is the creation of a "market-oriented higher education", the changing nature of university education, breakaway the traditional humanitarian general education and strengthening specialized practice-oriented training (Kazamias, 1992).
However, the high school aims to set democratic development goals: to form human civilization on the basis of human rights equality and respect.In this regard, humanization, humanitarization and democratization of higher education are also distinctive internationalization trends in modern society, which pedagogical design should be high school.Humanization of education means education appeal to the individual, creation of conditions for manifestation and development of his personality, full satisfaction of human needs: the need for self-actualization, self-realization, spiritual, social and professional development needs.The essence of humanitarization is, primarily, the formation of thinking culture, studentcreative abilities based on a deep understanding of culture and civilization history, the whole cultural heritage.Humanization and humanitarization of education provide the formation of specialists holistic world view, outlook and genuine spirituality of the person (Mukhametzyanova, 2002).The democratization trend is reflected in the education accessibility, openness, flexibility through diversification of its acquisition, the freedom to choose the purposes, content, forms, methods, sources, funds, duration, time, place of learning, and assessment of its results.
International trend growing especially rapidly in the second half of the XX century is the diversification of higher education, which occurs in several ways: by levels of professional education,bydifferent types of educational institutions, by the content of educational programs, by organizational forms, methods, learning tools, by the documents certifying the qualifications of the graduate, by the forms of financing.
As an international trend one identify the movement of quality control functions from intra-national to supranational level.The development of international standards and criteria to evaluate quality of higher education is under way, taking into account the features of national higher education systems and the provision of greater institutional autonomy for HEEs.The evaluation will be based not on the duration or content of education but on the knowledge, skills and competencies that graduates have acquired.
However, along with the general universal internationalization trends of higher education one should take into consideration the specifics of the social structure, economy, politics, traditions inpedagogy and the organization of higher education in different countries, as the national systems of higher education getting more and more international features, should not lose their national identity.

Conclusion
Analysis of the literature to the problem of education internationalization has allowed specifying the essence of the concept.Internationalization of education is a complex of processes of national educational systems interaction and mutual influence based on common objectives and principlessatisfying the needs of the world community.The main factors of education internationalization revealed in the article are economic, political, cultural and educational affecting the structural and administrative, content-related, organizational and procedural components of higher education internationalization.

Table 1 .
Collaborative educational projects in the context of higher education internationalization

Table 2 .
Main components of higher education internationalization