Programmes and initiatives supporting academic mobility in HEIS: experience of Poland

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Programmes and initiatives supporting academic mobility in HEIS: experience of Poland

Програми та ініціативи підтримки академічної мобільності у зво: досвід Польщі

Havran M.i.,

PhD (Education), Associate Professor, Associate Professor at the Department of Foreign Languages Lviv Polytechnic National University

Horokhivska Ї.М.,

Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, Associate Professor,

Professor at the Department of Pedagogy

and Innovative Education

Lviv Polytechnic National University

Yaremko H.V.,

PhD (Education), Associate Professor, Associate Professor at the Department of Foreign Languages Lviv Polytechnic National University

academic mobility education poland

The article studies the concept of academic mobility and internationalisation process of higher education in Poland. Its goal is to analyse the development of international academic mobility in higher education institutions of Poland, studying state policy an initiatives, new strategies and programmes implemented there, in order to effectively map the state of internationalisation, and find out ways to improve international academic mobility and internationalisation process in Ukrainian HEIs. The importance of implementation and support of academic mobility in HEIs as well as internationalisation process in higher education have been thoroughly studied. Having analysed different public documents and regulations on higher education and its strategic development in Poland, it was found out that they aim to increase and support internationalisation and academic exchange processes in Polish HEIs. Polish teachers' academic mobility will allow HEIs to increase quality of education, strengthen the relationship between science and industry, launch new academic careers and courses, and raise educational standards. The authors have analysed different academic exchange programmes and projects which are projects co-financed by EU funds and national funds, as well as bilateral, multilateral, and national ones. Several factors that influence the increasing number of Polish academic staff and students of HEIs who benefit from international exchange programmes and projects, as well as incoming foreign students and teachers in Polish HEIs were identified and analysed, such as active participation of Poland in the development of European Higher Education Area, governmental strategies for improving internationalisation in HEIs, establishing NAWA for coordinating state activities driving the internationalization process in Polish HEIs, and creating new Polish national programmes and projects for involving foreign academic staff.

Key words: internationalisation process, academic mobility, academic exchanges, international exchange programmes, Polish higher education, academic staff, HEIs of Poland.

У статті досліджено концепцію академічної мобільності та процес інтернаціоналізації вищої освіти в Польщі. Метою роботи є аналіз розвитку міжнародної академічної мобільності у вищих закладах освіти Польщі, вивчення державної політики та ініціатив, стратегій та програми, які там реалізуються, для того щоб ефективно відобразити стан інтернаціоналізації та знайти шляхи покращення міжнародної академічної мобільності та процесу інтернаціоналізації в українських ЗВО. Вивчено важливість впровадження та підтримки академічної мобільності у ЗВО, а також процесу інтернаціоналізації вищої освіти. Проаналізувавши різні державні документи та положення про вищу освіту та її стратегічний розвиток у Польщі, було виявлено, що вони спрямовані на посилення та підтримку процесів інтернаціоналізації та академічного обміну в польських ЗВО. Встановлено, що академічна мобільність польських викладачів дозволяє підвищити якість освіти, зміцнити зв'язок між наукою та промисловістю, започаткувати нові академічні кар'єри та курси, а також підвищити освітні стандарти. Автори проаналізували різні програми та проекти академічних обмінів, які співфінан- суються фондами ЄС та національними фондами, а також є двосторонніми, багатосторонніми та національними. Було визначено та проаналізовано кілька чинників, які впливають на збільшення кількості польських викладачів і студентів закладів вищої освіти, які користуються програмами та проектами міжнародного обміну, а також іноземних студентів і викладачів, які приїжджають у польські вищі навчальні заклади, серед яких: активна участь Польщі у розвитку Європейського простору вищої освіти, урядові стратегії для покращення інтернаціоналізації ЗВО, створення NAWA для координації державної діяльності, що стимулює процес інтернаціоналізації польських освітніх та науково-дослідних закладів, а також створення нових польських національних програм і проектів для залучення іноземних науково-педагогічних працівників.

Ключові слова: процес інтернаціоналізації, академічна мобільність, академічні обміни, міжнародні програми обміну, польська вища освіта, науково-педагогічні працівники, ЗВО Польщі.

Research problem statement. Modern higher education aims to develop highly capable individuals who are competitive, adaptive, and prepared for new challenges and rapid changes in a dynamic global society. Because education has enormous economic and cultural benefits, nations all over the world are focusing on raising the standard of education, making their higher education systems more alluring to foreign students. As international rivalry has grown and information has emerged as a critical component of economic growth, internationalisation has shifted toward a more market-oriented approach with the goal of attracting the most gifted and advanced students and highly skilled academic staff.

Nowadays, because of the strong emphasis on academic success and mobility, Europe has become a leader in fostering innovation and advancement across a number of sectors and a desirable location for researchers and students from around the world. Through academic exchange programmes, students can widen their study horizons, enhance their general education, acquire unique academic knowledge, and experience different cultures. Researchers are able to obtain a wider viewpoint and sources of information through academic collaboration and knowledge and skills exchanges, which can result in new ideas and research findings. These exchanges have the potential to enhance intercultural communication, increase international cooperation, enhance the competencies of educators and students, and modernize specialist training systems. Therefore, the development of international academic and educational exchanges is one of the primary goals of higher education institutions in Ukraine.

Analysis of recent research and publications.

The concept of international academic mobility has received research attention among Ukrainian scientists (T. Skyba, I. Fedorova, I. Antonenko, N. Chizhova, M. Romanynets, S. Brynyova, O. Spivakovskyi, M. Oliynyk, O. Poznanska, A. Krasulia, Y. Plotnikov,

Zagoruiko, and many others). The analysis of recently published scientific works revealed that the authors tend to define the terms and nature of academic mobility and internationalisation of higher education and study organizational aspects of education and academic exchanges at HEIs in Ukraine. A few studies have explored the state policy and legislation framework of the academic mobility process in Ukraine and abroad (M. Romanynets, D. Derevianko, A. Krasulia).

A lot of foreign researchers and educators explore and analyse internationalisation process in higher education as well as various aspects of the international mobility of students and academic staff, among them Van der Wende M., D. Walczak, L. Engel, A.-M. Sandstrom, R. van der Aa, A. Glass, J. Knight, C. Lane-Toomey, S. Lane, P. Peterson, and others. For instance, Van der Wende states that “HEIs traditionally focused on internationalisation as a way to improve the quality of teaching and research as well as to help institutions in other countries build capacity” [1, p. 540].

Nevertheless, there are still unresolved parts of the overall problem. Ukraine is on its way to create higher education of European quality, meeting European standards, and adopting its experience. Extending the internationalisation process of HEIs and promoting international education and academic cooperation that aim to encourage cross-cultural awareness, foster values and aspirations, affirm a sense of active citizenship, and stimulate people to acquire the professional skills necessary for taking an active part in modern society are essential conditions for improving the quality of higher education. So, our task is to explore new ways and approaches to organizing academic mobility in order to develop international cooperation and academic exchanges in Ukrainian HEIs that become possible due to comparative studies. As Poland is one of the closest European Union countries to Ukraine, the study and critical analysis of its achievements and experiences are bound to become valuable for the further development and improvement of the higher education system in Ukraine.

The purpose of the article is to analyse the internationalisation process and academic mobility development in higher education institutions of Poland, studying state policy, new strategies and programmes implemented there, in order to effectively map the state of internationalisation, and find out ways to improve international academic mobility and internationalisation process in Ukrainian HEIs.

Results and discussion. For a very long time, internationalisation was perceived as an approach that focused on the cross-border movement of individual researchers and students rather than having an impact on higher education systems or institutions. It describes any international links between countries or between single HEIs situated within various national systems. Nowadays, the spectrum of activities related to internationalization has expanded from an “exclusive focus on individual mobility to more complex strategies including staff and curriculum development, research collaboration, and quality enhancement” [1, p.542].

International educational exchanges can help foster intercultural trust and understanding by influencing the younger generation's awareness of, tolerance for, and comprehension of various cultures. This kind of mutual understanding and trust is crucial, particularly in the current globalized world, and it is linked to future stability and security around the globe. Broad international collaboration and academic exchanges will successfully foster mutual understanding and long-term trust between individuals from various nations and cultural backgrounds. People generally recognize that international educational cooperation and exchange play a major role in international relations. Teachers, scientists, and academic staff of HEIs view mobility as a chance to carry out research and teach scientifically, as well as to participate in internships and professional experience exchanges with professionals from other Bologna Process participating countries. Students who have already experienced the internationalisation of higher education through partaking in academic exchange programmes, express the opinion that international academic mobility has enabled them to become more sociable and creative, 81% of them feel that their foreign language fluency has improved, and they even agree that their ability to make decisions has strengthened too [2].

As a result, more and more higher education systems all over the world are following internationalisation principles and processes, among which one of the most crucial is academic mobility of staff and students that is able to increase “social inclusion, expand scope of global R&D, modernize curriculum, foster cross-cultural academic communication and collaboration, non-discrimination in academic process” [3, p. 455].

The reality is that academic mobility, being a systemic phenomenon, involves a variety of state policies related to education, such as vocational education (training), state personnel regulations in various professional groups, regulatory and legal conditions in higher education, training, and professional activities, as well as human qualities in academic and professional environments as part of a structured model. This model serves as a paradigm for guaranteeing academic success by emphasizing academic mobility and, ultimately, professionalism [4, p. 137]. We agree that the academic mobility process depends on the environment in which it occurs, as its formation is influenced by the state regulations on the academic mobility of the subjects of the educational and scientific process [5, p. 80].

According to the European Association for International Education, there are eight main factors of internationalisation which were compiled based on a survey done in European HEIs: 1) enhancing the overall quality of education (56%); 2) preparing students for a global world (45%); 3) attracting more international students (37%); 4) improving international reputation (35%); 5) improving the quality of R&D (34%); 6) increasing competitiveness (26%); 7) labour market demands (18%); 8) financial benefits for institution (10%). [6, p. 4] It shows that improving the overall quality of education is the primary motivation behind European HEIs' internationalization efforts, rather than just focusing on attracting more foreign students and getting more income from their studies.

Today, Europe produces highly competent professionals thanks to its prominent institutions and state- of-the-art research facilities, making it a major hub for academic and professional advancement. Taking higher positions in different higher education European and world rankings is important to every public and non-public HEIs of Poland. They are making significant efforts to support academic mobility and international exchanges of students and academic staff, because successes in the field of internationalisation are “opportunities to develop science and higher education and Poland's more influential position in Europe and the world” [7, p.14].

Worth noting is that the internationalisation results and figures do not depend only on institutions initiatives, programmes and strategies, but also on Poland's geopolitical location, its EU membership, and the growth of a more knowledgeable society. According to D. Walczak, studying abroad and taking part in international research projects are two ways that Polish higher education is becoming more internationalised [8]. These activities are also seen as key factors in the advancement of science and higher education towards international perspective. As Polish higher education is primarily dependent on state regulations, norms, and laws, the process of internationalisation and academic mobility is considered at different governmental levels and is mentioned in some strategic documents creating preconditions for its development and implementation.

Having analysed different public documents and regulations on higher education and its strategic development in Poland, we take the view that they aim to increase and support internationalisation and academic exchange processes in Polish HEIs [9; 11]. For example, the internationalisation of higher education and scientific research is included in the goals of the government Strategy adopted in 2016, that is aimed at creating conditions for promoting the internationalisation of higher education, innovation and commercialization of research, along with the employment of international scientists with scientific achievements in Polish HEIs, and encouraging students from non-EU countries to study in Poland [9, p. 276].

Additionally, in order to support the development of the European Higher Education Area, the mobility of Polish teachers to European countries is considered as an integral part of international cooperation and support of internationalisation of higher education. Because of academic mobility of Polish teachers, HEIs will closely cooperate with industry, intensifying cooperation between science and business, creating new academic careers and improving the quality of education, including adaptation of students' competencies to the real needs of the labour market. However, there are neither well-developed separate strategy for internationalisation and academic mobility of Polish teachers in HEIs or national regulations that directly address the recognition of academic staff's achievements or consequences of mobility abroad [10]. At the same time universities are required by law to conduct evaluations of teachers periodically, at least once every 4 years or at the request of the rector, as part of internal quality assurance. The criteria for evaluating teachers and other employees are determined by individual HEIs. Interestingly, the international experience, namely mobility and participation in international projects, is really important for reaching the next levels of a scientific career.

Moreover, academic mobility and international cooperation are considered as one of the main areas of activities aimed at supporting the development of skills in all target groups of the education sector, so they are even included in the priority areas of the Polish strategic document “Integrated Skills Strategy until 2030” (Zintegrowana Strategia Umiej^tnosci 2030). This document defines that for promoting staff mobility and international best practices in education and training, it is necessary to develop international project planning and management skills [11].

One of the essential steps for supporting academic mobility in Polish HEIs and encouraging internationalisation and HEIs openness to innovations was establishing of a new governmental agency, National Agency for Academic Exchange (Narodowa Agencja Wymiany Akademickiej) on October 1st, 2017. One of the tasks of the Agency is to manage cases concerning the academic recognition in Poland of higher education received abroad and its mission is strengthening Polish science and higher education through international exchange and cooperation [12]. It aims to support international scientific and educational exchange and promote Polish higher education, frame a legal environment that will advance innovation and commercialization of scientific research results by universities and individual scientists, create conditions that will enable the employment of foreign scientists in Poland with scientific achievements, encourage students from outside the European Union to study at Polish universities, etc. It also provides various information about the higher education system, study and scholarship offers, as well as practical information about Poland on the “Ready, Steady, Go Poland” portal.

Analysing various international mobility exchange programmes available on the official Polish websites, we conclude that Erasmus+ is the most popular and important among HEIs students and academic teachers [10; 12]. The European Union's commitment to promoting academic mobility is evidenced by programmes like Erasmus+, which have created the framework for cross-border cooperation and learning. The Erasmus+ programme is a key component that supports the objectives of the European Education Area, the European Union Youth Strategy, the European Union Work Plan for Sport (2021-24), the Digital Education Action Plan 2021-2027 [13, p.4-5]. The programme's main goal is to support people's educational, professional, and personal growth through lifelong learning in training, education, youth, and sport in Europe and beyond, promoting social cohesion, quality jobs, sustainable growth, innovation, and active citizenship.

However, there are also another diverse opportunities for Polish teachers to carry out their research work or conduct classes abroad, as well as for incoming foreign teachers who choose Poland as a country for international mobility. The international academic exchange programmes and projects in higher education of Poland are classified as [10]: 1) projects co-financed by other EU funds and national funds (e.g. Master Didactics project (Mistrzowie dydaktyki) is co-financed by the European Social Fund and the Ministry of Education and Science of Poland, it covers the planning and execution of the tutoring model, international study visits, and the training of Polish university tutors in the framework of cooperation with foreign universities);

multilateral programmes (e.g. Central European University Exchange Programme (CEEPUS), the International Visegrad Fund. Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area (EEA FM) - Education Programme -The Education Program (Program Eduk- acja) is financed by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. As part of the “Professional staff development” component, employees of HEIs and other sectors of formal and non-formal education, can participate in study visits to donor countries and intensive trainings conducted by trainers/experts from these countries);

bilateral programmes (e.g. Fulbright program - Polish and American academic staff members can apply for its scholarships. The purpose of Polish staff scholarships is to support their research and teaching at American HEIs. Furthermore, academics with expertise in Polish culture and history are eligible to apply for scholarships to teach at one of the universities associated with the Polish-American Fulbright Commission);

national programmes and projects, that are addressed to academic staff implemented by the National Agency for Academic Exchange (e.g. 1) Program named after Mieczysfaw Bekker (Program im. Mieczysfawa Bekkera) aims to support the scientific development of Polish academic teachers and scientists (and PhD students) representing any field of science. Scholarships are awarded for a stay of 3 to 24 months in foreign scientific or academic centers around the world in order to conduct R&D work; 2) NAWA professorship (Profesura NAWA) aims to raise the quality of scientific research at Polish HEIs and other scientific establishments by hiring outstanding foreign scientists from around the globe, projects with funding may run from 36 to 48 months, covering humanities, social sciences and theology areas; and several others).

As a result of the above mentioned projects and programmes, the number of foreign academic teachers in Polish HEIs has increased [14, p.8]. Nevertheless, the group of foreign students in Poland is more than 30 times larger than the group of foreign academic teachers. The most interesting fact is that the majority of academic teachers and students are from Ukraine, according to NAWA data, in 2022, there were 606 and 35770, respectively.

It is worth mentioning that, except for internal support and governmental initiatives influencing the dynamic of internationalisation of higher education and academic exchanges in HEIs, there are also external factors that can suspend or otherwise support and enhance the process of international mobility and exchanges. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the dynamics of academic mobility have significantly changed, not only in European countries but all over the world. For example, in Poland, it has caused a serious decline in mobility as universities pointed to fear of spending the pandemic in a foreign country and reluctance to participate in an exchange programme during numerous restrictions [15, p. 21]. Students were also discouraged by classes taking place only online, so they often decided to postpone international exchanges. Moreover, the largest decline in the number of arrivals is visible among students from non-European universities, but the interest in Erasmus+ arrivals was at a stable level, but due to the pandemic, they were not implemented. It was even foreseen that because of postponed exchanges, as well as the longing for travel and fatigue of the pandemic reality, the mobility number would increase once the pandemic situation normalized [15, p. 21]. Furthermore, we are aware of the fact that one of the unpredictable external reasons of serious transformations in academic mobility and internationalisation process can be the war that has dramatically changed situation in Ukrainian and Polish HEIs, causing negative and positive trends, respectively.

Taking into account the current post-pandemic situation and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Eras- mus+ programme expands on its inclusive nature by providing opportunities for people in Europe and beyond to grow personally, socio-educationally, and professionally. The Programme will involve funding initiatives that encourage learning and make it easier for those escaping the conflict in Ukraine to reintegrate into their new educational settings, as well as initiatives that assist staff, students, and organizations in Ukraine [13, p.4].

Conclusions

We come to the conclusion that in Poland academic mobility is regarded as an essential component of international collaboration and support for the internationalisation of higher education, with the aim of fostering the growth of the European Higher Education Area. Polish teachers' academic mobility will allow HEIs to increase quality of education, strengthen the relationship between science and industry, work directly with business, launch new academic careers and courses, and raise educational standards.

Poland has made some serious steps towards increasing the internationalisation of higher education and encouraging the academic mobility of teachers and students in HEIs. These ideas are considered in the governmental documents on the strategic development of the country, creating preconditions for their development and implementation in higher education. In HEIs, international experience, namely mobility and participation in international projects, is an essential part of internal quality assurance and a condition for the further scientific career development of teachers and the higher level of an institution in the international higher education rankings.

We have identified several factors that influence the increasing number of Polish academic staff and students of HEIs who benefit from international exchange programmes and projects, as well as incoming foreign students and teachers in Polish HEIs, among them: 1) active participation of Poland in the development of European Higher Education Area; 2) governmental strategies for improving internationalisation in HEIs; 3) establishing a new institution, NAWA, for coordinating state activities driving the internationalization process in Polish academic and research institutions; 4) creating new Polish national programmes and projects for involving foreign academic staff to its HEIs.

Thus, as the process of internationalisation is complex and sophisticated, but really important in higher education area and academic mobility should become an integral part of HEIs' strategies, scientists have to map out effective and appropriate mechanisms for their implementation and monitoring, and carry out further comprehensive research on this issue.

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