A caring transformation of international education: possibilities, challenges and change

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has had profound impacts on all facets of international education. Not only has it highlighted the inadequacy of existing care arrangements but it has also created new care needs. There is increased recognition among policy makers and education providers that they need to understand and support the wellbeing of international students more effectively–and indeed with greater care. Drawing on sociomaterial theories of care, this article considers the possibilities of care as a guiding principle for orienting the transformation of international education in more productive directions. Its central contention is that a focus on care will be vitally important for fostering the wellbeing of international students and for creating an institutional environment that more successfully attracts, retains, and supports them. Yet more than this, it will be crucial for redefining and realising the ambitious aims of international education itself. This article substantiates these claims by offering three ‘sketches’ of how a focus on care might reframe international education policy, institutional support, and point to new directions in research on international student mobility.