This book focuses on models, strengths, opportunities, constraints and tensions in internationalisation in Vietnamese higher education. It reflects on key concepts from contemporary theories and models of internationalisation and discusses the implications for innovation, flexibility and responsiveness to local needs in Vietnam. Based on empirical research, theoretical knowledge and the experiences of researchers from Vietnam and overseas, the book draws out the distinctiveness and complexity of internationalisation practices and charts a way forward. It examines the key drivers and dimensions of internationalising Vietnamese higher education, and compares internationalisation in Vietnam to that in other countries. It clarifies and discusses tensions related to the appropriation of ‘Western’ internationalisation practice and models, and neo-liberal ideologies, to the local context of Vietnam. It provides readers with insights into government policy, quality assurance and benchmarking strategies, curriculum, the impact of international organisations on higher education, international student mobility, transnational education, employability, brain drain and brain gain and brain circulation.

Vietnam is a dynamic member of the community of Southeast Asian nations. Consistent with aspirations across the region, it is seeking to develop its higher education system as rapidly as possible. Vietnam’s approach stands out, however, as being extremely ambitious. Indeed, it may be at risk of attempting to do too much too quickly. By 2020, for example, Vietnam expects its higher education system to be advanced by modern standards and highly competitive in international terms. This vision faces many challenges. The economy, though growing rapidly, remains reliant on the availability of unskilled labour and the exploitation of natural resources, and decision making in many areas of public life continues to be hamstrung by a legacy of over-regulation and centralised control. A large number of goals and objectives have been set for reform of the higher education system by 2020. The success of these reforms will have a major bearing on the future quality of the system. This sober assessment Vietnam’s global competitiveness forms a backdrop to the subject matter of this book, that is, the state of Vietnam’s higher education system. The book provides a comprehensive and scholarly review of various dimensions of the higher education system in Vietnam, including its recent history, its structure and governance, its teaching and learning culture, its research and research commercialisation environment, its socio-economic impact, its strategic planning processes, its progress with quality accreditation, and its experience of internationalisation and privatisation.

This book deepens readers’ conceptual understanding of and provides practical insights into Vietnam’s higher education reforms. Globalisation has had profound impacts on higher education worldwide, creating transnational linkages and junctures, as well as disjunctures. At the same time, it has generated fluidities, hybridities and mobilities. Within the postcolonial context of Vietnam, it is imperative to identify the unique global traits that characterise the Vietnamese higher education system. The book focuses specifically on key aspects of culture and values that are decisive to the reform of Vietnamese higher education under the forces of globalisation. It critically examines how global forces have shaped and reshaped Vietnam’s higher education landscape. At the same time, the book explores local demands on Vietnamese higher education, and deciphers how higher education institutions are responding to globalisation, internationalisation and local demands. Based on empirical research, theoretical approaches and the experiences of researchers from Vietnam and overseas, it addresses critical perspectives on the aspects fundamental to the reform of Vietnamese higher education and outlines viable paths for the future.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of quality assurance in Vietnamese higher education under the centralised management of the government after 15 years of development. By implementing quality assurance and accreditation mechanisms, the Vietnamese government expected to be able to control and improve the quality of the higher education system. The editors and contributors therefore examine and analyse policies and practices related to the establishment and development of Vietnam's quality assurance system. Amongst other things, the chapters investigate drivers of quality assurance, stakeholders engaged in quality assurance and the future of quality assurance in Vietnamese higher education in benchmarking with other quality assurance systems in the region and across the world. This book will be of interest and value to students and scholars of Vietnamese higher education, as well as quality assurance in higher education more generally, but particularly in developing nations.

Higher and tertiary education are crucial to modern nations. Vietnam has great potential, but its universities and colleges are poor-performing, under-funded and slow to change compared to those in neighbouring East Asian nations. This book analyses the problem and provides constructive solutions for the reform of higher education.

At this juncture in the history and development of education in the digital age, constituents of education systems across the globe are challenged with revising or rediscovering the purpose of educational institutions within societies. Institutions need to retool to include digital games-based and problem-based learning, and education itself must adapt to serve the needs of a diverse student population. Stagnancy Issues and Change Initiatives for Global Education in the Digital Age is a cutting-edge research publication that explores the complex discourse of trends, shifts, and changes happening in the field of education and to understand the implications for teaching, learning, and professional development. The book helps educators understand how to make their pedagogy and andragogy relevant in the framework of constant technological shifts and changes in order to help students thrive in a global economy. Featuring a wide range of topics such as gamification, pedagogy, and intercultural learning, this book is ideal for curriculum designers, academicians, education professionals, researchers, policymakers, and students.

Academic writing is a key practice in higher education and central to international students’ academic success in the country of education. International Student Adaptation to Academic Writing in Higher Education addresses the prominent forms of adaptation emerging from international students’ journey to mediate between disciplinary practices, cultural norms and personal desires in meaning making. It introduces new concepts that present different patterns of international student adaptation including surface adaptation, committed adaptation, reverse adaptation and hybrid adaptation. Drawing on these concepts of adaptation, this book provides readers with new and deeper insights into the complex nature of international students’ adjustment to host institutions. It works through many unresolved issues related to cross-border students’ intellectual, cultural, linguistic and personal negotiations. This book presents a trans-disciplinary framework for conceptualising international students’ and lecturers’ practices within the institutional structure. This framework has been developed by drawing on a modified version of Lillis’ heuristic of talk around text and positioning theory. The framework enables an exploration of not only the reasons underpinning international students’ specific ways of meaning making, but also their potential choices in constructing knowledge. A distinctive contribution of the book is the development of a dialogical pedagogic model for mutual adaptation between international students and academics rather than the onus being on exclusive adaptation from the students. Existing research on international education indicates the significance of reciprocal adaptation between international students and academics. Yet very little has been done to conceptualise what mutual adaptation means and what is involved in this process. The dialogical model introduced in this book offers concrete steps towards developing reciprocal adaptation of international students and academics within the overarching institutional realities of the university. It can be used as a tool to enhance the education of international students in this increasingly internationalised environment. This book is a significant contribution to the field of international education. It takes a critical stance on contemporary views of globally mobile students. The insights into international students’ voices, hidden intentions and their potential choices in meaning making presented in this book will attract dialogues about the critical issues related to inclusive practices, internationalised curriculum and institutional responses to the diverse needs of international students.