TNE in Bulgaria - Reflections, Realities and Opportunities

In this latest Think Education podcast, our intrepid hosts talk about Judith’s recent trip to Bulgaria.  Judith was part of a delegation, with the British Council, to discuss TNE activity and collaboration opportunities. 

Many of our listeners might not be as aware of the current capability and appetite for TNE in Bulgaria as they could be. Many of our podcast hosts, may likewise not have been as aware of the opportunities as they could have been.  It is always deeply gratifying, not to mention really interesting, to learn about TNE development and activity in ‘non-traditional’ TNE hubs/markets.  There are more things out there than often dreamt of in our philosophies after all.

What seems very encouraging, is the desire to produce something tangible, rather than relying on the MoU collection process.  Judith highlighted the diversity of current approach and we talked about the real value of exploring research partnerships in TNE and not solely focusing on student exchange.  We talked about the role of industry in possible TNE partnership development and the need to increase dialogue between academia and industry. 

Over the course of this podcast, we reflected back on previous conversations we have had with Bola, Cheryl, Leina Shi, Stephanie and of course, Vicky Lewis, about language learning, knowledge ownership and the need to increase contextual understanding.  This increases awareness but also increases sustainability. Judith marveled at some of the stories of language learning she had heard during her visit and we reflected back on Vicky’s findings about the types of skills and capabilities this must open up for people.

Judith was clearly impressed by The University of Sofia and encourages all listeners to give them a quick google.

Hard to beat a university that has a Mammoth!

 

#TNE #internationalhighereducation #academiccollaboration #studentexchange #research #industrylinks #sustainabilty #Bulgaria #universityofsofia