When¹ faced with tensions in a world in conflict due to social, economic, and cultural inequalities, reflecting on the needed conditions to develop and strengthen new regards about the educational/formative processes that promote glocal dignity leads us to question unsettling issues in the internationalization of education. In an increasingly (multi)polarized world, the doubts about human rights and the democratic system show the urgency of rethinking the meaning of education during major transformations/transitions, as well as its frailties, strengths, and power.

In this sense, this Dossier gathers articles that reflect and widen the substantial debate about the internationalization of education in K-12 and higher education in different contexts based on several experiences and investigative perspectives. The initial proposal, thought of since 2021, became a reality and now reaches readers everywhere through the pages of the prestigious Revista da FAEEBA - Educação e Contemporaneidade from UNEB. It offers a highly qualified selection, deepening the macro-field that intercrosses Education and Internationalization.

Given the theme’s political-academic relevance nowadays and the tense context worldwide, this Dossier gathers texts that chose the Internationalization of Education as a key concept during a civilization crossroads and constant transformations.

As a concept and a strategic agenda, internationalization is a relatively new, broad, and varied phenomenon. Though it is strongly related to the internationalization of higher education, it encompasses a dynamic combination of political, economic, sociocultural, and academic motivations of different social subjects.

Considering the polysemy of multiple conceptual interpretations involving the institutional, sectorial, and national levels, Knight defines internationalization as “the process of integrating international, intercultural, and global dimensions into the purpose, primary functions (teaching/learning, research, and service to society) and delivery at the institutional and system-level.” (2020:532)²

From this catalyzing process of relationships among nations, people, cultures, institutions, and systems, Knight unfolds her understanding of the internationalization of higher education as the “process of integrating an international, intercultural, and global dimension to the objects, the teaching/learning, the research, and the roles and services to a university or a system of higher education.” (2014)³

Among the diversity and the plurality of concepts, terms, definitions, and interpretations about the Internationalization of Education, we highlight the importance of understanding the meaning of process and complexity involving academic and intercultural multidimensionality and its effervescence.

The writings about the internationalization of education systematized here are historically situated in the social space-time we are experiencing and propose a lively reflection anchored in the (inter)national conjecture. The questions that triggered and inspired the theme of this issue, “internationalization of education,” gained even more steam in the last years.

Among the many challenges of contemporary education in general and the internationalization of education processes in particular, it is essential to consider the political and pedagogical implications of these intercultural movements producing and socializing knowledge. We should reflect on the partnerships, cooperation agreements, and research networks to better understand the internationalization networks and overcome the several forms of exclusion.

In a context where cooperation is urgent and affirms itself as a current and civilized condition to understand education in the world better, one must question the institutional, local, regional, national, and international interests, their different levels (academic, economic, political, social, collective, and individual), types of subjects and their roles, as well as their indications for public policies and their regulations in the different forms of the internationalization of education. Forms and possibilities that are sometimes difficult, concerning the physical mobility among borders, cultures, and languages, as well as the ethical, aesthetical, epistemological, and political fundaments.

On the one hand, the recent COVID-19 pandemic has strongly affected the possibilities of internationalizing education as academic mobility (“at home,” abroad, or “transborder”) and experiences between courses, studies, universities, and countries. Conversely, we see the power of different and innovative exchanges that allow other shapes and dialogues, for instance, the experiences of open universities, webinars, lives, free online courses, and many other initiatives building a “digital solidarity” and consolidating other cooperation practices.

During the extraordinary post-pandemic times, no country could feel genuinely safe when faced with the spread of new contamination waves and their variants. Even in the ongoing emergency, specific appeals for solidarity hardly prevail over national interests, even though global cooperation is not synonymous with altruism; how can we perceive the international interests or the different forms of internationalization of education?

As a result of the global sanitary emergency we have been living in since 2020, several countries have been rethinking the meaning of mobilities and the transit between borders, even halting displacements. However, they gradually return through some devices (e.g., vaccine passports). Worldwide, the marks of uncertainty and political, economic, and social instability have worsened, compromising mobility possibilities.

In this scenario, when considering that K-12 and Higher education have changed their policies and curricula in recent years, together with the context of new realities, conflicts, and geopolitical restrictions, we are confronted by the challenge of understanding the internationalization of the teaching-learning process, the curriculum, and students’ intercultural and global competencies, as ^{Knight (2020)} emphasizes⁴. Similarly, we have also observed changes in the focus of the academic mobilities (by students, programs, and service providers), in the possibilities of international branches, agreements of university franchise, universities, and joint programs (undergraduate and post-graduate), internships, virtual classes, and MOOCs, among others, which show the benefits of student mobility.

However, such possibilities become even more complex when we are experiencing significant turbulences, with frontiers closing due to geopolitical or sanitary reasons, catastrophes, wars, and conflicts in which intercultural, racial, and religious tensions seem to increase daily. Such a scenario requires other forms of international academic cooperation besides mobility, as ^{Knight (2020:532)} points out. Therefore, she reaffirms the importance of understanding “internationalization as a process of change” and, consequently, a way to transform education for the better - with greater access, international collaboration in the investigations regarding the global and local challenges, and other formation projects that can prepare the next generation to become “citizens of the world.”

By reaffirming internationalization as a process of change, this dossier seeks to reflect/ discuss different realities involving the internationalization of education, the international networks of researchers, and the effectiveness of academic exchanges, during and after the pandemic and the emergency context. After all, we are subjects of a historical moment that can mean a game change in our lives and leave marks, compromising or strengthening the internationalization process of education.

The theoretical marks and perspectives of internationalization discussed in this Dossier move over different themes: the role of International Bodies and the sector management (K-12 and Higher Education) as debate possibilities; the international networks of knowledge, teaching and researching, and agreements of international cooperation; epistemological assumptions, methodologies/approaches, and several practices (scientific, artistic, and cultural development between courses, universities, communities, and countries); studies on the internationalization processes in a historical perspective of national and international bodies; subjects and contexts of education internationalization (pedagogies, school culture, identity territories); internationalization, diversities, and exclusion (dialogues with migrants, refugees, native and African-Indigenous peoples), and decolonial perspectives; as well as Internationalization, networks, digital technologies and culture (modalities of remote education, online, and hybrid, and innovative practices).

Thus, the texts translate and interpret different realities and contribute with diverse reflections and meaningful experiences that can inspire new studies and raise other perspectives about some challenges in education internationalization, its practices, and studies. Reflections that evidence the importance of interdisciplinary investigations in the changing world of contemporary education, in which different dimensions of international and intercultural education and their networks (Morosini,2024)⁵ can establish meaningful contributions to the debate.

Given the power and singularity of the texts, which can be read in any order, we sought to organize the Dossier by articulating the themes in dialogue or contraposition.

We start with the reflection of Dr. Jane Knight, a great international reference in this field of studies, recurrently cited in the texts of this Dossier, and conclude with the Interview Session with Marília Morosini - another reference in the area, also widely cited in the articles - who favored us with a talk about intercultural and network internationalization.

Jane Knight’s article approaches the concept of “knowledge diplomacy” in “Understanding and Applying the Key Elements of Knowledge Diplomacy: The Role of international higher education, research, and Innovation in international relations.” Her reflection about International Higher Education, Research, and Innovation reveals the increasing complexity and interconnectivity of the relationships between countries, calling attention to the lack of studies on the intercession of such evolving phenomena and meeting the theme from the concept of knowledge diplomacy instead of soft power to emphasize the construction of collaborative, reciprocal, and mutually beneficial relations.

The text “The importance of collaborative networks in the internationalization process of higher education” from Sirlei de Lourdes Lauxen, Jocélia Martins Marcelino, and Luisa Cerdeira analyzes the contribution of collaborative networks pointing out that the economic, political, social, and cultural interactions between different countries allow seeking the academic cooperation in Higher Education Institutions (HEI) to favor the internationalization process of Higher Education.

In the article Alfamed International Network: an Euro-American proposal for education and communication, Elizabeth Guadalupe Rojas Estrada, Ignácio Aguaded, Paula Renés-Arellano, and Gabriela Borges present aspects of the Red work in 19 countries seeking to promote a global community of researchers that approach the emerging challenges of the media ecosystem in a critical, creative, and ethical way, emphasizing the relevance and benefits of this type of academic structure based on this proposed model of internationalization.

Lucídio Bianchetti and Lara Carlette Thiengo deepened the discussion in the article Research in Education: From the Individual to the Group and International Network. Notes on origins and perspectives, based on the analysis of the transition between individual research to group research, seeking to build research networks in the context of the Programa Institucional de Internacionalização (CAPES/PrInt), highlighting the importance of this program as an expressive policy in the creation of a culture of research group/system.

Bruno Layson Ferreira Leão, Fabiana Araujo Nogueira, and Alda Maria Duarte Araújo Castro, in the article Internationalization of postgraduation in Brazil: the CAPES PRINT Program (2018-2022), start from an exploratory study about the theme and conclude by highlighting that the program is highly selective and ends up benefiting the most well-regarded program in the system of national evaluation of the country’s post-graduation, increasing regional asymmetries.

The text Neither nothing nor everything: at the internationalizations’ crossroads, from the researchers Martha Maria Prata-Linhares, Daniele Campos Botelhoa, and Isadora Maria Oliveira Tristão approach internationalization policies in teacher education in Brazil from the international cooperation programs indicating the need to balance economic and sociocultural approaches and questioning the role of international bodies and the contrasts of internationalization initiatives in South-American countries.

Local Practices of internationalization: CAPES-Print Program’s Financial and sociopolitical management, from Daniela Alves de Alves and Victor Mourão, brings a more affirmative perspective, considering that the program promotes an institutional dynamic of decentralizing the management of resources allied with universities, programs, and research groups established in despite of other group profiles. Furthermore, it states that internationalization would be a legitimate evaluation indicator of quality in academic production.

Perspectives on internationalization: an analysis based on epistemological assumptions, signed by Andrezza Cipriani, M. Regina Selpa Heinzle, and Maria Elizabeth da Costa Gama aims to analyze part of the internationalization perspectives in Higher Education from the “North Epistemologies” assumptions, in a perspective towards the academic exchange and the “South Epistemologies” which would contribute for a integral formation with a decolonial perspective, suggesting the creation of networks between the countries of the global South seeking to strengthen a solidary and intercultural internationalization and relatively contribute with a plural debate about the topic.

In the article Guidelines for Internalization of Higher Education in Contemporary Times, Lourdes Evangelina Zilberberg Oviedo, Diego Palmeira Rodrigues, and Maria de Lourdes Pinto de Almeida analyze the guidelines for the internationalization of Higher Education in the documents of the 2018 Regional Conference on Higher Education and the 2022 World Higher Education Conference. They observe a dichotomy between a humanist and solidary conception of internationalization and an economic perspective grounded in the “market rules” and the principle of sustainable development of the Agenda 2030 of the United Nations.

In the article Brazil and Italy: analysis of the contributions of physical education in teacher education for preschool and elementary school, bByond the documental analysis, Ari Lazzarotti, Luana Zanotto, and Attilio Carraro signalize other internationalization aspects from an experience of an international partnership with a compared perspective about the contribution of Physical Education in two courses (Brazilian and Italian) of teacher education in Childhood Education and Elementary schools.

From a critical view of the internationalization of curricula in K-12 education, the article from Juares da Silva Thiesen, Internationalization of curricula in basic education: repercussions on the ongoing reforms in Brazil, analyzes the repercussions of discourses in the organizations, networks, and international agencies in the curriculum policies in Brazil in general and, in particular, the curriculum reforms involving High School.

The article entitled InternationaL education in Argentina: What for, for Whom and Why?, from Liliana Mayer, analyzes an international experience of education in Argentina with secondary schools from international and binational schools seeking to investigate the reasons to participate in these networks and the implications of the participation in programs, forms of belonging, and the knowledge and competencies valued by those participating in the networks and those that do not.

The text Internationalization of the curriculum: contents for physiotherapy training in Brazil and Portugal from Marcia Regina da Silva, Fátima Kremer Ferretti, Preciosa Fernandes, and Carla Rosane Paz Arruda Teo, analyzes the contents of undergraduate Physical Therapy courses in Brazil and Portugal under the perspective of curriculum internationalization, based on national and international guidelines for this training in both contexts, pointing out a convergence on the content and strategies that point out pathways for the curriculum internationalization.

By approaching the theme of planning International Academic Mobility (IAM) in a Ph.D. program, the article The planning process of international academic mobility: Factors and actors, Leslie Adriana Quiroz Schulz, Mónica de la Fare considers the main factors and actors of this process. The results indicate the importance of four dimensions: funding and relevance of funding agencies; thesis advisory and coordination of the Ph.D. Program and other actors; previous experiences and Ph.D. candidates’ mobility capital; and the agents’ critical decisions: time and destination. In the article Social Representations about “internationalization” in Higher Education: proximity to the object and social construction, Mateus Santos Souza and Natanael Reis Bomfim analyze how the thought and social representations about internationalization can contribute to strengthening this policy in Higher Education and point out how these social representations ground themselves in different types of knowledge and in the academic mobility triggered by cooperation and agreements, which contribute to knowledge production and dissemination.

In the current discussion about the potentialities and challenges of education technologies, the article Research in Education and ICT in Latin America: cross-cutting themes, from Maria Helena Bonilla, Veronica Sofia Ficoseco, and Georgina Ivet Durán Jiménez, approaches the establishment and renovation of research agendas about Education and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) as a prominent factor in education policies in Latin America, highlighting common themes crossed by public policies in several Latin-American countries as keys to understand social problems in current contexts.

Finally, we hope that the reading and dialogue with each author and text of the Dossier Internationalization of Education can allow not only the intertextuality and the continuity of the work but also a plural and intercultural experience that can promote encounters, even when thinking and feeling differently, as the poet suggests or inspires us:

Each of us is several, is many, is a profusion of selves (…) In the vast colony of our being there are many species of people who think and feel in different ways. (Fernando Pessoa, The Book of Disquiet)

Now it’s up to the reader. Language, subject and culture articulated and interested in new texts and new syntheses in line with the (inter)national challenge of social justice, critical knowledge and dignified life.