Think Education

In this latest Think Education podcast, Chris and Judith talk to Dr Lobar Babakhodjaeva, Associate Professor, Global Education Department, Westminster International University in Tashkent – Uzbekistan.  We spoke to Lobar about her journey through education, to senior leadership, to a focus on her research and teaching. This podcast is the latest over the past year, grounded in our ongoing interest...

In an attempt at a meta-session, Chris and Judith took a little time today to think and talk about podcasting. This episode was motivated by several factors: we thought it might be nice to talk and think about something other than what is going on in the sector at the moment; and a colleague and friend of ours, Fabrizio Tfifiro - https://www.linkedin.com/in/1234591/ has just launched a new podcast...

International Student Perspectives: Taiwan and the UAE In a companion type piece to last week’s look at international student mobility in Australia, today we asked students to reflect on their experiences with and at university. This episode of the Think Education podcast includes reflections from postgraduate students from the College of Education at National Chengchi University (Taiwan) and the...

International student recruitment caps in Australia – a review and discussion In this latest episode of the Think Education podcast, Judith and myself were delighted to be joined by return guest, Dr Douglas Proctor, Pro Vice-Chancellor Global Engagement, Swinburne University of Technology.  We were delighted to have the opportunity to talk to Douglas again – even if the subject matter wasn’t all t...

In this latest Think Education podcast episode, Judith and Chris talk to Sharon Davies-Smith, College Director/Principal and Chief Operating Officer – The College, Swansea University. In addition to this being a fascinating conversation, it has been a few months since we spoke to somebody from Wales and this could clearly not be allowed to stand any longer! Sharon talked about her background and j...

In this latest Think Education podcast episode, Judith reflected on her recent attendance at the UUKi’s International Higher Education Forum 2024 – held in London, UK.  Judith highlighted the honesty and reflective nature of presentations and discussions seen now as normal and the value that this bring to the community and understanding. Three key issues emerged from Judith’s reflections and they...

AI and Origami: Responding to New Challenges with Old Techniques   In this latest Think Education podcast, Judith and Chris continue their previous conversation about resilience and change, but with a focus on the use of technology in education – particularly AI. Chris reflected on a conference he chaired - The 2nd Global Conference on Research in Education and Research (GCEL 2024) – this past wee...

Judith and Chris have been away from the podcasting world for a few weeks – holidays and life – and are now recording this in the midst of some fairly significant natural disasters and home issues.  The current situation prompted us to think about resilience and how we cope with crises in both our personal and professional lives.  And because this is us, we managed to include Jurassic Park, Bruce...

Judith and Chris discussed the issue of success and how we measure it.  We talked about the problems with the terms and approaches we use here and how we are often trapped by a framework of our own making. We talked about time and partnerships.  How long it takes to set them up; how long they take to actually take; how long we should stay in them before we consider them a success or a failure.  We...

There are more things talked about in this podcast than in your imagination.   Language always pulls us back and forms a strong element of many of the conversations Judith and I have.  We like language.  We like books.  We like talking about language.  We like talking about books. Judith reflects on our recent conversations and podcasts and talks about how we learn languages at school and out in t...

Judith and Chris wander down the often problematic, and always fascinating labyrinth that is the nature of culture. What do we think of when we hear the word culture?  Judith reflects on what the term means in the boardroom as compared to in the ‘outside world’.  Inward and outward views abound. Culture can be perhaps seen in different ways: from the personal perspective thinking about other place...

In this latest Think Education podcast episode, Chris talks to Judith about her recent trip to Romania.  In many ways this is the bookend to Judith’s 2023 trip to Sofia, Bulgaria with the British Council and represents a full commitment to developing sustainable approaches to partnership engagement. Judith talked about the preparation for this trip and how participants and organisers had developed...

We return to looking at origin series again in this Think Education podcast episode and the baton passes from Judith to Chris today. Chris reflects on his initial career aspirations and how they morphed into a life in international higher education with a seamless (at least in hindsight) journey all mapped out!  Judith and Chris talk about the lessons we learn along the way and how, one thing can...

In this special episode, we learn about Leif Erikson and what it means to be an explorer. I asked Sprout what it means to be an explorer and she explained how it is something we can all do, especially with the help of books.  Every book is a chance to visit somewhere new and have new adventures. In this podcast, Sprout talks about Leif’s travels to America and also talked about how Christopher Col...

In today’s Think Education podcast, Judith and Chris discuss the recent Sunday Times article regarding pathways to the UK higher education sector and an excellent piece by Sophie Hogan in the Pie News outlining the issues and realities. We lamented the manner in which the narrative has been framed by the Sunday Times and the potential damage that this can do the sector and to the people involved t...

In this latest Think Education podcast episode, we try something a little different.  As our third book is looking into the more personal nature of international higher education and the journeys taken by those of us inside this wonderful world, we thought we would start with ourselves. We flipped a coin, and Judith won.  Or lost, depending on how you look at it. Judith reflects on how she began h...

In this latest Think Education podcast episode, Judith and Chris talk about the process of beginning book number 3 and how they have become increasingly comfortable with embracing uncertainty. Building on ideas generated in the first two books, where we looked at the landscape of international higher education (book 1) and the role and identity of universities (book 2), we are turning our attentio...

In this latest Think Education podcast episode, Chris and Judith discuss the role of mentors throughout their careers and the journey from mentee to mentor.  We played around with various titles for this podcast (as you will hear in the episode) but ultimately it is about the journey we take in our careers and the support we receive, and give, during that time.  We find ourselves coming back to th...

In this first podcast of 2024, Judith and Chris reflect back on the previous year (again) and think about the year to come. We don’t necessarily have a plan for the direction we would like the podcast to go but we do know that more of the same would be most welcome.  Last year was filled with fascinating and insightful conversations with colleagues from around the world and we look forward to bein...

In this, the final Think Education podcast of 2023, Judith and Chris reflect back on a year of podcasting; a year of conversations; and a year of global engagement. We managed – with a lot of help from our friends – to put up 50 original episodes (we had two repeats over the summer break) and had the opportunity to talk to people from Australia, China, Egypt, Germany Hong Kong, Malaysia, Netherlan...

In this second part of our conference podcast series Chris and Judith talk about the fun and frivolity of organizing, chairing and running a physical conference.  We have both had experience with this in the past and direct experience lately and we share some tips and tricks we have picked up along the way. We talked about the creative process involved in developing conference themes and the treme...

In this first part of a series on conferences, Judith and Chris discuss recent conference attendance and engagement and reflect on the value of discussion, uncertainty and working through ideas. Chris reflected on his attendance at COP28 in Dubai and outlined his participation in a panel organised and chaired by Dr Zeenath Reza Khan.  The panel session was Academic Integrity as key competence for...

In this episode, Judith and Chris talk to Tim Rottleb -  science manager at the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg (BTU) @BTUCS where he is an officer in the Department for Regional Transformation. Before joining the BTU, Tim worked as a researcher at the Leibniz-Institute for Research on Society and Space (IRS) where he was part of a research group investigating internationa...

Have you ever wondered what goes on at a big international conference?  How sessions are organised?  How people prepare for them, or engage with them?  If so, this is the podcast for you. In this latest Think Education podcast episode, Judith reflects on her recent attendance at Going Global 2023 in Edinburgh. Judith talked about the style and structure of Going Global and outlined the interactive...

In this latest Think Education podcast, Chris reflects on two recent events he attended – The IC Global Café TNE: Impactful Collaborations, Meaningful Student Experience and Achieving Sustainability and Equity, delivered by Dr Vangelis Tsiligiris and the 4th TNE Hub Research and practice symposium – Advancing Horizons: Transnational Education Partnerships in a Pluralizing World.  TNE’s role in Emp...