The pandemic vocabulary—from circuit breaker and Zooming to pivot and reopening (sometime)—is nowhere more apt than in the international education sector.
It’s been a rollercoaster 18 months for students stranded abroad and forced to study online, and for staff and students in New Zealand who are separated from family and friends in their home countries.
But, say staff at Wellington University International, a more settled new normal is emerging.
“Isolation is a problem for some but, nearly two years down the track since COVID-19 hit, many of our students have settled well into distance learning,” says international student support manager Jasmine Daniel. “We’re getting great attendance at international orientation events and our Zoom sessions for offshore students.”
Many students remain hopeful they will get to Wellington at some point but know they have a mountain to climb in terms of border closures, limited flights and MIQ availability, visa challenges, and living costs in New Zealand.
Which is not to minimise the challenges those students also face offshore, says international student adviser Crystal Li.
“Circumstances have changed at home for many of these students—some have family members who have died, people have lost jobs, been in lockdown for long periods in small spaces, and there has been a huge amount of stress.
“We can’t hug them, or hold their hands, but we reach out to them regularly and do whatever we can to provide support.”
That support includes one-on-one appointments scheduled to suit time zones, regular Zoom chats, connection workshops, a monthly newsletter, and a tailored online mixed-model orientation each trimester.
A staff member has recently been appointed in Wellington to provide dedicated support to each of the more than 100 doctoral candidates enrolled at the University who cannot get to New Zealand because of the border closure.
It also includes opening the University’s first Student Learning Centre at Capital Normal University (CNU) in Beijing, catering for up to 80 students who are currently enrolled with the University. This gives those who remain in China because of border restrictions the option of joining fellow Wellington students on campus at a top Chinese university in central Beijing.
Dual delivery (online and face to face) will continue in 2022 to cater for students in New Zealand and offshore. At the same time, the University is continuing to forge partnerships with other universities across the world to provide international students with more options.
Recent examples include a partnership with the Communications University of Zhejiang (CUZ) in China to deliver an undergraduate joint programme majoring in Intercultural Communication and a partnership with the University of Foreign Language Studies at the University of Da Nang in Viet Nam, through which postgraduate students can study courses in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages.
This model sees Te Herenga Waka working with trusted partners who can complement the online learning experience from academics in Wellington with face-to-face teaching and student pastoral care.
All of the above positions Te Herenga Waka well to thrive in the current environment while also keeping an eye on the longer-term conversation underway around the world about the future of learning post the pandemic.
Many in the sector predict big shifts in pedagogical approaches and delivery modes over the next few years. Others are also forecasting that the immersive residential model that universities are built on may become the preserve of a privileged few, with most delivering a more sustainable, and inclusive, hybrid model of learning and teaching.