No man is an island: School partnerships for internationalization

WEB references define globalization more often in a business context – such as “the tendency of businesses, technologies, or philosophies to spread throughout the world, or the process of making this happen.” Sometimes referred to as a globality, the global economy is characterized as “a totally interconnected marketplace, unhampered by time zones or national boundaries.” This interconnection undergoes a “process of international integration arising from the interchange of world views, products, ideas and mutual sharing, and other aspects of culture.” Integration, mutual sharing – these capture the lines from John Donne – “no man is an island.” Internationalization is what our reaction is to this tendency or to this process.

Given this tendency or process, shouldn’t we academics aim to have ourselves and our stakeholders, especially our students, acquire an informed understanding and take advantage of the maximum good that these “businesses, technologies, or philosophies” that “spread throughout the world” can bring upon us? What do we do about globality so that each of us will not left to be “walang balita,” meaning, uninformed and be “out of place?” What do we do to retain our places in this world comfortably, find our niche and keep it? When we adopt technologies that reach us or that we try to reach, do these technologies not jar our sensitivities? Do they conform to our way of life as Filipinos? What adjustments do we have to do? Do we adopt them in toto? In this regard, the word “glocal,” has somewhat gained mileage in the vocabulary of those, like me, are charged in their respective institutions to find ways and affordable means to internationalize our faculty, students, staff and the other stakeholders in our catchment areas.