Esin AKSAY AKSEZER, Kutlay YAĞMUR, Fons VAN DE VIJVER

Erasmus Programına Katılan Türk Öğrencilerin Deneyimlerinden Hareketle Ortaya Çıkan Zorlukların ve Çelişkilerin Nitel Bir Analizi

Uluslararasılaşma, özellikle Erasmus programı, son yıllarda Türkiye'deki yükseköğretim alanını ve bu alanın paydaşlarını etkileyen başlıca süreçlerdendir. Uygulandığı coğrafyada ve Türkiye'de en bilinen ve yaygın öğrenci hareketlilik programı olan Erasmus, başladığı yıldan itibaren artan sayıda kurum ve öğrenciyi dâhil ederek dikkatleri üzerine toplamış başarılı bir örnek olarak değerlendirilmektedir. Erasmus programının öğrencilere sağladığı sosyal, kültürel, akademik ve profesyonel faydalara ve yaşanan zorluklara; Bologna Süreci'nin Türk yükseköğretimi üzerindeki etkilerine yönelik konular daha önce yapılmış farklı nitelikteki çalışmalarda ele alınmıştır. Bu kapsamda, hazırlık aşamasında, misafir eden kurum ya da ülkede ve döndükten sonra yaşanan çeşitli akademik, sosyal, kültürel ve bürokratik zorluklara değinmek mümkündür. Ancak, yaşanan zorluklarla ilgili olarak, yeterince veya hiç ele alınmamış konular da bulunmaktadır. Bu çalışma daha az ele alınmış konulara değinmeyi hedeflemektedir. Bu kapsamda ele alınan başlıklar, farklılıklar üzerinden geliştirilen politika ve uygulamalar, proje yönetimi alanında yaşanan sıkıntılar (kapsayıcı olmak, finansal konular, sonuçlar) ve tüketim yaklaşımının uluslararası deneyimlere yansımaları olarak özetlenebilir. Bu konular, Erasmus programının kapsayıcı olma, ortak bir anlayış geliştirme ve farklı açılardan gelişim sağlaması gibi genel hedeflere ulaşma konusunda çelişkili bir resim ortaya çıkartabildiğini göstermektedir. Dolayısıyla, bu başlıklarla program hedefleri ve sonuçları arasında ortaya çıkabilen farklılık ve zıtlıkların farkına varılmalı ve özellikle uygun öğrenci danışmanlığı, beklenti yönetimi ve daha esnek değerlendirme-yerleştirme yöntemlerinin geliştirilmesinin önemi değerlendirilmelidir.

Anahtar Kelimeler:

Erasmus, Türkiye, yükseköğretimde hareketlilik

A Qualitative Study of Erasmus Program Challenges and Paradoxes Based on the Experiences of Students from Turkey

Internationalization agenda, especially the Erasmus framework, has become a significant process affecting the Turkish higher education. Erasmus, as being the most influential and preferred mobility scheme, has attracted significant attention and witnessed increasing number of students in years. There are various studies on the outcomes of the Erasmus program in terms of social, cultural, and academic gains of students as well as associated challenges and influence of the Bologna Process on the Turkish higher education outlook. However, there are less visited concepts in terms of challenges that need further attention. This paper addresses these less visited subjects such as project management/implementation issues (diversity, funding, and outcomes), politics of difference, and consumerist approaches. The findings suggest that these issues may complicate program implementations and run the risk of hindering general program targets, leading to a paradoxical outlook such a becoming exclusive to certain group of students, emphasizing difference rather than mutual understanding, seeing the experience as a to-do list item. So, the tension between various issues such as consumerist approaches, politics of difference and project implementation issues and general program targets and outcomes must be acknowledged towards emphasizing the critical role of appropriate student advising and expectation management as well as development of flexible and diverse evaluation-placement methods for efficient and positive program implementation.

Keywords:

Erasmus higher education, mobility, Turkey,

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