Internationalisation of doctoral schools of education in Hungary: Rationale and organisational change

Abstract This pilot study presents the preliminary results of a larger qualitative study based on narratives of organisational change related to the internationalisation of the doctoral schools of education studies (DSEd) in Hungary, which are characterised by an inherent ambivalent position of national embeddedness and heightened internationalisation imperative. The theoretical perspectives for the pilot are grounded on the intersection of major topics as very few previous studies of precise focus were found. We looked at internationalisation of the doctoral programmes in general, cases of educational studies including teacher education, and the developmental theories relevant to the field of higher education. Semi-structured interviews with four educational professionals at a research-intensive university in Hungary depict personal narratives and perceptions of internationalisation – a challenging yet necessary experience. The pilot framework presents preliminary findings retrieved from the initial sub-sample. Pilot results picture the fine-grained process of organisational change concerning the internationalisation implementation based on the perspectives of academic staff whose frame of reference is a niche in the current discourse.