This paper presents a model of practice for analysing the internationalisation of higher education, and for better providing teaching service and support to both the internal and external other. It is derived from the theoretical analysis of the rationales, concepts and developments of the internationalisation of higher education, and from a New Zealand case study that exemplifies the current trend in the internationalisation of higher education--a shift from aid to trade. In the paper, the author examines the impacts of globalisation and the knowledge economy on the shifting currency of the rationales. The paper concludes that, because of increasing numbers of resident immigrant students, "the international (other)" is no longer beyond national borders but is within them. Therefore, universities would do well to revisit neglected social and cultural dimensions in the provision of higher education services.