UNIT 5017 – International Policy Trends in Education
Changes in the Role of the State and Implications for the Financing of Education; Trends in Educational Accountability
There are determinants that shape education systems development other than accountability and leadership. These are demographic trends, economic changes and social developments. Demographic trends, for instance, had triggered the transition from elites to massification of education particularly in the tertiary education, highlighting domestic and international enrolment. Globalization had also prompted economies to be more interdependent and an effective way to develop, improve and sustain a competitive edge is through developing a global workforce that is both highly skilled and knowledgeable. Determinism has been viewed as the reason why there is education-related social development. Determinism simply refers to the doctrine or belief that everything, including every human like education-related decisions, is caused by something and that there is no real free will.
Demographic trends are mainly caused by the changes in terms of birth and death rates. Population size and its growth is one important indicator in demographic changes. The position of education in the global dimension had been more dominant in the 21st century although internationalization could be traced from mid-20th century. Internationalization of education is shaped by demographic changes in three distinct ways. The growing demands that could not be met by domestic educational institutions hence students are sent abroad to study. On the other hand, some countries, especially the developed countries, are facing the dilemma of an ageing population and workforce. What they do is to absorb students from other countries, particularly developing countries.
One prominent example of a developed country that is being challenged by the demographic shift to older population is Australia. While there is a need to promote Australian educational system outside its borders, Australian employers also tapped in the strategy of lifelong learning. In general, higher education largely stops at 30 hence there is a wide-ranging necessity to upskill the workforce and to leverage employees’ forward thinking. What Australian education system is doing is offering sponsorships and joint partnership programmes, mainly with Asian communities. Representatives recruit students who are confident in mobility schemes to study in Australia while also working hence the birth of Study in Australia and Mutual Recognition of Qualifications Joint Programs initiatives (Axford and Seddon, 2006, p. 191).
For the reason that globalization had also driven the demand for development of the contents of curricula, instruction methods and new programmes, the responses of both local and international institutions must move along with the shift in demands and supplies. This emerges in the number and kinds of higher institutions other than the traditional public and private institutions. The delivery of education also changes by considering how information technology could make such more comfortable and convenient for both the institutions and the students, especially those who are not very familiar with transnational mobility, hence transnational or cross-border education whereby not only people are globalize, but also programmes and institutions while some prefer e-learning.
Germany is one perfect example of a developed country that offers e-learning as it is regarded as a helpful tool in German universities and research institutions. This alternative, not to mention, is more easily accessible by an international pool of students. There are also marketing instruments to present online programme offerings. Because these online courses are relatively expensive, international students, who cannot afford mobilization, are critical about the quality of these courses and programmes. Germany is an active partner of Supporting Online Learning and Teaching initiative, an EU-wide learning initiative, to represent education, training and research. This reflects the changing format of education delivery, which is generally provoked by technology and globalization. Nevertheless, this alternative also caters to the changing requirements of the workforce wherein it is required for both fresh graduates and long-time employees adhere into lifelong learning strategies.
Mezzarol et al (2003) contend that these are the two waves of internationalization in education that, although these developments happened in stages, they are more apparent and overlapping today. In simpler terms, these are outbound traveling for education, forward integration and on-line courses (p. 90). This could be also perceived as the ongoing marketisation of education and commoditization of the products which are the students, as opposed to what Hira ( 2003) had mentioned is that education as a basic service that is both experiential and individualistic could not be easily commodified. Another facet that solidifies these changes is the emergence of various education services – hard and soft – which can be exported directly and can be exploited at home, respectively.
Marketing these services require that product or service offerings must be carefully aligned with the demands, and must be a source of competitive advantage to institutions. Value proposition must be built in the concept of costs of international education that is compensated for by the benefits which requires that quality should be always ingrained in the concept of internationalization. This will be the yardstick and institutions at the international level will vie for this to attract more students. Quality should not just be present in curriculum content, effectiveness of instructional processes or competence of faculty and staff, but also in the reputation of institutions. Another vital factor is the quality of interaction between teachers and students and within the management at institutions level (Mezzarol et al, 2003, pp. 92-93).
From these points, Mezzarol et al (2003, pp. 95-96) predicted that the necessary steps would be to open branch campuses, to converge into corporate universities and to engage in virtual universities. The import and export of education has been also perceived to be critical, specifically regional education development as hub and spoke. Branch campuses are concerned with the construction of education and its market, a corporate university is a university consortium, while virtualization of education widens economies of reach. Regional educational development then could be regarded a long-term strategy wherein collaborative synergy is the goal. Through this, education would be accessible and could make use of technologies in developed countries even when the location is within a developing country.
Branch campus development, is increasingly becoming important for the United Kingdom. This was understood to be an entrepreneurial opportunity that could widen the reach and impact of knowledge from UK to other parts of the world. Exporting activities of higher education institutions aimed at achieving a comparable quality of education at home into the host countries and the students on these campuses. Branching out of higher education could mean that the demand in other countries is dominant hence the need to be supplied by knowledge-based developed countries. This could be also regarded as the social responsibility of these institutions to relay on other worthy states the privilege to learn from their experiences. The value proposition is their experience and their reputation in providing high-quality education.
It would be relevant to determine the extent of education accountability of institutions, their business model and its leadership. The fundamental purpose of effective educational accountability systems refers to the improvement of teaching and learning that is embedded in the fundamental purpose of leadership evaluation which is the improvement of the process by means of building knowledge and skills by current and prospective educational leaders. With this said, educational accountability and leadership could be either a constructive or destructive force in the educational context. The more pressing issue here is the fact that roles of the states varies along with the changes in demographic trends, economic changes and social developments, all of which contribute to the changes in the educational financial structures.
Mezzarol et al (2003), for instance, point out that leadership and the relation of the institution as a whole to its stakeholders must be put in context in such a way that, despite the changes in the structure of basic educational services and its delivery, the effectiveness and quality of teaching and learning must be still upheld. In the case of Malaysian branch campuses with multiple stakeholders, the approach was holistic wherein the government and local private investors provide for financial support, and foreign university partners for intellectual property, brand name and human capital (p. 93). Because these stakeholders have varying interests with reference to expansion of education services, the accountability of leaders, and in particular its stakeholders, could be distorted, and thus it can be destructive and hurtful rather than do the branch campuses management good.
Globalization is an economic trend that has brought many economic changes at both a national and international scale. Economic changes are evident in the way businesses operate today. For one, internationalization could facilitate the recruitment of foreign talent apart from being a source of revenue and growth opportunities for various institutions. Workforce and workforce demands are the basic economic changes wherein jobs are becoming more labor-intensive, technologically-driven and knowledge-based. Hira (2003, p. 911) noted that international trend is experienced in terms of volume, frequency and scope, necessitating the expansion of trade in education. Economies of scale are also tapped through the process, in particular, of joint curriculum development and twinning agenda. Since competition is intensified, institutions resort to quality improvement and also because of the existence of foreign or internationally-oriented staff and the critical attitude of international students.
However, the problem with economic-related changes in education is commercialization, whereby popular programmes will benefit at the expense of more specialized, less popular programmes. Higher education is increasingly offered in English, which may explain the emergence of a demand for English programmes as well, which in turn may jeopardize the value of the native language. The value of foreign degrees will also require the home curriculum to integrate foreign courses. This could also impact on the liberalization of skilled migration and policies relating to it and also the tightening of the labor market to expend strict requirements. As such, internationalization happens to be an answer to changes including changes in distance learning, testing, training and affiliation (Hira, 2003, p. 912). As discussed above, demography also plays an important role in the economic rationales behind changes in academic structures. The most prominent example is the ageing baby boomers.
The World Bank describes social development as “the transformation of societies by means of understanding the social context of the country as well as the needs and priorities of the people”. Social development could also refer to a ‘happening’ where it might emphasize the capacity of a state and its people to grasp what is taking place. One of the most significant examples for this is the US and the terrorist attack in 2001. The direction of education systems development can be changed according to the emerging priorities. One perfect example of such a happening is the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States in 2001. This occurrence stressed the differences and the changes pre- and post-September 11.
Ritzi (2004, p. 157) asserts that globalization has been linked to social change and, in particular, developing educational institutions and instructional contents. In the aftermath of the attack, there had been changes in public policies and social welfare, the mobility of the people across national boundaries. Citizen protection and security issues, specifically, become the focus of debates. It was expected that the state will look after the interests of the citizens as part of their democratic rights but the September 11 attack proved that there are equally critical issues such as conflict and clashes among religions and culture. However, because of this development, educational institutions have strengthened their international approach to societal problems, mainly through adhering to international standards.
Arguably, what had happened to the US impacted on education systems globally. Student mobility is one aspect that is affected due to the fact that intercultural competencies became even more important. In the US, there is now two basic initiatives to address this: International Academic Mobility Initiative and Global Initiative University. Students acknowledged the fact that as political, economic, cultural, social and even environmental problems transcend beyond borders, gaining an international education and experience would be very important. Rizvi (2004) also reports that globalization, simply known as the growing economic integration, requires that students should go along with the changes (p. 158). Aside from this, students are motivated by the fact that the internationalization of education is a culturally enriching experience, which in turn may improve world peace and understanding.
This would be critical since globalization does not only affect educational policy and practice through education’s links to economic and political realities but even more significant on issues of governance. Even so, Rizvi (2004) recognized that cultural globalization has a greater impact on educational practice as it operates within a broader cultural field which includes mass media and consumer culture (p. 159). True enough, students of today are more exposed to international images and impressions, and since education can no longer give job guarantees in their own country, they are choosing to commoditize themselves through engaging in international education.
While globalization has made possible the exchange of educational practices and processes, internationalization can have more societal costs than benefits, like the loss of a certain culture. Increased mobility among students could also mean a brain drain while also the diffusion of knowledge and technologies could also harm security initiatives by means of admitting foreign students, which can be seen as a security risk. Knowledge transfer, further, could be also a problem in the global knowledge economy wherein upskilling of the workforce may tend to prioritize techno-scientific research (Ozga, 2006, p. 4) thereby increasing the further commodification of knowledge. The tendency is also for the students to prefer a more competitive culture over a culture of mediocrity (Rizvi, 2004, pp. 161-164). This last component could be also a negating factor, wherein, instead of world peace and understanding will being achieved, cultural disintegration could be cultivated because of language barriers and cultural differences that may also impact on the quality of internationalization.
References
Axford, B. and Seddon, B. (2006). Learning in a Market Economy: Education, Training and the Citizen-Consumer. Australian Journal of Education, 50(2): 167-196.
Hira, A. (2003). The Brave New World of International Education. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing.
McDermott, K. A. (2007). “Expanding the Moral Community” or “Blaming the Victim”? The Politics of State Education Accountability Policy. American Educational Research Journal, 44(1): 77-111.
Mezzarol, T., Soutar, G. N. & Seng, M. S. W. (2003). The third wave: future trends in international education. The International Journal of Educational Management, 17(3): 90-99.
Ozga, J. (2006). Traveling and embedded policy: the case of knowledge transfer. Journal of Education Policy, 21(1): 1-17.
Rizvi, F. (2004). Debating Globalization and Education after September 11. Comparative Education, 40(2): 157-171.
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