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Dili Institute Library, Dili, East Timor |
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These critics stress that such globalised curricula inevitably reflect a particular view of the universal that is informed by the geographical and social location of the curriculum developer. That is, the implicit social values of the exporting countries will inform curriculum, and the social and cultural context in which students live will be largely ignored by such courses. In light of these critiques, this project will examine how curriculum development takes place in a range of Australian higher education programs that are taught offshore.
Based on a review of existing literature on offshore programs, the project will develop a typology of approaches to transnational curriculum development, identify exemplars of these approaches in Melbourne universities for closer examination, and interview key individuals involved in curriculum development and teaching in these programs. These interviews will focus on the ways in which these lecturers develop their understanding of their students lifeworld and educational needs.
Researchers working in this field include Christopher Ziguras.
Current Projects
Governing International Trade in Higher Education: A Comparative Study of International Education Policy Development
Researchers:
Dr Christopher Ziguras, Dr Grant McBurnie (Monash University)
Funding Body:
Australian Research Council
Timeline:
January 2005 – December 2007
Description:
This project addresses the fact that Australia is a major exporter of education, yet the cumulative social and economic impacts of large-scale commercial international education on our trading partners are not well researched. This project will assist in understanding the similarities and differences between Australian and other governments' objectives in relation to the growing international market in education, and the means governments use to regulate educational trade. This can help inform bilateral and multilateral relations between governments, educational institutions, educational peak bodies and other stakeholders.
Completed Projects
Debating the Impact of International Trade Agreements on Transnational Higher Education
Researchers:
Dr Christopher Ziguras, Dr Grant McBurnie (Monash University)
Funding Body:
Australian Research Council
Timeline:
January 2003 – December 2003
Description:
In the past decade, education provision across national borders has grown dramatically. However, the governmental frameworks for regulating such programs are yet to solidify, with rival approaches hotly contested. Governments are enmeshed in, and influenced and constrained by existing and emergent regulatory structures and trade agreements at national, regional and global levels. This project will identify issues of central concern to key actors in four countries with significant involvement in transnational higher education, and analyse how debates in these countries utilise divergent models of likely implications of trade agreements.
Strategies for Negotiating International Trade Agreements in Education
Researchers:
Dr Christopher Ziguras, Dr Grant McBurnie (Monash University), and Dr Leanne Reinke
Funding Body:
Department of Education, Science and Technology
Timeline:
2002
Description:
In June 1992, the Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Training commissioned the Globalism Institute to conduct a literature review on the strategies used in negotiating education services in international trade agreements and the outcomes that had been achieved in each case. The resulting report, Negotiating Trade in Education Services: Options for Australia, is to be published in November 2003. It considered a range of trade negotiation strategies and historical examples in order to inform forthcoming negotiations on education services in GATS and other trade agreements.
The first part of this report discusses a range of strategies used in negotiating trade agreements, explaining how these strategies are used in negotiations generally, and their relevance to negotiations dealing specifically with trade in education services. The literature review unearthed little literature directly dealing with negotiation strategies used in relation to education, so this section of the report has drawn out relevant themes from the trade negotiation literature and related this to the specific concerns of education services trade.
The second part provides an overview of the ways in which education has been dealt with in major trade agreements, including GATS, bilateral free trade agreements (ANZCERTA, NZ – Singapore and Australia – Thailand negotiations) and regional agreements (NAFTA, EU and Mercosur). As there is little literature dealing with the negotiation of education in each of these agreements, we have concentrated on aspects of the negotiation of these agreements that are most likely to be relevant to upcoming education negotiations. We have also briefly described the outcomes of these agreements for education services.
The third part of the report is a conclusion, which draws together the range of observations made through the report and discusses several implications for negotiating education. The last part of the report consists of an annotated bibliography of selected key sources, a list of references, and appendices listing major service lobby groups and think tanks.
Publications:
Grant McBurnie, Leanne Reinke and Christopher Ziguras, (2003) Negotiating Trade in Education Services: Options for Australia. Canberra, DEST.
Maintaining Tradition in the Information Age
Researchers:
Dr Leanne Reinke
Funding Body:
Canadian High Commission
Description:
This project interrogates the impact of modern technologies upon traditional practices in Indigenous communities. The commonplace claim that technology undermines tradition will be contextualised and challenged. This project examines how modern communication technologies are being actively adopted by Aboriginal communities in Canada to facilitate traditional ways of being in a globalising world. The research will investigate the communication techniques used in negotiation processes in treaty-making, specifically addressing the Inuit treaty claim for the establishment of Nunavut. A profile of Canadian examples such as this will provide invaluable comparative material for other Indigenous communities around the world, such as Australia.
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