The Politics of International Education: Constructing New Zealand's Export Education Industry

<p>International education today is an important export industry for New Zealand. It has come a long way from its origins as a developmental scholarship programme for countries in South and Southeast Asia under the Colombo Plan. This thesis studies the concepts and debates related to international education globally; and traces its development in New Zealand over three stages to investigate how it has been transformed from “education for aid” to “education for trade”. This transformation has taken place against the backdrop of neoliberal globalisation. Adopting a constructivist approach, I argue that the commercialisation of international education is influenced by normative factors such as globalisation and regionalism, as well as a conscious decision made by the state based on the material resources New Zealand possesses as an English language speaking country with a relatively advanced liberal education system attractive to developing countries, particularly in Asia. I construct New Zealand’s export education industry in its current state using Wendt’s framework of three elements of social structure. Assuming that the neoliberal norm persists, this thesis identifies the critical factors affecting the continued wellbeing and future development of the export education industry as follows: 1) the quality and reputation of New Zealand’s international education; 2) the continued economic growth of key student source countries and the ongoing demand for overseas education; and 3) the willingness of people from these countries to purchase education services from New Zealand.</p>

The Politics of International Education: Constructing New Zealand's Export Education Industry

<p>International education today is an important export industry for New Zealand. It has come a long way from its origins as a developmental scholarship programme for countries in South and Southeast Asia under the Colombo Plan. This thesis studies the concepts and debates related to international education globally; and traces its development in New Zealand over three stages to investigate how it has been transformed from “education for aid” to “education for trade”. This transformation has taken place against the backdrop of neoliberal globalisation. Adopting a constructivist approach, I argue that the commercialisation of international education is influenced by normative factors such as globalisation and regionalism, as well as a conscious decision made by the state based on the material resources New Zealand possesses as an English language speaking country with a relatively advanced liberal education system attractive to developing countries, particularly in Asia. I construct New Zealand’s export education industry in its current state using Wendt’s framework of three elements of social structure. Assuming that the neoliberal norm persists, this thesis identifies the critical factors affecting the continued wellbeing and future development of the export education industry as follows: 1) the quality and reputation of New Zealand’s international education; 2) the continued economic growth of key student source countries and the ongoing demand for overseas education; and 3) the willingness of people from these countries to purchase education services from New Zealand.</p>

IMAGINING SWEETER AUSTRALIA-INDONESIA RELATIONS

Australia�s relationship with Indonesia has been a bit like the board game �Snakes and Ladders�. Incremental progress in the relationship (up the ladder) is easily undone (down the snake) over a range of misunderstandings including issues like beef, boats, spies, clemency, Timor and Papua. Both countries have considerable overlapping interests. They both have to find a way to deepen and broaden the bilateral relationship to prevent this cycle from continuing to recur. In considering how to do that, understanding how they got here is important. Bilateral and multilateral engagement, on trade, education, and security including through IA-CEPA, links like the Ikahan network, additional New Colombo Plan engagement and a MANIS regional maritime cooperation forum may help make that happen.

Public Diplomacy and Social Impact of Australian Student Mobility to the Indo-Pacific: Host Countries’ Perspectives on Hosting New Colombo Plan Students

Learning abroad is a primary dimension of internationalization of higher education, but little is known about the social impact of learning abroad. While a significant body of the literature in international education has examined learning abroad from the student and academic perspectives, how host communities, especially in the Indo-Pacific, perceive the social impact of hosting students from an Anglophone country like Australia is underresearched. This study addresses this critical gap in the literature by exploring the social impact of Australian students’ learning in the Indo-Pacific from the host perspective. This article emerges from an ongoing study on Australian students’ learning in the Indo-Pacific via the New Colombo Plan (NCP), the Australian government’s signature initiative of student mobility and public diplomacy. It focuses on data from 32 interviews with host organizations, including industry firms, small businesses, nongovernmental organizations, and education institutions, in China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, and Vietnam. The study shows that not only does the Australian government position the NCP as a strategic public diplomacy tool to build lasting relationships with Indo-Pacific countries, but receiving countries also view the NCP as a catalyst that facilitates the execution of their international agenda. The study identifies four main forms of social impact associated with Australian students’ learning abroad in the Indo-Pacific, perceived by the host communities: (a) strengthening bilateral and international ties; (b) fostering student-to-student, university-to-industry, and university-to-university partnerships; (c) strengthening community engagement through service-learning; and (d) enriching host organization’s training capacity, human resources, and awareness of their own values.