Abstract
This book looks at internationalisation processes and how they might affect elite education. There is an attempt at defining those terms while acknowledging that they still remain contested. Each contributor was asked to include in their discussion a response to the following two questions: Does “elite” mean the same as “international”? How do international education and elite tracks influence relations in a school or university and in the national space?
Overall the work seeks to fill the following perceived gaps in the research:
More attention to be paid to the theoretical frameworks which shape the research and the results
More comparative studies needed
A dearth of empirical studies in early years and primary education.
The book is organised in five parts: theoretical approaches, early years and primary education, secondary schooling, higher education, elite education and internationalisation. A positive feature of the book is its tight organisation, cohesion, and keeping to the main topic. At the end of each part is a chapter which summarises but, more importantly, provides critical comment on the contributions. A number of the authors are German and provide interesting insights on international education in that country which are transferable to other places.
In Part I some authors speak of the mass education revolution now taking place such that education is less vocational, and higher order thinking skills – once the province of the elite – are now within the reach of the masses. I interpret this to mean that the programmes of the classic international, fee-paying private schools dotted around the world from the first quarter of the 20th century (created for the children of globally transient parents) have become available in government and less expensive private national schools. The International Baccalaureate (IB) and International GCSE (IGCSE) are two such programmes. An example quoted is Ecuador with 268 IB schools, where only a handful are private and fee-paying; the others are government schools offering the IB Diploma Programme free of charge to many children in this developing world country. This is the most extreme case of the democratisation of what was once a form of education only within reach of a wealthy minority.
The role that immigration plays in de-nationalising classrooms in government and national private schools calls into question the association of internationalisation with a diverse student body to be found only in the classic international schools which can therefore be considered “elitist”. There is reference in this part to national government multicultural education programmes, in existence for a long time, which originally sought to assimilate immigrants without supporting them to maintain their own language and culture while adopting another one. The difference between these government programmes and an international education programme in a private international school comes down to one of socio-economic advantage in the latter. This is picked up in Chapter 4 of this book, which sees government schools and universities focusing on the inclusion of local immigrants, while global inclusion refers to the mobile elite attending institutions overseas. There is also another layer of immigration perspective: the many institutions which seek to attract full fee-paying students from overseas to complete a programme or degree. Immigration can have positive and negative effects on exclusion and inclusion. And so we read on p70 that “Otherness has become productive”.
Internationalisation is seen through different frameworks: in higher education it is larger numbers of student exchanges between countries to continue first or second degree studies, with university and school websites quoting the numbers of cultures represented. In schools, cultural diversity is still often seen as the main marker of internationalisation, though the educational programmes themselves have also become important indicators of the phenomenon. This leads to the idea, not expressed in these terms but inherent in the discussion, of internationally-minded schools being examples of internationalisation even with a very homogenous national student body if they undertake an IB programme for example.
Elitism conjures up the idea of competition which is particularly strong in education in the US. Citing examples such as the “No Child Left Behind” legislation, one author argues convincingly that competition within education does not lead to meritocracy in relation to the institutions; at its worst it can provoke tinkering with results on standardised tests so that the institution achieves a better place in the league tables. At best it provides some reassurance to parents about academic reputation, but the entry level capacities of the students will play their part in results, and where does this leave schools at the bottom of the tables?, who is attending them?, and what government resources are provided for the poorer performing schools?
Part II provides interesting comment related to early years and primary education which are not as strategically focused on internationalisation as secondary and higher education, where marketing has become as important as education itself. One author debunks the idea that for-profit education is inferior in terms of quality outcomes when describing research which showed that not-for-profit Early Childhood Education (ECE) centres were not as effective educationally as others. Parents were found to value socialisation, intercultural and bilingual skills for their young children. Discerning parents seek ECE centres employing native language speakers with good accents and articulation; the market adjusts and parents pay more for this type of service. Interestingly, the concluding comment is that there are no strong links between internationalisation and elite tracks in ECE. It is notable in Part II that none of its four chapters mentions the IB Primary Years Programme or the International Primary Curriculum, both of which have expanded rapidly in international, national and government schools (notably the UK and South Australia) and are prime examples of internationalisation but not necessarily of elitism in this schooling sector.
Part III contributions note a significant rise in schools aspiring to be “international” and how this is interpreted in different ways. The label has prestige, even exotic attraction, which conjures up images of people travelling the world as distinct from those who stay at home. It is a legitimate social marker which designates an elite, even though one can be internationally-minded without having travelled. Parents and students can project their own meanings to it, so it can fit all. Chapter 14 discusses the implementation of the IB Diploma Programme in more than 200 state schools in Ecuador – unique in a developing country – within a framework of “decolonial theory”. This is a most significant example of the democratisation of international education and non-elitism.
The two chapters of Part IV on higher education discuss the situation in Germany and France where there is a strong link between elite institutions and government need, such as the famous Ecoles Normales Supérieures (ENA) which provide top level public servants in many domains. It is difficult to obtain such posts without having gone through the ENA. Entry is very competitive but, once in, you are virtually guaranteed a top job. Finally, the three chapters of Part V survey the German education system and how internationalisation affects its structure, with the final chapter seeing four juxtapositions as emerging from the book:
Whether internationalisation is happening “at home” or “abroad”
The value attached to different forms of internationalisation and how that affects mobility
The North-South global divide
The tension between diverse values adopted within practices of internationalisation.
The book is attractively presented with a useful index. Though the emphasis on internationalisation in Germany and the number of German authors makes it less international than it might have been, most of that discussion is applicable and adaptable elsewhere. International education is a complex field which to a certain extent this publication succeeds in demystifying.