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<h1>Fruit from the branch campuses</h1>
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<div class=""><div class=""><div class=""><p>Transnational education helps people who want a high-quality university education to get it, argues Rebecca Hughes</p></div></div></div>
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May 28 2015
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<p>By <span class="">Rebecca Hughes</span></p> </div>
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<div class=""> <div class=""><img class="" src="https://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/sites/default/files/styles/the_breaking_news_image_style/public/fruit-hanging-from-branches.jpg?itok=ljtmrYl1" alt="Fruit hanging from branches" title="Fruit hanging from branches"></div> </div>
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<p>Throughout
my career in transnational education and English language policy, the
charges of cultural imperialism have never been far away. The term
“transnational education”, or TNE, is regarded by some as a euphemism
for money-grabbing foreign universities setting up overseas campuses
that crush local provision and impose alien values on their host
countries’ educational systems.</p>
<p>The dominance of English in global academic circles – both at
scholarly conferences and, increasingly, in lecture theatres – is also
seen as problematic. So for critics, that the biggest purveyors of TNE
are from anglophone countries creates a culturally lethal cocktail.</p>
<p>TNE and English as a medium of instruction (EMI) are not culturally
neutral phenomena, and yet debates around them miss the point. TNE is
additive and necessary; it affects providers as much as recipients. The
imperialism, to my mind, lies in thinking that we Brits still control
English, and that it is a big deal whether people speak it or not.</p>
<p>British Council <a href="https://www.daad.de/medien/hochschulen/projekte/studienangebote/2014_e003_tne_study_final_web.pdf">research has found</a>
that TNE is credited in host countries with increasing access to higher
education and improving its overall quality. Host countries also expect
it to assist in the development of local knowledge economies and to
prompt more internationally collaborative research output.</p>
<p>The world needs far more high-quality tertiary-level provision than
developing systems can generate from local provision, and TNE is one
part of the solution. Furthermore, critics’ allegations of a
one-size-fits-all approach are not accurate. I will <a href="http://www.britishcouncil.org/going-global/programme/sessions/57-tne-case-studies-challenges-and-opportunities-tne">chair a panel</a> on the cultural challenges of TNE next week at the British Council’s annual <a href="http://www.britishcouncil.org/going-global">Going Global conference</a>
for leaders of international higher education. The examples under
discussion will reflect the realities of modern, diverse TNE: from a
Russell Group business school in Dubai to a collaboration of 16 South
Asian universities, to a UK/Australian/Pakistani partnership on
curriculum development.</p>
<p>Transnational programmes cost more than other degree courses in the
host country, but they are generally cheaper than they would be if the
student travelled overseas to take them. TNE students can gain an
internationally recognised qualification while avoiding the typically
higher costs of living and the visa complexities of the institutions’
home countries. They can also combine work and study more easily, and
remain close to their local jobs markets.</p>
<p>There is no reason why TNE has to be delivered in English. The
domination of EMI is a symptom of a much bigger trend: English standards
are rising globally through choices that governments are making.
English is taught as a subject in many education systems and allowed as a
medium of instruction in 53 per cent of public and 87 per cent of
private primary schools, a 2015 <a href="http://www.britishcouncil.org/education/ihe/knowledge-centre/english-language-higher-education/report-english-medium-instruction">British Council survey</a> of 55 countries reveals. Young people also access English language material electronically on their own.</p>
<p>I know from experience that putting English language in the hands of
young people, along with excellent study skills and critical
perspectives on knowledge, gives them a powerful tool to build
connections and a voice to decide their own future. If anything, the
problem now lies with the UK’s system, which does not actively promote
language learning from an early age, and therefore produces students who
cannot compete with similarly educated young people from abroad with
the cultural agility acquired by speaking two, three or often four
languages.</p>
<p>I am not saying that the globalisation of higher education does not
have any downsides, and everyone involved in TNE must be open about the
risks and responsibilities that exploring this new frontier involves.
One problem, for instance, is the unidimensional measures of excellence
that drive the behaviour and resources of young institutions towards the
“global research university” model.</p>
<p>We should also remain critically aware that TNE inevitably involves
the export of cultural values. But this is not a unidirectional or a
simple binary process. Those values are also being reshaped by exposure
to the myriad local contexts in which universities are operating. This
is why I believe TNE is making a so far modest but certainly positive
contribution to global development.</p>
<p><strong>Rebecca Hughes is director of education at the British Council.</strong></p><p><strong><a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/content/fruit-branch-campuses">https://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/content/fruit-branch-campuses</a><br></strong></p><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature">**************************************<br>N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its members<br>and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write directly to the original sender of any offensive message. A copy of this may be forwarded to this list as well. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<br><br>For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to <a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/" target="_blank">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/</a><br>listinfo/lgpolicy-list<br>*******************************************</div>
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