International Education - Research Proposal Example

INTRODUCTION Across the world, the movement of people in search of better opportunities has increased. There is a huge influx from various Asian, African countries to have western education. Countries which have the English speaking base, such as UK, USA and Australia are the most preferred destinations to get exposed to western education. When international students are accepted into the educational institution, the environment in the institution should be conducive to effective teaching learning process. There is a lot of impact on the domestic students and the learning environment caused by the international students and vice versa. Research has been done to analyze the effect of international students in a campus. But these researches are about the effect of international students at the university level. The students in their tertiary levels of education are researched and there is only very little research evidence about the impact of international students in the high schools. Hence, this research proposal is submitted to gain knowledge about the impact of international students in High Schools. In the era of globalization, when the buzz word is internationalization, it becomes an obvious need to accommodate people from various cultures. The policy makers, educational administrators, teachers, students and the community at large should know the impact of the international students on the learning environment. When international students are accepted in schools and universities the management of the institution should be prepared to provide the most congenial learning environment. The management should commit physical resources to provide the infrastructure which will benefit the learning process. But in many cases the facilities and state of art infrastructure alone does not make help in facilitating the teaching learning process when international students become part of the classroom environment. The management should be flexible enough to adapt its policies to make both the international and domestic students work together. In this current research an attempt is made to explore the impact of the international students on the learning environment and the study tries to highlight the role of leadership of the institution on the international students. SCOPE OF THE STUDY There are a number of studies which show the advantages of accepting international students. The main advantage is the opportunity to understand different cultures and different perspectives. For domestic students, the opportunity to share their educational experience with international students enriches their learning experience and broadens their outlook on life. Indeed, it has been found that domestic students recognize the personal and career benefits of having a network of colleagues from different countries (Pittaway, et al, 1998). Indeed, as Anyanwu (2004) succinctly opine, "The presence of international students on university campuses provides a unique social forum for enhancing all students' understanding and appreciation of the richness of other cultures". But on the other hand there are also some factors that have to be taken into account before international students are admitted into an educational institution. Paul Barron (2004), in his study it found that there was a feeling of unfairness amongst domestic students and that somehow, international students were perceived as more valuable. This unfair perception is perhaps the most potentially dangerous and universities need address this issue through effective communication with domestic students, a more clear admissions process and a more focused emphasis on the importance of domestic students to the institution. This researcher considers that a more effective and blatant drive to determine domestic students' thoughts and feelings on this issue might be an effective first step in eradicating this perception. The study mentioned here is only highlights only one of the many factors that determine the achievement of the learning objectives when international students become part of the learning environment. The current study is proposed to determine the relationship between the performance of the international students and the management structure of the educational institution. There are a number of factors that contribute to the better academic performance of the international students. But the structure, background, polices and principles of the management of the educational institution are a major factors that have a direct impact. Hence, an attempt is made to gain knowledge in this area. For the purpose of the study, the researcher has chosen the catholic high schools which under the ELPIS project have started to accept internationals students. ELPIS Project is an international educational project which has started in 2004 with private catholic high schools in Pennsylvania, USA. Currently, five catholic high schools (Notre Dame, St. Pius X, Bethlehem, Lancaster, Holy Name catholic high schools and three catholic elementary schools (Our Lady of Holy Perpetual, Notre Dame of Bethlehem, St. Helena) participate in the ELPIS Project. The main goal of the Project is to promote international education in these schools. The Project has been participated in areas such as international student recruitment, curriculum development, student management, faculty education, academic assistance programs (ESL/Tutoring), other supporting programs (transportation/ residential programs). With cooperation with schools, the Project supervises more than 80 students and expected to reach 150 students by August 2008. The Elpis project has been successful in many schools because of the private entrepreneur leadership. Some catholic secondary schools in the States depend on educational entrepreneurs and build strategic relationship with them in terms of recruiting international students, promoting schools among international communities, and creating academic supporting programs. Nevertheless, the interrelationship between the catholic secondary schools and private entrepreneurship, effective strategies that mutually beneficial to both, and educational policies that guide this relationship needs to be further studied and applied to international education. While utilizing the project-based method, the research will attempt to explore positive role of education entrepreneur leadership at catholic high schools and to build effective strategies for the future development of international education as the American catholic high schools expect the greater influx of international students in near future. The researcher intends to find out the factors that contribute towards effective performance of students in high schools that attract international students in general. Then, at the next level, the research will conducted to find out the effect of private entrepreneurship leadership on the learning environment with students from various backgrounds. The objectives of the study will be as follows: 1. To find out the impact of international students on the teaching and learning in educational institutions with special reference to catholic schools 2. To know the nature of the interaction and relationship between the international students and the management of the educational institution. 3. To understand the nature of the interaction and relationship between entrepreneur leadership (ELPIS) and catholic schools. 4. To analyze the current strategies and developments in promoting international education 5. To understand the role Elpis is being expected in promoting international education at catholic schools. 6. To identify the conditions under which positive benefits of international education are likely to be realized under Elpis project. 7. To find out the project-based practices and program developments in international education at catholic schools. The study will be unique in its nature because of there very little previous research done to explore the role of ELPIS in promoting international education. The study will be beneficial for the students, because it will make them understand the benefits of international students in the learning environment and it makes them aware of the attitude changes that are essential for the benefit of both the domestic and international students. The proposed study will provide vital information to the educational planners and administrators to understand the factors that contribute towards establishing a productive learning environment. Also the study will be very useful to formulate strategies to encourage the intake of international students and to equip the institution with the necessary infrastructure and human resource to handle the specific needs and issues that arise out of the acceptance of international students. It has to be observed here that, there are quite considerable amount of researches being carried out to find out the effect of international education on the international students. But there is very little research done on the impact of the international students on the educational institution. When international students are admitted into a catholic high school, the impact can be felt on the school administration, it strategies and policies. Additionally, the impact of the international students can also be felt on the domestic students. the management of the educational institution should be equipped to handle the challenges that arise out of opening up for international education. Hence, the need for this research is justified. To conclude, the research proposed here will be a very useful addition to the existing knowledge about international education in catholic high schools. REFERENCES 1. Pittaway, E., Ferguson, B. and Breen, C. (1998). "Worth more than gold: The unexpected benefits associated with internationalization of tertiary education". In Davis, D. and Olsen, A. (Eds) Outcomes of International Education: Research Findings, 61-72, IDP Education Australia, Canberra 2. Barron, P.E. (2004). "An evaluation of learning styles, learning issues and learning problems of Confucian heritage culture students studying hospitality and tourism management in Australia". Unpublished PhD Thesis. The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia 3. Anyanwu, C. (2004). "Challenges and prospects of internationalization in Australia's GO8 and universities of technology". Paper presented at 18th IDP Australian International Education Conference, Sydney. Read More