1,720,985 research outputs found
Policy Making in Times of Crisis: The Case of Immigration and International Students in Canada During the COVID-19 Pandemic
No full textThis research explores policy making in time of crisis, by examining immigration policy measures introduced in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic with a focus on international student recruitment and retention in postsecondary education institutions. The study adopts a qualitative research design with policy analysis as a research method, and used elements of Kingdon’s multiple streams approach (MSA) (1984) and Keeler’s macro-window-opening process (MWOP) (1993) to develop its theoretical framework. Data for this study was gathered through published policy documents as well as semi-structured interviews with diverse policy actors, including civil servants, senior leaders in educational institutions, national and provincial associations, immigration consultants and education agents. Findings of this study suggest that the immigration measures introduced by the Canadian government during the pandemic can be classified into four main types: travel regulations, online learning provisions, work-related measures, and immigration policies (including pathways to permanent residency and immigration level plans). In alignment with the theoretical framework, the study finds that the COVID-19 pandemic served as a crisis that, in combination with the government’s pro-immigration policy mandate, helped create a macro-window of opportunity that allowed for major reforms supporting continued international student recruitment and retention, most notably through online learning provisions and work-related policies. Interview participants noted that the government’s approach to policy making evolved over time with a noticeable shift from reactive to proactive strategies, that involved increased consultation and collaboration with relevant stakeholders. The focus of the policy measures also shifted from public health to economic recovery as the immediate threats of the pandemic were contained. The findings identify chaos and uncertainty in the environment, communication gaps, and tensions between federal and provincial government as the main limitations that impacted policy outcomes and their scope of achievement. Moreover, the findings emphasize the key role of policy entrepreneurs, including government actors and national associations, in shaping policy decisions. The research highlights gaps in the existing framework and identifies the need for considering variables such as institutional constrains, net impact assessment, geopolitical factors, and policy alignment, especially when studying policy making in an international context. Findings of this study are particularly relevant to inform high-impact and rapid-response policy changes to support the international education sector in Canada
Internationalization and Changing Student Demographic: How Ethno-Racial Clubs Help Shape and Navigate the Student Experience on Canadian University Campuses
Full text linkAs globalization continues to make the world a smaller place, and the internationalization of higher education brings immigrant, international and domestic students closer together within post-secondary institutions, ethno-racial clubs have increasingly emerged on Canadian campuses. York University, for example, houses over 65 ethno-racial clubs, which provide both socio-cultural and psychological supports for students of diverse backgrounds. These ethno-racial clubs can be defined as “safe spaces” (Gee 2004) on campus where diverse students can embrace their ethnicity, cultures and backgrounds. These clubs may also serve as space to foster student engagement, intercultural dialogue, and international perspectives. This research proposes to contextualize the role and functions of ethno-racial clubs in an increasingly diverse university environment by conducting a case study of York University. Through interviews with two students from the Chinese Culture Club and the Ukrainian Students’ Associations, both clubs that represent a large and organized student membership on the York campus, this study will provide critical insights and perspectives on how ethnoracial clubs engage students around questions of self-affiliation. This research aims to broaden discussion on how post-secondary institutions are internationalizing, and how students are affected by internationalization and how they (re) envision their place on campus as a result of these efforts
The Forms of Capital and Intergenerational Change in Higher Education Access: A Case Study of Aranguez
Full text linkThe study explores higher education access in a marginalised community within a post-colonial context, specifically, why access was low given supportive government policies. The case study of Aranguez, a former sugar-cane plantation in Trinidad, involved interviews with descendants of East Indian indentured labourers of all ages, which allowed insight into intergenerational changes in education and impacts of policy shifts. The conceptual framework combined Bordieuan analytical concepts of social and cultural capital and postcolonial theory to analyse the data. Findings show a critical role for the mother and extended family (kin and non-kin) in first generation students' transitions to higher education. History, economics, and politics shape education policy formation and enactment from colonial to the post-colonial context, which provide new insights for critical education policy research. First, it expands our understanding of how intersections of race, class, religion, and geographical location operate as axes of marginalisation and discrimination resulting in inequitable access to education. Second, findings demonstrate how colonial legacies persist in education policy and the education system, operating to reproduce social inequality. In addition, a culture of violence lingers in the community along with intergenerational trauma, which have negative implications for educational access and life trajectories. The research challenges the global discourse to expand higher education in developing countries, as community members prefer informal training and and self-employment without formal higher education credentials. Findings demonstrate a need for education policy fit for the local context, addressing issues such as outreach and engagement of families; recognition of informal training; legacies of post-colonial trauma; brain drain; and the need for decolonisation of education.
Keywords: higher education access, social capital, cultural capital, post-colonial, Bourdieu, indentured labourer, intergenerational trauma, education polic
Minor International Students in Canada: Does the Legal Framework Matter?
Full text linkAs Federal and provincial governments invest to “ help secure Canada’s long – term prosperity and economic success” (DFATD, 2014; Scott et al. 2015) through increased international student recruitment and retention, there is a steady increase in international student numbers with a proportionate increase in international students under age of 18. This MRP examines the implication of this growth particular among minor international students (18 and younger) in a policy context in Canada where there is contradiction between provincial age of majority regulations and no requirement for guardianship for incoming minor international students. Unlike Canada two other jurisdictions, namely Australia’s and the UK’s which have also invested in increasing international students numbers, have established frameworks to ensure the safeguarding of international minors. This MRP will offer a comparative lens to examine frameworks in three jurisdictions with reference to minor international students and provide recommendations for Canadian regulatory framework. The legal protection of international students minors is a human rights issue with ethical implications for the Canadian government and institutions that are equally invested in recruiting international students. Thus this study recommends Canada must take responsibility in aligning federal immigration and legal provincial systems to better protect minor international students. These actions are necessary to protect Canada’s reputation, and ensure that the immigration of international students will continue to grow in Canada
The ‘Visa Student Dream’: An Examination of Shifting Trends and Vulnerabilities in Chinese International Student Populations Within Toronto’s Secondary Schools
No full textThis study aims to explore the experiences of Chinese international students in secondary schools in Canada, paying particular attention to the vulnerabilities and risks among this population. Along with the pre-existing systemic issues international students face, the COVID-19 pandemic placed these students in an even more precarious position due to the anti-Asian racism and discrimination that manifested itself during this time period. The study employed Critical Race Theory (CRT), specifically Asian Critical Theory (AsianCrit) which prioritizes Asian identity and their experiences with racism to understand and contextualize how prevailing systems of oppression impacted the lives of Chinese international students. Utilized alongside these theories are complementary frameworks like International Student Security (ISS) and neoliberalism to further explore the experiences, vulnerabilities and risks among this population. Multiple constructs were also used like model minority, yellow peril, neo-racism, and racial capitalism to expand understanding and application of theories such as CRT and AsianCrit to this international student population. The principles highlighted within CRT and AsianCrit theories, utilized alongside the frameworks and constructs all built upon each other to provide further insight into how educational institutions continue to operate within a dominant culture paradigm and with whiteness as a norm and how programs are maintained and/or implemented based on assumed notions and ideologies of Asian international students. Interview data was collected from six teachers and six Chinese international students from public secondary schools within the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Findings revealed that neoliberalism has ultimately created unethical and unsafe policies and practices that negate EDI initiatives, and the push towards standardization and individualism perpetuate racial inequities. Standards of success are rooted in Whiteness that validates Western knowledge, with concepts like racial capitalism playing a role in exploiting Chinese international students. Issues and concerns regarding the academic, social, and housing/guardianship experiences of Chinese international youth were also revealed, as students faced discrepancies between the services and support that was advertised in comparison to what they actually experienced in Canada. Key concerns and gaps in policy and programmatic supports were also identified for international students with the study outlining recommendations and interventions to better support international secondary students during their studies in Canada
How Teachers Experience Learning and Change: a Phenomenographic Study of Internationalized Teacher Professional Development
Full text linkThis dissertation explores the internationalization of teacher professional development by investigating the experiences of teachers who have undergone an internationalized teacher professional development program and focusing on how teachers learn and change, what they learn and change and the conditions that support teachers learning and change. This dissertation is motivated by three specific research questions: (1) What personal and professional transformations do teachers report as a result of internationalized teacher professional development? (2) How do teachers learn and change as a result of internationalized teacher professional development? What conditions support and promote this learning and change? and (3) What can be said about the importance of internationalized teacher professional development for teacher learning and change? What makes for effective internationalized teacher professional development? Previous research has focused largely on experiences of internationalized pre-service teacher education while experiences of internationalization of teacher professional development are less addressed in the literature. This study aims to address this gap by advancing our understanding of internationalized teacher professional development and its impact on in-service teachers. I conducted a phenomenographic study using a sample of eleven teachers who underwent an internationalized teacher professional development program. The findings from the research support the literature on teacher learning that intensive programs with sustained support after teachers return to their local contexts are most effective in teachers experiencing transformational learning and change; challenge the literature that states teacher professional development does not change beliefs and attitudes of the teachers and it is ineffective in teachers implementing changes to their classroom practices; and add to the literature by showing that important personal and professional learning can occur within a culturally diverse group of teachers learning in a culturally new environment, leading to significant changes to relationships in the classroom and to classroom practice, and that dissonance in teacher thinking can be a very strong motivator for learning and change, lead to important shifts in perspective. This study concludes that internationalized teacher professional development is a highly effective, transformational form of teacher professional development in need of further research
Critical Pedagogy for Social Service Management
Full text linkThe study examines how the practice of management in the social services might be conducted with social justice values at the forefront. It builds on current Critical Management Studies (CMS) theory by considering the particular needs of social service administration. Seven managers and six post-secondary educators were interviewed for their perspectives on possibilities for critical practice as it applies to social service administration and how post-secondary education might have prepared those managers for the realities of their work. The data suggested that education for management often fails to prepare them for the complex realities of their work. Conversely, as educators try to impart a critical approach to managers, they face resistance from students. One potential way forward is the need for educators to provide more opportunities for simulation-based education, e.g., case studies or role plays while further emphasizing the reasons for the pedagogical choices they make thereby enhancing student engagement
Border Crossings: How Academic, Social and Cultural Experiences Converge to Shape the International Education of German and Canadian Students on the Ontario-Baden-Wuerttemberg Exchange Program
Full text linkStudy abroad programs contribute significantly to a students academic, personal, and professional development; however, students are often unable to articulate how their international experiences translate into specific learning outcomes and demonstrate connections between their academic and nonacademic environments and experiences. This study drew on two strands of literature study abroad and student learning and retention in higher education - and interviewed 12 Canadian and German participants in the Ontario-Baden-Wrttemberg student exchange program. The study found that while reinforcing the importance of study abroad to students learning and development, students (I) distinguished between their academic, social, and cultural experiences; (II) recognized the interconnection of these experiences while abroad and at home; and (III) highlighted the importance of the classroom and academic institution as key sites to develop friendships, social networks, and a sense of belonging that ultimately enhanced students learning outcomes and experiences in the academic, social, and cultural contexts
International Education as Policy: A Discourse Coalition Framework Analysis of the Construction, Context, and Empowerment of Ontarios International Education Storylines
Full text linkThis study aims to examine the international education (IE) policy-making context in Ontario for the period from 2005 to mid-2017 while also taking into account the announcement of the new policy document Ontarios International Postsecondary Education Strategy 2018. It sets out to answer three research questions: (a) How is international education constructed as a policy discourse in the postsecondary sector in Ontario? (b) Who are the policy actors who are contributing to the postsecondary international education policy-making process in Ontario? and (c) What role do they play in influencing IE policy and empowering and silencing different discourses? To answer these research questions, this study adopts Maarten Hajers Discourse Coalition Framework (DCF) and steps of doing argumentative discursive analysis (2006). Data sources included IE stories in the three highest-circulation newspapers in Ontario (415 articles); 23 interviews with policy actors, and 195 policy documents.
Whereas policy studies employing DCF have typically identified oppositional storylines, the findings of this study reveal one dominant storyline: Internationalize. All discourses agree, to varying degrees, that IE is desirable and beneficial to the postsecondary education sector and Ontario. However, within the overarching Internationalize storyline, three storylines emerge: (a) Internationalize, it is good for the economy (Economy); (b) Internationalize, yet manage its risks (Risks); (c) Internationalize, it is Canadas gateway to the world (Gateway). The Economy storyline achieves hegemony as it succeeds in imposing its logic and ways of deliberation on the IE policy landscape (structuration) and is translated into institutional practices and policies (institutionalization). The study also reveals a shifting terrain in the IE policy landscape with the emergence of a new Regulate IE storyline, which has succeeded in introducing regulation and accountability discourses and reframing the hegemonic Economy storyline.
By moving away from the state and focusing on storylines, this study reveals the fragmentation of the IE policy landscape and exposes actors from diverse scales, levels, disciplines, and contexts; all of whom contribute to the construction of IE and its related policies. One of the main findings of this study is the role of the media in building the IE narrative and mobilizing storylines. This research contributes to our understanding of the economic aspect of internationalization, which goes beyond discourses of neo-liberalism, and argues against the traditional binary categorizations of socio-cultural and educational versus economic internationalization. On a theoretical level, the study outlines the strengths of DCF and unsettles its conceptualization of collective and individual discursive agencies
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