Rethinking curriculum for international education in Australia

Australia Curriculum

Rethinking Curriculum for International Education in Australia

Preliminary Statement

As a nation historically dominated by racialist practices favoring the interests of English-speaking whites, Australia has struggled across recent decades to engage its population with a greater sense of egalitarianism. The priority of a more progressive and pluralistic society has been prompted by the patterns of globalization in particular, which are bringing ever greater numbers of foreign nationals to Australia in search of opportunity. As a major contributor to the educational, occupational, technological and sociopolitical realities of its region, it has fallen upon Australia to make adjustments in its institutionalized policies and its cultural dialogue on ethnic diversity in order to better accommodate the countless new arrivals to its communities, job markets and universities.

It is the third of these contexts which concerns the research proposed here. Particularly, even as Australia's schools have postured themselves as a receptive environment for students from throughout the world and with a specific focus on the Asian Pacific, evidence abounds that those arriving here for their education are not enjoying the type of social, educational or professional receptiveness anticipated. Australia has made recognition of this issue and is in a stage of active policy reformation with the intent of reshaping curriculum, pedagogy and university communities in general such that these are all more hospitable to the needs of students arriving from anywhere in the world. The research here represents an opportunity to engage in a discussion on how improvements might be imposed upon the educational system in order to ease the inherent challenges which greet those arriving and attempting to acclimate to a new and unfamiliar culture.

The research is underscored by key patterns relating to globalization. In many ways, though Australia has actively declared itself a leader in the new era of globalization, it educational system reflects a continued adherence to a distinctly Australian-nationalist cultural framework. This has made life here a particularly difficult adjustment for students contending with language barriers, difference in custom, religious isolation or racial disparity. As a leader in its region where globalization is concerned, Australia's educational system must come to reflect the balance required between the preservation of national culture and the improvement of pluralism in education. Carnoy & Rhoten (2002) help to characterize this challenge, contending that "at the heart of the relationship between globalization and education in the current historical conjuncture is the relationship between the globalized political economy and the nation-state. Is the power of the national state diminished by globalization? Yes and no." (p. 3)

This uncertainty helps to underscore the difficulty which Australia will face with the continued budgetary prioritization of improvements to the international sensitivity of curriculum. There is some philosophical complexity to unraveling the seeming discord between the extension of a culture derived from within a nation-state and the increasing need to open society to the needs and patterned behaviors of new arrivals. In education this is particularly so, with the educator often functioning as an emissary for knowledge and perspective formulate by the culture of the nation-state. Australia's teachers are today in the difficult position of attempting to resolve this position with the needs posed by immigrant students. So denotes the text by Hassam (2007), which contends that "teachers who seek to critique the nation by deconstructing media knowledge need to consider the ethics of engaging with their students' sense of self-identity and the pedagogical risks of questioning their own authority to speak on behalf of the nation. Internationalising the curriculum means developing teaching methods and assessment instruments which will invite students to reflect on their imaginative journey into 'new' and 'different' cultures; but it will also require the teachers to reflect on their own conflicting identities and loyalties, and to make that journey alongside their students." (p. 1)