Session Information
99 ERC SES 08 A, Systematic Literature Review
Paper Session
Contribution
There has been an exponential growth in Transnational Education (TNE) by UK universities in the last two decades (Healey, 2017). This has provided UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) with a method to export high quality education and brand to diversify their international activities and income streams, and to enhance their reputation (Hatakenaka, 2004).
TNE, as opposed to international student recruitment, is commonly understood in the UK to mean the delivery of education from a university in the UK, to students in a different country (JISC, 2020). Rather than the students coming to the UK for their education, the university will deliver education via collaboration with another partner, at an international branch campus (IBC), or via some form of online method.
In 2012 the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) reported 70 UK HEIs were involved in TNE activities specifically with China (QAA, 2013). According to the 2022 British Council research piece into TNE, nearly all UK HEIs are engaged in some type of TNE activity, with 133 respondents declaring some form of collaborative arrangement with a Chinese partner, demonstrating a 50% increase in a decade (British Council, 2022). Similarly, during this time China has been looking to improve its tertiary education by importing the best of the West, as can be seen from updates to the Chinese - Foreign Cooperation in Running Schools (CFCRS) policies which date from 2003, (State Council, 2003).
As a major contributor to the UK international student market, China has been seen as a key target for the export of UK higher education. Over the last 30 years, China’s tertiary education has been evolving rapidly (QAA, 2013) during which time there has been a growing interest in UK Universities entering partnership agreements in China.
The first TNE partnerships in China involving UK HEIs can be seen in the joint campus arrangements of University of Nottingham Ningbo (UNNC), which opened in 2004, and Xi’An Jiaotong Liverpool University (XJTLU), established in 2006. Creating such campus models is incredibly complex and expensive (Feng, 2013). As a result, most UK HEIs have preferred to look towards the Joint Institute (JI) or Joint Education Programme (JEP). These models require the foreign partner to contribute one third of the staff, hours, modules, and credits of the degree, based on the Chinese award requirements. The main difference between them is that the former contains two or more programmes while the latter is a single programme. The number of students which can be recruited to each is also capped at 300 for a JI or 120 for a JEP. At present there are 44 JI collaborations between UK and Chinese Universities.
In this paper I will explore the literature around the challenges faced in managing staff working within TNE, and will address the following questions:
- What can we learn from existing pedagogy about the challenges staff may experience working in TNE Joint Institute activity in China?
- Where are there gaps in the literature which need addressing?
Research conducted in previous studies, limited by a very small sample of participants, has primarily focused on those teaching at International Branch Campuses (Healey, 2017; Richardson & McKenna, 2002; Tran, Le, Phan, & Pham, 2021). This focus means that evidence is limited and somewhat anecdotal in nature and has not taken account of the challenges of working in partnership with another organisation. This research will look to apply prior knowledge and develop the pedagogy around these new types of complex collaborations.
Method
Undertaking a critical review of current literature I will investigate the landscape of Sino-UK TNE by examining existing scholarly works which include, but is not limited to, the relevant terms of Sino-UK educational collaboration, TNE, Managerial Challenges. I will investigate and critically analyse the methods and sampling used within this work to identify common themes and gaps which can inform opportunities to develop the pedagogy in this expanding area. My research will begin with a systematic and purposive approach to major databases such as ERIC and JSTOR; academic journals such as Review of Educational Research, Studies in Higher Education, Higher Education and the Journal of Higher Education, where the focus will be on peer reviewed articles. I will also look at previous conference papers and governmental reports. I will prioritise work from the last 20 years and use key search terms such as “UK-Sino TNE”, and “Transnational Education” and other related phrases to broaden the scope of the literature review. Ethical considerations will be paramount throughout the research process, proper citation and acknowledgement of sources will be maintained to uphold academic integrity and respect intellectual property rights. The proposed timeline for this work will be 6 months. The first 3 months will be dedicated to an extensive literature search and secondary data gathering. Thereafter I will spend 2 months synthesizing the findings, and the final month drafting and finalising the conference paper and presentation. This research hopes to offer a comprehensive understanding of the UK-Sino TNE landscape, shedding light on the challenges and drawing thematic conclusions on the issues surrounding staff working in these complex collaborations.
Expected Outcomes
This research will form a core part of my PhD, researching the emergence and management of collaborations between UK and Chinese Universities to better understand their context, operation, and, most importantly, the challenges faced in managing them. Adding to the pedagogy of these initiatives is imperative as the UK universities look to diversify their income streams, student recruitment, and global branding while maintaining control of their unique selling points. It is also necessary to understand why UK universities are interested in this type of activity, cynically, one could say, referred to as HiEdBiz (Collini, 2012). Higher Education as a business sits uncomfortably for many within the sector, this should not mean that universities do not take a considered and strategic approach to this type of development, not least when we consider that the career of an academic can be boundaryless, the number of staff engaging in TNE delivery will only increase (Richardson & McKenna, 2002). The aim of this research is to shed light on the complexities of these opportunities, while also providing guidance and best practice on how UK universities can continue to provide high quality education on a global scale.
References
British Council. (2022). Environment for Transnational Education Partnerships and UK Qualifications: Challenges and Opportunities China and UK. London: British Council. Collini, S. (2012). What are universities for? London: Penguin. Feng, Y. (2013). University of Nottingham Ningbo China and Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University: globalization of higher education in China. Higher Education , 65(4), 471-485. Hatakenaka, S. (2004). Internationalisation in Higher Education: A review. Higher Education Policy Institute. Healey, N. (2017). The Challenges of managing transnational education partnerships: The views of "home-based" managers vs "in-country" managers. International joural of Educational Management, 32(2), 241-256. doi:10.1108/IJEM-04-2017-0085 JISC. (2020). Transnational Education (TNE). Retrieved from https://www.jisc.ac.uk/rd/projects/transnational-education#:~:text=This%20project%20was%20archived%20on%2031%20December%202021&text=Transnational%20education%20(TNE)%20is%20an,country%20to%20students%20in%20another QAA. (2013). Review of UK transnational education in China 2012. Retrieved from https://www.qaa.ac.uk/docs/qaa/international/tne-china-overview-(1).pdf Richardson, J., & McKenna, S. (2002). Leaving and experiencing: why academics expatriate and how they experience expatriation. Career Development International, 7(2), 67-78. doi:10.1108/13620430210421614 State Council. (2003). Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Chinese -foreign cooperation in running schools. Retrieved from http://www.gov.cn/gongbao/content/2003/content_62030.htm Tran, L. T., Le, T. T., Phan, H. L., & Pham, A. (2021). Induction and off you go: professional development for teachers in transnational education. Oxford Review of Education, 47(4), 529-547. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1080/03054985.2020.1867524
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