This essay will define the term internationalisation and examine its impact on Australia’s higher education system.
The term internationalisation is rather vague and does not directly identify the culture that has been spreading, particularly since the end of the cold war and the so-called ‘triumph of capitalism’. A better term for much of (Not all, but increasingly..) internationalisation would be the spread of Western European capitalism and its associated ideologies of economic rationalism and neo-liberalism. The impact of internationalisation on the Australian higher education system has been the introduction of a …show more content…
Australian universities are “competing with each other and with counterparts abroad for a share of this lucrative tertiary education market” (Liddicoat et al, 2003, pp.1-23 ). One only has to look at the international students page of any university website to find offers of language support, study skills sessions and cultural orientation programmes. In addition to this, many University staff in Australia have undertaken training and development in adapting their teaching styles and course content in order to better cater for the learning needs of international students. Yes..
This presence of international students on university campuses also gives opportunities for Australian students to enhance their ability to relate to others in cross-cultural situations. Unfortunately, Australian universities have been slow to take advantage of this opportunity. For example, it wasn’t until 1996 that the University of South Australia adopted the graduate quality of “development of international perspectives” into all of its undergraduate programs (Leask, 2001, pp.100-115). Good – while important, this is a less comprehensive achievement of local