The political process of international education: Complementarities and clashes in the Manitoba K-12 sector through a multi-level governance lens

Abstract

International education has become a policy sector of growing importance to Canada. With increased government regulations, disconnect is often observed between the intended policy outcomes and practice. This study aims to explain this disconnect by analyzing the heterogeneity among stakeholder interests. It focuses on 1) distribution of authority; 2) heterogeneity of values; and 3) complementarities and clashes in policy issues. A multi-level governance (MLG) framework (Chou et. al., 2017; Hooghe Marks, 2003), as a guiding theoretical lens, is applied to examine the interactions among governments (federal-provincial), non-governmental organizations, school administrators, international students and their families in the context of the Manitoba K-12 sector. Data for this study were collected through document analysis and 40 semi-structured interviews. Findings indicate increased steering power of both the federal and provincial governments to regulate international education with conflicting agendas based on political ideologies. The pursuit of Canada’s economic competitiveness through K-12 international education has led to a rise in the authority of non-governmental actors, including parents and students, to shape the services, programs and curriculum content offered by public schools. The study proposes adding an additional layer to the MLG framework, that of the complexities within stakeholder groups.

The Internationalization of Post-Secondary Education in Manitoba: A Critique of Two Government Policy Approaches, 1999 - 2021

“…In addition, the government's creation of the Advanced Education, Skills and Immigration Ministry in January 2021 was intended to house PSE, immigration and workforce/labour and international education together in order to link training and skill development with economic growth and immigration strategies. Supporting the transition of international students as "ideal immigrants" is a public policy area that has resulted from close cooperation between the federal and provincial governments (Brunner, 2017;Dam et al, 2018;Scott et al, 2015;Tamtik, 2018;Tamtik & O'Brien-Klewchuk, 2020).…”

“…Canadian scholars have been critical of the recent framing of international education as a revenue-generating industry that prioritizes recruitment of international students as the sole basis of internationalizing (Guo & Guo, 2017;Knight, 2014;Sá & Sabzalieva, 2018;Scott et al, 2015;Tamtik, 2018;Tamtik & O'Brien-Klewchuk, 2020;Trilokekar & El Masri, 2016;Viczko & Tascón, 2016). As Trilokekar and El Masri (2016) cogently summarized, "as international education becomes increasingly linked to immigration, recruitment and retention of international students, it cannot just be about numbers" (p. 558) but should focus more on fostering social cohesion as a society through promoting a sense of shared citizenship.…”

“…Scholars (Tamtik, 2018(Tamtik, , 2020) have argued that Manitoba provides a unique study of internationalization approaches that stand out for progress made in creating significant policy support and coordination among stakeholders in the international education market, and for its strong regulatory framework ensuring quality programming and protection for international students. It is further argued that Manitoba's steady growth in international education can be partly explained by strong policy support of the New Democratic Party (NDP) government until it lost power to the Progressive Conservative (PC) party in April 2016 (Tamtik, 2018;Tamtik & O'Brien-Klewchuk, 2020). Although the K-12 international education segment in Manitoba has an established presence, e.g., increasing student enrolment, well-developed international student programs, and off-shore partnerships involving affiliate schools teaching the provincial school curriculum (Elnagar & Young, 2021;Tamtik, 2020), the focus of this paper is the PSE sector.…”

COVID-19 ambassadors: Recognizing Kampus Mengajar at the Merdeka Belajar Kampus Merdeka program humanitarian projects in the tertiary education curriculum

“…In addition, when COVID-19 was deemed a global pandemic, an educational policy was however, still local. Dissinger stated that education would be marginalized from the international political struggle (Tamtik and O'brien-Klewchuk, 2020). However, the new development trend shows that tertiary education in all countries including Indonesia competes chasing international accreditation.…”