The Quality of Transnational Education: A provider view

Abstract

While scholars have been peripatetic since the creation of the very first universities, a phenomenon of more recent years is the mobility of education, where it is the educational provision rather than the scholar that crosses national borders. This is termed 'transnational' or cross-border' education. Attendant on this new phenomenon is the need to ensure the quality of this education. At present, some countries are more commonly the source of transnational education, whereas others are more commonly recipients. This paper presents the quality assurance procedures for transnational education that are used by one nation (Australia) that is mainly a provider, and concludes with an outline of the extent to which the Australian Universities Quality Agency complies with the UNESCO/OECD Guidelines on Cross-Border Education.

Racialized bodies, pliable minds: ethnography on the fringe of transnational education

“…22 -23). Quality assurance oversight agencies often play a role in regulating the operation of crossborder institutions (McBurnie & Ziguras, 2007;Woodhouse, 2006). Often couched within problematizations of globalization and neoliberalism, these forms of international and transnational education practices have been widely critiqued.…”

A Critical Analysis of the UNESCO/OECD Guidelines for Quality Provision of Cross‐Border Higher Education

“…Recent discussion of the guidelines does not offer a critical evaluation (Cheung, 2006;Stella, 2006;Woodhouse, 2006). Woodhouse applauds how close the Australian Universities Quality Agency's performance 'is in line with them' (Woodhouse, 2006, p. 280).…”

Assuring quality in transnational higher education: a matter of collaboration or control?

“…Hong Kong, for example, requires that all foreign providers gain government registration and submit detailed information on the course they are proposing (McBurnie 2008 systems. The Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA), for example, audits all areas of academic activity, wherever it takes place (Woodhouse 2006), while the UK's Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) is one of a small number of national quality assurance agencies that have produced a code of practice specifically for collaborative provision (Campbell and van der Wende 2000, 13). These national guidelines are often used to develop institutional approaches to quality assurance which may comprise strategies, policies or audit procedures.…”