This paper examines how international education (IE) as a tool of government foreign policy is challenged in an era of new geopolitics, where China's growing ambitions have increased rivalry with the West. It compares U.S. and Canada as cases first, by examining rationales and approaches to IE in both countries, second, IE relations with China before conflict and third, current controversies and government policy responses to IE relations with China. The paper concludes identifying contextual factors that shape each country's engagement with IE, but suggests that moving forward, the future of IE in a world of new geopolitics is likely to be far more complex and conflictual.
This paper utilizes critical policy analysis framework to examine provincial policy documents in K-12 international education. Adopting Ball's (1994) three policy contexts framework – 1) the context of influence; 2) the context of policy text production; and 3) the context of practice - this paper provides a comparative analysis of the international education policies of Ontario and Manitoba. The paper shows that policy documents are not simply linear government directives but they are rather processes driven by local stakeholders including schools, school boards, non-government organizations and educational administrators.Through this comparison, informed by document analysis and stakeholder interviews, we provide an understanding of what factors have led to K-12 international education impetus, and discuss the potential outcomes in terms of (under) privileging of certain values, its effects on (in) equity, and its long-term implications for a publically funded educational system in Canada.
This paper examines the pattern of decision-making, lobbying, and influence that led to the landmark series of federal student assistance policies introduced by Jean Chrétien's Liberal government in the late 1990s. The package of new initiatives—dubbed the Canada Opportunities Strategy—not only partially reversed an earlier period of fiscal restraint but also brought a new emphasis on direct forms of student assistance such as grants, bursaries, and tax credits. However, programs such as the Canada Millennium Bursaries and the Canada Education Savings Grants, despite their focused approach and innovative structure, came to be regarded as weak policy tools when measured against their ostensible goals of widening access to post-secondary education and efficiently targeting student assistance on the basis of need. The new policy regime also failed to fulfil nearly two decades of previous efforts by policy-makers to transform Canada's student debt program into a systematic income-contingent loan program. We offer explanations of this pattern of policy inconsistency and incoherence by examining the awkward challenges of intergovernmental relations in the Canadian federal system as well as the fragmentation and competing goals now evident in student assistance policy networks. We contrast the student finance policy regime with the arguably more coherent set of research and innovation policies established by the federal government during the same period. We use policy network analysis as our theoretical framework, and we use data from our extensive interviews with higher education stakeholders and policy-makers to provide empirical support. ; Cet article analyse les processus décisionnels, les actions des groupes de pression et leur influence qui ont mené à une série de dispositifs législatifs quant à l'aide financière aux étudiants introduits par legouvernement libéral de Jean Chrétien à la fin des années 1990. Cet ensemble d'initiatives appelé « la stratégie canadienne pour l'égalité des chances » a non seulement mis fin (partiellement) à une période de restriction fiscale, mais a également conduit à une aide directe aux étudiants sous forme de subventions, de bourses et de crédits d'impôt. Malgré leurs approches ciblées et leurs structures innovatrices, des programmes tels que les Bourses canadiennes du millénaire et la Subvention canadienne pour l'épargne-études furent considérées comme des moyens peu efficaces face aux objectifs ambitieux d'élargir l'accès à l'éducation postsecondaire et à fournir une aide adéquate basée sur les besoins financiers des étudiants. De plus, ce nouveau régime a été incapable de mener à terme d'anciennes politiques entreprises près de vingt ans plus tôt visant à transformer le programme canadien de dette étudiante en programme de prêts conditionnels aux revenus.Nous expliquons l'inconsistance et la contradiction de cette politique par l'analyse de l'effroyable défi que présentent les relations intergouvernementales dans le système fédéral canadien ainsi que la diversité et la compétitivité des objectifs dans les réseaux d'assistance aux étudiants. Nous mettons en opposition le système d'aide financière aux étudiants avec une autre politique plus cohérente portant celle-ci sur la recherche et l'innovation établie par le gouvernement fédéral durant la même période. Notre cadre théorique s'appuie sur les outils d'analyse des politiques publiques, ainsi que les données provenant d'une longue série d'entretiens avec les parties concernées par l'éducation postsecondaire et des personnes responsables de politiques publiques afin de profiter de leur perspective empirique.
Recent policy changes in Canada highlight the strategic role International Students (IS) in the country's economic development and future prosperity. With the release of Canada's first international education strategy, the federal government has intimately tied international education to the domestic economy by attracting and retaining skilled workers to prepare Canada for the global market place. IS are particularly desirable candidates for permanent residency because their Canadian credentials, proficiency in at least one official language, and their relevant Canadian work experience is assumed to allow them to integrate more easily into the labour force upon graduation. Through 11 focus groups with 48 IS from two post-secondary institutions in the province of Ontario, we explored the adjustment of IS as they adapt to Canada and transition from student to worker. Thematic analysis suggests a disconnect between policy makers' assumptions and the lived experiences of IS in Canada. Specifically, we find that IS' integration into Canadian society into the domestic labour market is hindered by adjustment difficulties pertaining to language abilities, poor connectedness to host communities, and perceived employer discrimination against IS. We offer policy recommendations for how international education can better prepare IS for the Canadian labour market.
