S H A N E YO U N G

EDUCATION ABROAD

WHAT IS IT?

• Study abroad and education abroad are not the same thing• They both have different meanings

STUDY ABROAD

• Study abroad is “a subtype of education abroad that results in progress toward an academic degree at a student’s home institution”• For credit

(Education Abroad Glossary, 2011)

EDUCATION ABROAD

• “Education that occurs outside the participant’s home country. Besides study abroad, examples include such international experiences as work, volunteering, non-credit internships, and directed travel, as long as these programs are driven to a significant degree by learning goals”

(Education Abroad Glossary, 2011).

THE CONTEXT

• Small, private liberal arts college• 1200 head count • 10% “international students”• 120

POPULATION OF INTEREST

• Ultimately “International students” those who are attending schools in the United States of America• It will also affect staff members of this college in

a very direct way

THE WORLD

• Internationally mobile students are on the rise• 3.7 million (Banks and Bhandari, 2012, p. 379)• Estimates for 205 have the population of 15-24

year olds at approximately 1.2 billion with current population trends (Green, Marmolejo, & Ergon-Polak, 2012). • These students will be in developing nations

“INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS”

• In the United States• 2012-2013---819,644 • 2011-2012---764,495• 40% more “international students” in U.S. than 10 years

ago

• (Desilver, 2013, November 12).

PROBLEMS

• “International students” are “othered”• They are not treated equally with domestic students;

they are treated as an “other”

• Adjustment• Expectation that the student adjusts to the host nation

(p. 12).

• Seen as “cash cows” (p. 15).

(Marginson, 2010)

THE BIGGER PROBLEM

• Office of International Services…• Office of Global Education…• Office of International Student Services…

• We put the burden for anything and all things international on a sole office/sole person

THE POLICY

• All offices, where student services and student needs are met, must become knowledgeable in the specific needs of “international students” and ensure their offices are able to meet those needs• We no longer call students from other countries

“international students” but students• In cases when it is possible, the office of

international student services will place the burden on students to complete tasks required of them.

THE THEORIES

• King and Kitchener’s Reflective Judgment Model• Baxter-Magolda’s Self-Authorship• Schlossberg’s Transition Theory

LEARNING OUTCOMES

• “Students will understand the basic structures of an American college/university and how to interact within that system• Students will be able to advocate for themselves

by being able to reach out to multiple departments and engage in problem solving• Student services staff will be knowledgeable of

needs of “international” students and be able to work with them to promote student success and successful transitions

REFLECTIVE JUDGMENT

• Their presence is an example of an ill-structured problem• Students may revert to previous stages within the

Reflective Judgment Model in a new environment• Students in stages 4-5 may now be operating in stage 2-3• Students will most likely:• Assume what they observe is how it is• Want an authority figure to tell them how it is

• Knowing this we can utilize the students’ stages to promote development of their view of knowledge

(King and Kitchener, 1994)

SELF-AUTHORSHIP

• Each office becomes a vital learning partner providing challenge and support to students in their respective fields • Students expect to be following formulas in order

to ensure they are able to get into the U.S. • The student will become a crossroads when their

learning partners challenge them to design their own path through being a student from another country in the U.S. educational system

(Baxter-Magolda and King, 2004)

TRANSITIONS

• They are obviously undergoing a transition from cultures• It is an anticipated transition, with unanticipated

hardships• 4S model• Situation• Self• Support• Strategies

(Schlossberg, 1995)

ASSESSMENT

• Record visitation to offices in order to see if students are utilizing these offices or are still going to only one• Climate surveys regarding transitions to

education in another country• Reports from offices following their own data

gathering• What sorts of topics are student experiencing?• How often are students being referred elsewhere?

REFERENCES

• Banks, M., & Bhandari, R. (2012). Global Student Mobility. In D. Deardorff, H. De Wit, J. Heyl, & T. Adams (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of international higher education. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: SAGE Publications.

• Baxter Magolda, M.B., & King, P.M. (Eds.). (2004b). Learning partnerships: Theory and models of practice to educate for self-authorship. Sterling, VA: Stylus.

• Desilver, D. (2013, November 12). Record number of international students studying in U.S. Retrieved November 17, 2014, from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/11/12/record-number-of-international-students-studying-in-u-s/

• Education Abroad Glossary. (2011). Retrieved November 16, 2014, from http://www.forumea.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Forum-2011-Glossary-v2.pdf

• Green, M., Marmolejo, F., & Ergon-Polak, E. (n.d.). The Internationalization of Higher Education. In D. Deardorff, H. De Wit, J. Heyl, & T. Adams (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of international higher education. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: SAGE Publications.

• King, P.M. & Kitchener, K.S. (1994). Developing reflective judgment: Understanding and promoting intellectual growth and critical thinking in adolescents and adults. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

• Marginson, S. (2012) Equals or other? Mobile students in a nationally bordered world. In S. Sovic and M. Blythman, eds. International Students Negotiating Higher Education: Critical Perspectives London and New York: Routledge

• Schlossberg, N. K., Waters, E. B., & Goodman, J. (1995). Counseling adults in transition: Linking practice to theory (2nd ed.). New York: Springer.