page 1 A Prospective Analysis of the Australian Overseas Student Policy Paper Presented to the 1993 Annual Conference of the Australian Association for Research in Education, Freemantle, November, 1993 Valerie J MacKinnon Department of Nursing Faculty of Human Development Victoria University of Technology Introduction Most policy analysis is retrospective and focuses on either (i) the factors which influenced the development of the policy or, (ii) those associated with successful (or otherwise) policy implementation. Little attention has been given to the possibility of developing a prospective critique of issues related to policy implementation and outcomes, both intended and unintended (although the preparation of environmental impact statements may offer an alternative model to that discussed here). Such a process might take the form of a structured argument about the likelihood of certain outcomes being generated by policy and the value of those outcomes. William Dunn's (1982) jurisprudence metaphor and transactional model of argument was used to examine the Australian government's Overseas Student Policy (OSP) in 1991 when the issue of exporting graduate public health nursing courses to Registered Nurses (RNs) from Hong Kong was first raised. At that time the Hong Kong government was confronted with a range of public health problems associated with the Vietnamese refugee camps. There had been few analyses of the potential impact of the full-fee paying aspect of the OSP. An analysis of the educational and cultural appropriateness of the possibility of exporting a graduate public health nursing course to Hong Kong served as an appropriate 'critical case', a lens through which the broader implications of the policy might be viewed. Three pertinent contexts associated with this hypothetical case were examined - the refugee context, comparative education issues including cross cultural cognition, and the experiences of overseas students studying in Australia. In addition, the analysis was supported by an interpretation of the relevant educational policy contexts of Australia and Hong Kong, the putative "purchaser" of the educational "services". Dunn's Jurisprudence Metaphor for Social Research Dunn argued that the aim of the applied social sciences was to investigate concepts and procedures used to argue and settle practical claims. Social science might therefore be described as "generalised jurisprudence" or "jurisprudence writ large". Argumentation was a social process where all data or evidence was symbolically mediated; knowledge could no longer be based on "deductive certainty or empirical correspondence but on the relative adequacy of knowledge claims which are embedded in an ongoing social process" (Dunn, 1982: 303-304). The jurisprudence metaphor for social research was developed into a method of analysis by formalising the process of argument through the "transactional model". In developing the model Dunn (1982) drew on the distinction between analytic and substantive argument made by Toulmin and Habermas to point out that, for substantive argument to be properly characterised, it is necessary to add a further series of steps to the classical syllogism which models the process of analytic argument. The transactional model, described by Toulmin (1958), contains six elements. They are data (D), claim (C), warrant (W), backing (B), rebuttal (R), and qualifier (Q). The first three are those of the classical syllogism, where the data element is the minor premise, the warrant is the major premise and the claim is the conclusion. The second three elements take the model from the domain of formal logic to the domain of substantive social discourse. The backing consists of additional supporting material which can be added when the status of the warrant is in doubt. The rebuttal, which can be used both prospectively and retrospectively, specifies the conditions under which the adequacy and/or relevance of the claim can be contested, and the qualifier specifies the degree of strength with which the claim can be made ("definitely", "very probably" etc.). Within the framework of a development of a set of general "threats to useable knowledge" Dunn (1982) illustrated the form of the transactional model of argument and the nature of the six elements using as an example the data from a quasi-experimental analysis of road traffic fatalities. In this example the data were known and the rebuttals were a series of threats to the internal validity of the claim. In the case of the Commonwealth Government's OSP, which was, in a sense, being put to empirical test through a wide variety of implementations, no data which would offer a critical test of the policy were available. As an alternative strategy, the transactional model of argument was used to formalise a prospective evaluation of the policy by examining in detail the possibility of developing a graduate course for public health nurses in Hong Kong. In this adaptation of Dunn's model the data element (D) was taken to be represented by the fit between the proposed initiative in post-graduate nurse education and the guide-lines for the OSP. This fit encouraged the claim (C) that the hypothetical program would be a worthwhile innovation. The Warrant (W) for the claim was the rationale for the policy itself, specifically the two antecedent reports. These three elements made up a syllogism of the form: "A course in public health nursing for RNs from Hong Kong is consistent with the Commonwealth Government's policy on Full-Fee Paying Overseas Students (D). This policy is a good policy in that it will continue to provide an avenue for universities to contribute to Australian development aid priorities while enabling a measure of entrepreneurship, cost recovery and, possibly, profit (W). Hence the course in public health nursing for Hong Kong RNs will be a worthwhile innovation (C). As the purpose of the analysis was to develop a critique of the policy through the investigation of a salient hypothetical case, the rebuttal (R) of the transactional model of argument constituted a critical element. It formed the avenue through which the worth of the claim, and thereby the worth of the warrant, could be challenged. Rebuttals to the claim that the hypothetical course would be a worthwhile innovation took the form: "(BUT) the cultural context in which the Hong Kong public health nurses who would complete the course will work (the Vietnamese refugee camps) cannot adequately be known by the Australian academic staff who would design and teach the course"; or (BUT) "the prior educational experiences of the Hong Kong RNs suggest that they will experience difficulties in adjustment to the teaching styles of Australian academic staff". A strong series of rebuttals such as these would lead to a qualifier (Q) of less force for the particular case and, if the analysis of the case could be generalised with confidence, to a critical evaluation of the warrant; the policy and supporting rationale of the OSP. The Overseas Student Program There have been overseas students enrolled in Australian institutions since 1904 (Williams, 1989) and educational aid to Commonwealth countries such as Hong Kong has been provided by Australia since 1959, when it became part of the Colombo Plan (Lim. 1989). It is argued that developed countries, such as Australia, provide aid to developing countries for three main reasons; humanitarian, political, and (or) economic gain (to the donor country) (Lim, 1989). In the early 1980's a number of concerns with the Overseas Student Charge (introduced by the Fraser government) led to the establishment of a Committee of Review (the Goldring Committee) to examine the difficulties of administering the overseas student program (Throsby, 1986) and the Report of the Committee to Review the Australian Overseas Aid Program (the Jackson Committee) (AOAP, 1984). These two important Reports offered different advice on appropriate policy towards overseas students, although both acknowledged that there were distortions and inequities in existing policies. After their release, an Australian Government mission was sent to South East Asia and Hong Kong in July-August 1985 to survey the potential education export market. The mission reported that demand was particularly strong for Australian higher education in Indonesia and Malaysia, with considerable demand in Thailand and Hong Kong. Singapore and the Philippines were seen as less receptive (Australian Department of Trade, 1985). The OSP embodied the principle elements of marketing which followed the mission's Report and represented one aspect of Australia's international education program. The OSP was based on the following assumptions: (i) Australia possessed high quality educational facilities; (ii) the policy would supplement Australia's educational capabilities; (iii) its development would establish close and effective relations with countries in the region (Commonwealth Department of Education, 1986a). Earlier Government announcements on changes to the subsidised quota program and on guide-lines for the enrolment of full-fee paying overseas students were confirmed (McCulloch and Nicholls, 1986). Subsequently, the Commonwealth government introduced further measures to enable tertiary institutions to mount programs for fee-paying overseas students based on "full cost recovery." As a result, the range of tertiary education services offered to overseas students developed further (Throsby, 1986). The key objective of exporting higher education overseas was to increase the number of places for Australian students and at a minimum, full fees were designed to "recover full economic costs having regard for both recurrent services, equipment and capital facilities applicable to the course on offer" (Commonwealth Department of Education, 1986b: 3). Responses to the Policy As a result of the policy the number of overseas students coming to Australia increased markedly. Malaysia was the country of origin of the largest number of students, followed by Hong Kong (ACTU Submission, 1988:2; The Australian - Higher Education Supplement, May, 1989). In these early days of the "export education" policy a number of interest groups voiced their criticism. (i) The Response of the Academic Unions Some of the most coherent and consistent criticisms of policies and issues related to the export of higher education came from the (then) two unions which represented over 90% of unionised academic staff in higher education (the Federal Council of Academics - FCA, and the Federation of Australian University Staff Associations - FAUSA), together with the ACTU. These criticisms were clearly articulated in the ACTU submission to the IAC Inquiry into Trade Services (Australian Council of Trade Unions, 1988). Not unexpectedly, they pertain generally to protecting the rights of academics and Australian students wanting higher education and focussed on a concern for the maintenance of academic standards. For example, it was pointed out that, in some instances, Australian students required higher entry scores than fee-paying overseas students (ACTU Submission, 1988; McCulloch and Nicholls, 1986; Nicholls, 1987). The impossible workload placed on some members of staff teaching overseas students was also an issue and concerns were voiced about the availability of classrooms, equipment and other services (Australian Council of Trade Unions, 1988). (ii) Other Local Responses The Australian press, too, expressed concerns about developments in the exporting of education (Baba, 1989) following student's complaints that courses did not meet their expectations. It was claimed that false marketing in brochures was not uncommon (Australian Higher Education Supplement, May 2, 1990), clearly contravening the code of ethical practice formulated and endorsed by the Australian Vice Chancellors Committee (AVCC) and the Australian Committee of Directors and Principals Limited (ACDP). This code of practice was drawn up to ensure "that the potential benefits of full fee-paying overseas students who chose to study in Australia are fully realised, for both the students and the host institutions" (AVCC - ACDP, 1989: 1). (iii) Overseas Responses While there is no evidence of dissatisfaction in Hong Kong, an English speaking Malaysian newspaper drew attention to the Australian government's call to its educational institutions to cultivate an entrepreneurial spirit. Australia's tactics for promoting courses such as education agencies and educational consultants came under scrutiny and were criticised by the paper (New Straits Times, 1986). Hong Kong as a "Purchaser" of Australian Educational Services The Hong Kong government's response to Australia's OSP was presented at an international seminar, Australian Education Off-shore, in 1988 (Wong, 1988). The Deputy Secretary for Education and Manpower outlined the colony's position on policies and practices towards overseas institutions wishing to provide educational services to Hong Kong. Concepts such as "costs", "resources", "target market" and "cost advantage" featured prominently in his address, thus echoing the rhetoric used by the Australian government. The quality of Australian educational services at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels was said to "enjoy wide respect" in both private and government sectors in Hong Kong, and Australian institutions were especially encouraged to operate "off-shore" in Hong Kong whereby those Hong Kong institutions involved in partnerships could gain experience. Three types of "partnership" arrangement which would meet with approval by the colony's government were; "co-operative ventures", "twinning arrangements", and "provision of course materials" (Wong, 1988). Hong Kong as a Possible Market for Public Health Nursing Courses At the time of the analysis, RNs in Hong Kong only had access to a four-month certificate course in public health nursing (Nursing in the World Editorial Committee, 1988). Such a course is not considered adequate to prepare hospital trained RNs for practice in the public health area. Chrisman (1982: 123) claimed that the focus of basic nurse education for RNs is on "learning the knowledge and techniques of bedside care". For their role in public health nursing, especially in the refugee camps, RNs need very diverse skills, including the ability to work with aggregates of people and in a preventive rather than curative mode. In the absence of such a course in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Health Department had found the need to fund RNs to gain the necessary expertise to study in overseas countries such as Australia, thus becoming the "purchaser" of the "educational services". The Secondary Clients - The Public Health Nursing Context in Hong Kong Hong Kong has been the destination for waves of Vietnamese refugees following the withdrawal of US. forces in April, 1975 (De Lay, 1987) with approximately 140,000 refugees arriving there between 1975 and 1988 (Kumin, 1988). The early arrivals were placed in "open camps" where they had freedom of movement and obtained work outside the centres (Kumin, 1989) but with the stream of refugees increasing rapidly (Burrows, 1986) and with resettlement not keeping pace with the number of new arrivals (Kumin, 1989) the Hong Kong government acted to deter further would-be candidates for asylum by suspending the "open camp" policy in 1982. With the suspension of the open camp policy, all new Vietnamese refugees were confined to "closed camps" situated on outlying islands (Kumin, 1989). These camps were operated by the Correctional Services Department (CSD) whose main function is running Hong Kong's prisons. Transfer of refugees from the closed to open camps was possible, but movement to the open camps for possible resettlement was extremely slow. The Refugee Experience Grandjean (1985: 30) described the crowded family living areas in one closed camp as "repugnant". People lived in cage-like structures "made from bits of material, stretched from one cage to the next around what serves as a mattress". A stifling atmosphere prevailed in these poorly ventilated and crowded conditions. In another closed camp, a former warehouse originally intended to house 4,500 but housing 8,000 residents, including 2,000 children, he observed similar conditions. In this camp, each person had a living space of 185 centimetres by 125 centimetres. In some camps, families, bachelors and young women were housed separately (Eggs, 1984). In other cases, all were grouped and "crowded together by the hundred in giant sized dormitories" (Grandjean (1985: 30). Despite the efforts of agencies such as the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) the living conditions of the refugees were far from what was recommended or considered desirable by others such as the International Council of Voluntary Agencies. A spokesperson from that agency declared that the emphasis should be shifted from providing relief to "promoting durable solutions including refugee participation in defining and implementing self-sufficiency and income generating programs and the perception of refugees as a part of the host community rather than as separated, isolated groups" (Zozlowski, 1985: 31). Such goals were far from being achieved in Hong Kong, and the consequences for the health and well-being of the refugees are considerable. The events leading the boat people to seek asylum, their journey to refuge and life in the camps had all been hazardous to health and well-being. Added to the emotional consequences of their plight were the psychological impact of overcrowding and the loss of freedom and other human rights. The combined effect of social dislocation, emotional distress due to prison-like internment, overcrowding, and social shock (tantamount to severe traumatisation) caused a range of health conditions. As Minkler wrote, "the impact of war, involuntary dislocation, family separation, death of children and relatives and prolonged detention" can have both immediate and longer term implications for the health status of refugees (1988: 349). The loss of long standing cultural traditions and "survivor guilt" unresolved grief and rage were significant problems (Baker, 1983; Boehnlein, 1987; Westermeyer, 1989). The Health Policy Context The World Health Organisation (WHO) which has played a significant role since 1946 in providing impetus to the fight against disease at a global level, has advocated what has been termed a "bottom up" approach to improving the health status of groups such as the refugees. It recommended that both needs and decisions about health care delivery should be determined at a community level; that governments at all levels should co-operate with people at a community level; that geographic, cultural, financial and functional accessibility to health services should be addressed; that appropriate technology be used; that a strong emphasis on para-medical and community health workers be employed; and that there be an integration of traditional and modern medical practice. The WHO therefore pressed the need for a multi-faceted approach, emphasising cross-sector collaboration, in addressing the health care needs of communities (Giesler, 1984). The literature suggests that the health status of refugees is often poor at the time of resettlement. The little that is available on the delivery of health services in the Hong Kong camps indicates that the Government was not even providing basic health services. Kumin (1984) referred to the UNHCR's insistence on the Hong Kong government providing "fully equipped clinics" and "medical services". Such services focus on a curative mode of practice rather than on the prevention of illness, and usually on the treatment of physical ailments so that it is unlikely that services which dealt with the social and mental aspects of the refugee experience would be a focus. The feelings of loss, grief, rage or "survivor guilt" described by Westermyer (1989), or the torture, rape and other traumatic experiences described by Sabatier (1984) require specially trained personnel in addition to those insisted on by UNHCR. Cultural Appropriateness The WHO has stressed the need for health services to be culturally sensitive and appropriate (Giesler, 1984). Cultural differences would be apparent in the unlikely event of the Hong Kong authorities allowing the "bottom up" approach advocated by the WHO, whereby the refugees themselves would participate in health service provision. This is because the refugees represent different ethnic and socio-economic components of Vietnamese society and are by no means an homogeneous group. When the providers of health services are from yet another culture (Hong Kong) the likelihood of these services being culturally inappropriate increases (see Boehnlein, 1989). This is because every culture has its own religions and ideas regarding morality and social obligation (see Lewis, 1975). Significant also is the stronger influence of western health practices in Hong Kong compared with Vietnam (MDHK, undated, first edition). Higher Education in a Cross-cultural Perspective Those Asian countries which were colonised (and those, such as Hong Kong which are still colonies) have been influenced differently from those which were able to make independent decisions about Western influences on their education systems. In colonial countries, Western influences were more pervasive in higher education than at lower levels (Altbach, 1989a; Faraj, 1988; Watson, 1983). Colonies such as Hong Kong have historically looked to the West for assistance in bringing about social and economic development. But research projects including scholarships, funded projects, grants and Western-funded collaborative research often better met the political and economic needs of the West than the recipient country, reinforced "Western intellectual imperialism" and helped to deter the growth of indigenous scholarship (Selvaratnam, 1989). Western intellectual imperialism was helped further as many academic staff, particularly at senior level, were from the metropolis. Where this occurred, metropolitan curriculum norms and values were introduced and reinforced (Altbach, 1989b; Poonyakanok et al., 1986) and local influences were less apparent. In an attempt to develop local scholarship based on local needs and traditions, and to resist continued imperialism, many countries such as Hong Kong have begun a process of "building up" their higher education institutions, replacing expatriates and filling those and new positions with local staff (Hetland, 1984; see also Kunstadter, 1982). Such scholarship is expected to encourage indigenous responses to problems and the development of new academic traditions based on local culture and knowledge. Cross-Cultural Cognition The fact that western academic culture has come to dominate education in most of the academic world, including much of Asia, is not to say that it should not be questioned or that other cultures should have no credence. This is however, the implicit assumption in the OSP. If Australia, which adheres to the dominant tradition, wished to successfully export its educational services to Asia, differences in world views or ways of thinking need to be explored. In the case of public health nursing education, concepts which featured prominently in the course could have different meanings. Judged by Australian norms, Hong Kong RNs, as students, might experience difficulties because of different understandings of concepts such as "health", "authority" and "education" which would be given an "Australian" interpretation. No data are available which address these issues. There is some literature, reviewed briefly below, which addresses the cognitive differences between cultures, but it is not without its problems. Anthropologists, philologists, philosophers and psychologists have studied the relationships between culture and cognition, resulting in the use of terms which have become problematic across disciplines. Further, a fundamental hazard has been a tendency, on the part of researchers, to compare cultures as though they were homogeneous units, often singling out a certain few sociological factors to explain causes for specific phenomena. The single focus on language, urbanisation, formal educational institutions, literacy or economic factors can highlight differences within and between cultures, but it also can suggest overly simplified connections between a cultural variable and cognition. Cultural factors rarely operate in isolation (Scribner and Cole, 1974). One of the earliest attempts to differentiate various student approaches to thinking and knowledge was made by Kaplan in the 1960s at the Los Angeles University. By analysing their written work, Kaplan examined the distinctive styles of writing and organising ideas of students from different cultural backgrounds who were studying in the United States. From this analysis he argued that different cultures produced their own distinctive approaches to thinking and writing including the "common Oriental pattern" described as an "approach by indirection" (Ballard and Clanchy, 1988:29-30). Thus writing, as a reflection of cognition, helps illustrate cultural variations in approaches to learning. Unfortunately, Kaplan's typology did not differentiate between the thinking of different Oriental groups. In China alone, for example, many different epistemological traditions have developed (Ballard, 1989b:115). For the purposes of exporting courses, these differences in epistemological traditions would be evident both between cultures and also within cultures where age, gender, class and/or ethnicity could be influential. An added dimension to the notion of cognition is that of "imperial" variables - the acquisition of a second language as a vehicle for learning. The Impact of English - The "Academic" Language As peoples' thinking is promulgated by accepted and organised systems and rules (see Nakamura, 1964) and as thinking is transmitted to others by language, it (language) becomes a transmitter of culture. If a language is used out of its natural cultural context, its ability to influence thinking in that wider context needs to be explored as it is an important mechanism for creating an intellectual imperialism. When teaching materials, textbooks, research journals and teaching outlines were not available in local languages (see, for eg. Saint, 1979) students are reliant and possibly come to depend on literature from a different cultural context. This further inhibits the development of local academic traditions. Teaching and Learning Eastern teaching and learning styles are a fusion of Western and Eastern traditions. In the West, these practices resulted from cultural factors influenced by research informed by industrial and technological imperatives. Teaching and learning practices in the East appear to be a complex hybridisation resulting from two contrasting cultures, one eastern, the other western. An understanding of the Eastern teaching/learning culture is important for institutions proposing to export courses overseas, eg. the complete deference accorded teachers and classes which were traditionally teacher-centred, inhibiting student participation (Mackey, 1983; Armstrong, 1984). An added problem, according to Ladany, is that teaching in Hong Kong schools meant "cramming knowledge down the throats of children and overworking them with classes and homework" (1980: 132). Knowledge Transfer and Relevance It has been demonstrated that the cultural context, educational systems and ways of thinking are different in Eastern and Western countries. The Western educational knowledge base, transplanted out of its context, also needs to be examined. Reviewing issues concerning students studying in Western countries, Altbach (1989a) wrote that "knowledge transfer" raised important questions. He noted that Western higher education institutions, with few exceptions, had not modified formal curricula (the means of transmitting knowledge to overseas students) so that, consequently, foreign students were expected to make the appropriate translations themselves. Moreover many young professionals from developing countries had experienced difficulties on the return to their home countries because hierarchical and bureaucratic inflexibility did not provide the graduates with creative opportunities for using the training and skills they had acquired abroad. Many felt that they had to leave their home countries for favourable employment (Chopra, 1986; see also Benavot, 1989). It has fallen to agencies like AIDAB to monitor such concerns in Australia (see, for example, their Review of Postgraduate Public Health Training). Here it is claimed that programs for overseas students failed to address the relevance of Australian Public Health courses for overseas students, addressing as they do health issues within the Australian context (Gifford, 1988: ii). Nursing Education - Two Contexts Hong Kong RNs are currently attending post-graduate courses in Public Health Nursing in Australia. It could be argued that these courses might not be appropriate to meet the needs of Hong Kong RNs who were preparing to work in a public health environment that is markedly different to that in Australia and in a dynamic political context. Issues of knowledge transfer and cultural relevance need to inform all considerations. Enculturation, one purpose of education, is problematic for overseas students (Burns, 1984) and its likely negative outcomes would need to be considered; their knowledge forms could be to a greater or lesser extent muted or obscured by those in power (that is, by the medical profession). Gender issues are also relevant (see Willis, 1989). Because they are women and non-white, Hong Kong RNs might be what Masemann (1990) has characterised as "content dependent thinkers", leading to cultural differences especially as Australian students are prepared to think and function independently and encouraged to develop skills and attitudes which facilitate team decision-making. Considerations such as the above, which imply a greater focus on cross-cultural orientations in the preparation of programs that are likely to form part of an institution's "overseas package", reflect again the argument that educational considerations are crucial for the on-going success of efforts to market educational programs to overseas students. Overseas Students Experiences in Australia Adjustment Problems The "adjustment problems" of foreign students as a whole have been reasonably well documented (Altbach, 1989a; Ballard, 1982, 1987; Bradley and Bradley, 1984; Nicholls, 1989). However, the overseas student population has not been viewed as being highly differentiated. Students from similar religious background or groups studying in the same field might have more in common than students from the one country. In most studies the major breakdown, if any, is by national grouping. The adjustment of an oriental to an occidental world can be particularly difficult eg. finding accommodation, eating Australian food, shopping, cooking, negotiating a new locality, the colder climate, and the higher cost of living have contributed to stress and led to health problems (Ballard, 1987). Mackey (1983: 97) claimed that "Eastern views of time, etiquette, education, family and even man's relationship to nature differ markedly from Western concepts" An outcome of this dissonance has been captured in the term "culture shock", which can be a serious and unrecognised barrier to adjustment and the successful completion of a course of study. The particular problems experienced by female overseas students have only recently gained any attention. Little longitudinal research has been conducted in Australia, however a study in the United Kingdom reported that loneliness, isolation and homesickness were considerable problems. Women surveyed found societal attitudes "more outward and permissive" and suffered from both racial and sexual stereotyping. The British researchers, reported in Nicholls (1989) concluded that women overseas students should be recognised as a special category. Their specific needs and experiences required consideration at local, national and international level (Nicholls, 1989). Student Services and Adjustment Problems A comparison of the usage of student services by Briscoe at Monash University (where the service was no doubt established to meet the needs of Australian students) showed that students sought assistance with accommodation, and faced problems with the local bureaucracy, stress, diet-related illness, academic English, and learning and study skills; a different usage pattern from Australian students (Burke, 1985). Ballard (1987) found that the main issue faced by counsellors with their background in Western theories of personality was that of trying to help overseas students who, by tradition, would not seek help outside the family and therefore might be expected to mistrust a "psychological" approach. Contrary to the counsellors expectations, overseas students showed a general unwillingness to seek help (because sharing problems outside the family was culturally unacceptable). It was found that when help was sought the students wanted quick, simple answers for complaints such as sleeplessness, tiredness and tension headaches (rather than acknowledging what the counsellors believed were emotional problems). The counsellors' training led them to seek psychological explanations to the students' problems and the students' inability or unwillingness to acknowledge the problems in the same terms as the counsellors denied the counsellors their usual "tools of trade"Êfor assisting students. Language Difficulties English, as it is spoken and written in Hong Kong, is different from Australian usage. There is specific evidence that Hong Kong students experience difficulties when they come to Australia to pursue studies. In Ballard and Clanchy's (1984) study at the Australian National University, a Hong Kong student explained that "learning English" (in Hong Kong), was "quite different from communicating in English". The "heavy" Australian accent and "fast" speech made communication even more difficult. One of the most obvious problems facing overseas students studying in Australia has been difficulty with language. Students from non-English speaking backgrounds generally anticipated difficulties with English, especially academic written English. A study of overseas students at the Australian National University showed that problems with English were the most frequently mentioned (Ballard and Clanchy, 1984). Staff and students tended to use this difficulty as an explanation for a variety of problems encountered (Ballard, 1988; Samuelowicz, 1987). Cummins (1974) has noted the difference between the "basic interpersonal communication skills" required by students in an everyday context and the "cognitive, academic language proficiency needed to function effectively as students". He noted that the former skills were relatively easy to achieve while the latter were considerably more difficult. Everyday social language required a lower level of cognitive performance than academic discourse. In other words, the context drew upon a different code, which in turn determined the process of transmission. Academic Difficulties The literature to date has been piecemeal in its response to the academic difficulties experienced by overseas students. It has been suggested that graded self-instructional materials for specific types of problems encountered by overseas students would assist with some of the learning difficulties described. Teachers would need to conduct on-going evaluation to assess where problems arose for students (Bradley and Bradley, 1984). Similarly, it has been argued that course materials should be presented slowly initially, and that overseas students required more handouts than their Australian counterparts. Visual aids and repeated explanation assisted students to understand the material presented (Ballard, 1987). Ballard (1987) recognised that it should not be assumed that tertiary students were familiar with library systems and laboratory equipment and use of these facilities may need to be explicitly taught. Teachers need to be clear about their own objectives and teaching strategies, and courses should be planned so that students are oriented systematically into new ways of thinking and learning. Discussion Hong Kong, long dependent on Western countries such as Australia for educational services, responded positively to the Australian government's OSP. Institutions were invited by that government to provide services either in Australia or in Hong Kong as it was stated that Australian courses enjoyed a good reputation in both the public and private sectors. The rhetoric of the Australian and Hong Kong policies is congruent to the extent that both have been expressed in economic, rather than educational terms. The OSP has been subjected to some analysis to date, by academics, higher education academic staff unions, the ACDP/AVCC, and the press, but these analyses have not provided a culturally sensitive critique of the policy and its implications. In this paper an analysis which was specifically focussed on the cultural aspects of implementation of the OSP has been developed within the framework of Dunn's (1982) transactional model of argument. The OSP rests on three major premises (warrants). They are: that Australia possesses high quality education facilities; that the implementation of the policy would supplement Australia's educational capabilities; and that it would establish close and effective relations with countries in the region. From the perspective of Dunn's framework, most criticisms about the introduction of the OSP (for example, the anticipated impact of full-fee paying students on academic standards in Australia) are directed towards these warrants and their backing. In order to develop a full argument, however, the policy must be considered in the contexts of the actual courses that might be offered and the countries in which they will be marketed. When a graduate course for Hong Kong public health nurses was considered in the light of the policy it was found to be congruent with the policy objectives and thus, in this sense, the development and implementation of the course were warranted. But broad questions of cultural appropriateness were raised when the further steps in the transactional model of argument were invoked and a series of rebuttals to the conclusion that the course would be a worthwhile innovation were considered. The Rebuttals The rebuttals to the conclusion that the proposed public health nursing course would be a worthwhile innovation were derived from the analyses which dealt with contextual issues associated with the proposed course within three broad categories: the public health nursing context in Hong Kong (with a focus on the "secondary clients" of the innovation, the Vietnamese refugees); the academic traditions of the West and Asia and the issue of knowledge transfer; and the experiences of overseas students studying in Australia. They can be summarised here under two broader headings: the educational context (of the proposed graduate course) and the relevance of the proposed knowledge transfer. The Educational Context (i) The entry level of students from overseas may not be as high as that of Australian students, leading to possible learning difficulties, drop-out or course failure. (ii) Many overseas students experience difficulties living in Australia. These difficulties can impede the students' ability to cope with everyday activities and, consequently, their capacity to study. (iii) Many Asian students have difficulties coping with the (often informal) relationships between Australian academic staff and their students. (iv) Many Asian students are accustomed to a teacher-centred classroom climate where a reproductive mode of learning is encouraged. They could experience difficulties in Australian classrooms which are increasingly becoming learner-centred and where there is more contestation with the teacher and the debate of issues is encouraged. (v) The Hong Kong RNs would be a predominantly female population, and could experience difficulties living away from home in a country where cultural mores associated with female/male relationships are different from their own. (vi) Overseas students have difficulties dealing with Australian bureaucracies. These difficulties are an additional source of stress to those associated with personal and academic adjustments. (vii) In professional courses, students have difficulties dealing with clients in and from a different cultural context. (viii) Counselling staff in academic support areas are unaccustomed to dealing with students from another culture, and in many cases want to deal with the problems of these students from Western psychological perspectives. (ix) Students would be expected to think and write in accordance with the Western, rather than a traditional Eastern, epistemological tradition. These rebuttals would have less force if the following issues were to be addressed by an institution accepting RNs from Hong Kong to study: Entry levels were found to be similar; institutions had adequately resourced settlement officers to assist with early and ongoing problems of living and studying in a different culture; adequate testing was undertaken for English language competency; and, possibly, lectures and tutorials early in the course were in the students' own language (Cantonese and, increasingly perhaps, Mandarin). An understanding by academic staff of Hong Kong culture and student expectations regarding teacher/student relationships and teaching and learning customs would also be necessary. Properly trained counselling staff should be available to provide support for students experiencing emotional difficulties. The Relevance of Knowledge Transfer The following rebuttals are pertinent, without qualification: (i) Australian health problems are very different from those in the refugee camps. If these health problems were used as examples to illustrate the assessment of need, the planning of public health interventions, and the evaluation of practice, they would bear no relationship to the health problems experienced by the refugees, so would not be relevant. (ii) The very serious physical, psychological and social problems associated with the refugees experiences would not be addressed adequately (if at all) in Australian programs. (iii) An Australian course would be attuned culturally to the Australian context and so would deal with Western, rather than Vietnamese, explanations of health and illness and their causation. (iv) The community, or population, focus for health advancement in Australia is: (a) unfamiliar to the refugees (who might, however, be interested in learning new strategies for the unfamiliar problems associated with the refugee experience; and (b) contrary to current practices in the health sector generally in Hong Kong, and in the refugee camps in particular. (v) It is unrealistic to expect that RNs, on their return, could act as "change agents", encouraging greater refugee participation in local decision-making as nurses, generally, are practitioners who are subservient to the more powerful and conservative medical profession. Towards a More General Critique of the OSP Within the framework of Dunn's (1982) elaboration of the transactional model of argument, the rebuttals enumerated above lead to a strong qualifier against the conclusion that the particular public health course used as the hypothetical case in this study would be a worthwhile innovation. This might be taken as a generalisable evaluation of the OSP to the extent that the elements in the particular case are common to other undergraduate and post-graduate courses that an Australian institution may propose to market overseas. Again, two broad contexts will be considered. The Educational Context The educational difficulties outlined in the previous section would apply to a greater or lesser extent to any student studying in a foreign context. The problems experienced by overseas students in Australia could be expected to be greater if: their first language was not English; students had not studied at post-secondary level before; they were not financially secure; they were unaccustomed to western style classroom climates; entry levels were problematic; where the majority of students were female; and, the students came from an epistemological tradition not influenced by the west. The Relevance of the Knowledge Transferred With very few exceptions, the substantive areas of Australian tertiary courses are completely within the Western intellectual tradition, drawing on Western models, theories, paradigms and content. This knowledge would often not be relevant to the cultural context, national priorities and personal needs of overseas students. This might appear to be especially so in the arts and social sciences, but the dominant approaches (ie. the reductionist and positivist paradigms) used to study the physical and biological sciences in the West are now also being questioned. Some writers have suggested that approaches that are more similar to those used in Asia need to be considered, thereby challenging the viewpoint that these sciences "naturally" provide the best strategies to address Asian agricultural, economic and social development issues. Similarly, the relevance of the knowledge transferred in many professional courses (eg. accounting, medicine, pharmacy, psychology and teaching) might be questioned. In many cases, overseas students attending Australian courses in preparation for professional practice are from, or become part of, a social class that is different from the majority of their clients. These courses presuppose professional codes and/or mores of practice, and organisational structures that are also Western and which might not be appropriate in non-Western cultures. Conclusion Guided by reports more concerned with foreign affairs and trade than educational realities and issues, the Australian Government's OSP could fail to meet the needs of countries which, in the past, have relied on Australian educational services to complement those provided at home. 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