INTRODUCTION TENSION IN TRANSNATIONAL EDUCATION

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1 VALUE DILEMMAS IN THE ADMINISTRATION OF OFFSHORE DELIVERY: FINDING THE ROAD TO ABSOLUTION Ms Kaye Eldridge BCom (Mel) MEd (Monash), University of Queensland INTRODUCTION Despite its increased frequency, transnational education or the offshore delivery of education - is still a relatively new phenomenon and its complexity is consistently under-estimated. As a consequence, well-intentioned managers and administrators involved in the implementation of transnational education often find themselves unprepared for their role and in unexpected, confronting circumstances. Value dilemmas may arise from a range of seemingly incompatible pressures such as budget considerations, academic standards, student services and professional relationships and all of these issues must often be considered with a crosscultural context and amongst colleagues and students who may be on different sides of the globe. This paper argues that Hodgkinson s theory of values in administration offers us a framework for understanding these value dilemmas and explains why we may expect them to be relatively prevalent in the administration of transnational education for the moment. Approached from the Australian provider perspective, the paper begins with a brief summary of transnational education. The role of values in administration is then examined which follows with a discussion of some of the factors which may be contributing to the prominence of value dilemmas in the administration of transnational education. TENSION IN TRANSNATIONAL EDUCATION Whilst the estimates of Australia s Department of Education, Science and Training indicate that one in every four of its international students enrols via its transnational education system (2005, p.7), this form of international education is still in its early stage. Transnational education is a progression from the first wave of international education which primarily involved the student travelling to the country of the education institution (Mazzarol, Soutar & Seng 2003). Definitions of transnational education typically involve education in which the student is located in a country (commonly referred to as the host country) which is different to that of the country of the institution providing the education award (the provider country) (IDP 2000; McBurnie & Pollock 2000; van der Wende 2003). Australia, along with the UK, is frequently recognised as a leading provider of transnational education (IDP 2000; van der Wende 2003). Over the last few decades, Australia s universities have experienced tighter government funding amidst an overall market corporatisation of the sector (Marginson 2004). Encouraged to look outside the domestic arena for further funding of activities, transnational education has appeared as a timely opportunity for a number of Australia universities. Yet, they are also realising that financial and reputationl risk is involved with transnational education. The arrangements often drain the immediate resources of the university with returns not expected until the longer-term. Campus Review, Australia s weekly publication of higher eduction news, has recently featured articles of transnational education arrangements gone awry, such as allegations of soft assessment or administrative irregularities (Sep 15-21, 2004). Similar issues have also been noted of concern with regards to the UK s provision of transnational education (Alderman 2001). It is therefore perhaps not surprising that, while the majority of Australian universities recognise transnational education as a medium or

2 high future priority, a small number of universities remain unconvinced of its relevant potential (IDP 2000). In the interests of securing future confidence in transnational education, it is important to understand how and why value dilemmas are arising in the administration of transnational education. UNDERSTANDING ADMINISTRATION AND VALUE DILEMMAS Hodgkinson describes administration 1 as the general form of human behaviour which seeks to achieve ends through organisational means (Hodgkinson 1991, p. 52), whilst Covrig notes that administration is essentially the coming together of many elements (2000, p. 41). Thus, central to administration is decision-making, to ensure getting things done (Simon 1976, p. 1). With regards to administration in transnational education it can also be noted that it involves both the strategic and business dimension, but not the academic dimension of decision-making 2. The strategic dimension is the policy-making aspect of transnational education, or the what and why of transnational education. Such as when an institution decides the overall purpose of their participation in transnational education (or otherwise not to participate at all) and what education programs will be conducted in which countries. The business dimension is the implementation of these policies, or the how of transnational education. In this dimension, an insititution decides details such as budgets, student recruitment and study location. Covrig suggests that there are three types administrative decisions: routine decisions for which plans, policies and codes of conduct provide sufficient guidance on appropriate choices; challenging decisions for which one knows how one should decide but may find the existing organisational processes or required skill or energy makes the decision difficult to carry though; and those decisions for which there is a dilemma as they force the administrator to violate one cherished value while trying to respond to another cherished value (2000, internet). This paper focuses on decisions which involve value dilemmas in the transnational education arena. The nature of values Although values have been studied from a range of different fields, the differences in the definitions of values are not acute (Hambrick & Brandon 1988). For the purposes of this paper, values are defined as an enduring belief that a specific mode of conduct or end-state of existence is personally and socially preferable to alternate modes of conduct or end-states of existence. (Rokeach 1973, p , as cited in Hambrick & Brandon 1988, p. 5) The important element of values to note is that they are concepts which do not actually exist in the world: they are utterly phenomenological, subjective, facts of the inner and personal experience (Hodgkinson 1983, p. 31). They are concepts which can occur at the personal, organisational, society and national level, and a variety of levels in-between. They are raised by needs and motives, and can only be indirectly observed through attitude or action which can often be ambiguous (Hodgkinson 1991). 1 It should noted that administration in this paper may be performed by either academic or general administration staff. 2 These dimensions have been adopted from the decision-making framework which Monash University applies to its transnational education choices (McBurnie & Pollock 2000).

3 Through a series of four influential books, Hodgkinson (1978, 1983, 1991 & 1996) is generally acknowledged as having highlighted most prominently the role of values in educational administration (Begley 1999; Ribbons 1999). In Educational leadership: The moral art, Hodgkinson identifies the distinct moral nature of education as it is both transmits and responds to values, or both forms and is formed by values, either explicitly or implicitly (1991, p. 11). The duties of an educational administrator therefore constantly require prioritisation and selection between values, effectively performing a moral art. Hodgkinson therefore recommends praxis for the educational administrator which is behavior informed and guided by purposes, intentions, motives, morals, emotions and values as well as the facts or science of the case (1991, p. 43). This is behaviour which requires a conscious effort to understand the values involved - including our own and those of our work colleagues, our organisation and society in general - and is behaviour which is neither reflexive or mechanical. In order to understand values, Hodgkinson offers a value paradigm which encompasses a hierarchy of three main categories of values based upon the possible grounding or motives behind a value (1978, 1983, 1991 & 1996). These value types and an explanation are as illustrated in Table 1. Value Paradigm Value Type Grounding Psychological Correspondences Transrational Principle Connative Desirable Rational Consequence Consensus Cognitive Subrational Preference Affective Desired Table 1: (Hodgkinson 1991, p. 97) Transrational values are those which are adopted on principal. They are based on commitment or faith and cannot be scientifically verified or justified by logical argument. Rational values are based on logical reasoning, and are further divided into those centred on the calculation of consequence and those based on consensus, such as the group norm. Preference values are wants and are usually reflexive without much conscientious deliberation. From this paradigm, we can see that people may be holding similar values but for very different reasons. For example, individuals and institutions may value transnational education for a variety of different reasons: because they believe in the principal of international education (transrational), because other education institutions are implementing similar programs (consensus), as an additional avenue for accessing the local market (consequence), or simply because a particular individual in the university would like to see co-operation with an overseas institution in a country they hold favourably (preference).

4 Transrational values, and many rational values, usually have an ethical or moral 3 element for the value holder. Ethics are principles which guide us to identify that which is good or bad and therefore inform us as to which values we should act upon. Hence we may say that our values are ethical when we have made some commitment to them in advance (Hodgkinson 1991, p. 50). On the other hand, preferences are more emotive and spontaneous. We can usually distinguish between a moral and preferred value between the type of good involved: the ethical value usually has a righteous good or is desirable and the preference value has a natural good and is readily identifiable as it gratifies the immediate desire of the individual, or represents the desired. Value dilemmas and their resolution Hodgkinson s value paradigm has interesting practical implications for the resolution of our value dilemmas. First of all, Hodgkinson advises that we should consider whether our value dilemmas are intra-hierarchical (within the same level) or inter-hierarchical (between different levels). For, inter-hierarchical dilemmas, as a general principle, lower values should be subordinated to higher values, ie subrational to rational to transrational values. In the case of value dilemmas between academic standards and financial considerations, which are transrational and rational values respectively for most educational administrators, we can note that academic standards would therefore take precedence. However, Hodgkinson does have a few exceptions to this rule, such as the upgrading of values where the application of this rule may result in harm of a gross or spiritual nature (1991, p. 47). With regards to intra-hierarchical conflicts, Hodgkinson advises that these can be resolved by identifying the stronger preference (in the case of subrational values) or by comparative costbenefit analysis (for rational values consequences values) and by the strength of persuasion or compromise (for rational consensus values). However, Hodgkinson, is more ambiguous with regards to the selection between transrational value dilemmas, declaring that in this category the disappointing analytic answer is that there is no mode of resolution, no maxim, no strategy for determining the best value (1991, p. 150). Even though our ethics may guide us on which values to select, these ethics may come from such a variety of sources that they can often offer conflicting guidance on the resolution of transrational value dilemmas 4. This author would like to suggest that the notion of the student s best interest could perhaps be identified as a main selection criteria between competing transrational values of educational administrators. Whilst it is acknowledged that the term student s best interest could itself be proven a value-laden concept, it may still offer some common basic principles which could provide guidance. VALUE DILEMMAS AND TRANSNATIONAL EDUCATION The above discussion presents a framework for understanding the type of values which may be involved when we are making decisions involving value dilemmas and a possible avenue to consider for their resolution. Covrig maintains that organisations may differ according to their composition of routine, challenging or dilemma decision-making and identifies three ideal types of organisations as outlined in Fig It is noted that the words moral and ethical are often used interchangeably (Ciulla 1998) and this author does not differ in this respect. 4 For a comprehensive list of these sources, the reader should consult Barnard s The Function of the Executive, p. 262.

5 Three Ideal Types of Organisations by Decision Structure Dilemmas Dilemmas Dilemmas Challenging Challenging Challenging Routine Routine Routine Routinised Org Stable Org Unstable Org Fig 1: (Covrig 2000, internet) It is important to note that Covrig does not advocate any one of these types as morally superior over another (2000, internet). For example, many administrators could probably recall routine decisions which resulted in outcomes they held as morally questionable. On the other hand, dilemmas may drain administrative resources on issues that should be made routine (2000, internet). Nonetheless, this author would like to suggest that the usual transnational education program is more likely to correspond with the unstable organisation type, featuring relatively less routine decisions and relatively more dilemma decisions, due to a variety of considerations. For example, institutions providing transnational education programs are only just beginning to gather sufficient experience to provide lessons learnt and have yet to learn how to comfortably manage many of the economic imperatives behind transnational education. Additionally, as Saffu and Mamman highlight, evidence regarding strategic alliances in the corporate world suggest that cultural differences can have detrimental effects on a partnership (1999), and this author knows of no research which proposes that education partnerships would be any different. Indeed, Hodgkinson s explanation of the ambiguous nature of education suggests that the crosscultural management of transnational education may be even more difficult than corporate partnerships. These factors will now be further explained with regard to their possible contribution to the occurrence of value dilemmas in transnational education. Developing phenomenon It has already been shown that transnational education is a relatively new development. According to management theory, transnational education may therefore have a liability of newness which can apply to new ventures and initiatives in unfamiliar or changed conditions that deprive the organisation of the survival value invested in its accumulated learning and capabilities (Bannerman, Spill, Yetton & Davis 2005, p. 53). This complexity suggests that it is reasonable to expect that the existing plans and policies of universities may be found to be inappropriate to the specific requirements of transnational education programs. A case-in-point is perhaps Alderman s mention of the difficulty in using student feedback as a quality assurance measurement in some cultural circumstances (2001). Hence, we can note that routine decisions are less likely to be applicable in the administration of transnational education.

6 Additionally, without appropriate established policy and procedures, the administrator usually has a higher range of discretion, or latitude of action, hence their values may be more active in the decision-making (Hambrick and Brandon 1988, p. 20). For example, the administrator may have a higher range of options to consider in deciding which countries should be a priority for transnational education as university policy has not yet offered guidelines on country selection. This concurs with Alderman s note that the development of the provision of Britain s transnational education occurred less it seems as a result of a corporate plan than as the outcome of faculty, departmental, or individual initiatives (2001, p. 145). And the more value or interest an administrator places in a decision, the more likely they may develop a value dilemma. Changing settlement Over the last twenty years, the landscape of Australian higher education has changed substantially. The original ideals of public higher education, such as equality of opportunity and self-enrichment, have been swamped by neo-liberal policies which promote the market principles of competition, efficiency and accountability in the university sector (Marginson 2004). Returning to the value paradigm, it can observed that the current environment involves primarily rational values, whereas the traditional and, in some cases, our own personal - notions of education usually involve values of a transrational nature. For example, administrators may feel uncomfortable with managing a program which has a financial motive as it conflicts with their idea of a free education. Feast and Bretag argue persuasively that the ethos of this new settlement strongly pervades transnational education and conclude Distasteful as it may be to the many educators working in transnational settings who are committed to genuine cross-cultural exchange, transnational education is a multi-million dollar business, motivated as much by profits as by teaching and learning objectives. (Feast & Bretag 2005, p.64) Alongside this development, in some universities, the corporatisation is associated with the weakening of academic cultures, with negative long-term implications for research capacity (Marginson 2004, p ). This can be substantiated in the context of transnational education with Professor Fell s note that It is unlikely that those institutions who have quality rankings will actively seek to establish extensive operations offshore (Fell 1999, p. 11, as cited in IDP 2000, p. 47). Whether this association is correct or not is beyond the scope of this paper, but it remains that some people believe in its existence. Hence, the commercialisation of an educational program - such as apparent with many transnational education programs - automatically denotes a lowering of academic standard ideals for some people, including administrators, causing a value dilemma. However, this author believes it should be noted that the values of public education are often conservative, defensive of the status quo, and inertial or resistant to change (Hodgkinson, 1991, p. 34) which suggests that most changes introduced to the university sector would probably not be viewed favourably. Furthermore, Adams astutely notes While it is perfectly appropriate that an Australian university might choose not to operate offshore, criticising those that do may be more about market positioning within Australia and may be counter to the AVCC Code of Ethics. (Adams 2000, p. 84) Different cultures As noted earlier, values occur at a range of levels from the personal to the organisational to the national level. For Hodgkinson, a main task of the educational administrator is the reconciliation of the organisation s values to the society (external) and to the individual (internal), and this

7 paper has already shown the former in the universities adjustment to the changing environment. However, importantly, Hodgkinson also notes that a pluralistic society will multiply and intensify the breaks in the value progression; it will also intensify the demand for administrative moral complexity (1991, p. 122). In the case of transnational education, the administrator must work within two national cultures which therefore suggests that the complexity of their taks is further raised. The issue of the effects of working within two national cultures on the administration of transnational education is an issue deserving of its own paper. Here, we shall only briefly review the role of rational values in different cultures to illustrate how value dilemmas may occur when the administrator is working within two varying national cultures. Hodgkinson makes the following observation about developed nations such as Australia, Science is the religious orthodoxy of our age. Our culture the culture of developed nations and economies in the late twentieth century has been profoundly affected by the values of reason. (Hodgkinson 1983, p. 95) Hence he believes that rational values are the prime value mode for administrators, as illustrated by compromise, consensus and analysis of consequence (Hodgkinson 1983, p. 40). While this may hold for administrators in Australia, this author is not so sure that scientific rationality is so highly recognised in many other countries, particularly some of those in Asia. Noting Thailand as an example, Redmond states that Thailand is more concerned with spiritual knowledge than that of scientific knowledge (Redmond 1998, p. 195). This concurs with Mulder, a well-known anthropologist who has written extensively on Thai culture, who explains Local Thai knowledge is not only holistic, but also considers non-empirical causes, such as spirits, to be influences on natural and social events affecting human existence. (Mulder, 1997, pl. 168) Although Mulder notes that attitudes are changing in modern Thailand, as they begin to adopt the Western example, we perhaps should not be surprised when our Thai partner in transnational education decides to open a program for enrolment not when details are finalised (rational) but on a date deemed auspicious by a spiritual advisor (transrational). CONCLUSION This paper has offered a framework in which to understand the values of administrators involved in transnational education and why they may often feel so conflicted. The paper has shown that whilst the existence of value dilemmas is not necessarily negative, they should be fullydeliberated in administrative decision-making. It has been illustrated that the uniqueness of transnational education, the changing domestic settlement and the cross-cultural environment in which it operates all may contribute to the possibility of value dilemmas in transnational education. Whilst this paper is of a preliminary nature only, it does suggest that a range of possible issues may underlie the administration of transnational education and should perhaps be considered in future research. For example, do the values of our administrators affect the administration of transnational education? If the values of our educational partners involved in transnational education differ to our own both towards education and in more general terms is this likely to significantly affect its administration? These are issues which this author hopes to pursue in future papers.

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