South Africa's Exclusive Schools
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THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INTERNATIONAL EDUCATIONAL TOURISM AND GLOBAL LEARNING IN SOUTH AFRICAN HIGH SCHOOL LEARNERS by CHRISTINE ANNE McGLADDERY Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree PhD in Tourism Management in the FACULTY OF ECONOMIC AND MANAGEMENT SCIENCES UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA Supervisor: Professor Berendien Anna Lubbe Co-Supervisor: Professor Jarkko Saarinen August 2016 - i - © University of Pretoria - ii - © University of Pretoria ABSTRACT There is a growing demand in the literature for rigorous empirical research to test the underpinning assumption of international education theory, namely that global learning occurs as a consequence of international travel. Through the application of a global learning survey instrument to 1152 Grade 11 learners in 16 South African exclusive independent high schools, evidence is provided to indicate that significant global learning only occurs when the international travel experience is facilitated to encourage learning, when there is a desire by learners to engage with cultural differences at their travel destination, and when learners feel comfortable expressing their opinions within their tour group. Furthermore, some types of international educational tourism are more conducive to global learning than others. Additionally, a conceptual, process-driven model of international educational tourism is proposed based on the synthesis of educational tourism, international education, experiential education and global learning theories. The model is tested and refined through analysis of the data collected from the questionnaire. By conceptualising educational tourism as a process it overcomes the limitations associated with segment- based definitions and in doing so demonstrates the potential for hybridising educational tourism with other sectors of the industry. Finally, owing to the expense involved with international travel, non-travel related factors are identified which encourage global learning in high school children. Non-coerced participation in community service and possessing an altruistic disposition are found to be the most influential. The implication of this finding is that there are substantially less expensive and more accessible means of developing global learning, which is essential in South Africa where huge discrepancies exist in terms of financial wealth and quality of education. - iii - © University of Pretoria ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful to many people who have supported me whilst undertaking this study. Firstly I would like to thank my supervisor, Professor Berendien Lubbe and co-supervisor, Professor Jarkko Saarinen, for their excellent and constructive advice. In particular, a special thanks to Professor Lubbe who continually encouraged and guided me through the process of writing a thesis. Thank you to the University of Pretoria librarians for providing a friendly and speedy service tracking down manuscripts. The University of Pretoria also gave my two children and I a family rebate on tuition fees, for which I am grateful. For the sake of anonymity I am not allowed to list the names of the heads of schools, their personal assistants and their designated teachers who so graciously allowed me to conduct my research in their schools. Without their assistance this thesis would not be possible and I am extremely thankful for their support. And thank you too to all the Grade 11 learners at the 16 schools who agreed to participate in the research. A special thanks to Thomas Hagspihl, executive headmaster of Durban Girls‟ College where I was previously employed, for his enthusiastic support of this thesis and for allowing me to undertake my pilot study at his school and for providing financial assistance for the printing of the questionnaires. To my study buddy and fellow mid-life crisee, Tina Mcleod, I have so enjoyed our coffee breaks. Thank you. My family have all provided tremendous love and support. Thank you to my mother, Jenny Batty, for knowing I would finally get round to doing this. To my sister and specialist educator, Kate Cowling, I have thoroughly enjoyed our discussions on thinking skills and the state of South African education. Thank you to Sanri Mostert for so patiently helping in the laborious task of data capture. My two children, Candice and Duncan McGladdery, - iv - © University of Pretoria have enthusiastically encouraged me and welcomed me in their respective student communes on my numerous visits to Pretoria. Thank you for all the meals and love. I am so proud of you both. Thank you too Duncan for assisting in the coding for the survey and Candice for tidying up some of my illustrations. And finally, to my husband and international educator, Zed McGladdery, thank you for your tireless support of this study and for providing me the luxury of being a full-time student for the last six months of this research. I so value our daily discussions and your wisdom and love. - v - © University of Pretoria TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY ............................................................ 1 1.1 BACKGROUND ................................................................................................. 1 1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT .................................................................................. 3 1.3 PURPOSE STATEMENT .................................................................................. 4 1.3.1 Research objectives ................................................................................... 5 1.3.2 Research hypotheses ................................................................................. 6 1.4 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY .................................................. 6 1.4.1 Conceptual model development ................................................................. 8 1.4.2 Contextualisation of the thesis .................................................................. 11 1.4.3 Testing the model and hypotheses ........................................................... 11 1.4.4 Research population ................................................................................ 12 1.4.5 Data analysis ............................................................................................ 13 1.4.6 Assessing and demonstrating the quality and rigour of the research design ........................................................................................ 14 1.5 RESEARCH ETHICS ...................................................................................... 16 1.6 ACADEMIC VALUE AND CONTRIBUTION OF THE STUDY ......................... 16 1.7 CHAPTER SEQUENCE .................................................................................. 18 1.8 SCOPE ............................................................................................................ 19 1.9 DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS ......................................................................... 20 1.10 SUMMARY ...................................................................................................... 22 CHAPTER 2: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EDUCATIONAL TOURISM AND INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION ............................................................. 24 2.1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 24 2.2 HISTORY OF EDUCATIONAL TOURISM AND INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION ................................................................................................... 25 2.2.1 The Grand Tour and British educational tourism ...................................... 25 2.2.2 The Fashionable Tour and North American educational tourism .............. 27 - vi - © University of Pretoria 2.2.3 The divergence of international education and educational tourism ......... 28 2.2.4 International education and the student travel industry ............................ 29 2.3 DEFINING EDUCATIONAL TOURISM............................................................ 30 2.3.1 Sector approaches to defining educational tourism .................................. 30 2.3.2 Process approaches to defining educational tourism ............................... 33 2.3.3 Educational tourism as transformative experience ................................... 34 2.4 DEFINING INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION .................................................... 35 2.4.1 Internationalisation “at home” ................................................................... 35 2.4.2 “Cross-border” education .......................................................................... 36 2.5 THE GLOBAL EXPORT EDUCATION INDUSTRY ......................................... 36 2.5.1 The contribution of export education to national economies..................... 37 2.5.2 The South African situation ...................................................................... 38 2.5.3 The high school market ............................................................................ 39 2.6 THE RISE OF EDUCATIONAL TOURISM IN SCHOOLS ............................... 42 2.6.1 Summer camps ........................................................................................ 42 2.6.2 International exchange programmes ........................................................ 42 2.6.3 Regulation of high school international exchange programmes ............... 45 2.7 INTERNATIONAL EDUCATIONAL TOURISM IN EXCLUSIVE HIGH SCHOOLS ....................................................................................................... 46 2.7.1 Defining exclusive schools ......................................................................