A Cosmopolitan Defence of International Education
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Fuller, Kirsty Jane (2021) A cosmopolitan defence of international education. Ed.D thesis. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/82396/ Copyright and moral rights for this work are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This work cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Enlighten: Theses https://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] A Cosmopolitan Defence of International Education Kirsty Jane Fuller BSc (Hons), PGCE, MAEd, PGCert Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the Degree of Doctor of Education (EdD) School of Education College of Social Sciences University of Glasgow December 2020 Abstract Set within the context of a rapidly expanding international school sector, this study raises a critical concern about the danger posed to the aspirational educational aims of international schools by the growing dominance of neoliberal influences in education, as reflected in the expression of marketable and measurable instrumental goals. I claim that despite having visible goals relating to global citizenship at its core, the aim of internationality is under threat as the ‘international’ becomes aligned with the ‘elite’. The consequence of this is the problematic and somewhat paradoxical contribution of international education to a growing global elite and increasing inequality. I seek to challenge this trend and offer an alternative, cosmopolitan interpretation of international education, which builds on existing possibilities to educate with a priority of cultivating humanity. Primarily a conceptual study, this enquiry combines analytical and theoretical elements to reveal and clarify current expressions and understandings of internationality. Locating the study in Germany enables me to examine the role of international schools and the relationship between international and national education in a specific national context. Using critical literature review and document analysis, I expose and critically evaluate key understandings and critical themes arising from international education research, including globalisation, the internationalisation of education, and interpretations of central concepts such as global citizenship, as well as from the declared aims of international schools in Germany as shared in their mission and vision statements. Having identified cosmopolitan elements in the mission statements, I argue that cosmopolitan theory provides a strong and useful conceptual tool which can be used to underpin existing normative goals and enable a more ethically defensible vision for international education to be retrieved. In defending a rooted, ethical cosmopolitan understanding of international education, I draw on theories of cosmopolitanism, mainly as articulated by Martha Nussbaum, also extending, and elaborating on the metaphor of concentric circles she uses to illustrate our location in the world relative to others in various communities of concern. I explicate the need for international schools to acknowledge and understand the responsibilities of their rootedness in their local, national, and global contexts. I further discuss understandings of the complex rootedness of students, drawing attention to the importance of an approach to international education which focuses on lived human experiences and the affiliations which give them meaning. In drawing the study to a conclusion, I reflect on a changing global context and how an alternative framing of international education may be able to help reclaim and ii support its aspirational goals as well as disrupt current, worrying trends. Finally, I consider practical implications for the international education sector of my cosmopolitan defence of international education. iii Table of contents Abstract .................................................................................................................................. ii Table of contents ................................................................................................................... iv List of Figures ........................................................................................................................ vii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................. viii Author’s Declaration .............................................................................................................. ix Abbreviations ......................................................................................................................... x Chapter 1: Introduction .......................................................................................................... 1 A biographical positioning .................................................................................................. 2 Critical concerns, key themes, and central concepts .......................................................... 7 Aims of the dissertation .................................................................................................. 9 Methodology .................................................................................................................... 13 Chapter Outline ................................................................................................................ 17 Chapter 2: International Schools: Key understandings and critical themes ........................ 21 The evolution of international education and schools: a dual purpose ............................ 22 Defining and categorising international education and schools ....................................... 25 Conceptual foundations of international education ......................................................... 28 Globalisation as a context for the development of international schooling ..................... 32 Recasting the ‘pragmatic’ versus the ‘ideological’ debate ................................................ 34 Contextualising international education within the wider context of the internationalisation of education ..................................................................................... 38 Critical considerations emerging from the literature ....................................................... 40 Summary ........................................................................................................................... 43 Chapter 3: Contextualising international education and international schools within Germany ............................................................................................................................... 45 Education in Germany ...................................................................................................... 46 Internationality in Germany .............................................................................................. 48 International schools in Germany ..................................................................................... 49 The internationalisation of education in Germany: critical concerns and tensions .......... 56 A changing schooling landscape: internationality, elitism, and excellence ...................... 57 Summary ........................................................................................................................... 62 Chapter 4: Representations of internationality: A document analysis ................................. 65 Mission statements as documents for analysis ................................................................ 66 iv The school selection process ............................................................................................ 68 Document analysis: process overview .............................................................................. 70 Frequency analysis and thematic category development ............................................. 71 Challenges and limitations of the document analysis ....................................................... 73 Limitations of frequency analysis .................................................................................. 75 Indications of normative commitments and instrumental aims within the themes ......... 76 Summary of key themes in the school and organisation mission statements .................. 76 Analysis of expressions of internationality within the mission statements ...................... 79 Citizenship, academic achievement, and excellence .................................................... 79 Languages and bilingualism ........................................................................................... 84 The individual, values, and the global and local community ......................................... 87 Summary ........................................................................................................................... 90 Chapter 5: Establishing Nussbaum’s account of cosmopolitanism as a conceptual underpinning for international education ............................................................................ 94 Nussbaum’s cosmopolitanism .........................................................................................