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Transnational education: Developing graduates in Malaysia for a globalized world
Beena Giridharan and Peter Ling
Keywords:
Globalization, transnational education, internationalisation of curriculum, branch campuses
Abstract:
In recent years we have seen the establishment of a number of international offshore campuses in Malaysia and Singapore which in turn has spurred the growth of transnational education (TNE) offerings in the region. In Malaysia, TNE was facilitated by the introduction of the Private Higher Educational Institutions Act 1996 or Act 555, which provided the governing framework for the privatization of higher education in Malaysia (Sivalingam, 2006).
In this paper we ask whether transnational education as practiced in Malaysia has a particular contribution to one aspect of the student experience – preparing graduates for an increasingly globalized world. We considered the contribution that internationalization of curriculum and the international experience staff bring to the development of graduate capabilities suited to a globalized world. The opportunities that transnational education bring to the learning experiences of students were studied through an examination of approaches to teaching adopted by the academics delivering programs. The paper reports on an empirical study conducted in Australia and on transnational campuses in Malaysia to illustrate the extent to which current educational practice equips students to operate beyond national boundaries and suggest what needs to happen in order to realize the potential of transnational education for preparing students to operate in a globalized environment.
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