Abstract
This paper is in two main sections. The first offers a brief historical account of the involvement of overseas students in the UK University system; the second reviews the literature on student attitudes to their stay, relating this to the contemporary experiences of a small cohort of students on a postgraduate professional training course in an older university.
While overseas students have traditionally been perceived as somewhat problematic, more recently, driven by economic, political and intellectual considerations, the mode of analysis has moved away from situating the cause of any problems in the students themselves, and towards exploring the relations between the needs of overseas students and the resources dedicated by universities to meeting them. Unless universities take seriously the implications of having overseas students, which include organisational and staff development issues as well as the proper adaptation of teaching methods and techniques, there is serious potential for things to go wrong.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anonymous (1985). ‘An overseas student's view of support services: we have to tell them everything and they tell us nothing’,Coombe Lodge Report: Developing a Policy for Recruiting Overseas Students: Part 1. Coombe Lodge, Bristol: Further Education Staff College.
Ausubel, D., Novak, J. and Hanesian, H. (1978).Educational Psychology: a Cognitive View. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Blaug, M. (1981). ‘The economic costs and benefits of overseas students’, in Williams, P. (ed.),The Overseas Student Question: Studies for a Policy. London: Heinemann for the Overseas Students Trust.
Blumenfeld, P., Mergendoller, J. and Swarthout, D. (1987). ‘Task as a heuristic for understanding student learning and motivation’,Journal of Curriculum Studies 19, 135–148.
British Council (1980).Study Modes and Academic Development of Overseas Students. London: British Council.
Burns, D.G. (ed.) (1965).Travelling Scholars: An Enquiry into the Adjustment and Attitudes of Overseas Students Holding Commonwealth Bursaries in England and Wales. Slough: National Foundation for Educational Research in England and Wales.
Chiu, L.K. 1993).An Examination of the Delivery of Social Work Services to the Chinese Community in Britain. Unpublished MA Dissertation, University of Hull.
Committee of Scottish University Principals (1992).Teaching and Learning in an Expanding Higher Education System. Edinburgh: Committee of Scottish University Principals.
Cross, A.G. (1985). ‘Russian students in eighteenth-century Oxford (1766–75)’,Journal of European Studies 5, 91–110.
Denicolo, P., Entwistle, N., and Hounsell, D. (1992). ‘What is active learning? Module 1’,Effective Learning and Teaching in Higher Education. Sheffield: Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals Staff Development and Training Unit.
Dore, R. (1976).The Diploma Disease: Education, Qualification and Development. London: Allen & Unwin.
Dunlop, F. (1966).Europe's Guests Students and Trainees: a Survey on the Welfare of Foreign Students and Trainees in Europe. Strasbourg: Council for Cultural Cooperation of the Council of Europe.
Ecclesfield, N. (1985). ‘Responsibility in recruitment: the institution and its policy’,Coombe Lodge Report: Developing a Policy for Recruiting Overseas Students: Part 1. Coombe Lodge, Bristol: Further Education Staff College.
Elsey, B. (1990). ‘Teaching and learning’, in Kinnell, M. (ed.),The Learning Experiences of Overseas Students. Buckingham: Society for Research into Higher Education and Open University Press.
Entwistle, N., and Entwistle, A. (1991). ‘Forms of understanding for degree examinations: the student experience and its implications’,Higher Education 22, 205–227.
Entwistle, N., and Hounsell, D. (eds.) (1975).How Students Learn. Lancaster: University of Lancaster.
Gardiner, D. (1989).The Anatomy of Supervision: Developing Learning and Practice Competence for Social Work Students. Milton Keynes: Open University Press.
Harris, R. (1983). ‘Social work education and the transfer of learning’,Issues in Social Work Education 3, 103–117.
Harris, R. (ed.) (1985).Educating Social Workers. Leicester: Association of Teachers in Social Work Education.
Harris, R. (1987). ‘Problem solving as a vehicle for the development of core intellectual skills in social work students’,Issues in Social Work Education 7, 102–114.
Harris, R., and Lavan, A. (1992). ‘Professional mobility in the new Europe: the case of social work’,Journal of European Social Policy 2, 1–15.
Henkel, M. (1991a).Government, Evaluation and Change. London: Jessica Kingsley.
Henkel, M. (1991b). ‘The new “evaluative state”’Public Administration 69, 121–136.
Kaplan, A. (1964).The Conduct of Inquiry: Methodology for Social Research. San Francisco: Chandler.
Kendall, M. (1968).Overseas Students in Britain: An Annotated Bibliography. London: Research Unit for Students' Problems and the United Kingdom Council for Overseas Student Affairs.
Kember, D., and Gow, L. (1991). ‘A challenge to the anecdotal stereotype of the Asian student’,Studies in Higher Education 16, 117–128.
Kinnell, M. (ed.) (1990).The Learning Experiences of Overseas Students. Buckingham: Society for Research into Higher Education and Open University Press.
Leung, V., Lay, B., Ketchell, A., Clark C., and Harris, R. (forthcoming). ‘Hong Kong social work students at the University of Hull’,Social Work Education.
Lewins, H. (1990). ‘Living needs’, in Kinnell, M. (ed.),The Learning Experiences of Overseas Students. Buckingham: Society for Research into Higher Education and Open University Press.
Livingstone, A.S. (1960).The Overseas Student in Britain: With Special References to Training Courses in Social Welfare. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Marton, F., Hounsell, D., and Entwistle, N. (eds.) (1984).The Experience of Learning. Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press.
Marton, F., and Saljo, R. (1976a). ‘On qualitative differences in learning I—outcome and process’,British Journal of Educational Psychology 46, 4–11.
Marton, F. and Saljo, R. (1976b). ‘On qualitative differences in learning II—outcome as a function of the learner's perception of the task’,British Journal of Educational Psychology 46, 115–127.
Marton, F. and Saljo, R. (1984). ‘Approaches to learning’, in Marton, F., Hounsell, D., and Entwistle, N. (eds.),The Experience of Learning. Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press.
Mo, T. (1978).The Monkey King. London: André Deutsch.
Morris, B.S. (1967).International Community? London: National Union of Students of England, Wales and Northern Ireland and the Scottish Union of Students.
Pask, G. (1976). ‘Styles and strategies of learning’,British Journal of Educational Psychology 46, 128–148.
Political and Economical Planning (1955).Colonial Students in Britain: A Report by PEP London: Political and Economic Planning.
Political and Economical Planning (1965).New Commonwealth Students in Britain: With Special Reference to Students from East Africa. London: Political and Economic Planning.
Reed, B., Hutton, J., and Bazalgette, J. (1978).Freedom to Study: Requirements of Overseas Students in the UK: A Report Prepared by the Grubb Institute for the Overseas Students Trust. London: Overseas Students Trust.
Report of the Committee on Higher Education (1963). Cmnd 2154. London: HMSO (Robbins Report).
Sen, A. (1970).Problems of Overseas Students and Nurses. Slough: National Foundation for Educational Research in England and Wales.
Smith, F. (1992).To Think in Language, Learning and Education. London: Routledge.
Taijfel, H., and Dawson, J.L. (eds.) (1965).Disappointed Guests: Essays by African, Asian and West Indian Students. London: Institute of Race Relations and Oxford University Press.
Wallace, P. (1981). ‘Overseas students: the foreign policy implications’, in Williams, P. (ed.),The Overseas Student Question: Studies for a Policy. London: Heinemann for the Overseas Students Trust.
Williams, P. (ed.) (1981).The Overseas Student Qeustion: Studies for a Policy. London: Heinemann for the Overseas Students Trust.
Williams, P. (1982).A Policy for Overseas Students. London: Overseas Students Trust.
Williams, P. (1985).They Came to Train: A Study of Responses to their Training Experiences of Study Fellows Coming to Britain under the British Technical Cooperation Programme. London: HMSO.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Harris, R. Overseas students in the United Kingdom university system. High Educ 29, 77–92 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01384242
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01384242