“Induction and off you go”: professional development for teachers in transnational education

Abstract

ABSTRACT Transnational education has experienced a phenomenal growth over the past decade. As a dynamic but complex phenomenon, transnational education involves the delivery of curriculum and educational practices developed in one country to students in other countries. Therefore, transnational education is associated with not only benefits but also challenges and tensions of navigating cross-border contexts, characterised by different educational, socio-cultural, historical and economic values and practices. As teachers are key actors in transnational education, their professional development is crucial to the delivery and quality of transnational education. This article focuses on the professional development needs and practices of teachers involved in Australian transnational programmes. It is based on a data subset with 18 teachers involved in transnational education within a broader research project that includes semi-structured interviews with 215 teachers and professional staff in tertiary education institutions in Australia, and researcher participation in and observations of their professional learning activities. The research underscores the importance of responding to teachers’ professional development needs in relation to building offshore students’ localised capabilities and employability. The study also highlights the need to equip offshore teachers with not only the academic and cultural dimensions of offshore teaching but also the development of resilience in terms of emotional wellbeing to assist them in navigating transnational experiences.