Trends in the development of higher education in Australia

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Trends in the development of higher education in Australia

Doctor of Sciences in Pedagogy, Full Professor,

Liliya Baranovska National Aviation University, Ukraine Address: 1 Lyubomyr Huzar Avenue, Kyiv, 03058, Ukraine

Postgraduate Student,

Nataliia Zhuravel National Aviation University, Ukraine Address: 1 Lyubomyr Huzar Avenue, Kyiv, 03058, Ukraine

Abstract

The study of foreign experience is necessary for innovative modernization of domestic higher education. Education in Australia guarantees successful studying, mastering of the latest technologies, promising development, and successful employment of graduates in the future. That is why interest in the development trends of higher education in this country is justified. The purpose of the article is to outline the main trends in the development of higher education in Australia. In the preparation of the article a number of theoretical methods were used. Among them are general scientific (analysis, synthesis, comparison, generalization, specification, which contributed to the identification of the main ideas for determining the key trends in the development of higher education in Australia) and specific scientific (cause and effect analysis, which helped to study the influence of international and state educational policies on the development of higher education in the country). The following main trends in the development of higher education in Australia have been identified: higher education sector is developing with state funding and on the basis of forward-looking government laws, improving conditions for the provision of educational services; the Australian system of higher education successfully cooperates with the European Higher Education Area, whose integration is based on thorough observance of national traditions and trends; there is close cooperation among enterprises and universities, support and development of scientific research; The National Workforce Strategy (2022-2027) defines a coordinated approach to solve the problem of personnel control (student employment and further professional development); lifelong learning is a link to educational success. Highlighting the main trends in the development of higher education in Australia will help to further determine the specifics of the professional training of specialists in English Philology at the country's universities.

Keywords: Australian higher education, educational integration, National Workforce Strategy, continuing education, scientific research, cooperation between enterprises and universities.

Анотація

Вивчення зарубіжного досвіду є необхідним для інноваційної модернізації вітчизняної вищої освіти. Освіта Австралії гарантує успішне навчання, оволодіння новітніми технологіями, перспективний розвиток, вдале працевлаштування випускників у майбутньому, що зумовлює інтерес до тенденцій розвитку вищої освіти цієї країни. Мета статті - окреслення основних тенденцій розвитку вищої освіти Австралії. Для підготовки статті використано теоретичні методи, а саме загальнонаукові (аналіз, синтез, порівняння, узагальнення, конкретизація, які сприяли виокремленню основних ідей для визначення ключових тенденцій розвитку вищої освіти Австралії) та конкретно-наукові (причинно-наслідковий аналіз, що допоміг дослідити вплив міжнародної та державної освітньої політики на розвиток вищої освіти в країні). Визначено характерні риси освітньої політики Австралії: освіта займає пріоритетне місце в структурі соціально-економічного розвитку; постійна професійна підготовка висококваліфікованих спеціалістів; надійна нормативна база як показник високого рівня австралійської системи освіти. Виявлено такі основні тенденції розвитку вищої освіти Австралії: сектор вищої освіти розвивається за державного фінансування та на основі законів уряду, що працюють на перспективу, вдосконалення умов з надання освітніх послуг; австралійська система вищої освіти успішно співпрацює з Європейським простором вищої освіти, чия інтеграція базується на ґрунтовному дотриманні національних традицій і тенденцій; наявна тісна співпраця підприємств та університетів, підтримка і розвиток наукових досліджень; Національною кадровою стратегією (2022-2027рр.) визначено скоординований підхід для вирішення проблеми контролю кадрів (працевлаштування студентів та їх подальше професійне становлення); запорукою освітнього успіху є навчання впродовж життя. Виокремлення основних тенденцій розвитку вищої освіти Австралії допоможе в подальшому визначити особливості підготовки фахівців з англійської філології в університетах країни.

Ключові слова: вища освіта Австралії, освітня інтеграція, Національна кадрова стратегія, неперервна освіта, наукові дослідження, співпраця підприємств та університетів.

Introduction

In contemporary world, the system of domestic higher education is developing rapidly, being exposed to the influence of external globalization. The progressive experience of the developed countries of the world is the driving force behind the development of the innovative educational process, the key to improving the methodology, content, and organization of education in higher education institutions of Ukraine. Today, higher education is an indicator of human existence. In order to master all stages of its dynamics, it is advisable to thoroughly study the trends in the development of the education sector in successful countries of the world. The results of the comparative analysis can be extrapolated to the Ukrainian system of higher education in order to reform it and improve the quality of professional training. The study of positive foreign experience enables the globalization and integration impact of educational changes on domestic pedagogical practice as well. The cultural-intellectual potential of acquired knowledge and skills obtained as a result of analysis and search for new ideas and concepts also becomes important. In view of the above and taking into account modern challenges of the scientific world, its essence and orientation onto integration, the dynamic nature of changes, it is appropriate to study (with further integration into the national educational system) the experience of higher education of one of the most progressive countries in the world - Australia. Education in this country guarantees successful studies, mastering of the latest technologies, promising development and successful employment in the future.

The aim of the study

The aim of the article is to outline the main trends in the development of higher education in Australia. The goal was achieved by completeing the following tasks: to identify the features of the country's state policy in the field of education; to clarify the legislative framework for the functioning of the higher education system; to determine strategic trends in its development, integration with the world educational space, internal arrangement for improving the provision of educational services. education australia economic

Theoretical framework and research methods

A number of theoretical methods were used, in particular general scientific methods of analysis, synthesis, comparison, generalization, specification (which provided the possibility of formulating initial provisions, highlighting the main ideas for determining key trends in the development of higher education in Australia), as well as a specific scientific method of cause-and-effect analysis, which contributed to the study of the influence of international and state educational policy on the development of higher education in the country.

The analysis of scientific sources made it possible to consider various stages of the development and formation of education in Australia, to single out the fields of scientific interest of researchers, identify aspects of professional training to which the attention of comparativist scientists is drawn. Not only domestic, but also foreign scientists have shown considerable interest in these issues. They are M. Absalom, M. Barker O. Bondarchuk, M. Debych, A. Deiliand, K. Elliot, L. Hlushok, F. Khuanh, Yu. Kobiuk, L. Kostina, H. Kraucher, S. Kyrychenko, V. Lokk, L. Movchan, H. Slozanska, K. Suhimoto, K. Vadura, H. Yaremko, E. Yenken. In our opinion, H. Slozanska's research on the peculiarities of the development of social education in Australia in the period of globalization is relevant to our research (Slozanska, 2011). The researcher studied the peculiarities of Doctoral Degree training programs for social workers in the Higher Education Institution of Australia, which made it possible to reveal predominantly theoretical orientation of their content. It has been defined that there are 2 types of doctoral degrees in Schools of Social Work in Australia: Research Doctorate and Professional Doctorate. Upon completion of doctoral studies, candidates are awarded the qualification of Doctor of Philosophy in Social Work, Doctor of Social Work or Doctor of Social Policy. Yu. Kobyuk (2020) studied the problems of training future primary school teachers in the universities of Australia, singled out common and distinctive features of higher education institutions in Ukraine and Australia and found out that it is carried out according to the principles of consistency, logic, and compliance with curricula and state programs. Features of professional training of preschool education specialists in Australian universities were highlighted by L. Hlushok (2013). L. Movchan (2012) considered the training of bachelor's degree students in agriculture at universities in Australia. In his monograph, M. Debych (2019) analyzed theoretical foundations of the internationalization of higher education in various regions of the world, including Australia. K. Sugimoto (2006) represented strategies for quality assurance in Australian transnational higher education in the Asia-Pacific region.

The analysis of domestic and foreign literature on the problem of the development of higher education in Australia, the study of the regulatory and legislative framework of the higher education sector functioning in this country allowed us to determine the main trends in the development of higher education in Australia.

Results

Today, Australia is the third largest provider of educational services after such countries as the USA and Great Britain. This is due to the fact that the Australian government supports the development of this field in every possible way. The main goal of Australian higher education institutions is to improve the level of qualifications, support and develop qualified professionals through close cooperation of educational institutions and the professional environment. This helps to evaluate prospects in the educational field, improve the provision and availability of services, and promotes the employment of graduates. Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull (2015-2018) said: "Our job as Members of Parliament is to legislate with a long-term future in mind, to look beyond the next election and make sure that what we are doing today will make Australia a better place, a safer place for generations to come" (Malcolm Turnbull, 2010). It is precisely in these forward-looking activities that the Australian attitude to many things lies - reasonable expediency of accumulating all efforts to obtain educational and political balance. And today's Australian government is also passing laws that work for people and improve the conditions for the provision of educational services aimed at results. Moreover, this applies not only to the system of higher education. Australians have found their place in global education policy, following global rules and trends. However, they first set their own research goals and defined educational interests and priorities. The reasons for such prosperity in the education industry of Australia are:

- this is a highly developed country, where education occupies a priority place in the structure of socio-economic gradation;

- professional training of highly qualified specialists is carried out with consideration of increasing flows of international exchange of professionals;

- the principle of methodological individualism is taken into account (a person is a free, rational, autonomous, self-interested individual);

- high level of Australian education is provided by a reliable regulatory framework, transparent mechanisms and accountability (Kobyuk, 2020).

Australia is known for its particularly favorable geographical location and climatic conditions, highly developed infrastructure, high standard of living and multinational population. Despite the fact that Australia is geographically distant from other continents, higher education system of this country has deep roots of successful cooperation both with the systems of individual European countries and with the European Educational Area in general.

At the same time, taking into account certain regularities of successful educational integration, we should note that integration is based on the thoroughness of national educational traditions and trends. Australia has national features of the development of the education sector, in particular higher education, as well as features of trends in the development of education in general. We consider it necessary to describe them in detail.

First of all, it should be mentioned about higher education management in Australia. The management apparatus is represented by the State Department of Education and Agency for Quality and Standards of Higher Education. The Australian Department of Education is responsible for the allocation of research and teaching budgets for each university. The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) is responsible for the licensing of higher education institutions (HEIs) and their compliance with federal government requirements (the Australian Qualifications Framework). These rules determine the type and nature of the qualifications that the HEI is entitled to provide. Under TEQSA's regulatory framework, the implementation of higher education policy and the setting of criteria for higher education providers is carried out by the Associate Secretary for Higher Education. The specified criteria relate to aspects of registration, accreditation of courses and studies and are determined by a group of experts (Chmutova, 2017).

Another trend is that the Australian government provides public funding for the higher education sector. The legislative framework for this education sector is based on the Higher Education Support Act (HESA, 2003). The key tasks of the Law are: to approve the register of higher education institutions that provide educational services; form state funding; provide loans to students; and deal with administration and reporting.

Analyzing the issue of financing Australia's higher education sector, we found out that the state budget of the country for 2022-2023 allows to outline the perspective of further development progress, strengthening the future of Australian citizens, in particular in the field of education. In general, this progress presupposes the expansion of the number of jobs, reduction of the unemployment rate (below 4 %); permanent investments in health care, education, women's safety and the provision of other vital services; providing assistance to citizens regarding the cost of living and supporting small businesses; investing in stronger defense and security. This document consolidates important directions of development, support of various spheres of life of the "green continent", which is the financial basis for successful training of higher education applicants of various degrees, expansion of the qualification network of future specialists according to the Budget (2022) (Australia's plan for a stronger future, 2022).

Analyzing the key trends in the development of higher education in Australia, we should mention the development and expansion of its international sector. At the international level, the State Department of Education provides policy guidance and coordination of education at all levels of government. In addition, the Department builds partnerships by engaging with leading partner countries to advance Australia's international education sector and position. Australia's partner countries in the field of higher education are the countries of North Asia (China, Japan and the Republic of Korea), South Asia (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka), Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam), Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Chile and Argentina), and Europe (including OECD and ILO) (Parliament of Australia, 2022).

International Department of the State Department of Education deals with the establishment and deepening of external educational contacts of institutions of higher education in Australia. Its activities focus on finding key opportunities in the field of education, training and research. The department supports the steady growth of the international education sector, while contributing to Australia's economic growth, maintaining its status as a recognized world leader in international education. The priority areas of International Division of State Department of Education are: reducing barriers faced by Australian education providers; promoting stronger political ties; expanding opportunities for innovative services; promoting the exchange of knowledge and best practices; determining Australia's position as the best partner for cooperation in international education, training and research (Sugimoto, 2006).

A significant trend in the development of higher education in Australia is its functioning based on the updated National Workforce Strategy for 2022-2027. The strategy defines a consistent, coordinated approach to solving problems related to personnel control. This applies in particular to students' employment and further professional development. In compliance with the Strategy, the Government of Australia is creating a legal framework for monitoring and informing personnel, controlling the relevance of future professions, which is a prerequisite for successful employment of higher education graduates. Australia faces both short-term and long-term labor utilization challenges. Increasing globalization, technological progress, and digitalization of the workplace, along with changing social norms, are driving changes in the forms and methods of government, business, and individual collaboration (Australian Government, 2022).

Labor shortages in some sectors of Australia's economy will be a key issue in the nearest future, particularly given the lingering challenges of the impact of COVID-19 on the labor market. Despite disruptions and setbacks, the labor market has recovered well. Job openings hit a record high of 396,100 in November 2021, while the unemployment rate fell to 4.0 % in February 2022. However, businesses in some sectors and regions of Australia have reported increasing difficulties in finding suitable workers according to the National Workforce Strategy (2022). In Australia, as in other highly developed countries, there is a structural shift towards high-skilled jobs. Changes in technology have reduced the need for routine work functions and increased the need for skills that are not easily replicated by a machine, such as communication skills, creativity and reasoning. The National Workforce Strategy offers the Government a plan to ensure that Australia's workforce continues to be dynamic, meeting the needs of both contemporary and future life. The immediate focus is to create a whole-of-government approach to workforce issues that aligns the actions of government leaders on strategy priorities; provides sectoral strategies correspondence to the framework set out in the National Workforce Strategy; strengthens partnerships with industry, employers and education providers; implements approved initiatives to solve problems in the short term. In addition, today, when companies use the experience of universities and the results of research by their scientists, there is an increase not only in the profits of companies, but also in strengthening of the national economy (Ternbull, 2010).

Another trend that has been identified in the development of higher education in Australia is close cooperation of enterprises and universities. New modeling from Cadence Economics confirms that formal collaborations of Australian businesses and universities directly benefit firms by an impressive $10.6 billion per year. This joint activity has contributed to the creation of approximately 30,000 additional Australian jobs worldwide. Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics confirm that around 16,000 Australian companies have formal partnerships with universities according to the Universities Australia: Clever collaborations (2016). This only strengthens the economic potential of the country (Australian Government. Federal Register of Legislation, 2003; Budget (2022-2023), 2022).

An equally significant trend affecting the development of higher education in Australia is the support and development of scientific research. The Government has developed the Higher Education Research Promotion scheme (HERP). The HERP scheme supports activities aimed at understanding the importance and promotion of research in social sciences or humanities in Australia. The HERP scheme was created under the Higher Education Support Act in 2003. HERP provides funding annually to seven nonprofit organizations that promote research. They are five scientific academies (the Australian Academy of Sciences; the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering; the

Australian Academy of Humanities; the Australian Academy of Social Sciences; the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences) as well as the Australian Council of Science Academies, and the Australia-New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science. Australia's universities are at the world's forefront of research in a huge number of professional fields. Almost 90 % of research is rated at or above world standard (Australian Government. Department of Education, Skills and Employment, 2022).

An important trend in the development of higher education in Australia and a pledge to educational success is the introduction of so-called continuous education or lifelong learning. The principle of continuous education is now considered fundamental for achieving social, cultural, technological and structural changes, as well as for future economic development. The national system of education and training, which is based on the principles of lifelong learning, creates a range of educational opportunities. Among them are lifelong learning of each person; systematic acquisition, updating, improvement of knowledge and skills that have become necessary in the constantly changing conditions of modern world; self-realization of each individual as the ultimate goal; increasing the ability and motivation of people for independent educational activities. It should be noted that the institutions of state education management in Australia have confirmed lifelong learning as a fundamentally necessary attribute of the national education system. Training in Australia is based on the above understanding of this process according to the Lifelong Learning and Its Implications for Education and Training Policy (Universities Australia, 2016).

Conclusions and prospects of further research

Therefore, Australia is a multicultural state that was built on the concepts of intercultural dialogue, which in turn, under the conditions of modern educational trends, provides a wide range of opportunities for further development. Characteristic features of Australia's educational policy are: education that takes a priority place in the structure of socio-economic gradation; permanent professional training of highly qualified specialists; a reliable regulatory framework as an indicator of the high level of the Australian education system. The leading trends of higher education in Australia include: the provision of public funding for the higher education sector by Australian government; representation of Australia's higher education management apparatus by the State Department of Education, the Higher Education Quality and Standards Agency, which is responsible for licensing HEIs and their compliance with federal government requirements; development and expansion of Australia's international sector; development of the National Workforce Strategy for 2022-2027, which includes close cooperation of enterprises and universities; support and development of scientific research; implementation of so-called continuous education or lifelong learning. The country's higher education is in a state of constant transformation and is aimed at adapting the goals, content and methods of education to the needs of society.

The prospects of our further scientific research are related to studying features of professional training of specialists in English Philology in institutions of higher education in Australia and outlining the main trends in the development of philological education in the country.

References

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