Education Policy in New Zealand : Successfully Navigating the International Market for Education

Abstract

Studying New Zealand’s education system is an interesting endeavor for various reasons and this analysis sheds light on the policy process and outcomes in this country of 4.1 million. First, the analysis highlights that geographical distances can easily be overcome during the spread of international best practice. New Zealand’s policymakers demonstrate a unique willingness to engage in international cooperation and also have influenced the development of education policy in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Second, New Zealand education has undergone radical changes over the past 25 years. The sweeping changes in the public sector spilled over to the education system, making New Zealand an early reformer, forerunner, and education “experimenter.” Third, New Zealand education is strongly impacted by its key role in the global education market. The government has actively facilitated the liberalization of education through the General Agreement on Trade and Services (GATS) framework (Codd 2003; Martens and Starke 2008), making the “export” of tertiary and secondary education to foreign students a core national industry. Fourth, as a result of the parameters set in the 1980s, New Zealand currently finds itself in an arguably more favorable situation than many European countries and therefore perhaps offers a preview of what is to come for European education systems. Unlike in Germany (see Niemann, Chapter 4 in this volume), the past 15 years have not been characterized by transformation, but rather by efforts to optimize education in symbiosis with both national and international demands.