Learning Abroad: A History of the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan
Author: Hilary Perraton
Date Of Publication: Jun 2009
Isbn13: 978-1-4438-0600-8
Isbn: 1-4438-0600-5
Commonwealth scholarships began in 1959. They have since moved 25,000 people across borders, launching them into influence as politicians, poets, painters, professors—and the rest. Their stories illuminate the sociology and politics of higher education, of the Commonwealth, and of its member countries: they include the last scholar before apartheid took South Africa out of the Commonwealth, who became a high court judge, and the first after it came back, now a vice-chancellor. Half a century of British society shows up in the record of the Scholarship Commission that made Britain's awards. Its first chairman, the son of a general, was the Lord Chamberlain, taking time off from censoring plays. His successor in 2008 took time off from a day-job as professor in a new university. Her father had left school early to look after the pigs.

This book sets out the narrative of the scholarship plan from its unlikely conception in a Commonwealth trade conference. By asking who was selected for scholarships, how, and why, it examines the policies of countries offering scholarships and those receiving them, looks at their role within the universities of Africa, Asia and the Caribbean, discusses the experience of scholars as they studied abroad, and assesses the long-term impact of that experience. Three themes stand out. First, scholarship policy, increasingly now part of aid policy, has been shaped by the interplay of national politics and education. Second, crossborder university enrolments are themselves now big business and the stuff of international politics. Changes in the politics of the Commonwealth, as they have influenced international educational policy, provide a microcosm. Third, the experience and achievements of former scholars answer the evaluative policy question: was investing in scholarships a good way of spending public money?

Hilary Perraton is a historian and a research associate of the von Hügel Institute, St Edmund's College, Cambridge. Within a career in international education, he gained experience of scholarships through working at the Commonwealth Secretariat and later serving on the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission. When not reading or writing books he walks, cultivates his metaphorical garden, gives little help in the real one.

“Hilary Perraton brings a supple mind and a fluent pen to a 50-year story of high hopes substantially, but never wholly, fulfilled which, so far, has shaped the lives of 25,000 people. Apart from Learning abroad being a tale well worth telling in its own right, it provides a sensitive and sympathetic insight into the vicissitudes of the Commonwealth idea since its late fifties apogee.”

- Peter Hennessy FBA, Attlee Professor of Contemporary British History, Queen Mary, University of London

“In this absorbing and thoroughly researched study, Dr Perraton and his international team have made an invaluable contribution to our understanding and appraisal of the fifty-year history of the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan, its many achievements, setbacks and its central role in the Commonwealth-wide expansion of educational opportunity and exchange. No less, this book provides a judicious commentary on the political, organisational and financial complexities of sustaining large scale, multi- and bi-lateral programmes over long periods of time. The author’s insights and shrewd advice are relevant for policy makers, administrators, institutions, researchers and students engaged in the ever expanding field of international education. Of particular interest is the attention given to the engagement of highly motivated, persistent internationally minded educators in promoting and sustaining the commitment of governments and administrators faced with changing national needs and priorities.”

- Malcolm Skilbeck, Emeritus Professor and former Vice-Chancellor, Deakin University, Australia; former deputy director of the

Directorate for Education, Employment and Social Affairs, OECD

“In their first half-century, as this informed monograph indicates, Commonwealth Scholarships have become a unique global network of a growing number of universities and programmes advancing innovative educational opportunities, especially South-North. The number of partners and schemes has grown as demands and technologies have evolved. The thousands of alumni, mentors and extended families advance cosmopolitan citizenship throughout Commonwealth communities, companies, civil societies, governments and media with incalculable benefits. This timely history celebrates a brilliant legacy and anticipates the Scholarships’ centenary.”

- Timothy Shaw, Professor and Director, Institute of International Relations, University of the West Indies; formerly Director of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London

Price Uk Gbp: 39.99
Price Us Usd: 59.99

Sample pdf (including Table of Contents)