OVERSEAS STUDY: THE STUDENT AS STRANGER

This investigation of the conceptual framework of overseas study is intended to be a contribution to discussion of the theoretical foundations of overseas education. The dissertation follows conceptual analysis rather than sociological empirical methodology, and therefore, should be conceived of as a prolegomenon to empirical investigation of overseas education.; The basic argument which is presented in this study is that the educational experience of the foreign student is significantly and theoretically different from that of the student at home. Approaching the experience from the perspective of the student, the primary feature of overseas study is identified as "strangeness." Thus, the educational potential of the role of the stranger is focused upon. "Stranger theory," as developed in the dissertation, is based upon the work of Alfred Schutz and, to a lesser extent, upon the writings of Georg Simmel on the stranger.; Chapter One reviews the history of overseas study. Chapter Two identifies some of the major conceptual approaches implicitly or explicitly used in the literature on the foreign student. Chapter Three focuses upon "stranger theory" as an approach to thought on overseas study. Chapter Four addresses the limitations of the stranger approach by outlining a contrasting "center-periphery" model of overseas study which emphasizes the situation of the third-world student overseas. Chapter Five is an attempt to resolve some of the apparent discord between the stranger and center-periphery approaches. An Epilogue addresses some of the implications of the stranger approach for educational practice.; The stranger approach emphasizes the potential for overseas education to raise questions, to disturb the sufficient coherence and clarity of life, and to stimulate a search for new alternatives. The stranger model, as an educational model, ultimately assigns education the role of searching for alternatives, and directs attention to the potential of overseas study to stimulate critical consciousness in students. The suggestion is made that educators and educational institutions should take the educational potential of overseas education seriously by developing programs to enhance these potentials of overseas education.