International Education: Homestay Theory Versus Practice

K. Richardson
Abstract The concept of homestay as an industry arose in the mid 1980s in response to accommodation needs of international full-fee paying students studying in Australian secondary and tertiary educational institutions. Homestay accommodation is theoretically ideal for several reasons. It ensures an institutions duty of care is fulfilled after school hours for students under eighteen and is an ideal setting to assist students with their acquisition of the target language, and their cultural knowledge. For some students it is an initial step before launching into other forms of accommodation, such as rental. Homestay provides a unique family environment where different cultures intercept within the home. While homestay appears to be ideal, in practice there is uncertainty about the extent to which it fulfils the expectations of students, hosts and organisations alike. Questions regarding the adequacy of training provided for homestay providers and hosts have also emerged. The issues arising in the unique environment of the homestay, such as cultural tensions, need to be addressed. This paper reports on recent research on the organisation of homestay programs and problems within the homestay itself. This indicates a need for training of homestay hosts and homestay organisers.

Homestay in Australia
The homestay industry has grown rapidly over recent decades due to the increase in international fee-paying students studying in Australia. Homestay is designed to be an ideal setting where international students are exposed to the target culture and language from within the intimate and safe family environment (Knight & Schmidt-Rinehart, 2002: 196-196). This facilitates interaction between two cultures, and consequently promotes multicultural understanding and acceptance of difference. However, these idyllic expectations of homestay are not always realized, indicating need for the training of hosts and homestay providers alike. International Education in Australia The recent increase in international education is a phenomenon which has been facilitated by factors such as globalisation, ease of international travel, and financial opportunities for educational institutions. In 1986 only about 2000 international fee-paying students were studying in Australian educational institutions. By 1994 this number increased to around 70,000 (Baker, Roberson, Taylor & Doube, 1996: 10). Recent statistics indicate that international education has become one of Australias major exports. In 2000, there were 153,400 international students studying in Australia. This is said to have generated $3.7 billion into the Australian economy (Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 2002:1). Projected figures suggest that by 2025 it is possible (based on the current growth rate) that international education could increase to 560,000 students in higher education in Australia (Bhm, Davis, Meares & Pearce, 2002: 3). Although some doubt has been cast on the figur es (Marginson 2002: 42; Cohen, 2003: 5) Australias main market for international students is South-East Asia (ABS, 2002). There are several reasons for this. Firstly, Asia is closer in distance to Australia than England or the US. Therefore students are closer to their family and friends. Australia is also a less expensive destination, as the Australian Dollar is currently much weaker than the US Dollar. This means

both tuition costs and living costs are more economically viable (Marginson, 2002:38). Thirdly, due to Federal Government regulations, the standard of education across Australian Educational Institutions is consistently high (Cohen, 2003:3). There are concerns from several quarters regarding the quality of education and cultural experience Australia offers its international fee-paying students. Despite an attempt by the Federal Government to create quality assurance for our international education programs, there is criticism that these measures are inadequate (Marginson, 2002: 41). While Australian educational institutions promote cultural exchange as a primary drawing card, it has been found that Australian students expect international student to adjust to them, not vice versa (Marginson, 2002: 41). However, these expectations of assimilation rather than integration and difficulties with cultural exchange not only occur within the educational institutions, but also in the homestay environment (Richardson, 2002). This paper draws from recent research into homestay (Richardson, 2001). It discusses the educational needs of homestay providers and homestay hosts in order to improve the quality of accommodation and care provided to the international fee-paying students studying in Australia. Homestay Definitions The notion of homestay as an industry is only relatively new (Klepinger, 1995: 1), as it has seemingly grown extemporaneously from the sudden influx of international students requiring accommodation. Consequently the terminology is still evolving (Richardson, 2001: 2). While the term homestay is not yet included in most of the major dictionaries, the Merriam Webster Dictionary (Merriam Webster Corporation, 2002) defines it as a period during which a visitor in a foreign country lives with a local family. However, it is currently used in Australia to refer to the local family environment in which an international student resides rather than a period of time. The homestay industry in Australia can refer to both bed and breakfast accommodation and international student accommodation (Richardson 2001: 2). For the purposes of this paper, only international student accommodation was investigated. There are several stakeholders in the homestay industry who require explanation, namely the homestay providers, homestay hosts and homestay students. According to Richardson (2001:2) a homestay host refers to families, who offer their own home to international students for part of, or the duration of their stay in Australia. It is expected that the homestay hosts care for the international students needs for the duration of the time they are residing together. The homestay students referred to in the following study are full-fee paying international students residing in homestay accommodation. This means that the students are contributing financially to their living needs which can be seen by some as remuneration for services offered by the host. The term homestay provider refers to the coordinator of the homestay program, whose responsibility it is to organise quality accommodation for international students.

The Homestay Industry in Australia Currently the homestay industry in Australia is largely deregulated, with few direct legislative requirements, little accountability and no training legally required of those participating in homestay programs, even when dealing with minors (Richardson, 2001: 6-7). However, legislation and regulation developed for education of international education indicate that

educational institutions and/or guardians of students under eighteen should provide evidence that they will be going into care arrangements for their accommodation, support and general welfare (Department of Immigration, Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA), 2003: 4). This indicates that homestay providers have an obligation to provide quality care for students who are minors in order to maintain the business of educational institutions. Beyond the recommendation by DIMIA that all homestay hosts undertake police clearance before offering their home to students, there appear to be no other specified recommendations from regulatory bodies regarding living standards or requirements. Furthermore there is no formal training available to homestay providers or hosts, which specifically targets the needs of providers and hosts.

Research Method
The organisation participating in the research was an English language school affiliated with a prominent tertiary institution in Melbourne. It was located in Melbournes inner-eastern suburbs and approximately four hundred students attended the institution at any given time. The organisation had about 375 host families on their database. Roughly sixty percent of the student population lived in homestay accommodation. The homestay students included both adult students and students under the age of eighteen. The majority of the students attending the school were Japanese. A number of qualitative methods were used in order to explore the needs of homestay hosts and homestay providers. The purpose of qualitative research was to allow hosts and providers to express their experiences and opinions, give insight into their ideas regarding homestay experiences and indicate areas that may require further research. Firstly, questionnaires were distributed to homestay hosts, which allowed for analysis of host profiles, and preliminary probe into the hosts concerns and issues. Of the 346 questionnaires sent out, 133 questionnaires were returned containing useable data. All participants were either currently hosting or had hosted homestay students in the past. Several participants had hosted for more than one organisation. The questionnaires were followed by three focus groups. Seventeen homestay hosts volunteered to participate in the focus groups. The focus groups were designed to flesh out the issues presented in the questionnaires in order to provide more insight into the perceived needs and concerns of the hosts. The groups were organised according to availability. One male volunteered to participate in the focus groups. Finally, two homestay providers were interviewed in a semi- structured interview. The interview was designed to explore the providers perceptions of the needs of the homestay hosts and to delve into difficulties faced when running a homestay program.

Findings and Discussion

The research uncovered a concern that homestay hosts and homestay providers are not adequately prepared for the services they are expected to offer. It was apparent that homestay providers required training regarding the on going quality of homestay they were providing. There is a need to establish appropriate selection processes and maintaining a detailed database. The development of cross-cultural training, conflict management and basic counselling

techniques is important in order for providers to deal with both hosts and students. Providers also require information and skills in order to train the homestay hosts in their care. The Training Needs of Homestay Providers It is evident that there is currently no vocational training offered in Melbourne designed to prepare homestay providers for their work. Providers need to communicate effectively with both homestay hosts and homestay students. They require a thorough working knowledge of crosscultural communication and understanding of appropriate regulation and legislation surrounding the homestay industry. It is imperative they their duty of care toward both the international students and the homestay hosts. Legislation, Regulation and best practice Homestay organisations usua lly fall into one of two categories. Firstly, educational institutions may run their own homestay program as part of their duty of care to students under the age of eighteen. If this is the case, the educational institution also becomes the homestay provider, thus they are bound by the duty of care outlined by DIMIA and the Education Services for Overseas Students Act (2000) (the ESOS Act). However, these regulations only indirectly relate to the organisation of homestay. Non-specific guidelines regarding homestay requirements are provided by DIMIA (2003: 4) ensuring the carersbe aged at least 21, be of good character, and have permission to reside in Australia until the student turns 18 or their visa expires. The second category of homestay provider consists of independent homestay organisations servicing several educational institutions. It is evident from conversations with independent providers subsequent to the research that they are regulated by the expectations of individual schools and indirectly by the ESOS Act. In other words, if they do not provide adequate service they will not get the business, although actual requirements for homestay are still extremely ambiguous. While most of the legislation regarding duty of care toward international students refers to minors, there appear to be very few, if any, guidelines for the care of adult students. However, it would be sensible to provide all international students with high standard of care whether they are a minor or an adult. This could both promote Australian provision of international education overseas and provide a legal safety net in case anything goes wrong. With such obscurity of expectations, it is important that homestay providers be given training in best business practice for homestay organisation in order to provide excellent quality of service and to provide proof of their ability to maintain the quality. Screening Processes and database maintenance Concern was raised regarding the need for providers to be more rigorous regarding the selection of hosts and database maintenance. A concerned host stated,
Just as an example, my girl took some photos of her room and brought them here this week and she was showing her friends. And they said, Youre staying in a five star hotel! Which made me think, well, its not a five star hotel but what are some of the other people staying in? You know, what kind of cramped conditions(Richardson, 2001: 87)

There are a couple of possible explanations for this statement. Firstly, Klepinger (1995: 2) suggests a major problem facing homestay organisations is a general absence of any kind of

strategic outline, step-by-step format or even a basic homestay manual that presentshow a successful homestay program should be administered. While the homestay organisation participating in the research provided some documentation of expectations of homestay hosts and students, the researcher was not shown any administrative documentation detailing policy or procedure regarding the general running of the program. Inconsistencies between the responses of hosts and the providers suggested that work needed to be done in this area. Secondly, comments made by the providers suggest that Australian homestay organisations are vying for hosts, as there appears to be insufficient numbers of host families to cater for the number of students requiring accommodation. The homestay providers stated,
the rate that we are going we cant really be picky with the families, as I said, if no one is coming, saying they want to do homestay, you cant pick and choose. It is the host familys market at the moment, not the colleges market. When the family receives three phone calls from here [and two other institutions] they can pick and choose who they want to offer their services to. (Richardson 2001: 88)

While this research could not be generalized across all homestay organisations, it is probable that the participating organization is not alone in their struggle. With this in mind perhaps it would be beneficial for providers to receive training in marketing, learning to effectively target potential hosts. The provider participating in the research also indicated a lack of confidence in screening processes, stating,
the person who is doing the screening [of prospective hosts] should be a counsellor, or has welfare background. I know that sometimes it is hard for me to judge people because I am not trained to do that. Maybe someone who is trained and whose profession it is. Maybe a welfare person can do the screening of the families. (Richardson, 2001: 80)

This may indicate that training in interpersonal skills and cross-cultural communication would benefit homestay providers. Brislin and Yoshida (1994: 4-5) list sixteen different professions, including school personnel and social workers, who should undertake such training. Since homestay providers work constantly in cross-cultural environments, cross-cultural communication training would assist improving homestay services so that the needs of people from different cultures are met appropriately. Interpersonal training might also assist homestay providers improve the efficiency of screening processes. Training of hosts The training of homestay hosts should be a priority for homestay providers, as it is the hosts who are caring for the organisations clients - the homestay students. The study found that communication problems are likely to arise within the homestay situation. Hosts were also confused regarding the limitations of their legal responsibility toward the homestay students in their care. Because homestay accommodation cannot function without hosts it is imperative that they are equipped with knowledge of what is expected of them and strategies to help them do their job well. It should be the responsibility of the homestay providers (the organizational managers) to ensure their employees (the hosts) are equipped to deal effectively with their clients (the international students). Homestay providers need to be proactive in training and equipping hosts with appropriate information and would benefit from undertaking some form of training in teaching skills.

What should homestay providers teach homestay hosts? Homestay hosts felt they were required to fulfil three roles consisting of the pseudo-parental role, the cross-cultural advisor role, and the servant role (Richardson, 2001: 52-57). These roles appear paradoxical in that homestay hosts often expect to emphasis the parental and crosscultural roles, whereas they often find themselves being treated more as a servant. Possible explanations could relate to the fact that some international students perceive they are paying for a service; therefore they can treat the host as they would a servant. It may also depend strongly on the students culture and attitudes toward the female role in general. It was found that hosts had difficulty primarily with cross-cultural matters, but also had concerns regarding their legal obligations. Cross-cultural training From the responses of the homestay hosts it became evident that cross-cultural training would be appropriate. Some focus group participants suggested they would appreciate more information about the particular cultures of their homestay students. One host stated,
Id actually like to see, it sounds a lot of work, but I dont think it would be. But when, say for instance, the college rung and said, Look we have a Thai student. And we agreed to take them. Wouldnt it be nice to, sort of, have sent with the childs name and whatever a little bit of Thai culture? Particularly if youre just new at homestay, I mean I know its very general, because the persons are all different. And Im sure youll agree with me that every student Ive had is in fact different, its sort of a different book. But it would be nice to maybe get a bit. (Richardson, 2001: 81)

While some hosts acknowledged their need for more cultural information, other hosts indicated in the questionnaire they expected the students to fit in with the family. This can also become problematic, as most international students experience culture shock and homesickness upon arrival in Australia. The onset of culture shock is due to the loss of all our familiar signs and symbols of social intercourse (Oberg, 1960:117). Furthermore, in researching homesickness, Fisher (1991: 76) suggests that the out-workings of homesickness are similar to that of bereavement and put a student in danger of deviant behaviour. This total loss of familiar beliefs, behaviours and values can be traumatic for the individual involved and needs to be carefully considered by the hosts. The hosts responses indicate that cross-cultural training programs could help them know what kinds of questions to ask their homestay students on arrival and general behaviours they might expect to observe from their students and how to deal with it. It would give hosts strategies for helping the students develop their English skills and help them overcome some inevitable miscommunications. Such training programs might also provide a means of networking and collaboration between homestay hosts. Legal Responsibilities Comments made by homestay hosts indicating they are unsure of the extent of their responsibilities, with regard to serious events or emergencies. The homestay hosts indicated confusion about protocol if something went wrong, and they felt a need for more support from the homestay providers. One hosts asked, So what if theres a car accident or what if theres a, what if the student just disappears. Who do you contact? (Richardson, 2001: 83). While the homestay hosts often are not the official guardian of international students under the age of eighteen, they do have a duty of care toward the student. However, the extent of this duty of care

is not yet defined. It would benefit them to be given information regarding the limitations of their responsibility toward the students in their care. Further to this, it would be beneficial for hosts to learn how to access translation services in order to communicate with the students family back home. Several hosts indicated that it was sometimes difficult to contact the students parents or significant others in cases of emergency. This can place hosts in very difficult and frightening circumstances, which may lead to legal ramifications. Vera told of her concerns.
Vera: Well when mine got sick her parents were actually in Saudi Arabia going to the Mecca thing and they were uncontactable. They didnt have a mobile and they were uncontactable. So, and her two brothers were living at home with the servants and she was really sick. But the same thought occurred to me. I thought oh, this puts me in a bit of a strange situation because if something far worse happened Natalie: Its a huge responsibility. Vera: Im it. (Richardson, 2001:83 -84)

Legal implications are such that several respondents indicated their reluctance to take homestay students under the age of eighteen. This reluctance to take students under the age of eighteen would lower the number of hosts providers are able to utilize in their programs. With this in mind, it is important the homestay hosts are provided with training regarding expected procedures in cases of emergency. Since there is no legal precedent regarding homestay situations, there is no indication of extent of legal implications in the event of a lawsuit. With this in mind, homestay hosts would benefit by taking adequate precautions to ensure their protection from litigation. Undertaking training in areas such as health and hygiene, cross-cultural communication, the obligations of duty of care, the institutions protocols in emergencies would assist hosts to provide high quality of care for the homestay students. Rooming House Legislation Hosts need to be informed about the limits regarding the number of students residing in any one homestay. Providers should communicate the differences between homestay and rooming houses. This issue has legal implications on several levels, such as duty of care of minors, taxation, insurance, and health and safety. Hosts revealed knowledge of homestays where multiple numbers of students reside in the one house. Sarah informed the focus group,
I mean I had a boy a few years ago who was staying in a place on the other side of Melbourne and it was on a main road. So it was very busy and noisy. And it was a 2-story house and the whole upstairs was virtually filled with students, an enormous amount of students and the couple lived downstairs. And that alone, I mean, I cant tell you, I worked out the money that was coming into that household, it was extraordinary. (Richardson, 2001:86)

Homestay hosts must be kept abreast of current legislation and regulation surrounding homestay and rooming houses, particularly if they intend to accommodate seve ral students at any one time. They should be aware of the regulations outlined in the Residential Tenancies Act, 1997 (VIC), and it is in the interest of homestay providers to inform hosts of legal responsibilities.

Conclusion
While the research disc ussed in this paper was not large enough to generalise across all homestay institutions, it highlights concerns which should be addressed. The homestay industry in Australia is largely deregulated, with few guidelines in place. As such the success of the homestay industry rests on the integrity of homestay providers to ensure they offer a high quality of service to international fee-paying students. Improving the quality of service involves the development of training programs for homestay providers and, in turn, homestay hosts. Since homestay providers are effectively running a business, it is their responsibility to ensure they are adequately trained in areas such as cross-cultural communication and conflict management. Providers have a responsibility to ensure that all of their work practices comply with the legislative requirements and ensure the hosts in their care abide within the law. It is important that homestay providers learn effective methods for screening prospective hosts and maintaining a current, detailed database system. Furthermore, it is the providers responsibility to ensure that protocols are in place in cases of emergency. Perhaps most importantly, providers should be proactive in ensuring the training needs of the hosts are met. It was evident through the study that homestay hosts require training in several areas. Hosts need to be aware of their duty of care toward international students under eighteen and adult students as well as their legal responsibilities such as taxatio n and rooming house regulation. Hosts need to be informed of the protocol for emergency scenarios and be empowered with strategies to deal with difficult or dangerous circumstances. Providers need to ensure the homestay hosts are given regular training in cross-cultural communication and cultural awareness.

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