Teaching the Chinese Learner


Book Description

This is a sequel to 'The Chinese learner', co-published with the Comparative Education Research Centre in Hong Kong in 1996. This book extends the earlier work by focusing on the work of teachers. It analyses the ways in which Chinese teachers think about their teaching and identifies differences in approach.




International Education and the Chinese Learner


Book Description

Teachers within the international schools comment about the challenges of integrating students from different ethnic and national backgrounds in their schools and about the rewards of developing intercultural programs that will give the students the most substantial, diverse, and ethical education and encourage cross-cultural understanding, build academic skills, and develop character. University teachers -- both Chinese and Western -- describe the opportunities and challenges for cross-cultural teaching and learning within the classrooms of their own countries and in global classrooms where local and international teachers together advance new perspectives based on team teaching, interdisciplinarity, and intercultural enquiry.




Revisiting The Chinese Learner


Book Description

It is seventeen years since I first formulated ‘The paradox of the Chinese learner’ in a conference in Kathmandu, Nepal. My original formulation of the paradox was that westerners saw Chinese students as rote learning massive amounts of information in fierce exam-dominated classrooms – yet in international comparisons, students in the Confucian heritage cla- rooms greatly outperformed western students learning in ‘progressive’ western classrooms. This seeming paradox raised all sorts of questions to which many others have contributed important answers, especially that by Ference Marton on how Chinese learners construed the roles of memory and understanding in ways that were foreign to typical western educators. Much of this work was brought together in The Chinese Learner (1996), edited by David Watkins and myself. That work raised more questions still, especially about educational contexts, beliefs and practices, which were investigated in contributions to Teaching the Chinese Learner (2001). And now we have Revisiting the Chinese Learner, which is a very timely collection of excellent contributions that take into account the many changes that have taken place since 2001, changes such as: 1. The globalisation of education especially through educational technology, and enormous socio-economic changes, especially in China itself. 2. Changes in educational policy, aims, curriculum and organi- tion, and decentralisation of educational decision-making in many Confucian heritage cultures. 3.




The Chinese Learner


Book Description

Paints a clear, research-based picture of how Chinese students and their teachers see the context of their learning both in Hong Kong and abroad. The focus of much of this research is the question, How can Chinese learners be so successful academically'.




Academic Experiences of International Students in Chinese Higher Education


Book Description

This volume discusses the educational experiences of international student in China. The topics range from international students' intercultural experiences, teacher-student classroom interaction, learning and teaching Chinese as a foreign language, academic adaptation, and identity formation in higher educational contexts.




Chinese Students, Learning Cultures and Overseas Study


Book Description

This book focuses on the phenomenon of Chinese postgraduate students studying abroad and depicts their learning trajectory as they adjust to a new culture of teaching and learning in a new environment. It uses an example from a British university to draw together intercultural learning theories to explore the impact that studying abroad has.




Chinese Education Models in a Global Age


Book Description

China’s rise, an increasing emphasis on international education benchmarking, and a global recognition of East Asian countries’ success in this regard have brought the issue of Chinese education to the forefront of public consciousness. In particular, the concept of a “Chinese education model” is one that has sparked debate and quickly become a major focus of education research around the world, especially in light of regional achievements vis-à-vis university rankings, bibliometric indices, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), and other such benchmarks. Chinese Education Models in a Global Age tackles this controversial issue head on by synthesizing a diversity of analyses from a world-class team of twenty-seven authors. It reveals that Chinese education models, which are present in many different geographic and institutional contexts, have an important influence on social and institutional norms as well as individual belief systems and behaviors in China and beyond. The first of its kind, this edited volume establishes a foundation for future research while providing a nuanced and tightly integrated compilation of differing perspectives on the role and impact of Chinese education models worldwide. It is essential reading for all scholars, policymakers, students, parents, and educators interested in the rising demographic and economic influence of people of Chinese descent on education around the world.




Ambitious and Anxious


Book Description

Winner, 2021 Best Book Award, Comparative and International Education Society Higher Education Special Interest Group Winner, 2021 Best Book Award, Comparative and International Education Society Study Abroad and International Studies Special Interest Group Honorable Mention, 2021 Pierre Bourdieu Award for the Best Book in Sociology of Education, Section on the Sociology of Education, American Sociological Association Over the past decade, a wave of Chinese international undergraduate students—mostly self-funded—has swept across American higher education. From 2005 to 2015, undergraduate enrollment from China rose from under 10,000 to over 135,000. This privileged yet diverse group of young people from a changing China must navigate the complications and confusions of their formative years while bridging the two most powerful countries in the world. How do these students come to study in the United States? What does this experience mean to them? What does American higher education need to know and do in order to continue attracting these students and to provide sufficient support for them? In Ambitious and Anxious, the sociologist Yingyi Ma offers a multifaceted analysis of this new wave of Chinese students based on research in both Chinese high schools and American higher-education institutions. Ma argues that these students’ experiences embody the duality of ambition and anxiety that arises from transformative social changes in China. These students and their families have the ambition to navigate two very different educational systems and societies. Yet the intricacy and pressure of these systems generate a great deal of anxiety, from applying to colleges before arriving, to studying and socializing on campus, and to looking ahead upon graduation. Ambitious and Anxious also considers policy implications for American colleges and universities, including recruitment, student experiences, faculty support, and career services.




Educating Chinese–Heritage Students in the Global–Local Nexus


Book Description

Weaving together a richly diverse range of student voices, perspectives, and insights, this collection of studies from around the world offers the educational community a better understanding of K-12 and adult Chinese–heritage students’ languages, cultures, identities, motivations, achievements, and challenges in various cross-cultural settings outside North America. Specifically, it addresses these overarching questions: What are Chinese–heritage students’ experiences in language and education in and outside schools? How do they make sense of their multiple ethnic and sociocultural identities? What unique educational challenges and difficulties do they encounter as they acculturate, socialize, and integrate in their host country? What are their common struggles and coping strategies? What are the instructional practices that work for these learners in their specific contexts? What educational implications can be drawn to inform their teachers, fellow students, parents, and their educational communities in a global context? Individual chapters employ different theoretical frameworks and methodological instruments to wrestle with these questions and critical issues faced by Chinese–heritage learners.




Chinese Language Education in the United States


Book Description

This book offers historical, philosophical, and sociocultural perspectives on Chinese language education for speakers of other languages with a special focus on Chinese language education in the United States. It provides a comprehensive, cross-disciplinary look at changes in CFL/CSL education over time in China and the U.S. and the philosophical, political and sociocultural influences that led to these changes. The essays address a wide array of topics related to Chinese language education, including: A historical overview of the field Theories that apply to CFL/CSL learning Policies and initiatives for CFL/CSL by the Chinese and U.S. governments Medium of instruction Curriculum and instruction for CFL/CSL learners at K-12 and college levels Technology for CFL/CSL education Chinese language learning for heritage learners CFL in study abroad contexts CFL teacher education and training This work is essential reading for scholars and students interested in gaining a greater understanding of Chinese language education in the two countries and around the world.