Forming critical selves through lived experiences of interculturality in an internationalizing university in China

ABSTRACT

Based on ethnographic data, the present study examines how being critical has been understood, valued and practiced among students enrolled in international English-as-the-medium-of-instruction (EMI) Master’s porgrammes in a top-rated comprehensive university in China. Drawing on the Foucauldian ethico-political axes of self-formation, this article presents three case studies and finds that international and local students form critical selves in diverse ways as influenced by lived experiences of interculturality at personal, institutional and disciplinary levels. The Foucauldian axes enable a holistic understanding of students’ formation of critical selves in relation to their past, present and prospective intercultural life trajectories as situated within the social and institutional contexts. It also helps call for a culturally-enriching, self-reflexive approach to critical pedagogy in the context of internationalization of higher education that breaks away from theoretical conceptions of critical thinking as traditionally grounded on essentialist views on cultures and relevant pedagogical norms.

KEYWORDS:

• A critical self
• Foucault
• internationalization of higher education
• critical thinking
• interculturality

Acknowledgments

The present study is part of the MOE (Ministry of Education in China) Young Scholars Project entitled “Intercultural identity formation of international students enrolled in EMI Master’s degree programmes in a ‘Double-First-Class-Project’-enlisted university in China,” which is supported by a research grant from the National Office of Educational Sciences Planning (Project No. EIA180488).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Ministry of Education in China [EIA180488].

Notes on contributors

Yang Song

Yang Song is currently an assistant professor at the Department of English Language and Literature, Fudan University, Shanghai. Her research interest includes internationalization of higher education, identity and intercultural communication, multilingual linguistic landscapes and digital literacies.