Some experiences of non-EU international students following an access to Higher Education Diploma course in a general further education college in the North of England

ABSTRACT

This study provides a basis for deepening understandings of approaches which offer effective and enhanced learning experiences for predominantly East Asian international students following provision alongside local students in UK general further education colleges. A mixed methods approach employed a largely quantitative questionnaire to access the views of 25 international students, 22 of whom were Chinese nationals, and to identify four participants (two Chinese, one Japanese and one Maldivian) for subsequent semi-structured interviews. This fieldwork was supported by the collection of college achievement data for the international students and for the local students who had studied directly alongside them. The outcomes indicate that the international students achieved at least as well as the local students in relation to academic outcomes, and that they valued teachers who allowed their cultural experiences to directly contribute to classroom learning. The study also highlights the importance of inter-cultural activities. More prosaically, the outcomes also suggest that important concerns for these international students were that they should receive clarity in answers to their questions as part of the processes of learning, as well as the resolution of ostensibly more peripheral issues such as the quality and type of food available in the college catering outlets.

KEYWORDS:

• International students
• further education
• learning experience

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study was unfunded.No financial interest of benefit has arisen from this research.

Notes on contributors

Mike Saunders

Mike Saunders is Head of Quality Improvement at York College, UK. Mike’s main academic interests are in the pedagogy of the transnational classroom, social learning theory and policy change in the UK post-compulsory sector. He is a practicing teacher educator and has spent 34 years as a teacher and manager in English further education colleges. He strongly believes in the power of further education to transform lives and that practitioners must challenge government to ensure that adult learning is given the focus that it deserves.

Roy Fisher

Roy Fisher is emeritus professor of education at the University of Huddersfield, UK. He was formerly a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Vocational Education and Training. His work, which has been widely published, has encompassed autodidacticism, subject specialist pedagogy, vocationalism, teacher education and representations of education in popular culture.