An action research on teaching in multicultural classrooms at joint-venture universities in China

ABSTRACT

The institutional setting for transnational education has gradually evolved from practices that provide limited exposure to those that offer a globalized experience, such as branch campuses or joint-venture universities (JVUs). JVUs aim to create an environment that goes beyond the dichotomy between education experiences at home and in the local destination. China invites branch campuses in the form of JVUs in order to contribute to the internationalization of its higher education system. Providing diversity exposure for over a decade now, JVUs in China play a role in shaping a particular youth identity. Socialization in a multicultural environment shapes students’ individual and collective identity, as well as their career trajectories. This action research discusses the impact of the transnational education environment in JVUs on their students’ education and professional pathways; and argues that students develop academic habits that go beyond expectations attributed to their cultural backgrounds. The case study focuses on students’ perceptions and participation practices in social science classes. The empirical data, comprised of an attitude survey and focus group interviews, were collected in the 2018–2019 academic year at a Sino-British JVU based in China. This study contributes to both the sociology of education and contemporary China studies.

KEYWORDS:

• China
• joint-venture universities
• action research
• multicultural education
• transnational education

Acknowledgements

This action-research is originally designed for the PGCert program at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Suzhou, China as a part of the UK Higher Education Academy fellowship application. I would like to thank the coordinators of the program, Charlie Reis and David Frear, and my colleagues in the Humanities and Social Sciences cluster with whom I attended the program, for their consistent support and invaluable feedback throughout the process. I would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers and the editors of the journal for their constructive feedback and support during the publication process.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Feng (2013) claims that JVUs can adopt either one of these strategies, but I argue that the institutional design of the JVUs lead them to go beyond this dichotomy and create an amalgamation of the two.

2. There were two modifications to this rule throughout the semester. First, most of the China Studies (CS) students had to register in the same seminar session due to a schedule clash and there was no room left for the International Relations (IR) students in that seminar session. Therefore, peer groups had either CS or IR students while all of them had international exchange students. Second, I added debate as a third form of discussion before the completion of surveys which may have affected the outcome even though none of the text answers mention such change in their perceptions.

3. Data collection methods are approved by the university Research Ethics Committee as a part of the UK Higher Education Academy Fellowship Certificate Programme (PGCert).

4. According to the survey results, gender also does not have a significant impact on the learning experience in multicultural classrooms at a JVU, but this demographic factor is beyond the scope of this action research.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ceren Ergenc

Ceren Ergenc is an associate professor in the Department of China Studies at Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University. Her research interests include local governance, urban politics, political participation in contemporary China, and comparative higher education systems.