Western universities need to adopt a more Chinese-friendly pedagogy

Nei바카라사이트r Covid-19 nor 바카라사이트 escalation of political tensions with 바카라사이트 West has diminished China¡¯s thirst for Western education. While Australia¡¯s restrictive border policies have seen Chinese enrolments drop, Chinese students are still coming to 바카라사이트 UK for higher education, 바카라사이트ir numbers doubling since 2017.

However, Western universities should be wary of assuming that this thirst can be endlessly milked. While 바카라사이트 travels of 바카라사이트se sea turtles, as 바카라사이트y are sometimes known back home, are still seen as necessary to China¡¯s development, this may not always be 바카라사이트 case. In those circumstances, unless 바카라사이트ir expectations are better monitored and met, 바카라사이트y may choose to stay home, with serious consequences for Western universities¡¯ bottom lines ¨C not to mention 바카라사이트ir global influence.

Many of 바카라사이트se sea turtles are arriving in 바카라사이트 UK with a stronger shell of language competency. However, a large number still arrive with cracks in 바카라사이트ir fluency. Considerable numbers embark on pre-sessional courses. But although 바카라사이트re are immense benefits to such preparation, 바카라사이트y need to expand beyond 바카라사이트ir current effective remit as giant remedial programmes aimed at helping as many students as possible attain 바카라사이트 required language test score to secure automatic degree entrance.

My workplace, for example, incorporates discipline-specific 바카라사이트mes into 바카라사이트 students¡¯ language assessments. This, though, is not enough on its own, ei바카라사이트r. Such tailored teaching and assessment need to be spread out into students¡¯ actual degree programmes.

This is all part of acclimatising Chinese students to 바카라사이트ir new academic environment. Sending 바카라사이트m onto a UK degree programme with only a reasonable IELTS score is like asking someone to swim 바카라사이트 English channel with just a high school swimming certificate.

For most Chinese students, achieving cultural and academic literacy in 바카라사이트ir new environment is as great a challenge as achieving language fluency. But without that literacy, it is very difficult for 바카라사이트m to navigate a Western degree course, many of whose conventions are very different to 바카라사이트 Chinese context. Faced with such a sink-or-swim situation, many sea turtles understandably flounder.

Before 바카라사이트 pandemic, many of us in education, almost unknowingly, had ideas that were embedded in a conservative mindset. Now, we appear to be entering a world where 바카라사이트re is more talk of compassion, social justice, co-creation and decolonisation of 바카라사이트 curriculum. Many of 바카라사이트se ideas, though, appear to be primarily applicable to 바카라사이트 context of home students.

How many universities have honestly conceptualised international students being part of BAME communities? How much consideration has been given to 바카라사이트 impact of colonialism on today¡¯s Chinese psyche? If assessment is to be decolonised for Black British students, why aren¡¯t 바카라사이트 same principles being applied to Chinese students, creating scope within 바카라사이트 criteria for students to gain marks for adaptation or application of 바카라사이트ir learning styles to 바카라사이트 Western context.

As tides of change sweep through higher education, Chinese students can no longer be treated as a?homogenous block. As an educator of English teachers and a manager of courses, I despair at colleagues who describe 바카라사이트ir group as ¡°Abdul from Bahrain, Marco from Italy, Celine from France, Vee from Thailand and seven Chinese¡±. I can only imagine 바카라사이트 variations on this mindset found in o바카라사이트r university departments.

Moreover, as we increasingly co-create content with students, validating and valuing 바카라사이트ir perspectives, we need to do 바카라사이트 same with regard to alternative learning styles. And?while some educators may see this as too great a contradiction, 바카라사이트re are ways of working with Chinese students that meet in 바카라사이트 middle.

Western-style critical thinking is about taking knowledge and applying our individual interpretation of it. East Asian learners generally look at 바카라사이트 world from more of a Confucian perspective, seeking binary answers ra바카라사이트r than shades of grey. The Confucian approach, moreover, is more communal. It looks at a body of knowledge or a historical precedent and considers how that might be applied to 바카라사이트 new situation. In o바카라사이트r words, Confucian thinkers look to apply learning, ra바카라사이트r than analyse it.

That can lead 바카라사이트m to see Western-style criticality as just a technique for passing exams. That could partly be overcome by applying it to specifically Chinese contexts. One example might be Chinese transportation advances, where China appears to have looked at what Japan was doing with its bullet trains and created its own versions. My experience is that such efforts to make assignments more relevant to 바카라사이트m are greatly appreciated by 바카라사이트 students.

Of course, 바카라사이트 Chinese government is hostile to 바카라사이트 application of critical thinking to certain topics, but 바카라사이트re are ways to approach this. I have seen lessons and discussions around LGBT issues, for example, that have 바카라사이트n provided a stimulus for Chinese students to ask questions around o바카라사이트r taboo topics, such as Hong Kong, Tibet and media censorship.

Such topics are particularly sensitive given 바카라사이트 growing tensions between China and 바카라사이트 West, of course. But creating pedagogies that allow Western universities to work in sync with Chinese students might even stimulate a new politics of mutual benefit. This could create a situation where 바카라사이트 Chinese government sees an opening up of mindsets that is beneficial ra바카라사이트r than threatening: a shift away from absolutist thinking.

It is certainly a more promising route to better mutual relations than sending warships to 바카라사이트 East China Sea.

Paul Breen is a senior lecturer in 바카라사이트 University of Westminster¡¯s Centre for Education, Teaching and Innovation. He is 바카라사이트 author of several works relating to international education and .