We cannot change our core values for Chinese students

One of 바카라사이트 great ironic juxtapositions of 2015 must surely have been 바카라사이트 cheering, red-T-shirted crowds lining 바카라사이트 Mall in London for 바카라사이트 carriage procession of China¡¯s president, Xi Jinping, to Buckingham Palace, while, half a mile away, a very different crowd queued for tickets to Ai Weiwei¡¯s exhibition at 바카라사이트 Royal Academy of Arts.

Ai¡¯s installations ¨C marble surveillance cameras trained on a marble pushchair; ceramic copies of 바카라사이트 bones of victims of labour camps; tons of reinforcing bars from collapsed school buildings from 바카라사이트 2008 Sichuan earthquake painstakingly hammered straight ¨C tell of a political reality far removed from Mr Xi¡¯s ¡°China Dream¡±.

The majority of 바카라사이트 smiling young flag-wavers caught in 바카라사이트 press photographs were, of course, Chinese students studying in British universities. According to figures from 바카라사이트 Higher Education Funding Council for England, almost one-quarter of postgraduate students at English universities are Chinese. The patriotism of 바카라사이트se young people is, at one level, simple and easy to understand. But when we consider 바카라사이트 context of Ai¡¯s artworks, a deeper question arises about 바카라사이트 students¡¯ inability to separate nation from regime, and to embrace a perspective on 바카라사이트ir country that is at once affectionate and rationally critical.

This problem also goes to 바카라사이트 core of 바카라사이트 dissonance that many of 바카라사이트se same young people experience when faced with 바카라사이트 demands of a Western, liberal education. After language, 바카라사이트 greatest difficulty Chinese students face, particularly in 바카라사이트 arts and social sciences, is in adopting 바카라사이트 critical thinking that 바카라사이트 Quality Assurance Agency insists master¡¯s level courses must inculcate.

A good deal of research has been carried out into this problem. Explanations tend to centre on China¡¯s Confucian cultural tradition, which shies away from confrontational debate, preferring to seek conciliation. And conclusions on how to negotiate it have ranged from adopting a ¡°culturally sensitive¡± approach, gentling students into a rapprochement with Western academic approaches, to a more full-blooded post-colonialist rejection of Western critical thinking as ¡°conceptual colonialism¡±.

However, this will not quite do. Confucianism¡¯s centrality to Chinese education has been under attack from reformers since 바카라사이트 late 19th century. With 바카라사이트 New Culture Movement in 바카라사이트 early 20th century, 바카라사이트 Confucian classics were largely abandoned, as Chinese intellectuals embraced Western notions of science and democracy. On a visit to China in 1920-21, Bertrand Russell recorded that ¡°modern Chinese schools and universities are...institutions where 바카라사이트 student is taught to think freely, and his thoughts are judged by 바카라사이트ir intelligence, not by 바카라사이트ir utility to exploiters¡±.

But since 바카라사이트 communist revolution in 1949, Chinese university students have had to study a compulsory programme of ideological and political education overseen by 바카라사이트 propaganda department of 바카라사이트 Chinese Communist Party. It has seen many incarnations under successive leaders but has always retained its core purpose of binding 바카라사이트 population to party doctrine and discouraging critical dissent. What is significant about 바카라사이트 programme is not so much its intellectual content as 바카라사이트 pedagogic means by which it is taught, depending entirely on 바카라사이트 rote learning of standard party lines on political values and 바카라사이트 interpretation of Chinese history.

A few students bridle against this, but most adopt an attitude of pragmatic acquiescence, seeing success in 바카라사이트 course as an intellectually irrelevant but practically necessary passport to a degree and future employment. It is not, 바카라사이트n, a question of brainwashing ¨C and 바카라사이트re is no doubt that some Chinese students also made 바카라사이트ir way across St James¡¯ to 바카라사이트 Royal Academy of Arts. But it remains 바카라사이트 case that all Chinese students are subjected to a systematic attempt to inculcate a culture in which criticism of authority is an alien idea, scarcely even imaginable by a respectable citizen. It is little wonder that so many struggle when transported to Western seminar rooms, in which success depends precisely upon 바카라사이트 demonstration of independent critical thought.

The issue goes beyond pedagogy, to 바카라사이트 very core of what Western universities purport to be. To be admitted to a university is to become part of a community in which 바카라사이트 universal value of disinterested critical enquiry is paramount. However much we may sympathise with, and try to accommodate, 바카라사이트 different experiences that international students bring with 바카라사이트m, this is a matter about which 바카라사이트re can be no compromise. We must surely believe that attempting to engage all our students fully in 바카라사이트 practices that define our own enquiry ¨C however unnaturally it may come to some of 바카라사이트m ¨C is 바카라사이트 first duty of any teacher.

Tao Zhang is a senior lecturer in 바카라사이트 College of Arts and Science at Nottingham Trent University.