On the December 25, 2020, Prof. Lu Jie, the Emeritus Professor and former Dean of the Faculty of Education at Nanjing Normal University passed away. The sudden news struck me and recalled my nearly 30 years’ friendship with Prof. Lu since 1991, stirring up also my memories of pre-1949 Christian colleges of China, and the promotion of “education of love” at Ginling College and Nanjing Normal University, from the time of Prof. Wu Yifang, Prof. Minnie Vautrin, Prof. Tao Xingzhi and Prof. Lu Jie. In this paper, I shall recall the various meetings with Prof. Lu Jie, and how her life has inspired my re-thinking of the development of “education of love” in China. I shall relate especially her humanistic educational ideals, especially the “education for life” and “cultivating human beings” with Prof. Tao Xingzhi’s “education of love.” Their educational ideals reflected the humanistic education taught at the University of Nanking and Ginling College in the first half of 20th century China. Though the two colleges had brought in a Western style of education, they had exemplified good models of indigenization, especially regarding how humanistic education could become Sinifized in Chinese soil today.
Based on the concept of learning stickiness, this study constructed a model of influencing factors among the elements of online learning content, interaction, incentive, satisfaction, and learning stickiness from Comprehensive Learning Theory. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the interaction and influence effects among the factors. It is found that the content, interaction, and incentive in Comprehensive Learning Theory had a significant positive impact on learning stickiness from the total effect analysis. From the direct effect analysis, the influence of content and interaction on learning stickiness was not substantial, but the influence of incentive and satisfaction on learning stickiness was significant. From the perspective of mediation effect analysis, incentive and satisfaction were critical mediating variables for the influence of content and interaction on learning stickiness. This study put forward suggestions and strategies for online teaching, providing a reference for teachers to carry out online education.
The use of role models for learning and publicity is widespread in China. By comparing four sets of primary school textbooks complied and published by People’s Education Press between 1999 and 2005, this study reveals the similarities and differences between these textbooks with regard to the positive role models covered and the virtues conveyed. The major role models in both versions of the textbooks can be characterized as representing four main types of persons: children, Han Chinese, males, and modern people. However, the occupations of these role models are more diverse in the new textbooks, and the more recent editions place more emphasis on moral values such as “protecting the environment,” “loving peace,” and “promoting democratic cooperation.” The implications of the findings and the potential problems arising in the textbooks are discussed at the end, particularly noting the changing mode of regulation with regard to the individual-collective relationship.
Online learning has become the new educational pattern during the COVID-19 pandemic and is likely to supplement conventional schooling in the post-pandemic world. Lacking prior online learning experiences, the population of K-12 students deserves our special attention. Using purposeful sampling, this study investigated K-12 online learning experiences in China based on a large-scale survey (N = 118,589). Leveraging both quantitative and qualitative evidence, this study supported online learning as a flexible alternative to conventional schooling in emergency situations with a discussion of its benefits and limitations, and revealed key findings regarding K-12 students’ online learning pattern, experiences, and engagement, as well as the influencing factors. The research findings can inform the future design and implementation of online learning programs in primary and secondary schools.
In this introduction we describe the purpose and structure of the Canada–China Reciprocal Learning in Teacher Education and School Education Partnership Grant Project sponsored by the Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada (SSHRC) in 2013?2020, and describe the project’s practice-based methodology along with a discussion of selected preliminary results. The papers presented in this special issue of Frontiers of Education in China animate our discussion by bringing forward important school-based activities and results. The heart of this work is the collaborative activity and voices of Chinese and Canadian educators. We illustrate our concept of reciprocal learning and how we apply this concept in our Partnership Grant Project. We believe that we have heavily benefited from the productive work and impact that has been made in the field of comparative education and we have put our emphasis on Reciprocal Learning as Collaborative Partnership throughout our project.
This paper begins by reflecting on the significance of the 16th World Congress of Comparative Education Societies which was held at Beijing Normal University (BNU) in August 2016. Part I focuses on China’s experience in educational development since the late 1970s, and the support provided by organizations such as the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the World Bank, which facilitated the rapid restoration of China’s universities after the Cultural Revolution and supported a dramatic social and economic transformation. Part II goes on to profile China’s rich educational civilization and suggests that the normal university is uniquely suited to bringing that to a wider world. Part III overviews China’s programs of support for educational development in Africa and Southeast Asia, and suggests that these embody forms of dialogue and reciprocity that have the potential to open up refreshingly new approaches to educational thought and practice in the global arena.
International cooperation and collaborations played an important role in the economic and educational development of several countries. In the 1950s and 1960s external aid was an important modality to establish cooperation between countries, especially between developing and developed countries. Cross-border activities in higher education used to take place mostly through cooperation projects and academic exchange programmes. The political returns to aid declined during the post-cold war period. Therefore, incentives to extend aid declined and markets and trade became more accepted modes of cooperation and collaboration in all sectors including education. International collaborations of today are very often motivated by economic incentives and are mediated through markets. The franchising and twinning arrangements, establishment of branch campuses, and promotion of cross-border student mobility are examples of market-based collaborative efforts in higher education. This paper discusses Indian cooperation and collaborations with foreign institutions focusing also on such efforts among the BRICS countries. It argues that the collaboration efforts among the BRICS countries may be more influenced by government-to-government efforts than mediated by markets. The paper shows that the BRICS countries at present are more engaged in cooperation and collaborations in higher education with developed countries. Collaborations among the BRICS countries are rather limited and are still at the nascent stages. Therefore, government initiatives and public action are needed at this stage to promote cooperation and expand collaboration in higher education among BRICS countries.
Over the past decades, the internationalization of higher education in China has had considerable achievements, and has contributed to the current transformation of the Chinese system into one of the largest and arguably most promising ones in the world. Setting the Chinese experience in an international context, this article assesses the latest developments. It argues that China’s internationalization of higher education is part of a much larger process of cultural integration between China and the West. From this perspective, it concludes that although China’s recent developments deserve to be noted, China has a considerable distance to go before its aspirations to create truly world-class universities are fulfilled.
International exchange is an important part of China’s educational opening up, cooperation, and connection with other countries. It also serves as a unique strategic resource, helping to develop and consolidate mutual political trust, diplomatic exchange, economic and trade relations, cultural exchange and educational cooperation between China and other countries in the world, thereby enhancing China’s international image. We have seen positive contributions made to our progress towards peace among peoples, and noted the irreplaceable role played by China. International educational exchange is an important part of global international student flows. Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, especially in the 40 years of reform and opening up, China has experienced a development process in education from language students to students at all levels and from quantity to quality. The change in the type of international students studying in China and of Chinese students studying abroad reflects the Chinese spirit and the broadening the appeal of China’s programs. It can be interpreted as the fulfillment of the “Chinese Dream,” contributing to national revitalization. The trade imbalance between exporting countries and destination countries in international educational exchange has been reduced.
In this paper, we used the platform log data to extract three features (proportion of passive video time, proportion of active video time, and proportion of assignment time) aligning with different learning activities in the Interactive- Constructive-Active-Passive (ICAP) framework, and applied hierarchical clustering to detect student engagement modes. A total of 840 learning rounds were clustered into four categories of engagement: passive (n = 80), active (n = 366),constructive (n = 75) and resting (n = 319). The results showed that there were differences in the performance of the four engagement modes, and three types of learning status were identified based on the sequences of student engagement modes: difficult, balanced and easy. This study indicated that based on the ICAP framework, the online learning platform log data could be used to automatically detect different engagement modes of students, which could provide useful references for online learning analysis and personalized learning.
The development of higher vocational education in China embodies a global trend of vocationalism that values skills and skilled workers, which is opposite, in some ways, to the Confucian tradition in Chinese education that values theoretical knowledge related to good governance. As the cultural trend supporting the development of higher vocational education, vocationalism is implicated in certain challenges including high tuition fees, limited upward mobility, and neglect of the humanities in education. Humanities for moral education, and mechanisms for upward mobility on equal terms for all, which are fundamental elements of Confucianism, may help resolve these challenges. This paper embodies the dialectic of a global trend and local culture in educational reform within the context of globalization.
Globalization is bringing about a new paradigm of super-diversity which is resulting in all societies becoming more culturally diverse. Interculturalism, as a new model which responds to this increasing diversity, rejects all forms of discrimination based on differences, instead embracing reciprocity and accommodation. Interculturalism theory is characterized by integration, cohesion, and intercultural dialogue. Compared to multiculturalism theory, interculturalism theory discusses how to make a society more cohesive and accommodate people from different cultures. Interculturalism features a stronger sense of whole. Therefore, in intercultural education, intercultural competence is highlighted in order to catalyze dialogue between people from different groups. Interculturalism has a role in increasing the current level of diversity within contemporary Chinese society. Furthermore, Confucius’ ideal of Great Harmony, which values integration while respecting differences, echoes the tenets of interculturalism. In conclusion, interculturalism can serve as an effective theory for cultivating a shared society.
This paper presents a qualitative study of immigrant Chinese teachers’ professional identity and beliefs about the teacher-student relationship in an intercultural context. Theoretically, this study takes its departure from a sociocultural perspective on understanding professional identity. The empirical analysis in the study drew mainly upon ethnographic interviews with a group of Chinese language teachers in Denmark concerning their life experiences, perceptions, and beliefs. The results of this study suggest that teachers’ beliefs about their roles as teachers and about student-teacher relationships are shaped by both their prior experiences and backgrounds and the current social and cultural contexts in which they are situated. Changes of context (e.g., from China to Denmark) often lead to a transformation of their professional identity and beliefs. Being a teacher in an intercultural context often exposes them to the confrontation of diverse challenges and dilemmas. On one hand, teachers in this study generally experienced a transformation from being a moral role model, subject expert, authority and parental role to being a learning facilitator and culture worker. On the other hand, they developed diverse individualized coping strategies to handle student-teacher interactions and other aspects of teachers’ professional identity.
Despite the rapid increase of international students in the Chinese higher education sector, little is known about their experiences in China. This paper reports a longitudinal study investigating experiences of a small group of international students during their undergraduate study in an English-medium medical course at a Chinese university. Data were generated through annual interviews, complemented by two rounds of questionnaire surveys respectively held at the beginning and end of the course. Drawing on self-determination theory, findings reveal the learning process through which the participants, responding to and interacting with new academic and social environments, gradually achieved adaptation and personal growth. Meanwhile, the research presents evidence of the students’ dissatisfaction, arising mainly from three aspects of their university environments: linguistic, pedagogical, and attitudinal. Policy implications are discussed and suggestions for future studies are given.
This paper attempts to address connections between the Chinese model for development or the “Beijing Consensus” and Chinese universities. Chinese universities seem to be caught between serving governmental agendas and pursuing their own goals as an academic community. Up until recently, they had become used to following the lead of the government, which often comes with rationales and approaches featuring pragmatism and utilitarianism. Drawing on the perspectives of social embeddedness and external control of organizations in higher education, we argue that the lack of dynamism and innovation that is hindering Chinese higher education’s development is largely owing to the political, social, and cultural factors prevailing in the environment in which the universities operate. Put in another way, Chinese universities are confronting a crisis, owing to the inbuilt constraints of China’s development model.