Research on the Current Situation of China’s Higher Education Students Studying Abroad in the Context of Higher Education Internationalization

In the context of education internationalization,the internationalization of higher education has become a major trend in the field of education in most countries,with international student education as the core.This phenomenon promotes cultural exchanges and integration among countries as well as higher education reform,which is of great significance in enhancing the international influence of higher education in each country.However,there are also some challenges faced by higher education students when studying abroad.The article digs into the origin and history of studying abroad,analyzes the current situation and reasons for higher education students in China to study abroad,discusses the opportunities and challenges faced by higher education students in China when studying abroad,and analyzes the trend of studying abroad in China.

Fostering Global Citizens Through Study Abroad―A Case Study

In today’s increasingly globalized world,study abroad programs are receiving unprecedented attention as a significant part of international education.The mission of Soka University of America(SUA)is in line with the trend of producing U.S.graduates in higher education who demonstrate intercultural and international competence.SUA has joined the academic world in this growing area of interest and requires all its students to study abroad.Learning from other institutions and exploring its own path,SUA has developed a comprehensive study abroad program that seamlessly integrated in the liberal arts curricular of the university,which positively affected foreign language learning,improved students’abilities to function as global citizens,and opened various opportunities worldwide for the students.To insure students’study abroad experiences fruitful,the following aspects need to be considered:1.systematic institutional support;2.designated staff to work on study abroad affairs;3.advising students about the courses to take while abroad;4.students need support from the entire home institution;and 5.connect study abroad with a given institution’s broader goals.

English as Foreign Language(EFL)Teachers’Efficacy and Positive Achievement Emotions:Relations to Instructional Changes After Attending a Study Abroad Program

Due to government policy,the number of study abroad professional de­velopment program for EFL teachers increased greatly in China during recent years.Study abroad program aims to help EFL teachers improve their knowledge and teaching practices,which requires them to make ad­justments to their traditional teaching styles accordingly.Hence,teachers may experience strong emotional reactions when they are faced with dif­ferent modes of teaching methods.From the perspective of“emotion”,this study used control-value theory of achievement emotions as the theoretical framework to examine the relationship between teacher efficacy,positive achievement emotions,and instructional changes among 386 Chinese EFL teachers who attended study abroad programs.Purposive sampling was used in data collection.Data analysis was conducted using Structural Equa­tion Model(SEM).The results showed that teacher efficacy correlated pos­itively with positive achievement emotions(enjoyment,hope,and pride)and instructional changes.Positive achievement emotions mediated the relationship between teacher efficacy and instructional changes.Findings showed the impact of teacher efficacy and positive achievement emotions on changes in teachers’thinking and instructional practices.Based on the findings and limitations of this study,implications on teacher education and professional development program,directions and suggestions for future studies are discussed.

TIBET IS MY HOMETOWN RECALLING TIBETANS' STUDYING ABROAD

In autumn of 1946 Tsering Wangdo,then just 12 years old, went to India to study. That was 60 years ago when I interviewed him in 2006. Obviously,the young man has gone but the

Experiences of Chinese nurses studying for master’s degree in the UK: a qualitative study

Objective:To explore experiences of Chinese nurses who study for Master of Science in Professional Practice(health care)in the United Kingdom.Methods:A qualitative approach was applied,consisting of semi-structured telephone interviews(n=8).The Colaizzi seven-step framework analysis method was used to extract themes.Results:The themes that emerged are as follows:(1)gains from studying overseas,(2)difficulties during studying,and(3)impacts of learning experience on work.The gains for nurses studying overseas include the improvement of scientific research capabilities,reconstruction of critical thinking,and development of reflection ability.Difficulties while studying mainly include language barrier,strict assessment,and boring life.Conclusions:The education of nursing postgraduate attaches impor tance to the cultivation of thinking.Nurses are very interested in nursing research including qualitative and quantitative methods.Nurses encountered language barriers in their study and life even though they knew a cer tain level of English.

Learning Effectiveness of Semester and Year-Long Study Abroad Programmes:Perspectives of International Students in a UK and China Context

Research on international students’learning experiences pays much less attention to those studying semester and/or year-long programmes in a country that differs significantly from their home country with respect to culture and the education system.Adopting transformative learning theory as the theoretical framework,this paper explores the learning effectiveness of students on such programme in a Chinese and in a UK university.It analyses the narratives of 27 students in relation to their cognitive and behavioural activities and also their self-reflective and collaborative reflective activities.The findings indicate that these students only partially achieved transformative learning.The main reasons are:(1)the duration of this type of programme was not long enough to achieve a full transformation and(2)both host universities did not include reflection in the learning process properly.This paper makes a contribution to cross-border learning literature in the Chinese and the UK contexts.

Study Abroad Experience and Career Decision-Making: A Qualitative Study of Chinese Students

This research explores factors influencing Chinese overseas students’career decision-making.Based on the social cognitive career theory,a semi-structured interview schedule was devised to qualitatively investigate how Chinese students evaluated different factors and coped with career decision-making while studying abroad.The interview transcripts were addressed using thematic analysis.Family influences,overseas social life,and personal improvement were found to be the three key factors in shaping Chinese overseas students’career decision-making.Moreover,close interconnections were found among the three factors,and these had a combined impact on the decision-making process.The findings highlight the importance of a positive study abroad experience and its impact on international students’career decision-making.

Fast Track to Study Abroad

Young Chinese students get ready for their overseas education at international high schools As the summer heat subsides,students are about to go back to school.Yang Guang,a tall and slender 16-yearold boy with a sunny smile,made an increasingly common decision. Rather than going to a first-rate public high school that prepares students for Chinese universities, Yang enrolled in a private international high school in Beijing,which is dedicated to preparing students to go to overseas universities.

Empowering Culture Change:Internationalization in the Academic Department

Internationalization of higher education has widespread benefit to society and has become the expected norm.The literature offers many calls for and models of comprehensive internationalization.Society expects higher education graduates to be global ready when they graduate.Responsible citizenship and professional life require that people be inclusive and sensitive to the worldviews of others.Those calls for change raise an opportunity:a model for culture change to be followed by others.University programming is centered at the department,which is the center of faculty life(e.g.,teaching,curricular change,interaction with peers,promotion and tenure).The academic department is the center of institutional change.We used a three-year,inclusive process,to develop a strategic,international,intercultural plan for a department in a comprehensive US university.Our plan includes four themes,complemented by 12 goals.Each goal has actions with time frames(i.e.,1-3 years,5-7 years,10-12 years).There are 49 total actions.Among those,28 are in the 1-3 year time frame,and each of those has a responsible actor(e.g.,individual or committee).The plan is adaptive,and includes assessment to advance accountability and transparency.We began implementation coincident with the pandemic,and with significant social unrest in our community and nation.The year of experience provided both affirmation and redirection.Our model guides departmental change,empowering necessary growth and offering a model for others wishing to advance internationalization.

The Idea of an International University Reshaped by Students:An Ethnographic Study in a Chinese University

This paper presents how students reshaped the idea of an international university offered to them.The findings derive from participant observation ethnographic fieldwork carried out at Fudan University in China.The analysis proves that the idea of an“international university”offered to Fudan University students was double-edged in the sense that it both cultivated and screened international talent.Students reshaped their university by manipulating or“twisting”the screening process when applying for short-term study abroad programs,on the one hand,and creating cultivating“devices”within the university,namely student-initiated associations on the other hand.The findings of this paper add a new aspect to the idea of the“international university”from students’perspective and turn the spotlight on students as active builders of their university.

“I Want to Feel That I Live in China”:Imaginaries and Hospitality in International Students’(mis-)Encounters at a Top Chinese University

Research on international students’experiences abroad has tended to rely on models of adjustment,integration and/or acculturation to describe their(mis-)encounters with different kinds of people(e.g.,co-nationals,locals and other international students).This paper proposes to use the more fluid concepts of imaginaries and hospitality,leaving behind stages and phases of adaption and acculturation,and focusing on the influence of the Structure on their experiences.Based on a discursive pragmatic analysis of interview data with 20 international students at a top Chinese university,the authors review how the students describe the kind of hospitality experienced at this institution and the influence that it has on their(mis-)encounters.Culturalist,differentialist and essentialist imaginaries(static and fixed views of Chineseness)are often used to justify the lack of encounters and the“segregation”and somewhat“positive discrimination”that they experienced.However,the paper shows that,amongst others,the institutional hospitality management for international students leads to closed contexts of encounters and feelings of exclusion.Although the study serves as a case study and cannot be generalized to the many and varied experiences of international students in other universities in China,some recommendations are made to solve,at least in part,misconceptions about what interculturality and hospitality entail in the internationalization of higher education.

Retrospective and Prospects for China’s International Educational Exchange in the 40th Anniversary Year of Reform and Opening Up

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.