A Case Study of Chinese Students at a Uk
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IMAGINATIVE TRAVELLERS IN-SITU: A CASE STUDY OF CHINESE STUDENTS AT A UK TRANSNATIONAL HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTION A thesis submitted to The University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Humanities 2019 Jingran Yu SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Contents List of Figures and Tables .......................................................................................... 6 List of Abbreviations ................................................................................................... 7 Abstract ........................................................................................................................ 8 Declaration .................................................................................................................. 9 Copyright Statement .................................................................................................... 9 Acknowledgement ..................................................................................................... 10 Chapter 1 Introduction ............................................................................................. 11 1.1 The story behind the research .................................................................................. 11 1.2 The objective and approach of this research .......................................................... 15 1.3 Outline of the thesis ................................................................................................... 16 Chapter 2 From International to Transnational Education: Implications for Socio-spatial Inequalities .......................................................................................... 22 2.1 Why transnational education? International education and the reproduction of socio-spatial (dis)advantages .......................................................................................... 23 2.1.1 A Bourdieusian approach .................................................................................................. 23 2.1.2 Global inequalities ............................................................................................................ 24 2.1.3 Domestic inequalities ........................................................................................................ 29 2.2 Transnational education: a review ........................................................................... 31 2.2.1 Transnational education and international branch campuses ............................................ 31 2.2.2 Extant research on transnational education ....................................................................... 36 2.2.3 Departing from extant research: The potential of transnational education ........................ 40 2.3 Concluding remarks .................................................................................................. 46 Chapter 3 From Mobility to Mobilities: Theoretical Approaches to Transnational Education .................................................................................................................. 47 3.1 The theoretical underpinning: The new mobilities paradigm ............................... 47 3.2 Three lines of inquiry: Space, community, and cosmopolitan competence .......... 54 3.2.1 A subjective understanding of space through imagination ................................................ 54 3.2.2 A relational approach to community through belonging ................................................... 58 3.2.3 A Bourdieusian perspective on cosmopolitanism as distinction ....................................... 61 3.3 Concluding remarks .................................................................................................. 67 2 Chapter 4 A Unique Case: The First Chinese-Foreign Cooperative University .... 69 4.1 Transnational education in China: Chinese–Foreign Cooperation in Running Schools .............................................................................................................................. 69 4.1.1 The development: Rapid growth under strong governance ............................................... 71 4.1.2 The status quo: Imbalances and inequalities under macro-control .................................... 78 4.2 University of Nottingham, Ningbo, China: Introducing Western education to the Chinese context ................................................................................................................ 81 4.3 Concluding remarks .................................................................................................. 89 Chapter 5 Researching Students at a Transnational Campus: Methodological Considerations ........................................................................................................... 91 5.1 Fundamental considerations: Methodology and positionality ............................... 91 5.1.1 Methodology: An ethnographic single case study ............................................................. 92 5.1.2 Positionality: From insider/outsider to insider-outsider ..................................................... 94 5.1.3 Endnotes ............................................................................................................................ 96 5.2 Practical considerations: The methods .................................................................... 97 5.2.1 Ethnographic observation .................................................................................................. 98 5.2.2 Interviews ........................................................................................................................ 104 5.2.3 Complementary data: Documentary information ............................................................ 108 5.3 Data analysis ............................................................................................................ 109 5.4 Reflexivity ................................................................................................................. 113 5.5 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 117 Chapter 6 Space in Imagining ................................................................................ 119 6.1 Place and its spatial imaginations .......................................................................... 120 6.1.1 Overview ......................................................................................................................... 120 6.1.2 The Academic Area ......................................................................................................... 122 6.1.3 The Living Area ............................................................................................................... 133 6.2 People and their imaginative spaces ...................................................................... 138 6.2.1 Perceptions: Western style preferred ............................................................................... 138 6.2.2 Experiences: Transcultural sensory belonging ................................................................ 143 6.2.3 Conception: Cosmopolitan festival space ........................................................................ 146 6.2.4 Challenges: Whose space? ............................................................................................... 151 3 6.3 Mobile educational space and imaginative travellers ........................................... 155 6.4 Concluding remarks ................................................................................................ 158 Chapter 7 Community in Travelling ...................................................................... 160 7.1 With UNNC students: Shared features .................................................................. 161 7.1.1 Predispositions before UNNC ......................................................................................... 161 7.1.2 Educational experience at UNNC ................................................................................... 162 7.2 With non-UNNC students: Distancing and othering ............................................ 171 7.2.1 Lack of a common language ........................................................................................... 172 7.2.2 Differences in social rules ............................................................................................... 178 7.3 UNNC and UNNC students: Reproduction and transformation ........................ 183 7.3.1 Developed at UNNC: Tolerance and diversity ................................................................ 184 7.3.2 Made by UNNC: ‘Less typically Chinese’ ...................................................................... 187 7.3.3 Changes at UNNC ........................................................................................................... 190 7.4 Concluding remarks ................................................................................................ 194 Chapter 8 Cosmopolitans in the Making ............................................................... 196 8.1 Decision to attend UNNC: Cosmopolitan adventurer and/or strategic capital seeker .............................................................................................................................. 197 8.1.1 Cosmopolitan adventurers ............................................................................................... 199 8.1.2 Strategic capital-seekers .................................................................................................