Alternative Notions of Student Access and Engagement in Universities in Postcolonial/Less-Developed Areas in China

Session Type: WERA Symposium

Abstract

This symposium will consider alternative notions of student access and engagement in universities in diverse post-colonial / post-communist country contexts. Its comparative educational focus is intended to problematise the predominant discourses around what is known as ‘non-traditional’ students in universities, in reference to first generation students from disadvantaged backgrounds who have accessed universities after the demise of colonialism / communism. This symposium addresses the impact of a range of complex changes in the selected countries’ university systems as a result of technological, demographic, and political changes associated with globalization and economic transformation. The focus on student access to university s meant to provide acute understandings of how these counties’ higher education systems are responding to these complex change.

Sub Unit

• World Education Research Association

Chair

• Aslam Fataar, Stellenbosch University

Papers

• Problematizing Aspirations Among Marginalized Young Australians - Lew Zipin, Victoria University - Melbourne; Marie T. Brennan, Victoria University, Melbourne

• Problematizing "Disadvantaged" Students' Epistemic Access to University in a Postcolonial South African Context - Doria Daniels, Stellenbosch University; Najwa Norodien-Fataar, Cape Peninsula University of Technology; Jerome Joorst, Stellenbosch University

• Problematizing Access and Success of Disadvantaged Students in Chinese Higher Education - Guofang Wan, Virginia Commonwealth University; Zhiyong Zhu, Beijing Normal University; Sunny X Niu, Fudan University

• Problematizing Students' Experiences in Academic Literacy Courses: A Case for the Recognition of Student Agency - Noor Davids, Cape Peninsula University of Technology; Mohammad Faaiz Gierdien, Stellenbosch University; Omar Esau, Stellenbosch University

Discussant

• Sam Sellar, The University of Queensland