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Session Submission Summary

Is China up for its responsibilities to globalization? Exploring Chinese higher education policies, practices, and programs from critical perspectives

Mon, April 15, 3:15 to 4:45pm, Hyatt Regency, Floor: Atrium (Level 2), Waterfront B

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

Purpose:
The purpose of our panel is to critically examine Chinese higher education policies, practices, and programs as they respond to the opportunities and challenges in the age of globalization. The central question we explore in this panel is: What are the emerging strategies, challenges, and problems in Chinese higher education as it responds to globalization, in particular, in responding to the calls from the global community of scholars and practitioners for China and Chinese higher education to contribute to making a more equal and sustainable world?

Context and Literature Review:
Our panel is situated within the increasing call from the global community to promote sustainable development in the increasingly globalized, yet unequal and unstainable, world and the growing expectations for China, the emerging world power, to make positive contributions in this global agenda. In a talk given at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, Kishore Mahbubani—Dean of the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kwan Yew School of Public Policy and former Ambassador to the United Nations for Singapore as well as President of the United Nations Security Council—stated, what happens when China becomes number one is that “its leaders were most concerned with ensuring that Chinese civilization and culture should make a dynamic contribution to global governance (Mahbubani, 2015, April 15; See Hayhoe, 2017). Indeed, in the past few years, Chinese leaders headed by President Xi Jinping have been strong in advocating for a “Community of Human Destiny”（人类命运共同体Renlei Mingyun Gongtongti）and advancing a set of initiatives, such as “One Belt, One Road,” aiming to contribute to an inclusive development and sustainable world based on Chinese experiences and Chinese wisdom.
In the field of education, in her keynote presentation at the 16th World Congress of Comparative Education Societies held at Beijing Normal University (BNU) in August 2016, Ruth Hayhoe (2017) asked what China’s education has to bring to the globalizing world and contribute to “foster forms of development that are inclusive rather than marginalizing, integrative in terms of fostering whole person development rather than focusing on cognitive dimensions only, and oriented to sustainability in terms of the environment” (p. 12)? She believes that China, with it increasing development and presence in the global community, has a responsibility, and a lot of contribution to make, in bringing “a new dynamic into global educational debates with a focus on person-making and forms of learning and teaching that energize children and young people to grow into inclusive individuals committed to social justice and a shared vision for building collaborative relationships with diverse communities around the world and for ensuring the sustainability of our planet” (p. 19). With her long term engagement with Chinese education, both as a practitioner and as a researcher, Hayhoe is very confident on the rich civilization and cultural resources China has to contribute to education for sustainability.
Specifically, examining and reviewing globalization and internationalization of higher education in China, Yang (2016) also argues that “China has much to contribute to the world, especially culturally, at a moment when humankind is confronted with serious issues of sustainable development and cultural conflicts” (p. 40). In particular, Yang (2016) pointed out, higher education in China has a critical role to play, which is “also the height toward which China’s higher education should aim in its international exchange and cooperation” (p. 40). From these remarks from prominent scholars and practitioners on the role of China in the increasingly globalized world as it witnesses rapid development in the past few decades, we can see the growing expectations for China to make positive contributions in making the world more equal, inclusive, and sustainable. Correspondingly, higher education in China assumes an especially critical responsibility in fostering such a new culture of development and in educating the next generation of global citizens committed to social justice and sustainable development for our people and planet.

Questions/Data/Approach
How exactly is Chinese higher education taking up these expectations and challenges? Specifically, how are Chinese higher education policies, practices, and programs responding to the opportunities and challenges brought about by globalization? Taking up these questions, our panel is consisted of five papers examining Chinese education policies, practices, and programs from different perspectives. The first paper explores Chinese development and education policies from the perspective of global citizenship education. The second paper examines higher education for sustainable development programs, or as Chinese universities put it, “Green Campus” initiatives, across different types of Chinese higher education institutions. The third paper looks at how Chinese higher education institutions are educating its Chinese graduates with “global visions” as emphasized in the National Outline for Medium and Long-term Education Reform and Development (2010-2020) from the perspective of undergraduate education. The fourth paper turns to cross-border education in China and the contributions China is making for people in the other parts of the developing world. Last but not the least, the fifth paper takes up the experiences of international students from other countries studying in China and how Chinese higher education institutions, in particular, the role of student affairs offices, are responding to the cultural needs of international students in China.
Our panel is important because it aims to critically examine the globalization of higher education in China from different, but interrelated, perspectives. In doing so, we hope to illuminate how China is taking up the calls from global community of scholars and practitioners to make positive contributions as our global community strive for a more equal and sustainable future and how Chinese higher education is educating a next generation of global citizens committed to social justice and sustainable development. Through critical examination of Chinese policies, practices, and programs as they respond to the challenges of globalization, ultimately, we hope to explore the cultural traditions and rich resources within Chinese civilization and in particular, Chinese higher education, to foster a new culture of development and educate a generation of global citizens committed to sustainable development for our people and planet.
Each presenter will take up to 12 minutes to describe their papers and key findings, leaving 30 minutes for audience engagement. They will discuss policies or programs they study, particularly their critical discussions in studying these educational policies and practices as they respond to globalization. The chair of the session will also serve as the discussant of the panel and facilitate discussion. We describe the broad focus of the five papers below.

Sub Unit

Chair

Individual Presentations