Culturally Responsive Teaching: Examining Chinese Faculties’ Understanding and Perspectives Through Experience of Teaching International Students

• In Event: Teaching and Teacher Education in China

Proposal

As Chinese universities expand their internationalization efforts and enroll more culturally diverse student populations, faculty members are navigating classrooms shaped by competing demands in balancing global engagement and aligning national educational goals (Huang, 2017; Yang, 2020). This research explores how faculty in Chinese universities understand and implement culturally responsive teaching (CRT) to support inclusive and peaceful learning environments as their classrooms become more culturally diverse through internationalization. While CRT has been widely explored in Western K–12 education settings (Gay, 2018; Ladson-Billings, 1995), its application in non-Western higher education remains under-theorized and empirically thin (Guo & Guo, 2017). Furthermore, this research responds to calls for contextually grounded research that captures the complexity of applying CRT principles in global settings (Merryfield, 2000). This study contributes to the broader field of comparative and international education by illuminating how CRT principles are interpreted, negotiated, and enacted by faculty who teach increasingly diverse student populations. It expands the existing body of knowledge by documenting local understandings, institutional challenges, and implementation experiences unique to the Chinese higher education system.
This study is guided by activity theory as its theoretical framework, which views teaching and learning as socially mediated activities shaped by the interactions among individuals, tools, community, and rules (Engeström, 1987). Activity theory helps analyze how faculty members engage with CRT within the broader context of institutional structures and internationalization in Chinese higher education. The conceptual framework of three dimensions of CRT provides the lens to understand how educators recognize and respond to students’ cultural backgrounds in their pedagogical practices (Richards et al., 2007; Taylor, 2010). Together, these frameworks allow the study to explore both the structural influences and individual strategies that shape inclusive teaching, promote belonging, and reduce social and epistemic divides. This research addresses two key questions: 1)To what extent do faculty members in Liaoning Province, China, understand and implement culturally responsive teaching? 2) What elements, if any, are influencing their practices?
Methodologically, this study employs an integrated sequential mixed-methods design where each phase builds upon the previous to systematically combine qualitative and quantitative approaches (Cha, 2021). The research follows a three-phase structure, beginning with an exploratory qualitative phase, transitioning into a quantitative survey phase, and concluding with an explanatory qualitative phase. Phase one begins with qualitative data collection through focus groups with 18 faculty members to generate initial themes related to faculty beliefs, instructional strategies, and institutional influences on CRT. These findings directly inform the design of the phase two survey instrument. In phase two, quantitative data were collected from 139 faculty members using a structured survey. This phase measures faculty engagement across three dimensions of CRT (personal, instructional, and institutional) and uses statistical analyses to identify broader trends and relationships. The results guide the selection of participants and the focus of phase three. Phase three returns to a qualitative approach through semi-structured interviews with 26 faculty members, purposively selected based on their phase two responses. This final phase deepens and contextualizes the quantitative findings by exploring faculty members’ lived experiences and perspectives. Altogether, the three phases form an integrated research process, where qualitative insights inform survey development, quantitative findings shape follow-up inquiry, and final interviews offer explanatory depth.
This study finds that faculty in Shenyang, China, possess strong conceptual awareness of CRT and acknowledge its value in fostering student engagement and cross-cultural learning. However, their implementation is uneven due to individual, institutional, and socio-cultural barriers. Language proficiency, overseas experience, and interaction with international students influence CRT engagement, while rigid curricula and limited training restrict practice. Institutions promote internationalization with varied support systems. Socio-cultural dynamics, including student integration challenges and hesitancy around sensitive topics, further complicate CRT use. The findings highlight the need for targeted professional development and structured intercultural initiatives. This research concludes by offering recommendations for integrating peace-oriented CRT practices into faculty development, curriculum design, and institutional policy. These include embedding intercultural training in faculty workshops, promoting inclusive assessment strategies, and encouraging cross-border dialogues among educators to share peacebuilding pedagogies.
This research closely aligns with the conference theme by exploring how CRT functions as a peacebuilding practice within Chinese higher education. It examines how Chinese faculty engage with CRT to create inclusive learning environments for international students, emphasizing empathy, mutual respect, and intercultural understanding as essential components of educational peace. By investigating faculty beliefs, instructional practices, and institutional support systems, the study demonstrates how CRT can bridge cultural divides, which helps to mitigate the social fragmentation and tensions that often accompany rapid internationalization (Gay, 2018; Deardorff, 2006). The focus on CRT thus directly responds to the call for rethinking how education fosters social cohesion in increasingly diverse and divided academic contexts.
Moreover, the study re-examines the promises and challenges of internationalization by highlighting the gap between policy and pedagogical realities in Chinese universities. It shows that the presence of international students does not inherently lead to inclusive or peaceful learning environments. Instead, it requires intentional and culturally responsive approaches from faculty. This study highlights the central role of faculty as agents of educational cohesion, capable of navigating cultural, linguistic, and institutional divides. It argues that when faculty are equipped with appropriate tools and culturally responsive pedagogical perspectives, they can act as mediators of cross-cultural understanding while advancing the aims of peace-promoting education. By examining the personal, instructional, and institutional dimensions of CRT, this research demonstrates how both systemic structures and interpersonal practices can either perpetuate or help reconcile divisions within internationalized higher education settings.
Importantly, the study localizes the concept of peacebuilding by focusing on faculty in Shenyang, China, offering a grounded view of how global values such as peace, inclusion, and equity are enacted in a non-Western context. This localized lens reveals how internationalization and diversity are negotiated on the ground and provides practical insight into CRT’s potential to foster intercultural understanding in everyday teaching. Therefore, the study aligns with the conference theme’s call to re-examine how education promotes peace not only in contexts of overt conflict but also within classrooms shaped by cultural tension, inequality, and global educational transformation.

Author

• Xi Cao, Liaoning University