From Africa to China via the United States
As one of the 2014 fellows for the Fellowship to Enhance Global Understanding, I was fortunate enough to visit China. There are no words that can accurately capture what an amazing trip it was and what wonderful learning experiences it provided for me. Having most of my knowledge on Southern African education and recently beginning to understand the United States system, China offered so many insights into the differences and similarities between educational systems around the world. I was mostly intrigued by the push for engagement in scholarly research encouraged among K-12 educators as a way to ensure that these educators are learning from their own in-class teaching experiences. We visited a number of universities and primary and secondary schools, which provided us with a general understanding of what education in China entails.
As an international student in the US, I was even more intrigued by the number of international students in Chinese universities and how similar our experiences are despite the fact that we are in different geographical and cultural places. In an effort to increase international partnerships, the Chinese government offers full scholarships to international students at all levels and it also pays for the education of its local students. The large investment in education is indicative of the value of education and postsecondary education in particular in the country as a whole, something that was echoed by every student I interacted with.
The fellowship experience provided an opportunity for me to further understand just how globalization has impacted higher education. Despite the national pride and rich culture and traditions evident in every part of the country, there is still a growing sense that there is more to be learned from other parts of the world including the United States. However, while they are focused on looking outside of their country and looking West, as the rest of the world appears to be, it was clear that China also has a lot to teach the rest of the world. The trip inspired new research interests for me and I hope one day I can go back the China to explore and learn more!
Yeukai Mlambo
2014 Fellowship Recipient, China
Ph.D. program in Higher, Adult, & Lifelong Education (HALE)
Emotional Connections
I am fortunate to have joined the trip to Mexico. The program was designed almost perfectly. It enabled both breadth and depth of exploration. We visited a wide range of educational institutions, which presented to me phenomenal educational issues: how the global language of social sciences grows in tension with the Mexican valorization of artistic abilities, how different speakers select points of international comparison, how various models of school have become possible, etc. The cultural tours were no less educational. They helped us enjoy the country as well as understand education in the cultural and historical processes of building a nation. I think when we claim to visit a “country” or a “nation,” how the country has been built should be a significant aspect to explore. Before the trip, my connection with Mexico was very thin. During and after the trip, I have been talking a lot about Mexico with my friends. I think now if anyone mentions Mexico in their speaking, they will get my attention. In other words, I have developed a strong emotional connection with the country, which I consider a great achievement. I have tried to cook Mexican dishes and will strive to learn Spanish.
Thanh Phung
2014 Fellowship Recipient, Mexico
Ph.D. proram in Curriculum, Instruction, and Teacher Education (CITE)
Exploring Higher Education Practices from a Global Perspective
The fellowship study tour to Vietnam was an amazing experience. I connected with a lot of people from Vietnam and fellow study tour travelers, and learned a lot about the educational and cultural aspects of the country. The experience has assisted in furthering my understanding of educational policies and how issues of access impact research in higher education in another country. More specifically, I learned how the lack of access to higher education resources (i.e. journals) inhibits some colleges and universities in other countries from producing knowledge at the same capacity as western countries, like the United States for example. Prior to this study tour, I did not realize to what degree access to educational resources would impact other countries in their practice of higher education research and their ability to produce knowledge.
Another thing I learned in Vietnam was how new higher education practices adopted from the West conflict with the culture. More specifically, we were informed as colleges attempt a transition to elective course options, many Vietnamese students prefer not to take them, choosing to instead take the traditional curriculum with their friends. We learned Vietnamese students, being from a collective culture, have opted to take courses with friends and some have little interest in elective courses they believe will not benefit them in the future. Additionally, the new elective courses force students to make individualist choices (a Western ideal), which conflicts with their collective culture. One of my learning goals of the trip was to understand how higher education policies might conflict with the culture and this was one example.
The biggest takeaway for me is I now am considering a change in my dissertation research to have a global focus, specifically examining students’ international abroad experiences. This study tour has expanded my understanding of equity and inclusion education and social justice practices in higher education on a global scale, all relating to my current and future research.
Qiana Green
2014 Fellowship Recipient, Vietnam
Ph.D. program in Higher, Adult, & Lifelong Education (HALE)
Vietnam Reflections
Experiencing Vietnam as part of the 2014 Fellowship to Enhance Global Understanding allowed me to put human faces and voices on the struggle to balance national and cultural identity with pressures from the international environment. During three weeks spent traveling the country, we spoke with instructors, administrators, policy makers, and students eager to innovate pedagogical and structural practices, always with an eye toward national development in international contexts. I was often struck by the fact that much of the understanding between our hosts and ourselves came from the fact that we seemed to be on inverse trajectories – Vietnam striving for greater flexibility within a highly centralized educational system, and the U.S. searching for means to create cohesion in a decentralized environment. Perhaps the phrase most spoken by ourselves and our hosts was, “We have much to learn from each other.”
Having devoted my doctoral study to international higher education, I was personally intrigued by international partnerships and the cultural foundations of Vietnamese educators’ pedagogical reforms. I was struck not only by the fact that every higher education institution we visited carried out international partnerships, but the variety of forms – curriculum design, joint degrees, shared research, and others. In pedagogy, educators consistently placed student-centered learning at the core of their reforms. In this area I was again struck by the variety of interpretations and enactments that fell outside many culturally based assumptions about these principles in the West. Our hosts cast these and other reforms in context of national development, and there was often tension apparent between a desire to engage with a Western dominated international community and concerns for maintaining national and cultural integrity.
The greatest benefits were interpersonal. Overly familiar catchwords like “globalization” and “development” take on new meaning when translated through the aspirations, frustrations, and endeavors of learners and educators sitting directly across from you. We were also fortunate to have international MSU students from China and Korea in our group who could further challenge the unconsciously ethnocentric lens I could have brought to the experience. While I gained much from my brief time in Vietnam, the challenges left me with more questions than I had upon arrival. The trip reminded me how personal encounters can lead to experiences and questions for more substantive and humane inquiry.
Jay Larson
2014 Fellowship Recipient, Vietnam
Ph.D. program in Higher, Adult, & Lifelong Education (HALE)