Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Thesis Format

Monograph

Degree

Master of Arts

Program

Education

Supervisor

Li, Jun

Abstract

With China’s increasingly active role in the global arena, both government officials and educators acknowledge the necessity of education that promotes global citizenship. This study examines nine university students’ learning experiences of global citizenship at Chinese higher educational institutions; this study also focuses particularly on the impact of socioeconomic status in this educational model. I employed an indigenous Confucian framework adapted by Li (2010) to conceptualize the individual learning process. Li’s theory enabled me to better understand and interpret how Chinese university students perceive and participate in global citizenship education and identify gaps within this process. This qualitative case study collected data through semi-structured interviews with nine Chinese university students. The findings reveal that the impact of the students’ respective socioeconomic status on the global citizenship learning process was twofold: educational resources disparities and attitudinal differences. The findings also reveal some current limitations in Chinese global citizenship education. To this end, this study provides potential implications for policy-makers, educators, students, as well as future researchers.

Summary for Lay Audience

With China’s increasingly active role in the global arena, both government officials and educators acknowledge the necessity of education that promotes global citizenship. Following Li’s (2010) theory of individual political-socialization process, I probed into nine Chinese university students’ learning experiences regarding their global citizenship knowing, global citizenship wisdom and global citizenship action accordingly. Specifically, this study focuses particularly on the impact of socioeconomic status in this educational model. Superficially, this study focuses on the potential impact of socioeconomic status on university students’ global citizenship learning process. This qualitative case study collected data through semi-structured interviews with nine Chinese university students individually. The findings suggest that the students’ respective socioeconomic status have a profound influence throughout their learning experiences of global citizenship learning process. The findings also reveal some current limitations in Chinese global citizenship education. To this end, this study provides potential implications for policy-makers, educators, students, as well as future researchers.

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