The Discursive Construction of Intercultural Understanding in China

A Case Study of an International Baccalaureate Diploma Program

Wang Xi

This book represents an ethnographic study of an International Baccalaureate Diploma Program in a school in mainland China, serving Chinese students and staffed by teachers from a variety of origins. It offers in-depth descriptions of the way in which students, teachers, and managers interact and communicate with one another in a variety of school activities. Through the communication process, cultural experiences and understandings are negotiated constantly among school participants. The ethnographic study also has a critical intention. Going beyond description, the author discusses the extent to which networks of social relationships in the case are imbued by asymmetries in power, and how this leads to people’s inability, unwillingness, and unawareness to interact with those from different cultural backgrounds. As research findings reveal, where the construction of meaning is less equally available to each participant, prejudice and exclusiveness are more likely to be assumed, impeding individuals’ intercultural learning. The key is to empower those less privileged, giving them legitimacy to come to voice in an institutional context on the one hand, and protecting their reflections on hegemonic discourse meticulously on the other hand.
Since the research explores the complexities and subtleties of the communication process that are bound to particular contexts, like most ethnographic studies, it aims at adding a body of experience and humanistic understanding of cultures, rather than testing theories. Although the IB Program being studied can hardly be representative of the overall development of international education in China, the detailed description of contextual issues of the case and the research procedures could facilitate the readers to vicariously experience these events, thus they can make their own decisions about the transferability of the research to their own unique situations.

Lexington Books

Pages: 254 • Trim: 6¼ x 9½

978-1-4985-1430-9 • Hardback • November 2015 • $121.00 • (£93.00)

978-1-4985-1431-6 • eBook • November 2015 • $114.50 • (£84.00)

Series: Emerging Perspectives on Education in China

Subjects: Political Science / World / Asian, Education / General, History / Asia / China

The Discursive Construction of Intercultural Understanding in China

A Case Study of an International Baccalaureate Diploma Program

Hardback

eBook

Summary

This book represents an ethnographic study of an International Baccalaureate Diploma Program in a school in mainland China, serving Chinese students and staffed by teachers from a variety of origins. It offers in-depth descriptions of the way in which students, teachers, and managers interact and communicate with one another in a variety of school activities. Through the communication process, cultural experiences and understandings are negotiated constantly among school participants. The ethnographic study also has a critical intention. Going beyond description, the author discusses the extent to which networks of social relationships in the case are imbued by asymmetries in power, and how this leads to people’s inability, unwillingness, and unawareness to interact with those from different cultural backgrounds. As research findings reveal, where the construction of meaning is less equally available to each participant, prejudice and exclusiveness are more likely to be assumed, impeding individuals’ intercultural learning. The key is to empower those less privileged, giving them legitimacy to come to voice in an institutional context on the one hand, and protecting their reflections on hegemonic discourse meticulously on the other hand.
Since the research explores the complexities and subtleties of the communication process that are bound to particular contexts, like most ethnographic studies, it aims at adding a body of experience and humanistic understanding of cultures, rather than testing theories. Although the IB Program being studied can hardly be representative of the overall development of international education in China, the detailed description of contextual issues of the case and the research procedures could facilitate the readers to vicariously experience these events, thus they can make their own decisions about the transferability of the research to their own unique situations.

Details

Lexington Books

Pages: 254 • Trim: 6¼ x 9½

978-1-4985-1430-9 • Hardback • November 2015 • $121.00 • (£93.00)

978-1-4985-1431-6 • eBook • November 2015 • $114.50 • (£84.00)

Series: Emerging Perspectives on Education in China

Subjects: Political Science / World / Asian, Education / General, History / Asia / China

Author

Wang Xi is assistant professor at Beijing Normal University.

Table of Contents

Preface: Background to the Research
Chapter 1: Framing the Research: Theoretical and Methodological Concerns
Chapter 2: Stories from Class 2
Chapter 3: Discursive Practices in Lessons
Chapter 4: Discursive Practices in Extra-curricular Activities
Chapter 5: The Stratified and Differentiated Institutional Context
Chapter 6: Representations of Communication: Analysis of Individual Participants’ Interview Transcripts
Chapter 7: The "Negotiated" Nature and the "Social-ness" of Organizational Communication: Discussion and Conclusion
Chapter 8: Reflecting On Field Relationships and Ethical Issues
Appendix 1: Hymes’s (1972) Speaking Model
Appendix 2: Transcript Conventions
Appendix 3: Coding Chart
Appendix 4: Curriculum Design of This IBDP

Reviews

[T]he book is one of the few in the field of DA which takes a practical perspective on operationalizing the analysis of discursive patterns and the development of power and identity relations in a case study framework. Some of the concepts in DA and CDA which have always proved difficult for university students to understand have been simplified, illustrated and made easy to grasp. The volume nicely fills the gap between theory and practice in DA and is illuminating for the practicing DA researcher.... [T]he volume is beyond doubt a welcome resource for those interested in doing research in this field of study. Wang Xi is to be commended for turning a research report into a publication that offers invaluable practical advice for the bewildered novice DA scholar. Unlike what is usually found in similar theme-related books (such as Fairclough, 2013), which provide general advice, leaving the agitated minds of readers confused, this volume takes a more clinical approach to how DA or CDA is actually executed and how the hidden messages transmitted can be viably extracted.
— Discourse Studies

This is an important case study on how the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program is implemented in one of the international schools in mainland China. Taking on a semiotically constructionist stance, the author depicts a holistic picture of the communication web in the program and analyzes how international mindedness is discursively constructed through moment-to-moment communication. Methodologically, the author adopts an ethnographic approach in combination with critical discourse analysis in describing and analyzing communications in the classroom, extra-curricular activities, and interviews with teachers and students. Of great innovation, such methodological mix is a good choice for investigating the subtle value conflicts and power struggles at the micro level. I believe that this book will be important reading for people who are interested in theories and practices of international schooling and intercultural learning.
— Xiangming Chen, Peking University

In a context of emerging global elites as transnational ruling powers and a growing interest in elite education, this volume revolves around two central themes: international and elite education. As China is fast becoming a forerunner in the trend toward IBDP while the centuries-old Sino-centralism remains strong, this book is highly timely to international readers.
— Rui Yang, University of Hong Kong

This important book discusses implementation of International Baccalaureate program of study from the perspectives of Chinese teachers and learners. It addresses critically international education and education for international-mindedness by reference to qualitative data, and deserves to be read by teachers, administrators, and academics interested in the development of this expanding field.

— James Cambridge, International School of London

Although not a book in the conventional sense, this comprehensive account of research undertaken in the context of a rapidly developing part of the world with respect to international education will be of undoubted value to researchers worldwide in the field of international schooling. It will also be of interest and support to those who hold leadership responsibility for the promotion and implementation of the International Baccalaureate program within institutions in both national and international contexts. It is a worthy addition to this series of accounts of the work of young researchers in generating emerging perspectives on education in China.
— J. J. Thompson, University of Bath