Twelfth Global Studies Conference

Abstract

Transnational education (TNE) is defined as ‘the delivery of high education in a different country from the one where the awarding/overseeing institution is based’ (British Council, 2014, p.6), and a form of the export-oriented internationalization of higher education (HE) (Altbach & Knight, 2007; Beerkens, 2002; Ziguras, 2003; Knight, 2004). TNE curriculum refers to the ‘ensemble of content, assessment, and didactics’ (Waterval et al., 2016, p.279). Curriculum content, pedagogy and students’ learning experiences are three integrated elements involved in the TNE curriculum design and delivery (Stark & Lattuca, 1997; Campbell & Wende, 2000). However, TNE curriculum is one of the biggest gaps in TNE research (Zeng, 2016). Whilst China requires to incorporate both high quality academic courses from TNE providers and core teaching content from the Chinese curriculum into TNE curriculum (Guo, 2016), the exact percentage of TNE curriculum content from host and home institutions is varied between different TNE programmes, particularly when Ministry of Education requirements and disciplinary differences in China are taking into account. This paper investigates TNE curriculum design and delivery in China from a teaching perspective. Drawing from an ongoing doctoral project, the paper examines qualitative interview data collected from interviews with teaching staff involved in TNE programme delivery from both home and host institutions. Findings contextualise the concepts such as TNE curriculum introduction, adaptation, and integration addressing implications of national TNE policy development in China on institutional TNE curriculum development, as well as strategies of home institution on TNE curriculum design and delivery.