Developing critical thinking: Experiences of Chinese international students in a post-1992 university in England

MING CHENG

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (journal)peer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)
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Abstract

Critical thinking is a key attribute for students in British higher education, but there has been little research on how Chinese students develop critical thinking during their studies at British universities. Based on interviews with sixteen Chinese students at a university in England, this paper reports their experiences of developing critical thinking during their one-year Master’s programmes. Developing critical thinking was not always an easy task for these students. In
addition to cultural background, other factors that played important roles in influencing how these students developed critical thinking included the teachers’ questioning approaches, group discussions in the classes, English language proficiency, and the teachers’ guidelines. The findings suggest that it is time to shift the ‘deficit’ perspective on Chinese students and reexamine the ways that lecturers can facilitate the development of critical thinking of these students.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)95-106
Number of pages11
JournalChinese Education and Society
Volume54
Issue number3-4
Early online date28 Sept 2021
Publication statusPublished - 28 Sept 2021

Keywords

  • Critical thinking
  • Chinese students
  • Postgraduate education
  • British University

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