ERIC EJ1135038: Trans-Cultural, Trans-Language Practices: Potentialities for Rethinking Doctoral Education Pedagogies PDF
Preview ERIC EJ1135038: Trans-Cultural, Trans-Language Practices: Potentialities for Rethinking Doctoral Education Pedagogies
education sciences Article Trans-Cultural, Trans-Language Practices: Potentialities for Rethinking Doctoral Education Pedagogies SarojniChoy1,*,ParloSingh1andMinglinLi2 1 SchoolofEducationandProfessionalStudies,GriffithUniversity,Brisbane4122,Australia; parlo.singh@griffith.edu.au 2 SchoolofHumanities,LanguagesandSocialScience,GriffithUniversity,Brisbane4122,Australia; minglin.li@griffith.edu.au * Correspondence:s.choy@griffith.edu.au;Tel.:+61-7-373-51108 AcademicEditor:MichaelSingh Received:25October2016;Accepted:10January2017;Published:21January2017 Abstract: Over the last decade, there has been a rapid increase in doctoral enrolments of Asian internationalstudentsinAustralianuniversities. Whilepolicieshavebeendevelopedtomeetthe needsofthesestudents, thereseemstobesomeconfusionaroundthetermsinternationalisation, globalisation, bi-cultural, inter-cultural, multi-cultural, and trans-cultural within these policies. Inthispaper,wedefinethesetermsandadvocateforapolicypositionwhichorientstoafuturist definitionofculture. WethenreviewtheworkofMichaelSinghandhisresearchteamatWestern Sydney University who have responded to this rapid increase in Asian international student doctoralenrolmentsinAustralianuniversitiesbydevelopingpedagogicprinciplesaroundnotions oftrans-languageandtrans-culturalpractices. Inthefinalsectionofthepaper, wethendrawon ourownexperiencesofdoctoralsupervisioninAustralianuniversitiestoreflectonourpositioning withinthepedagogicprinciplesaroundtrans-languageandtrans-culturalpractices. Keywords: internationalisinghighereducation;trans-languageandtrans-culturalpractices;doctoral education;bi-cultural;inter-cultural;multi-cultural;trans-cultural 1. Introduction DoctorateprogramsinWesternuniversitiesaremarketedusingassurancesofinternationalisation andofferingworldlyorientationssothatgraduatesareabletooperateinglobalspaces. Graduate research programs claim to be international or global, encouraging students to engage in globally networkedlearningandconnecttointernationalresearchcommunities. Inrecenttimes,development of‘theunderstandingofglobalinterrelatedness,andthecapacitytolive,workandcontributepositively asamemberofglobalcommunities’hasbecomearesearchpriorityinAustralia[1]. Oftenwithin policydiscourses,thetermsinternationalisationandglobalisationareusedinterchangeably. Wedefine globalisationprocessesandphenomenonasmakingreferenceto‘time-spacecompression’and‘global consciousness’[2](p. 103). Time-spacecompressionreferstothephysicalandvirtualreductionin timetakentotravelacrossvastdistancesofspace,sothatpeoplecanbesimultaneouslyinoneplace or locale but connected to far-away places by electronic means. Relatively inexpensive, anytime, anywhereconnectivityviaapplicationssuchasSkype,FaceTime,Messenger,andFacebookondevices suchassmartphones,tablets,andlaptopcomputersmeansthatpeopleremainconnectedacrossvast distances. Moreover,thisconnectivityisinmultipledirections,notsimplyonedirectionalfromhome countrytohostnation. Inaddition,thetermglobalconsciousnessreferstothewaysinwhichpeople increasingly talk about events using adjectives such as international and global, for example, the Educ.Sci.2017,7,19;doi:10.3390/educsci7010019 www.mdpi.com/journal/education Educ.Sci.2017,7,19 2of15 internationaleconomy,internationalsportingevents,globalwarming,globalclimatechange,world peace,andsoforth.This‘globe-talk’is“symptomaticoftheperceptionthatweliveinrapidlychanging anduncertaintimes,andthatthefateoflocalcommunitiesisconnectedtodistantpolitical,economic andculturalhappenings”[2](p. 104). Yet,mostAustralianuniversities,althoughusingtheadjective ‘international’todescriberesearchandresearcheducationpractices,maintainaEuro-American-centric curriculumandtheEnglishlanguageastheprimaryandonlylanguageofcommunicationforthesis preparationandexamination. Ryan[3]arguesthatthispracticepresentsamono-culturalperspective todoctoraleducation,andmaintainsa‘one-way’modelwhichiscounter-productivetopoliciesaround globalorientations. Inotherwords,researchstudentsareexpectedtoconformtoWesternnotionsof scholarship[3],ortoassimilateandconformtoWesternknowledge[4]commonlyavailableinthe academicliteraturewritteninEnglish,ratherthanbeofferedopportunitiestoshareculturallydifferent perspectivesaroundresearchpractices[5]. Our task in this paper is to distinguish between the different ways that the term culture has been taken up in various policy discourses. We do this by considering the meaning that the term culturetakeswhenitisprecededbyavarietyofdifferentprefixes,forexample,bi,inter,multi,and trans. FollowingAppadurai[6]andBauman[7], wearguethatthetermcultureremainsacrucial term in the social sciences. However, we are interested in exploring how the term culture can be usedwhen itisoriented tothe futureas wellasthe past, andhowthe termmightbe extendedto considerasenseofbelonging. WethenreviewtheworkofMichaelSinghandhisresearchteamat WesternSydneyUniversitywhohaverespondedtotherapidincreaseinAsianinternationalstudent doctoralenrolmentsinAustralianuniversitiesbydevelopingpedagogicprinciplesaroundnotions oftrans-languageandtrans-culturalpractices. Inthefinalsectionofthepaper,wedrawonourown experiencesofdoctoralsupervisioninAustralianuniversitiestoreflectonourpositioningwithinthe pedagogicprinciplesaroundtrans-languageandtrans-culturalpractices. 2. TheMatterofthePrefix Thetheoreticalassumptionsunderpinningtheterm‘internationalisation’havebeenquestioned by a number of researchers. Internationalisation, according to Gu [8], is often associated with communicationacrossculturesbasedonanimplicitassumptionofculturaldifference. Thisiscaptured inthedominanceofculturaltermsinpolicydocumentsoninternationalisinghighereducationsuchas: bi-cultural,inter-cultural,multi-cultural,andtrans-cultural. Theuptakeofthesetermsinthehigher educationpolicyliteraturehasimplicationsfordoctoraleducationcurriculumandpedagogicpractices. For example, bi-cultural, a term popular in Indigenous education policies [9] has placed importanceonschoolingsystemsengagingsystematicallywithIndigenousknowledgesandlanguages, rather than simply transmitting Western knowledges and English language (see [10]). The prefix bi implies two-way communication between Indigenous and Western knowledge and cultures. The assumption is that the two categories of knowledge are tightly bounded and separated. Consequently,theuseofbiimpliesthatmechanismshavebeenputinplacetoencourageknowledge flowsbetweenthetightlyboundedcultures. Theprefixintermeans‘between’,‘among’,‘together’andwhenusedwithculture,suggestsa reciprocal exchange of knowledge across cultures. The assumption is that the cultures are tightly bounded,fixed,andstaticandtheexchangeoccursinacommonlanguage,usuallyEnglish,without any significant change to either culture (see [11]). Similarly, the prefix multi added to culture, inmulti-cultural,suggestsmany(morethanone)cultures,andsoproposesthatmanyculturesco-habit theoneplace. Itdoesnotexplicitlyindicatethatsignificantchangeoccurstothehostculture,rather thatminorityculturescouldbeexpectedtoassimilateandthehostculturemaytoleratethedifferences ofminoritycultures(see[11]). Incontrast, Gu[8](p. 105)assertsthatinternationalisationofthecurriculumneedstoextend beyond“theexchangeofcultureandvalues,mutualunderstandingandarespectfordifference”to higherlevelsofintellectualexchange. Thismeansquestioningtheassumptionthatinternationalisation Educ.Sci.2017,7,19 3of15 equates to multi-cultural practices, that is, creating a space where people from diverse cultural heritages meet, a meeting place of multi-cultures. Such an interpretation of internationalisation assumesthatculturalidentityisstatic,fixed,internallycohesive,andtightlybounded. Italsoassumes a stereotype that people belong to a single culture, so little attention has been given to the notion thatanindividualcouldbetheproductofmanyevolving,intermixinghybridcultures. Moreover, itassumesthatthelanguageofcommunicationacrossthesemultipleculturesisEnglish, andthat Englishisapoliticallyandculturallyneutrallanguage[12]. Inuniversities,internationalisationas multi-culturalism places the onus on the ‘international’ student to change and assimilate, so the flowofknowledgebecomesone-wayfromtheWesttotheRest(see[12,13]). Bycontrast,theprefix trans signifies ‘across’, ‘beyond’, ‘through’, and ‘changing thoroughly’. Increasingly, scholars are usingtheprefixtranstowriteabouttrans-culturalandtrans-languagepracticesandsuggestingthat policiesoninternationalisinghighereducationgenerally,andresearcheducationspecifically,should beunderpinnedbytheoreticalassumptionsinformedbytheseconcepts. Trans-Language,Trans-CulturalPractices Astheprefixsuggests,trans-culturalandtrans-languagepracticesassumethatculturesarenot fixed, static, or tightly bounded. We use Garcia’s [14] (p. 45) notion of trans-language as being “multiplediscursivepracticesinwhichbilingualsengageinordertomakesenseoftheirbilingual worlds”toconstructandco-constructmeanings. Fordoctoralstudents,suchaprocessextendsbeyond merereciprocalexchangeofideasandimpliescommunicativework, whichprovidesthebasisfor changeinresearchprocesses,practices,andsystemsofknowledgeproduction,transfer,andacquisition. Theoretic-linguistictools(e.g.,concepts,metaphors,analogies,diagrams)[15]affordedalsothrough multi-lingualeffortscanallowstudentstounfurltheirownculturallyframedbordersandidentities. Thesecondfeatureofinternationalisation,trans-culturalpractices,referstotheincorporationofcultural knowledge and theories from other intellectual traditions based on the assumption of an equality ofintelligences. Muchhasbeenwrittenabouttheconceptofculture,withsomescholarsevensuggestingthat culture has become a ‘zombie’ concept devoid of meaning because it has been used to explain all sortsofactivities,events,andphenomena(see[7]). Indeed,Bauman[7](p. 4)suggeststhat“because ofhistoricalcircumstances... theterm‘culture’hasbeenincorporatedintothreeseparateuniversdu discours”,andineachofthesethreecontextstheterm“ordersadifferentsemanticfield,singlesout anddenotesdifferentclassesofobjects,bringsintoreliefdifferentaspectsofthemembersofthese classes,suggestsdifferentsetsofcognitivequestionsandresearchstrategies”. Thethreeconnotations oftheconceptcultureidentifiedbyBauman[7]are: (1)cultureasahierarchicalconcepttodistinguish betweeneverydayandsocalled‘cultured’,high-browpractices;(2)cultureasadifferentialconceptto distinguishbetweenthedifferentactivitiesofgroups;and(3)genericconceptofcultureaseveryday wayoflife. Despite the varied uses of the term culture, scholars such as Bauman [7] and Appadurai [6] continue to argue for the usefulness of the concept to the social sciences, with the caveat that the adjectivalform,culturalbeusedinsteadofculture,andthatthetermbeusedtothinkaboutfuture practicesratherthanalwaysdwellonthepastorpresent. Appadurai[6](p. 4)arguesthatno“serious contemporary understanding of culture can ignore three key dimensions: relationality (between norms,values,beliefs,etc.);dissensuswithinsomeframeworkofconsensus(especiallyinregardto themarginal,thepoor,genderrelations,andpowerrelationsmoregenerally);andweakboundaries (perenniallyvisibleinprocessesofmigration,trade,andwarfarenowwritlargeinglobalizingcultural traffic)”. Moreover, Appadurai [6] (p. 2) suggests that “for more than a century, culture has been viewedasamatterofoneorotherkindofpastness—thekeywordsherearehabit,custom,heritage, tradition. On the other hand, development is always seen in terms of the future—plans, hopes, goals, targets.”Itisthereforeimportanttothinkaboutculturalpracticesasfutureorientedandto considercapacitybuildinginresearcheducationasalignedtochanginginstitutionalculturalpractices Educ.Sci.2017,7,19 4of15 sothatsupervisorsandstudentsaspiretoenactdifferenttypesofknowledgeproducingpractices. Trans-languageandtrans-culturalpracticesprovideimportantvehiclestoreachsuchgoals. Trans-languageandtrans-culturalpracticesdemandknowledgeandagencyofbothstudentsand supervisors. However,researchers(see[16–18])claimthatdoctoralsupervisionpracticesoftenignore theagencyofinternationalstudentsandhowtheycancontributetoknowledgeconstruction. Itis importantthereforetoconsiderhowinstitutionalculturesmightbechangedtoenableinternational studentstoactivelyengageinknowledgeconstruction. Internationalstudentsneedtobeconsidered ‘assets’, and supervision practices need to harness the knowledge and intellectual capital of these students[3]. Inaddition,doctoraleducationneedstointegratecontributionsfromdifferentcultures, philosophies,andlanguagesthroughpedagogiesofintellectualequality(e.g.,[19–22]). Crossingthe intellectualboundariesoftheglobalsocial-historical-culturaldisciplinarydomainsisnoeasytaskand doingsostressesthemeritsofcollaborationandcooperationbetweencandidatesandsupervisorsas wellastheresearchcommunity[23]. 3. HowtoPracticeDoctoralEducationDifferently? MichaelSinghandhiscolleaguesHuang,Han,andMengoffersuggestionsfordoctoraleducation practices underpinned by notions of trans-cultural and trans-language practices. In what follows, wereviewkeypapersproducedbyMichaelSinghandhiscolleaguesHuang,Han,andMengthatwe considertobecriticalinshiftingourownthinkingonthistopicalongfourperspectives. 3.1. RethinkingIgnoranceasanAssetRatherThanaDeficit InthinkingabouthowdoctoraleducationprogramsinWesternuniversitiesmightincorporate the“languageandintellectualheritageofresearchstudentsfrommultilingual,multi-ethnicChina”, Singh[24]introducesthenotionofignoranceinpedagogy. Heoutlinesfourdifferentwaysofthinking aboutignorance. First,“ignorancemightbetakentomeanthewantorlackofknowledge,orofbeing uninformed” [24] (p. 187). This approach to ignorance assumes that careful teaching about other cultureswillchangeirrationalfearsofothercultures.Forexample,supervisorsmightbeencouragedto attendgenericworkshopsonculturalawarenesstoassistthemintheirday-to-daydoctoraleducation work with international students. Second, ignorance might be viewed as a stimulus or quest for learning, motivating people to acquire knowledge in order to move from ignorance to wisdom. Sucheducationaljourneysbasedonadesiretoknowmorerequirecourageandresilienceaspeople movefromthefamiliartotheunknown,andleavebehindothersnotwillingtotakethejourney. Third, ignorancecanbedefinedas“integraltothestructuringofknowledge”,inthatitisa“formofknowing thatactivelyresistscertainknowledge”[24](p. 188). Ignoranceasarefusalordenialtoknowcan operateatmultiplelevels. Forexample,privilegedgroupsorclassesofpeoplemayactivelyconstruct ignoranceinordertomaintaintheirpowerpositions,fabricatingstoriesaboutinternationalstudentsas passive,rotelearnersnotcapableofcritical,creativethinking[11]. Inaddition,atanindividuallevelof ignorancecanequatewithdenial,thatis,anactiverefusaltoknow.Forexample,individualsupervisors mightwanttodenythechangestakingplaceinthehighereducationlandscapeandactivelyrefuse toattendworkshopsoninternationalisingeducation. Fourth,universityteachersengagingwitha wide array of technologies and dealing with a diverse student population might find themselves in positions where they might be increasingly uncertain if not ignorant. “The internationalisation ofhighereducationtransformsacademics’intellectualorderingoftheworld,renderingsomanyof our concepts null and void, and making us mindful of our cross-cultural ignorance” [24] (p. 188). Operationalisingthismodeofignorancesuggeststhatuniversityteachersdevelopabroadvisionof theirownknowledgepositioning,aswellasthatoftheirstudents,andallowthemselvestobeopento learningfromtheOther. Michael Singh implores supervisors to mobilise these different accounts of ignorance in their pedagogic practices so that international students can articulate “their intellectual heritage in the contestedfieldofWesterneducationalresearch”[24](p. 189). Heproposesasetofsevenprinciples Educ.Sci.2017,7,19 5of15 bywhichsupervisorsmightdosuchpedagogicwork[25]. First,thesupervisionteammustdesign pedagogiesbasedonanassumptionofanequalityofintelligencesacknowledgingtherichintellectual, culturalheritagethattheinternationalstudentsbringintothepedagogicrelationship. Second,the supervisoryteammightencourageandseewhatcanbedonewith‘intellectualreciprocity’thatis, generating pedagogic practices that see “the supervisor and students acknowledge their mutual ignorance,includingmutualignoranceofresearchandsupervisorypractices,whilerecognisingeach otherasintelligentbeings”[24](p. 195). Third,thesupervisoryteammightengagewiththeirown epistemicignorancebyenabling“theirresearchstudentstousetheirmultilingualcommunicative repertoire”soastoidentifyknowledgefromtheirhomecountry“thatmightbemadeatheoretically usefulcomponentintheireducationalresearch”[24,26]. Suchanapproachattemptsan“epistemic point of intellectual engagement” rather than treating international students as an “empirical token” [26](p.36). Fourth, the supervisory team might encourage international students to relate whattheyhavelearntpreviouslyintheirhomecountriestotheircurrentresearchproblemandnew learnings. Fifth, the supervisory team might be attentive to the students’ desire and will to learn, andencouragesrisktaking,detours,andadventuresintoareasthatmightappearmarginalinefforts toproduceoriginalknowledge. Sixth,thesupervisoryteamcreatesconditionsforthestudentand supervisor to reflect on their own positioning in the transnational field of knowledge production, dissemination,andconsumption. Singhbelievesthatanexerciseinmapping“one’signoranceandits changesovertime”[26](p. 35)mighthelpinpromotingself-reflection. Seventh,thesupervisoryteam continuallyencouragesstudentstodemonstrate“thematerialityofwhattheyarelearning”[24](p.197), forexample,asresearchforcritiquebeingaforemostfeature. 3.2. EducationalResearchforCritique Singh and Huang [27] discuss the reluctance of Western scholars to draw on non-Western knowledgeassourcesofcriticaltheoreticaltools.Theyalsoquestionthepresumptionthatnon-Western scholarshavetodrawonWesternknowledgeinordertodevelopcriticaltheoreticaltools,asifonly theWestisthesourceofcriticalityandcriticaltheorising. SinghandHuang[27](p. 204)proposethat supervisors“describeandinterpretthecriticaltheorisingdevelopedbyChineseresearchstudents themselvesinthecourseoftheirinvestigationsintoAustralianeducation.”Theysuggesteducational researchforcritiqueasopposedtoacriticalsociologyofeducation. Educationalresearchforcritique aimstoobserve,analyse,andinterpretinternationalstudents’engagementincritiqueandjustification fortheirarguments. ItdoesnotconstructAsianinternationalstudents,forinstance,asthedeficitOther incapableofcriticaltheoreticalthinking,devoidofanintellectualheritage,andthereforeinneedof Westerntheoreticalinculcation. Educationalresearchforcritiquemeansthat: Western Anglophone educators come to know international students from Asia as critics, as having the same degree of critical capabilities that they assume themselves to have. This necessarily brings to the fore of Western Anglophone research, teacher education and universities these students’ argumentative capabilities and their bi- or multilingualcompetence[27](p. 210). 3.3. Trans-CulturalCo-Research Singh,Manathunga,Bunda,andJing[21](p. 55)developatheoryoftrans-culturalco-research bywhichtheymeancollaborationacross“theoretic-linguisticknowledge,...concepts,metaphorsand imageswhichIndigenousandothernon-Westernscholarsintroduceintoresearchfromtheirhome cultures, or knowledge produced using linguistic or cultural elements of their home countries.” Theaimofthisapproachistocreativelyre-workandre-thinkentrenchededucationproblems,andfind alternativewaysofresearchingtheseproblems. Animportantmethodologicalprincipleunderlying thisresearchapproachentailsbothAnglophoneresearcheducatorsandinternationalstudents“coming toknowsomethingunknowntoboth”(Rancièrecitedin[27](p. 9)). Thismeansaskingthestudents toengagewiththetheoreticaltoolsfromtheirhomecountrytoanalyseandengageincritiquesof Educ.Sci.2017,7,19 6of15 education. Theaimistodrawonmetaphorsfromthehomecountry,aswellastheWest,inorderto buildatheoreticalrepertoire. Thisimpliestrans-culturalco-research. Theseprinciplespresentopportunitiestousetrans-languageandtrans-culturalpracticesasa vehicle,albeitthereisaneedtomediatethechallengesofcooperativeresearchinterventions. 3.4. Co-OperativeExperientialInquiryasDoctoralPedagogicPractice SinghandHan[28]documenttheirpedagogicjourneyastheyincorporateChineseintellectual heritageintoaWesterndoctoralprogram. Thepedagogicpractice,includingpublishingpapersabout thispedagogicpractice,isdescribedasa‘researchintervention’. Throughthisresearchintervention theychallengetheideathattheorisingonlyoccursinthemetropolitanWest,andurgereaderstothink about theory as ideas to think with, and produced by the majority across the world and not only theWesternminority. Specifically,SinghandHan[28](p. 409)urgedoctoralsupervisorstoconsider thewaysinwhichOtherknowledgesarebeingmarginalisedinAustraliathrough“theconstruction andperpetuationofEuropeandNorthAmericaaspreferredsourcesforknowledgefortheorising education.”Themarginalisationofknowledgeproducedbyminoritygroupsandpeoplebasedin thegeographicSouth(oftheequator)canalsobeattributedtothepoliticsofcommercialpublishing companies. ThesetendtobebasedintheNorthandaremoreinclinedtopublishknowledgethatis likelytobeconsumedbyaffluentEnglishspeakersintheNorth. Newpublicationmodels,including open-accesspublicationsandself-publication,arebeginningtochallengethesepractices. Inaddition, thereareincreasingcallsforpubliclyfundedknowledgetobefreelyavailabletoallandnothidden behindthepaywallsoflargecorporatepublishingcompanies. In the next section each of the authors of the article talks about her position on educational research, theconceptsandideastheydrawon, andhowtheymightbewovenwithideasofother co-authorstore-thinkandre-workeducationalissues. 4. OurPositioningwithinThisDebate Hereweintroduceourselves,ourculturalandlinguisticheritages,andhowweeachengagewith theprinciplesoftrans-languageandtrans-culturalpracticesproposedbyMichaelSinghandcolleagues. 4.1. AccountOne: MinglinLi 4.1.1. CulturalBackground TraditionalChineseconceptionsofeducationhavebeentheguidingprinciplesinLi’seducation and academic career. She received her school education, undertook her undergraduate studies, completedherMaster’sdegree,andhadbeenateachereducatorinChinesetertiaryeducationsectors inaprovincethatwasdominatedbyConfucianscholars. Shethenhadtheopportunity,after17years ofanacademiccareerinChineseuniversities,tocompleteherPh.Dresearchasaninternationalstudent atanAustralianuniversity. Since2010shehasbeenabletosupervisedoctoralstudents,bothdomestic andinternational,withothercolleagues. ThetraditionalChineseeducationinfluencedbyConfucian thinkingisinterwovenwiththeWesterneducationshereceived,whichhasshapedherbeliefsinwhat supervisionmeansforbothstudentsandsupervisors. OnedistinctfeatureoftheConfuciantraditionofeducationisthedeepreverenceforeducation, focusingonbothintellectualdevelopmentandmoralqualities[29–31].Educationisviewedasaprocess ofaccumulatingknowledgethroughreadingextensivelytheclassicsandauthoritativeworks[30,32]; whilstteachersweredescribedbyHanYu,afamouswriter,thinker,philosopher,andpoliticianin ChineseTangDynasty,asthosewhoareabletoimpartknowledgeandfindsolutionsandanswersto students’questionsanddoubts. Teachers,totransmitcorrectknowledgeinanappropriateway,are expectedtohavealreadymasteredaprofoundbodyofknowledgeandbeequippedwitheffective skillstoimpartthatknowledge. Asthemaximgoes,“togivestudentsabowlofwater,theteacher musthaveafullbucketofwatertodispense”[33](p. 98). Traditionalmoraleducationfocusedon Educ.Sci.2017,7,19 7of15 cultivatingpeople’smoralvirtuessuchaskindness,altruism,loyalty,modesty,andconformity,which isstillamajorpartofeducationinalleducationalsectorsinChina. 4.1.2. Practices Asasupervisor,orco-supervisorofdoctoralstudents,Lihasbeenunconsciouslytransferring whatshehasattainedfromherChineseeducation,suchashermodestattitudestowardsknowledge constructionandaccumulation. ShestronglybelieveswhattheMaster(Confucius)said: “WhenIwalk alongwithtwoothers,theymayservemeasmyteachers(oneofthemisboundtobegoodenoughto bemyteacher). Iwillselecttheirgoodqualitiesandfollowthem,theirbadqualitiesandavoidthem” (sanrenxing,biyouwoshiyan. zeqishanercongzhi,qibushanergaizhi). ForLi,studentsandcolleagues havealwaysbeenasourceofnewknowledge,eitherWesternorEastern,andofvariousskillsand strategiestoconstructnewknowledgesoasnottobecomeanignorantsupervisor[24]. However,she hasrarelyconsideredwhatandwhoseknowledgesheshouldimpartasasupervisor. Accordingto anotherprominentfeatureoftraditionalChineseeducation,therelationshipbetweenateacherand his/herstudent(s)ishierarchicalbutharmonious. Studentsareexpectedtoshowgreatrespecttotheir teachersbutnottochallengethem.OneChinesesayingclearlydepictsthisrelation:“beingateacherfor onlyonedayentitlesonetolifelongrespectfromthestudentthatbefitshisfather”(yiriweishi,zhong shenweifu).Teachersarethepersonswhohaveabsoluteauthority.Alongthisline,Liregardscolleagues whoareolderand/orholdahigherpositionassuperiorandteachersfromwhomsheisabletolearn. Thesekindsoftraditionalvalueshaveplacedherasacustomary‘student’,routinelyconformingto authoritativeWesternknowledge,andalwaysasalearnerwithoutgivingmuchattentiontowaysin whichhernon-WesternknowledgecanalsocontributetotheWestern/globalknowledge. Inrecentyearsthough,shehasbeengenerouslyencouragedbytheworkofSingh[24,26]andhis colleagues,andsomeotherresearchers(e.g.,[24,26,34,35])whobelievethatChineseculturalheritage andChinesescholars,aswellasinternationalstudentsfromothercultures,havethepotentialtoenrich thebodyofWesternintellectualknowledge. Shi[34,35]haschallengedtheculturallymonological rather than dialogical and diversified West-centric perspectives, models, approaches, and issues relatingtodiscoursestudies, andarguedforthereconstructionofEasternparadigmsinfavourof multiculturalismindiscourseresearch. Hehasthencontinuinglyarguedforaculturallyconscious and reflexive approach to discourse studies—Cultural Discourse Studies (CDS)—by describing a Chinese approach to the discourses of human rights [36]. Singh and his colleagues, Huang, Han, andMenghaveconductedextensiveresearch(e.g.,[25,27,28]describinghowChineselinguisticand culturalknowledgecouldbedrawnontodeveloptheoreticaltoolsindoctoralstudies. Forexample, Singh and Han [28] provide evidence of how Chinese ideas such as the four-character chengyu as Chinese intellectual heritage could contribute to the theorisation of a research student’s research thesis, and how some structures, such as Dijin, Pingxing, and qi-cheng-zhuan-he (see [28] (p. 400), fortheirdetailedmeaning),inChinesewritinghavebeenusedbyChineseresearchersasstrategies to“enchantandempowertheirscholarlywriting”[28](p. 400). TheirresearchhasencouragedLito reflectonherexperienceinlearningtowriteargumentativeessays. InadditiontoDijinandPingxing, Duizhaoshicouldalsobeaninterestingwaytomakeanargumentanddrawaconclusion. Thestructure of Duizhaoshi is quite similar with that in English writing. When writing an argumentative essay followingDuizhaoshistyle,aviewpointisproposedwhichisfollowedbyreasoningwithevidencethat suggeststheviewpointistrue. Thenacounterargumentwillfollowwhichisagainsttheviewpointor againstsomeaspectofthereasoning. 4.1.3. Implications Researchers in the book “Of Other Thoughts: Non-traditional ways to the doctorate. A guidebook for candidates and supervisors” have demonstrated that Western academics can learn non-Western theoretic-linguisticknowledge[37]althoughtheyarereluctanttodrawonnon-Westernknowledge[38]. TheseresearchershaveinspiredLitoreflectonher‘one-way’learningjourney—toconformtoWestern Educ.Sci.2017,7,19 8of15 notionsofscholarship[38],ortoassimilateandconformtoWesternknowledge[4],andconsiderhow opportunitiescouldbeofferedformutualbenefitsmadepossiblebywelcomingandsharingculturally differentperspectivesandknowledgeconstructions[5]. AsSinghetal.[21]putit,thechallenging questionsarehowapedagogyofintellectualequalitythatinvolvesinternationalstudentsasactive agentscanbeactivated,andhowtheoretic-linguisticknowledgefromoneculturecanbetransformed intootherdocumentedandvalidatedtheoreticalconceptsandmodesofcritique. Thiswouldbea newprojectforLiinthefutureasahigherdegreeresearchsupervisor—tryingnottobeanignorant supervisorwhilstencouraginginternationalstudentstoinvolvethemselvesin‘two-way’learning practices,bysharingtheirpriorknowledgeandskillsgainedintheirowncountriesandcontributing totheirhigherdegreeresearchstudiestoproducenewlearning. 4.2. AccountTwo: ParloSingh 4.2.1. CulturalBackground IgrewupinNorthQueensland,Australia,andmyowneducationwasingovernmentfunded state schools, as well as at home and in the local community. I learnt to speak, read, and write in PunjabiathomeandthemainmodeofcommunicationinthehomewasPunjabi. Atschool,Ilearntto speak,readandwriteinEnglishandthemainmodeofcommunicationatschoolwasEnglish. Indeed, duringthesixtiesandseventiesteachersactivelydiscouragedtheuseoflanguagesotherthanEnglish atschool. ThiswasdespitethefactthattheschoolsIattendedincludedstudentsofawidevariety ofculturalandlinguisticheritages: Italian,Chinese,EasternEuropean,AboriginalandTorresStrait Islander,Irish,Anglo-Saxon,German,andsoforth. LikemanyofthegirlsIstudiedwithinthe1970s inruralQueensland,Australia,Ienteredintoacareerinteachingandthencompletedpostgraduate anddoctoralstudies. ThefirstdoctoralstudentIsupervisedwasKarenDooleyatGriffithUniversitywhowasawarded herPh.Din2001. Thethesiswastitled: ‘AdaptingtoDiversity. PedagogyforTaiwaneseStudentsin MainstreamAustralianSecondarySchools.’ Dooleyhadbeenanearlychildhoodteacherworkingin Queenslandschools,andspentayearteachinginaschoolinChina,participatinginaguestteacher programadministeredthroughtheAustralianStateGovernmenteducationsystem,throughfunding receivedthroughtheAustraliangovernmenttradedepartment.Theaimoftheprogramwastopromote Australia’seconomictieswithChinathroughaneducationandculturalexchangeprogram. Teachers fromAustraliaspent12monthsinChinaasguestteachers,helpingteachEnglishasasecondlanguage, andteachersfromChinaspent12monthsinAustralia,helpingtoteachMandarininprimaryschools. DuringhertimeinChina,DooleyhadlearntsomeMandarinandbecameincreasinglyinterestedin exploringissuesofculturalidentityandschooling,andsodecidedtoworkonadatasetgenerated frommyAustralianResearchCouncilDiscoveryprojecttitled: ‘Constructing“AustralianIdentities” through language and literacy education in schools, communities and workplaces (A79601654)’. Webothviewedtheoryasasetofresourcestothinkwithandaboutsocialandeducationalissues, and consequently turned to many sources for building theoretical work. These sources included: novels written by Chinese diaspora authors; postcolonial literature [39–44], as well as education sociologicalworkbyBourdieu[45],Bernstein[46,47],andothers. Interestingly,asIlookbackatthe thesisnow,thereisnoreferencetoallthenovelsthatwereadtogether,andyetourstudyofthenovels byChinesediasporaauthorsheavilyinfluencedthewaywethoughtthroughtheeducationalproblem. Mybookshelfcontainstracesofthethinkingworkundertakenduringthatdoctoralsupervisionperiod andbeyond[48–51]. 4.2.2. Practices Intermsofsupervisorypractices,Icanattesttoadoptingmanyoftheprinciplesofconscientious ignoranceoutlinedbySinghandcolleaguesHuang,Han,andMeng. Thedoctoraleducationjourney wasa‘learningtogether’journey. WhileDooleywasnotaninternationalstudent,shehadexperiences Educ.Sci.2017,7,19 9of15 ofbeinganinternationalstudent/teacheronaguestteacherprograminChina,andwantedtoexplore whatitmeanttoconstructinclusivepedagogyandcurriculumforrecentimmigrantsfromTaiwanin Australiansecondaryschools. OneofDooley’skeycontributionsistheorisingambivalencebysynthesisingtheworkofHomi Bhabha,IenAng,andBasilBernstein. AccordingtoDooley[52](p. 42)ambivalence“referstothe tensionbetweenthediachronyofrational(ornon-stereotypical)knowledgeaboutthenativewithits pressureforchange,andthesynchronyofthefantastic(orstereotypical)withitsstatic,essentialist knowledgeofthenative”. Theconceptofambivalenceisusefulforthinkingabouttensions: ...betweenthediachronyofhistoricalknowledgeanditsimpetusfortolerant,anti-racist changes,andthesynchronyoffantastic,essentialisedknowledgesandtheirinputsforthe stasisofintoleranceandracism. Interactionally,structuralambivalenceinfavourofthe celebrationofculturaldiversityandtheimpositionofintoleranceresultsinthetypesof communicationbreakdownthatoccurswiththequestion,‘Whereareyoufrom?’,aquestion thatissometimescriticisedas‘racist’becauseitsuggestsAsiansdonotbelonginAustralia, andsometimesdefendedasgenuine,personalinterest[52](p. 43). However, Dooley [52] pointed out that it is necessary to examine structural and interactional ambivalence operationalised within education policy documents and classroom curriculum and pedagogy. Heresheturnedtotheworkofscholarswritingaboutpedagogicdiscourseandclassroom communication[47]. Isitpossibletosuggestthatthisthesisdidnotengagewithtrans-culturalandtrans-language practices? Iwouldsuggestthattheauthor’suseofliteratureindiversedisciplinaryareasrangingfrom novelstudy,culturalstudies,sociologyofeducation,socialpsychology,anddrawingontheworkof diasporicAsians,aswellasAnglophonewritersdoesmeetthiscriteria. Iwouldalsoarguethatit isimportantnottoessentialiseknowledgeinthebodyoftheknower,giventherapidmovementof peopleacrossincreasinglyporousnationalborders. 4.2.3. Implications Fast forward to the present. I am now increasingly supervising international students from mainlandChinawithcolleagueswhohaverecentlymigratedtoAustraliafromChina. Inaddition, fieldworkconductedinChinabytheseinternationalstudentsisoftensupervisedbycolleaguesina Chineseuniversity.WedrawonliteraturefromcolleagueswhostudiedintheWestatthesametimeasI wascompletingmyowndoctoralstudies,andwhohavenowreturnedtotheirhomecountries[53,54]. 4.3. AccountThree: SarojniChoy 4.3.1. CulturalBackground Choyhasbeenengagedintrans-culturalpracticesfromearlychildhood,albeitnotinanacademic sense,yetthishasinstinctivelyinfluencedherapproachtodoctoralsupervision. Shegrewupina multi-cultural,multi-ethnic,andmulti-lingualremotevillagesettingintheFijiIslands. Herupbringing andeducationwasinfluencedbyBritishgovernanceofFijibetween1874and1970. Essentially,sheis theproductofmanycultures. HerculturalimmersionwasfurtherfortifiedattheUniversityofthe SouthPacificwhereshestudiedwithstudentsfromelevenregionalcountries. Later,asanemployee theresheinteractedwithstaffandstudentsfromtheregionaswellasothercountriesacrosstheworld. ChoyalsolivedamongmanyinternationaldoctoralstudentsandtheirfamiliesintheUnitedKingdom. AnappreciationoftheAsian(continental)culturesandvalueswasenrichedthroughherworkinthe PacificandtheSouthEastAsianregionformanyyears. ForChoy,trans-culturalpracticesthatSingh, Manathunga,Bund,andJing[21]describewereneverboth-ways—theywerealways,andcontinue tobe,multiple-ways. Itisthisrichnesssurfacingfrommultiplewaysthatforegroundsherapproach totrans-languageandtrans-culturalpracticesduringsupervisionofinternationaldoctoralstudents inAustralia. Educ.Sci.2017,7,19 10of15 MuchofChoy’smulticulturalknowledgeandwhatitmeantto‘be’acommunitymemberwas gained from experiences in her community. Understandings of trans-language and trans-cultural practiceswereacquiredthroughengagementintheprocessof‘talanoa’(openrespectfuldiscourse withoutconcealment). InFiji,itisnotunusualforcommunicationsinthreelanguagesatthesame time,giventhatthemajorityofthepopulationunderstandthecontextualmeaningsoftheborrowed vocabularyfromthemainlanguagesforclarityaroundapointofdiscussion. Assuch,sheseesno harminusingEnglishasthemainmedium,butinvitesinternationalstudentstocontributekeyterms fromtheirlanguagestoco-constructmeanings. Choy’sethnicculturalappropriationhasahugeinfluenceonherapproachtotrans-languageand trans-culturalpracticeswithdoctoralstudents. Atanearlyageshelearntaboutculturallyappropriate conductsuchasindividualshavinga‘place’tospeak,engageindiscussionsordebate. Thiswasa formof‘islanddiplomacy’thatwasnottaught,butratherpracticedandlearntbyobserving,mimesis, following and being guided (sometimes reprimanded) by elders to be able to maintain harmony andcommunityspirit,neverquestioningitsrightnessorotherwise. Infollowingthiscustom,one mayknowmore,butmustknowwhentospeakwhileengagingintheequivalentoftheSamoan‘va’ (seeRefiti[55],theFijianversionof‘bosevakanituranga’(invitationtorespectfullyspeakasaleader whereeachisregardedasworthyofcontributingtothediscussion). Thepracticeissimilartothe dialogueforumsheldbycommunitiesinmanyNordiccountries. SuchasystemworksintheFijian contextwherethereiscommunitystructureandrelationshipshavesignificance. 4.3.2. Cross-CulturalResearchPractices Topromoteequalityofintelligences,atcommencementChoyremindsinternationalhigherdegree researchcandidatesthattheyarepartnersonajourneyoflearning; theyareco-learnerswiththeir supervisors. They share what they have read on the thesis topic, about research generally, about knowledges gained from their countries of origin or from any international research they engage in. She explains the doctoral journey as one that will commence with close guidance and ‘hand holding’,butwiththeexpectationthatitwillgraduallyevolveintoonewherethestudentleadsthe way. Certainlyafterdatacollection,sheexpectsstudentstoleadtheconstructionofnewknowledge. As a way of acknowledging their equal intelligence and intellectual reciprocity, induction programs are routinely organised to empower and encourage students to acknowledge their own intelligencesandstrengthstoequipthemselvestocrossboundaries. Thatpassagebetweenscholarship andresearchintheircountryandtheuniversitywheretheyundertakehigherdegreeresearchstudies takestime. ItischallengingespeciallyforstudentsfromAsianandPacificoriginswhobelievethey havecomeheretobe‘taught’,shownhowtoandtoldwhattodotosuccessfullycompletetheirstudies. Surprisingly,manystudentsshowlittleunderstandingofwhatitmeanstobeadoctoralcandidate. Gettingacceptedforenrolmentitselfisanextraordinaryexperience. Thesupervisorsareseenasthe knowledgebearersandtheexperts,personsnottobequestioned,butfollowed. Inthebeginningthe conceptofequaldialogueisforeignandchallengingtomanystudents,butparticularlytointernational Asianstudents. AsianandPacificstudents’understandingoftheirteachers’rolesisculturallybound (see Li’s account earlier in this paper). Their self-confidence is often low. A reminder of how far theyhavecome,whattheyhavelearnt,positionsthemfortherestofthecandidatureandhelpsto re-buildtheirself-confidence. Recountingherownjourneyalsoprovidesstudentswithanexample theycaneasilyrelateto. Sheopenlyacknowledgesthattherearethingsthatstudentsknowandthings that she knows, and that together they can integrate their collective knowledge to learn from the Westernliterature. Theycometonewunderstandingsandcreatenewknowledge. Sheseesherrole mainlytoverifyandvalidateinterpretationsoftheoreticalconceptsandmodesofcritiqueinwaysto meettheacademicrigourexpectedofdoctoratecandidates. Thisapproachfacilitatestheknowledge constructionprocess,thestartofepistemologicalculturalinclusion,andtheactofmakingknowledge countinordertoadvanceintellectualequality.
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