6. Estudio num´ erico del EC-SRR y el BC-SRR
6.1.2. Estudio de la excitaci´ on del EC-SRR en funci´ on de la orientaci´ on
Whom? I N T E RACTIONS
How?
Learner I dentity C hange P rocess Learner I d entity
Figure 5. 1 : Conditions/interactions/consequences paradigm (Strauss & Corbin, 1 998)
The fmdings of this study come from the transcripts of a series of interviews with ten Mainland Chinese students over an 1 8 month period. As such the fmdings and their analyses are based on the accounts of these particular students. Therefore, the views expressed on culture, society, family, education, change, coping with change, and many more e lements reflect the students' perspectives. This gives the study a powerful emic, or insider, view of these larger issues and this is a significant response to Ward and Masgoret's call (2004) for qualitative research with Chinese students that seeks to understand their experiences in New Zealand.
However, the theorisation has limited generalisability as accepted within grounded theory methodology (see Chapter Three); therefore, it is called a
substantive theory. This theory is valid for the students involved in this project and further testing of the theory, which is outside the scope of this study, may affirm, extend, and indeed correct this depiction of cross-cultural educational adjustment.
Despite this, as the students' vo ices are l istened to and understood, a picture emerges of learner identity under the influence of significant change factors.
Contextual issues in China have been dealt with in this chapter, which is subtitled ' Establ ished Ident ity. ' In particular, it has sought to understand who the Mainland Chinese students were as learners in China before they came to New Zealand. The macro and the more micro influences, bearing in mind that such
distinctions are somewhat "artificial" (Strauss & Corbin, p. 185), have been looked at in terms of how they have formed and informed these students as learners. The
social and cultura l background, particularly as it relates to the students' educational context, has been investigated within the macro dimension. Two more micro influences have been examined: the family background and the educational context. [t could be argued that education fits within the wider or macro influences.
However, fo r this study, which directly connects context to the learning eco logies of these students, it has been taken to be of more immediate influence than the cultural and social factors. A number of learner identity dimensions emerged from the data that portray how the macro and more micro influences in China affected these students.
MACRO CON D ITIONS
As the students talked about their
background in China certain influences became apparent. This section looks at the macro influence of culture and society.
The students' v iew is focused, as a result of this study's agenda, through the lens of education and how cu lture and society has influenced the students as learners. While culture and society are not the foc i of this study, and consequently not the heart of the interviews with these students, their comments highlights some aspects, albeit in a fragmentary way, of the cultural and social macro dimension which have in fluenced them and those around them. Not many comments were made about cu lture and society per se, except in terms of the influences they experienced on their educational endeavours from the largely homogeneous Chinese worldview.
The primacy of culture in relation to education is reflected by DW who said "[ think Chinese culture is quite different from Western culture. The Chinese learn their own culture first. After you study in China you can learn the Chinese culture and customs. This is very important for a Chinese person " ( 1 -0606/. EY's views concurred with this. He said, "[ think it is a kind of traditional opinion in Chinese people 's minds that forces people to get a higher education. That 's what / think"
(2-
0407).
Whi le there is little doubt that culture had and has a pervasive influence on these students their perception of it was at times intriguingly juxtaposed with a strong sense of self. I n her second interview GT, in re lation to the societal pressure to succeed educational ly, said " .. . because everyone doesn 't want to be behind and everyone has self-value, they always want to choose their o wn values from other people" (2-0906). Here there is a mix of both collectivist and individualist thought,although the collective tends to be dominant.
The students' fee ling of pressure to study, and to study wel l, arising from their culture was apparently linked to different influences. First, there was a sense o f expectation t o conform, not only from parents but also from extended family and friends. FU noted, when asked about the impact of the one child family on family life : "The child will still respect the parents even though they are the 'emperor ' in the family. Even if they don 'I want to, their neighbours or their friends, some people around them, all do it this way. So they think: I should do it this way" (2-0706).
Second, there seemed to be a very strong desire to pursue a better future through educational achievement. When asked why he felt pushed to study hard, DW focused on the role of culture. He said, "/ think it is Chinese culture. In Chinese culture the young boy or girl they have to study. This is their firsljob" (2-
0906).
Once this journey has been started it is hard to get off the road. GTcommented, "For the people themselves it is a very hard thing because they already have a good start. The only way is to go ahead and achieve another higher step . . . If you stand on the first step and you get a good result it is very hardfor you to go back
because evelyone is looking at you and are saying, ' You already achieved the first slep with a good or an excellent start ' "
(2-0906).
2 Student interview referencing has the fol lowing format: student 'initials', e.g., AZ; interview number, e.g., ' I ' , '2', or ' 3 ', or, for the attestation group, ' A I ' , ' A2 ' , or 'A3 ' ; date ( -monthyear), e.g., -0607. Hence, AZ2-0906 is AZ's second interview held in September 2006.
Educational attainment may provide a way of social positioning as EV explains: "China has a large population and, from their point of view, [education]
gives them a way to judge people 's knowledge. It gives them the standard" (2-0407).
The pressure to perform does not stop when the study ends. "A t school you have to work hard to get a good job. When you get a good job you have to work hard to try
to get promoted" (EV3-0907). The mode of study also has social ram i fications.
Part-time study may be seen as a smirch on the fami ly. "If you are just a part-time student other people will think, 'Hey, what 's wrong with your child? Why is that child part-time? A re they lazy or something? ' If you are working in a part-timejob
when you are doing your study they will be thinking, ' What is the problem with your family? ' " ( H S2-0906).
The students were also very clear about the consequences of ' failure' to achieve. BY said: " They feel [life] would bejinished because it is a social problem of China. If you don 't get a higher education then you lose most of the opportunities
for a career" (2-0906). This was also reinforced by EV who commented that, "" .
you may fail and your family may not be able to help you do it all again. Then you
can 't keep doing your study so your life will become very hard" (2-0407) . Life
spirals downwards leading to soc ially undesirable work roles such as labouring (OW2-0906). The consequences of failure are discussed in more detail be low when the micro influence of educat ion is examined.
Frequently, the students mentioned luck and good fortune. There is no doubt that the students in this study worked very hard to achieve their level o f academic success in Ch ina, yet various constraints within society meant that they fe lt hard work alone could not guarantee the desired outcome. Therefore, the students often saw good luck as being integral to their success as we ll. This good luck may be a result of the parents having enough wealth to provide the education the family
desires for the child ( FU2-0706). Or, it could be that despite an inauspicious level of educational achievement the student had somehow managed to get past the hurdle of the nat ional univers ity entrance exam ( FU2-0706). Or, it may be that the
competit ion levels within China, caused by a huge population and limited opportunities, makes a student's progress, in comparison to others who do not succeed (CX2-0706), seem like fortune is on his or her side (BY2 -0906).
S ince the advent in China of communism, the job a person had was seen as an ' iron rice bowl,' where everything the person needed from money to food to
healthcare was taken care of in the employment context. However, since the opening of China to market forces in the late 1 970s the certainty and security of work have been eroded significantly. Even when the government may provide work, graduates may prefer to look elsewhere for other opportunities with less strings attached (BY 1 - 0506). The level of study is also becoming increasingly an issue as more students study at tertiary level and employers become more selective : " .. . in China, if you
apply for ajob and you only have a bachelors then it will not be enough "
( EV3-0907).
The students recognised that China was changing. Alternative routes, other than a university education, to gaining social respect were now possible. This may be through small business enterprises or through alternative (e.g., vocational)
schooling opportunities (CX2-0706). As FU put it, " ... now they might have more
opportunities to continue their study or to find a job or whatever. But in the old times it meant 'finished '" (FU 2-0706). Due to job market constraints the o ld
attitudes to part-time work is also changing. EV noted on a recent trip back to China
that "I read lots of newspapers and there are lots of students who didn 't go back to
their home towns for New Year. Instead they tried to get a part-time job during the
study break" (2-0407). Work experience is becoming more valued by employers.
Two other major change factors appear to have a symbiotic relationship. The opening of the economy to market influences and the official restriction of families to one-child, mean families have more wealth to pursue educational objectives. AZ stated: "More and more families can earn more money than our generation and my parents ' generation. Because they have more money, they can provide a better
environment for their children. They want their children to grow better than the other children. So they provide everything their children want" (2-0906). This impacts on the accessibility and location of university education. DW believed, "In some families, where the parents are rich, the children will not study very hard because, maybe, they think if they don 't pass the test, the national examination, their parents can pay more to buy a place in a university or send them overseas" (2-0906).
The desire for Engl ish language competencies was a primary motivator for these students to study overseas. Within China there is a growing demand for people with English ski lis. " That 's why there is a big education market for English
language schools. They hire lots of Western teachers and teach them reading, speaking and this kind of shifT (EV2-0407). On one hand, the demand causes them to seek English learning opportunities within China. The families " . . . spend a lot of money on that as the tuitionfee is quite high in the private English language schools. But the result is not the same as they hope for. So lots of students can 't pass their IEL TS exam in China" ( EV2-0407). For many, the opportunities to learn English are limited in the school environment where the emphasis is largely on reading and writing (FU2-0706) and life is too busy already (CX2-0706). On the other hand, the desire for English is also a catalyst for students to study overseas.
This brief summary of the students' occasional comments on the wider or macro social and cu ltural influences on education has highlighted a number of factors. First, the societal demand for education is still very high within China. Second, this demand is largely based on the be lief that education will provide a better future for the student and the family, both socially and fmancially. While attitudes to a lack of success and the degree of acceptability of alternative pathways are
changing, the passion for education is still a strong societal driver. Next, the more micro influences of the family and education, already inextricably linked in with culture and soc iety, are discussed in more detail.