As the number of international students in Chinese higher education increases steadily, this volume is one of the first to focus on their many and varied experiences. With contributions focusing on such topics as intercultural adaptation, soft power and interculturality, language learning strategies and the intercultural, and transformations in perspective, this volume provides the reader with a broad overview of the latest advances in the field of interculturality and study abroad. While the book will appeal to a global audience of researchers, practitioners and students with an interest in Chinese higher education, it will also be of interest to all those who remain intrigued by conceptual and methodological issues of interculturality.

This thematic volume explores the relationship between the arts and learning in various educational contexts and across cultures, but with a focus on higher education and organizational learning. Arts-based interventions are at the heart of this volume, which addresses how they are conceived, designed, carried out, and assessed in different higher educational and cultural contexts. Readers will discover diverse perspectives of the contributing authors from across the world and from a variety of settings: formal education, informal learning for adults and organisational learning. A necessary introductory conceptualisation sets the stage for the discussion of the different cases, with chapters presented according to the art forms the address: performing arts, dance, music, language arts, visual arts, multi-arts and a conclusive chapter on future perspectives for arts-based educational approaches. Arts-based Methods and Organisational Learning: Higher Education Around the World will inspire and inform both scholars and practitioners who are dealing with the arts in education and organisations.

This book examines how the two educational systems of China and the Nordic countries intersect. Over the past decade, there has been increased growth and interaction between China and the Nordic countries due to both government encouragement and academic curiosity. This book rejects a simplistic approach that presents both spaces as culturally uniform, confronting 'East' and 'West' entities, and suggests a comparative and contrastive approach that is critical and reflexive in both theory and methodology. This does not solely concentrate on difference, but emphasises similarities, including studies on philosophical, conceptual and methodological issues. This nuanced edited collection will appeal to students and scholars of Nordic and Chinese education as well as globalisation and interculturality.

Arts-Based Methods in Education Around the World aims to investigate arts-based encounters in educational settings in response to a global need for studies that connect the cultural, inter-cultural, cross-cultural, and global elements of arts-based methods in education. In this extraordinary collection, contributions are collected from experts all over the world and involve a multiplicity of arts genres and traditions. These contributions bring together diverse cultural and educational perspectives and include a large variety of artistic genres and research methodologies. The topics covered in the book range from policies to pedagogies, from social impact to philosophical conceptualisations. They are informative on specific topics, but also offer a clear monitoring of the ways in which the general attention to the arts in education evolves through time.

Problem and Project Based Learning (PBL) has been well used as an educational philosophy and methodology in the construction of student centered and contextualized learning environment. PBL is also regarded as an effective method in producing engineering graduates who can not only meet the needs of professional competences, but also are prepared for new challenges in the globalized and technological context. However, can PBL be a solution to the challenge of a general lack of university students studying engineering and technology in many countries. The book reports an ethnographical study on the learning experiences of engineering students in the PBL environment in Denmark. This book also attempts to question the issue of diversity in engineering education via the exploration of whether or in which ways the PBL environment is friendly to diverse groups of learners such as women.

As the number of international students in Chinese higher education increases steadily, this volume is one of the first to focus on their many and varied experiences. With contributions focusing on such topics as intercultural adaptation, soft power and interculturality, language learning strategies and the intercultural, and transformations in perspective, this volume provides the reader with a broad overview of the latest advances in the field of interculturality and study abroad. While the book will appeal to a global audience of researchers, practitioners and students with an interest in Chinese higher education, it will also be of interest to all those who remain intrigued by conceptual and methodological issues of interculturality.

This thematic volume explores the relationship between the arts and learning in various educational contexts and across cultures, but with a focus on higher education and organizational learning. Arts-based interventions are at the heart of this volume, which addresses how they are conceived, designed, carried out, and assessed in different higher educational and cultural contexts. Readers will discover diverse perspectives of the contributing authors from across the world and from a variety of settings: formal education, informal learning for adults and organisational learning. A necessary introductory conceptualisation sets the stage for the discussion of the different cases, with chapters presented according to the art forms the address: performing arts, dance, music, language arts, visual arts, multi-arts and a conclusive chapter on future perspectives for arts-based educational approaches. Arts-based Methods and Organisational Learning: Higher Education Around the World will inspire and inform both scholars and practitioners who are dealing with the arts in education and organisations.

In China, talent development has been one of the key areas of attention in national focus for the development of science and technology, education, and other areas over the past three decades, and it is especially emphasized in the national outline for medium- and long-term educational reform and development. Beijing is the leading city in educational reform, especially in the area of gifted education in mainland China. Over the past 35 years, through constant exploration and research, a comprehensive gifted education system called the Beijing Model of Gifted Education and Talent Development (BMGETD) has gradually been developed. This book presents a summary of the educational practices used in, and the research done on the BMGETD over these decades. This includes several patterns for gifted education, such as acceleration in special classes, special classes without acceleration, enrichment within regular classes, and a joint program among high schools, universities, and professional academic institutions.

School culture is playing an increasingly important role in school performance and educational development. Within the national campaign in China for the innovative and sustainable development of education, local governments in Beijing Municipality have encouraged and facilitated educational innovation toward better school culture. In recent years various initiatives have been undertaken by a select group of schools to develop strategies and further action toward innovation and change. This book documents an investigation of how teachers and principals perceive school culture development in China. A survey was conducted among 1,992 informants from 37 schools (located in four different districts) in Beijing Municipality. The results of this study indicated that the respondents had overall positive perceptions of school culture construction and development in the educational change process. In general, they showed a positive attitude toward the school culture improvement initiatives, reported satisfaction about their current school culture and held confidence in the direction their school culture is heading. The study demonstrated that certain factors, such as school geographical location and respondents' job duty, job title, and gender, make a difference in how participants perceive their school's culture. Teachers and principals from a less economically developed district had less awareness of, involvement in, and understanding of school culture development in all its aspects. A notable gap between teachers and principals was identified in their perception of the core values and norms of the school and of communication between teachers and principals. This study suggests that for educational development to be further carried forward successfully, there is an urgent need for better distribution of educational resources (both financial and leadership), common understanding, agreed-upon goals, and efficient communication between principals and teachers. Keywords Educational philosophy, Ethics, Chinese context, Gender, Learning

In recent decades, medicine and health education has been challenged worldwide by changes in its profession. Being a doctor nowadays encompasses much more than having biomedical knowledge and includes interdisciplinary skills related to societal needs, communication skills, and ethical consideration, among other things. In order to provide these skills and competences, many medical schools are implementing changes in different aspects of the education. These changes are also occurring in China. In the past twenty years, medical education in China has initiated a series of reforms. The current reforms have mainly been led by the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health. These initial actions have evidenced both positive and negative attitudes and reactions. Is there a need to make further reforms and changes? If so, in what aspects? This book documents a national investigation of attitudes from teaching staff on the reforms and changes. Nearly 1800 teaching staff from 23 medical universities participated in this investigation. The results suggest that sustainable educational change demands not only supports from policy-makers and leaderships, but also active participation from teaching staff. In order for the implementation of reforms and changes to be successful, two factors are essential from the teaching staff's perspective. First, it is important for teaching staff to gain a deep understanding of educational reform and change, and second, they should develop appropriate skills to be able to conduct the reforms through their teaching practice. To provide these two factors, institutional facilitation is necessary and crucial.

This book examines how the two educational systems of China and the Nordic countries intersect. Over the past decade, there has been increased growth and interaction between China and the Nordic countries due to both government encouragement and academic curiosity. This book rejects a simplistic approach that presents both spaces as culturally uniform, confronting 'East' and 'West' entities, and suggests a comparative and contrastive approach that is critical and reflexive in both theory and methodology. This does not solely concentrate on difference, but emphasises similarities, including studies on philosophical, conceptual and methodological issues. This nuanced edited collection will appeal to students and scholars of Nordic and Chinese education as well as globalisation and interculturality.