Conlon, Brandon
(2020)
LIKE A RIVER NOT A STONE:
A DESCRIPTIVE PHENOMENOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDY OF
THE CHINESE STUDENT EXPERIENCE OF
GETTING AN EDUCATION AT NYU SHANGHAI
IN RELATION TO THE LIBERAL ARTS APPROACH.
Doctor of Education thesis, University of Liverpool.
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Abstract
This study investigated the Chinese student experience of getting an education at NYU Shanghai. Four half-hour interviews were carried out with each of three student participants, who were asked to describe their experience of getting an education over their four undergraduate years at the university. On the basis of rich descriptions of the particular experiences provided by the three students, the research discovered one holistic phenomenological structure of the overall experience with eight component parts, called constituents. This structure and its component parts was then used to bring to light a variety of aspects of the experience within the particular cultural context of the university. The experience and its constituents were further considered in relation to enacting the espoused liberal arts values and mission of the university. The liberal arts as a cultural construct representing a specific set of educational values is explored in the literature review alongside the more general student experience and experience of Chinese students. Variations between the empirical experiences of the three students were described, surfacing insights about the experiences as they related to relevant scholarly literature on the student experience of the liberal arts, including liberal arts learning outcomes. The overall experience consisted of the following eight constituents 1) a pursuit of knowledge, skills, and the development of character through modes of exploration and investigation, 2) an awakening to changes within oneself and one’s lifeworld, 3) a growing consciousness of development, mastery, and limitations of knowledge and skill pertaining to the domain specific area of S’s major, 4) a growing consciousness of the transferability of knowledge, skills, and attributes to other domains, 5) social interactions, 6) comparison to things Chinese, 7) feelings of satisfaction and confidence, and 8) perceiving the exceptionalism and special features of NYU Shanghai. On the basis of these constituents and the reviewed literature of the liberal arts it was concluded that the experience was moderately, but not robustly, commensurable with a liberal arts approach to education. These findings contribute to understanding the way the liberal arts as a form of American educational culture is experienced, especially as it is exported and adopted in new global contexts, in this case the developing higher education landscape in China.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctor of Education) |
|---|---|
| Divisions: | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Histories, Languages and Cultures |
| Depositing User: | Symplectic Admin |
| Date Deposited: | 14 Aug 2020 10:37 |
| Last Modified: | 18 Jan 2023 23:49 |
| DOI: | 10.17638/03090536 |
| Supervisors: |
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| URI: | https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3090536 |
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