“Can East Asian Students Think?”: Orientalism, Critical Thinking, and the Decolonial Project

Moosavi, Leon ORCID: 0000-0002-1639-5049 (2020) “Can East Asian Students Think?”: Orientalism, Critical Thinking, and the Decolonial Project Education Sciences, 10 (10). p. 286. ISSN 2227-7102, 2227-7102

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Abstract

Amidst the increasing calls for the decolonisation of universities, this article interrogates the representation of East Asian students in Western academia. It is argued that East Asian students are often imagined in Orientalist ways, as can be evidenced by evaluating the depiction of East Asian students in academic publications. More specifically, it is suggested that common perceptions of East Asian students as lacking in critical thinking may unwittingly reinforce stereotypes that are rooted in historic narratives which depict East Asians as inferior to (white) Westerners. This article also explores the way in which East Asian academics and students may also subscribe to these Orientalist perceptions. Finally, this article offers a refutation of the stereotype that East Asian students struggle with critical thinking and it suggests that being more reflexive about the way that we imagine ethnic minority students should be a key component of our efforts to decolonise the university.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Orientalism, East Asian students, critical thinking, higher education, stereotyping, decolonisation
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	20 Oct 2020 07:37
Last Modified:	23 May 2026 05:12
DOI:	10.3390/educsci10100286
Related Websites:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3104672
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