Transcultural Teaching and Learning: Possibilities for the Generation of New Ideas and Knowledge across Western and Chinese Knowledge Systems

Abstract

The contemporary unprecedented level of student and staff mobility in higher education around the world provides opportunities for cross-cultural learning, the exchange of diverse ideas, and the generation of new knowledge. For more than two decades, large numbers of international students, mostly from developing countries, have travelled to Western Anglophone universities in countries such as the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, and Australia. In 2013 a record 765,000 international students attended US colleges (Institute of International Education 2014), 435,000 attended UK universities in 2012 (UKCISA 2014), there were 265,000 in Canada in 2012 (Canadian Bureau for International Education 2014), and in Australia, 527,000 international students were studying (in all sectors) (AEI 2014).