How the Australian Society Influences the Development of a Chinese Teacher Educator’s Research Practices

Abstract

This paper reports on a preliminary investigation into how the development of a research student from China is influenced by the conditions of the Australian society. It focuses specifically on the first six months of her life in this changed and changing context. Through analysing her self-reflections, we explore her sense of the differences in educational cultures, her progress in her studies and the improvement she’s made in her scholarly capabilities. Being aware of and sensitive to the differences in research cultures, and accepting them as part of her growing knowledge makes her adaptation easier and more rewarding. This account evokes the cosmopolitan desires for mobility and mutual interconnectedness that lead to the quest for an international and a global education. However, the identity transition that comes with the move from one culture to another is hard and made demanding by all that is new and unfamiliar. Adapting to a new research culture is challenging, but not impossible. An individual’s life patterns are shaped by ever-changing societal and trans-national relations.