{"id":{"repo_id":"uwo","oai_identifier":"oai:uwo.scholaris.ca:20.500.14721/28131"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uwo/oai:uwo.scholaris.ca:20.500.14721/28131","repository":{"repo_id":"uwo","name":"Western University","base_url":"https://uwo.scholaris.ca/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Examining Chinese International Secondary School Students in Transnational Spaces: Becoming Flexible Citizens?","abstract":"In recent years, an increasing number of Chinese international secondary school students have come to study in Canada. Upon arriving in their international context, their school and out-of-school lives are influenced by socio-economic, political and cultural forces circulating in and connecting across the home and host spaces of China and Canada. As the overarching frame, the study employs Ong’s (1999) notion of ‘flexible citizenship,’ examining the cultural logics mediating students’ lives and how they flexibly and not-so-flexibly engage in their learning and self-making in their transnational spaces. This research is a qualitative ethnographic field study conducted in and around a Canadian international secondary school in Ontario. It follows 11 international students from mainland China in their in-school, out-of-school and online spaces across a time period of 14 months. The study affirms that cultural logics of capitalist accumulation and/in Western modernity mediated with Chinese cultural logics in influencing my participants’ academic learning, social connections and educational/career aspirations in their study abroad. Implications of the findings are addressed for educators, administrators, parents and policymakers to heed how institutional forces and dynamics of culture and power mediate international students learning and life challenges, needs and habits.","abstract_html":"In recent years, an increasing number of Chinese international secondary school students have come to study in Canada. Upon arriving in their international context, their school and out-of-school lives are influenced by socio-economic, political and cultural forces circulating in and connecting across the home and host spaces of China and Canada. As the overarching frame, the study employs Ong’s (1999) notion of ‘flexible citizenship,’ examining the cultural logics mediating students’ lives and how they flexibly and not-so-flexibly engage in their learning and self-making in their transnational spaces. This research is a qualitative ethnographic field study conducted in and around a Canadian international secondary school in Ontario. It follows 11 international students from mainland China in their in-school, out-of-school and online spaces across a time period of 14 months. The study affirms that cultural logics of capitalist accumulation and/in Western modernity mediated with Chinese cultural logics in influencing my participants’ academic learning, social connections and educational/career aspirations in their study abroad. Implications of the findings are addressed for educators, administrators, parents and policymakers to heed how institutional forces and dynamics of culture and power mediate international students learning and life challenges, needs and habits.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Wu, Xi"],"institution":"The University of Western Ontario","degree_name":"Ph D","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":"Education","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Tarc, Paul"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2018,"date_issued":"2018-04-23","date_published":"2018-04-23","updated_at":"2026-07-27T21:56:01Z","subjects":["Chinese international students","Canadian international secondary schools","flexible citizens","transnational spaces","cultural logics","subjectivity","self-making"],"languages":["en_ca"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14721/28131","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Tarc, Paul"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Wu, Xi"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2025-07-10T16:07:53Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2025-07-10T16:07:53Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2018-04-23"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["The University of Western Ontario"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Education"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph D"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Chinese international students","Canadian international secondary schools","flexible citizens","transnational spaces","cultural logics","subjectivity","self-making"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["en_ca"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14721/28131"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["The thesis cover page in the PDF document includes references to Western University’s previous institutional repository platform, known as Scholarship@Western, and links to that platform (beginning with ir.lib.uwo.ca). In citing or referring to this thesis, use the DOI or handle from this page instead. Sample citation: Author name, \"Thesis title.\" (Year). Western University Open Repository. https://doi.org/10.71858/123456."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["In recent years, an increasing number of Chinese international secondary school students have come to study in Canada. Upon arriving in their international context, their school and out-of-school lives are influenced by socio-economic, political and cultural forces circulating in and connecting across the home and host spaces of China and Canada. As the overarching frame, the study employs Ong’s (1999) notion of ‘flexible citizenship,’ examining the cultural logics mediating students’ lives and how they flexibly and not-so-flexibly engage in their learning and self-making in their transnational spaces. This research is a qualitative ethnographic field study conducted in and around a Canadian international secondary school in Ontario. It follows 11 international students from mainland China in their in-school, out-of-school and online spaces across a time period of 14 months. The study affirms that cultural logics of capitalist accumulation and/in Western modernity mediated with Chinese cultural logics in influencing my participants’ academic learning, social connections and educational/career aspirations in their study abroad. Implications of the findings are addressed for educators, administrators, parents and policymakers to heed how institutional forces and dynamics of culture and power mediate international students learning and life challenges, needs and habits."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Examining Chinese International Secondary School Students in Transnational Spaces: Becoming Flexible Citizens?"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Tarc, Paul"],"dc:creator":["Wu, Xi"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2025-07-10T16:07:53Z"],"dc:date.available":["2025-07-10T16:07:53Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2018-04-23"],"dc:description":["The thesis cover page in the PDF document includes references to Western University’s previous institutional repository platform, known as Scholarship@Western, and links to that platform (beginning with ir.lib.uwo.ca). In citing or referring to this thesis, use the DOI or handle from this page instead. Sample citation: Author name, \"Thesis title.\" (Year). Western University Open Repository. https://doi.org/10.71858/123456."],"dc:description.abstract":["In recent years, an increasing number of Chinese international secondary school students have come to study in Canada. Upon arriving in their international context, their school and out-of-school lives are influenced by socio-economic, political and cultural forces circulating in and connecting across the home and host spaces of China and Canada. As the overarching frame, the study employs Ong’s (1999) notion of ‘flexible citizenship,’ examining the cultural logics mediating students’ lives and how they flexibly and not-so-flexibly engage in their learning and self-making in their transnational spaces. This research is a qualitative ethnographic field study conducted in and around a Canadian international secondary school in Ontario. It follows 11 international students from mainland China in their in-school, out-of-school and online spaces across a time period of 14 months. The study affirms that cultural logics of capitalist accumulation and/in Western modernity mediated with Chinese cultural logics in influencing my participants’ academic learning, social connections and educational/career aspirations in their study abroad. Implications of the findings are addressed for educators, administrators, parents and policymakers to heed how institutional forces and dynamics of culture and power mediate international students learning and life challenges, needs and habits."],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14721/28131"],"dc:language.iso":["en_ca"],"dc:publisher":["The University of Western Ontario"],"dc:subject":["Chinese international students","Canadian international secondary schools","flexible citizens","transnational spaces","cultural logics","subjectivity","self-making"],"dc:title":["Examining Chinese International Secondary School Students in Transnational Spaces: Becoming Flexible Citizens?"],"dc:type":["thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Education"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ph D"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T21:56:01Z"}