Transnational higher education (TNHE) was introduced to mainland China in the 1980s, influenced by the Chinses government's neoliberal university model strategy. Some existing literature discusses this strategy and its role. However, since then, little research has explored how teaching and learning impact students' agency within TNHE. Specifically, there is a gap in the studies examining the effects at a pedagogical level. In this Freirean study, it is set in the context of transnational higher education in China and explores students' perspectives of learning and teaching in these institutions, through a lens of critical pedagogy. This interpretive, qualitative study draws its data from five sequential focus groups with a small group of eight students. The data is then analysed through the detailed and considered application of several stages of qualitative techniques -- each of which are illustrated clearly and hence presented for alternative readings. Findings are discussed carefully, and critically linked with the theoretical underpinnings.