In the present study, we investigated the relationships among mothers' filial piety, mother-child discrepancy in perceived parental expectations, and children's academic achievement in 823 Chinese families. The results indicated that mothers' authoritarian filial piety hindered children's academic achievement, whereas reciprocal filial piety had…

A predicament faced by students who fail academically in East Asian Confucian societies, such as Taiwan, is being obscured by students' outstanding performances in international academic assessments. This article proposes that there is a trapping effect of effort for these students. They are trapped in a dilemma between "feeling bad"…

TESOL postgraduate students come to the UK from China seeking an authentic environment in which to develop their English language skills and learn about their host culture. This paper provides a substantive review of the historical context of higher education in China, including its Confucian cultural heritage, and shows its evolution from a…

When students look at their classmates in the classroom, consciously or unconsciously, they see competitors both for academic recognition and social success. How do they fit in relation to others and how do they succeed in achieving both? Traditional views on the drive to succeed and the fear of failure are well known as motivators for achieving…

Some educators may see cooperative learning as a Western pedagogy that is difficult to use in Eastern countries with a Confucian Heritage, while others argue that the philosophy of Confucius parallels the elements of cooperative learning. This article reports the key findings of a 2-year longitudinal study that investigated the perceptions of…

In Europe there is a growing concern among educators and policy makers that students are not well-prepared to start a Master programme. This study draws on longitudinal research conducted at four universities in the Netherlands and a follow-up exploratory purposively chosen from one of the study sites. In Study 1, differences in academic…

Little is known about how a family in the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) makes decisions on cross-border study. International marketers and managers in higher education turn to research based on Chinese student preferences. However, such research ignores cultural traditions steeped in Confucian ideals of family and the subsequent roles and…