a Passion for Learning Chinese

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A passion for learning Chinese?Investigating a community-based Chinese

cultural education school in Hamilton,New Zealand

Michele E.M Akoorie, Qiang Ding and Yafei LiDepartment of Strategy and Human Resource Management,

Waikato Management School, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand

Abstract

Purpose Following the Olympic Games of 2008 and the World Expo in 2010, many Westernershave increasingly begun to pay attention to China; a country which combines ancient history withmodern economic achievements. As a consequence there has been renewed interest in the West in

learning about Chinese language and culture. Confucius education schools have even begun to springup round the world, with the intention of promoting interest in Chinese language and culturalinfluences. The purpose of this paper is to focus on a community-based Chinese culture educationinstitution, in a provincial city in New Zealand, to understand the issues and risks of operating across-cultural education institution business in a foreign country which is physically distant fromChina and to identify barriers which need to be overcome in order to run such an institution moreeffectively.

Design/methodology/approach This research used a single site case study research design.Qualitative in-depth interviews were used to develop an understanding of the rich, complex andidiosyncratic nature of human phenomena. In total, ten interviews were conducted with the Principal,Board members, teachers, local students of Institute A, students parents (both Chinese andNew Zealand), and institutional outsiders.

Findings It was found that Institutes management team preferred the traditional Chinese

educational methods which conflicted with ways used in the local (New Zealand) teaching system. Italso found that the current management style conflicts with the professional style of organizationmanagement. The management team had a chaotic management and operational style, while lackingbasic knowledge of the principles of effective administration concepts.

Practical implications Identifying the risks and issues associated with the operation of acommunity-based cultural education institution outside China will assist managers to understand thepotential for cross-cultural clashes between their belief in the principles of traditional Chineseeducation systems and the fit with the local culture. The finding of this study, in identifying thespecific issues in relation to operational and professional modes of management, should assistmanagers to put into place an administrative system which is sufficiently flexible to accommodateboth perspectives.

Originality/value Although formerly a bi-cultural nation, New Zealand has increasingly become amulticultural society. Interest in Chinese language and culture has also been fuelled by New Zealandsshift in immigration policy from 1974 (to a skills based rather than an ethnicity policy). This study is afirst attempt to evaluate the efficacy of a Chinese community-based educational institution inNew Zealand.

KeywordsChina, New Zealand, National cultures, Educational systems and institutions,Community-based education, Risk management

Paper typeResearch paper

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at

www.emeraldinsight.com/1750-614X.htm

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Vol. 5 No. 4, 2011

pp. 460-479

q Emerald Group Publishing Limited

1750-614X

DOI 10.1108/17506141111183497


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IntroductionIn recent years, interaction between China and New Zealand has developed strongly inthe areas of tourism, trade and investment. China ranks as New Zealands fourthlargest export destination while China is the second ranked country in terms of imports

(China FTA, 2010; NZIER, 2005). Between 1999 and the end of 2010, the Chinese visitormarket to New Zealand grew from just over 20,000 visitors to more than 120,000.Chinese arrival numbers surpassed the number of arrivals from South Korea and

Japan in 2008, making China New Zealands fourth largest inbound market (TourismNew Zealand, 2011). In particular, after signing a free trade agreement in 2008(OSullivan, 2008), China and New Zealand have developed strong and friendlyrelationships. These factors will undoubtedly lead to further cultural and educationalcommunication between the two countries (Ye, 2002).

Meanwhile, with the changes to the structure of the world economy, such as the rise ofemerging markets, the New Zealand Government has also realized the importance ofpromoting and learning second languages (NZIER, 2005; Li, 2010) although NewZealandhas always been considered basically a monolingual country (NZIER, 2005). Eventhough both Maori and English are official languages in New Zealand, in practiceEnglish is most widely used. Interest in Chinese language and culture has also beenfuelled by New Zealands shift in immigration policy from 1974 (to a skills based ratherthan an ethnicity policy). The latest Census (2006) data showed that New Zealand has anincreasingly diverse population. In 2006, the Asian ethnic group was New Zealandsfourth largest major ethnic group after European, Maori, and other ethnicity, totaling354,552 people (9.2 percent). Because of this, more Asian educational institutions haveappeared in New Zealand, especially Chinese cultural and educational schools (Ye, 2002).For example, according to the new primary and secondary syllabus for New Zealandschools, primary and secondary foreign language courses will become compulsory(NZIER, 2005). The Chinese language will be one of the major courses which the

New Zealand Ministry of Education wishes to promote (NZIER, 2005). The Minister ofEducation, Joyce Stevens, stated that the numbers of young students who were learningChinese had doubled in the previous five years (Li, 2010).

However, the monolingual environment in New Zealand is still a major barrierhindering people from learning other languages (Chen, 2008). The principal of aNew Zealand primary school, Bruce Belmont, thought that the key barriers toNew Zealanders learning Chinese were the lack of time and resources (Chen, 2008). Hebelieved that in a crowded curriculum, they could not find any time to arrange Chineselanguage courses (Chen, 2008). He also stated that it is hard for schools to findprofessional Chinese language teachers (Chen, 2008). One Chinese Ambassador toNew Zealand said that he had tried to promote Chinese courses to the primary andsecondary schools in Auckland and Wellington, but the idea has not been taken up

(Nie, n.d.). The New Zealand Confucius Institute has offered to provide free Mandarincourses to the schools in Auckland, but only a few schools said that they would bewilling to try the courses (Li, 2010). So,in reality the issue of promoting Chinese languageeducation in New Zealand schools has not eventuated.

An alternative way forward is to support the development of Chinese language andculture community-based private education providers in New Zealand. Thus, thisprovided the stimulus for this present research. The purpose of this paper is to carry outan investigation of one of these community-based Chinese cultural education providers

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located in a provincial city in New Zealand. Through interviewing a cross-section ofpeople in the case institute this research intends to look at the cross-cultural dimensionof embedding community-based traditionally oriented education provision inNew Zealand and whether there is the potential to expand into providing courses for

local students.The focus on learning the Chinese language and learning about their cultural roots

represents the desire of parents of New Zealand-born Chinese students to stay connectedto their cultural past. The notion of community-based private education providersoffering these courses is a response to the limited resources available in the state sector.It also stands in marked contrast to the earlier experience of new Asian immigrantsfrom China, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Singapore who in the 1990s faced discriminationfrom a primary school (Epsom Normal) which amended its enrolment policy to turnaway children who lived in the school zone. Parents had to arrange and pay foradditional tutoring in English at school or from private tutors. The families affected,were able to mobilize mainstream and community media to fight the issues arisingfrom the controversy so as prevent other issues threatening the interests of theircommunity (Pang, 2003).

In New Zealand there has been a long history of racial exclusion involving Chinesemigrants dating from the nineteenth century and there is also evidence of tensionsbetween the old New Zealand-born Chinese whose ancestors came during this earlywave of immigration (of Chinese sojourners (unaccompanied males) to work in theNew Zealand gold fields) and the new Chinese who have immigrated to New Zealandsince the change in immigration policy in 1974 (Ip, 2003).

The remainder of this paper is organized as follows. The next section focuses on theliterature relevant to this topic namely, cross-cultural education, community educationand cross-cultural education and finally cross-cultural education and risk management.The third section introduces the research method used in this report. The fourth part is

related to the results and findings on institute A and then in the fifth part the paperfocuses on the discussion and findings. Finally, we offer some conclusions and discussthe managerial implications of our findings.

Literature reviewCross-cultural educationThe purpose of cross-cultural education is to offer the opportunity to everyone whocomes from different social, ethnic, racial, and cultural backgrounds to learn about adifferent culture (Robinson, 1981). In a cross-cultural educational school, students havemore chance to learn a new culture, language and experience; it also matches globaltrends towards increasingly multicultural societies, particularly in advanced Westerneconomies and those developing countries which follow export-led industrialization

policies (Edwards, 2001). Cross-cultural education can promote educational equality forstudents from diverse groups (Edwards, 2001), which consists of three things: ideas,educational reform movements and process (Robinson, 1981). Taking China as anexample, with the rapid development of the Chinese economy, China is expanding itsareas of cultural and educational exchanges and cooperation with other countries(Robinson, 1981).

In New Zealand, the Confucius Institute, which is a Chinese language school, wasestablished by The University of Auckland (Wang, 2005). The institutes purpose

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is to offer cross-cultural educational training to help New Zealanders learn more aboutChinese culture and language; to provide better learning conditions for Chinese learnersin New Zealand and to meet the needs of New Zealanders wanting to communicatewith the Chinese (Wang, 2005). The Confucius Institute also wants to help more

New Zealanders to understand Chinese customs, business etiquette and history, whichwill become the key bridge of communication between the two countries (Wang, 2005).This gives rise to the first proposition:

P1. Changes in the composition of New Zealand society and increasing interactionsin trade and tourism will lead to increased demand for cross-cultural languageand learning.

Community education and cross-cultural studiesAs discussed earlier there are significant barriers to promoting Chinese culture andlearning Chinese language in regular schools. However, community-based schools canalso play a role in promoting culture and learning (Li, 2010). Community education is a

philosophy and set of principles that advocates for the creation of life-long learningopportunities for community members individuals, schools, businesses, and publicand private organizations to become partners in addressing community needs. Anexample of community education is the community school, a facility that is open beyondthe traditional school day for the purpose of providing academic, recreation, health,social service, and work-preparation programs for people of all ages. Communityeducation encompasses a wide spectrum of disciplines, including before and afterschool, youth development, adult basic education all connected by the principles of thefield and the belief that through education and learning, individuals and theircommunities can be transformed (NCEA, 2010).

In the Chinese context the community is the basic unit of social development (Wu,2003). It is also the environment in which people live within a certain space (Yun, 2000).

In modern life, people cannot be separated from the community and they are alsosubject to the influence of living in a community environment (Wu, 2003).

Community education is organized by communities (Wu, 2003). The purposesof community education are to foster professional talents or provide the culture or artscourses for the community members (Wu, 2003). Sometimes therefore, communitiesestablish a community school or use some other common place to organize specialactivities to undertake and carry out community educational work (Yun, 2000).Educational activities have become the responsibility of the community (Yun, 2000).

In the process of the community educational development, different countries havemoved along different paths (Yang, 2000). These different paths reflect the differentcharacteristics of each society and form a different understanding of community education(Yang, 2000). In the Nordic countries, community education is defined as public education

(Yang, 2000). Their educational target is youths and adults and they carry out educationalactivities which are aimed at improving peoples quality of life (Yang, 2000). In Japan,community education is defined as social education (Yang, 2000). The Japanese SocialEducation Act which was promulgated in 1949 clearly defines social education asorganized educational activities for all members of society (Yang, 2000). In the USA,community education is defined as a non-formal society educational service whichis provided to the community (Yun, 2000). In US community schools, the range of thecontents of community education is broad (Yun, 2000). The community schools

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organize courses based on the actual needs of community members (Yun, 2000). Theteaching forms and methods of community schools are flexible, but thecourses are usuallynon-credit and they do not give diplomas and degrees (Yun, 2000).

The forms of community schools in Britain are similar to those in America. In

Scotland, community education is considered a method or process which can affectindividual learning (Yun, 2000). In China, people regard community education as thenew style educational model (Wang, 2005). In addition, community education is definedas coordinating school education and social education, which creates an environmentwhich is conducive for study (Wang, 2005).

In order to promote Chinese culture, maintain Chinese national identity and enhancesocial cohesion and competitiveness, many of the overseas Chinese communities havebegun to establish Chinese community schools (Wang, 2005). Chinese communityschools are an important form of promoting Chinese culture for Chinese people livingoverseas (Wang, 2005). The American community Chinese school called Hua Xia wasbuilt in 2001 with 90 percent of the capital contributions coming from students parentsdonations (Yun, 2000). The School was regarded by the media as the first new Chinese

immigrant community school, which signaled that Chinese immigrant communitieswere thriving and becoming stronger (Yun, 2000).

The American Chinese School Association was founded in 1994. In 1995, membersof the association increased to nearly 50 schools (Huang, 2004). By 2004, more than200 schools had become members of this association (Huang, 2004). The association aimsto improve Chinese teaching methods and management experience and the level of theChinese education is close to achieving the standard of the American universitiesChinese education system (Huang, 2004). The member schools of this associationteach Chinese courses which conform to language standards and new technology. Thesecourses are attracting more and more Chinese Americans (Huang, 2004). TheSouth African Chinese Culture Association, the UK Chinese Schools Association, andCanadian Chinese Education Association are all similar to the American Chinese SchoolAssociation (Yun, 2000).

In New Zealand, the Community Chinese schools belong to community educationorganizations (Ye, 2002). There are many Chinese communities supporting the buildingof Chinese schools (Ye, 2002). For example, the Auckland Modern Chinese School wassetup by the Chinese Community Association in New Zealand (Huang, 2004). There are600 students in this school, mainly being new immigrants and native-born Chinesechildren (Huang, 2004). Recently, the school opened three branches (Huang, 2004).These trends form the basis of our second proposition which is:

P2. Where there are significant Chinese migrant groups community-basedschools will meet the demand for education for new migrants and fornative-born Chinese children.

The relationship between cross-cultural education business and risk managementRisk is the uncertainty of the incident in the future (Chapman and Ward, 2003). The USproject management institution states that the risks to the management of interculturaleducation schools are caused by the potential impact of positive and negative events(Chapman and Ward, 2003). A positive event means that risk could bring beneficialopportunities for educational projects (Chapman and Ward, 2003). On the other handthe impact of a negative event means that risk could bring threats or crisis to the school

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(Chapman and Ward, 2003). It is thus clear that the risk itself is neutral, so the nature ofrisk depends on the level of the schools risk management.

Risk management is the core component of an organizational strategic managementplan (Froot et al., 1993). The objective of risk management is to continue to organize

benefits for their organizations (Froot etal., 1993). Through a series of practical steps, therisk controller systematically connects the risks with the relative management actionsin order to minimize their costs (Chapman and Ward, 2003). In running an interculturaleducation school using risk management techniques, the biggest challenge is tomaximize the schools combined revenue through systematic planning, implementationand control of the schools running risks by using general management methods(Chapman and Ward, 2003).

As a development strategy, using risk management as a sustainable developmenttool is the appropriate inevitable choice for intercultural education schools (Froot et al.,1993). In terms of target management, the ultimate objective of risk managementis to help intercultural education managers to follow a well-sustained and stabledevelopment path (Chapman and Ward, 2003). Managers need to develop managementsystems which acknowledge the importance of risk management in an interculturaleducational institution. Risk management will help the schools management team toknow what kinds of crises they will face and how to avoid them, so as to maximize thebenefits and the development of the school.

In the field of education management, the management of intercultural educationinstitutions is new, complex and quite difficult (Froot et al., 1993). Various organizationsare starting up in different countries, or working with different sponsoring organizations(Froot et al., 1993). These institutions face an open work environment, more externalinfluencing factors, high uncertainty, low task complexity, high innovation and highrisks in the operations of the school (Froot et al., 1993). In the process of institutionalmanagement, it is easy to cause the occurrence of risk events. For instance, if the director

or managers of a school do not know the foreign educational environment well, it cancreate a conflict of educational philosophies (Froot et al., 1993). Risks can be causedby such events as: countries political and military issues; high levels of competition inthe sector; departure of core teachers; personality clashes; personal injuries or accidents,serious mismanagement of the school and/or students and natural disasters suchas swine flu (Chapman and Ward, 2003). Therefore, understanding the risks and thereasons causing the risks is important for the directors of intercultural educationinstitutions in managing their businesses. This brings us to our final proposition:

P3. Where community-based schools are established to meet the needs of a migrantgroup wishing to retain contact with their own language and culture there ispotential for conflict between these institutions and the external environment.

However, it can also be viewed as an opportunity if risk managementtechniques are used to mitigate risk situations.

In summary then, the propositions outlined can be developed into a conceptual figurewhich shows the interaction between these elements and is then tested against theempirical evidence derived from the interview data at the case study site.

So, Figure 1 shows, the interaction between the three elements of the modelhas the potential to be either a vicious cycle of conflict (Tolentino, 1993) betweenthe community-based education based on Chinese educational philosophies

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and the educational objectives of the host country (assimilation) and the desire of parentsof New Zealand-born Chinese children to maintain a connection with their home countryculture. Or it could be a virtuous circle where the current and subsequent interactionsbetween the elements of the model lead to enhanced cultural understandings between

the new immigrants and the home country population. However, adding to this culturalmix are the tensions between the indigenous peoples of New Zealand, the Maori, tangatawhenua, who argue that they were not consulted about the shift in immigration policy in1987. Ip (2009, p. xi) convincingly argues that it was not the change of policyper se whichcaused the social disruption but that it was the advent of this new, apparently affluentand upwardly mobile social class [which] has become a convenient target of criticismfrom both Pakeha(European) and Maori.

MethodologyThis study is positioned as a contextualized case study. As Welch et al.(2011) point out,case study research is often used as an exploratory method (leading on to calls for further,

more rigorous research, i.e. quantitative survey research). However, Yin (2009), a longstanding exponent of case study research, has been at pains to emphasize that casestudies can be used as ways of proposing causal mechanisms and linkages and to testexisting theory. Welch et al. (2011) also argue against the de-contextualization of casestudies; in their analysis of case study research spread across three highly rankedjournals(Journal of International Business Studies,Academy of Management Journal, andJournalof Management Studies) they found that there is an entrenched view that context freeuniversalist knowledge is superior to that of context valid, localized knowledge.

Figure 1.An interaction modelof community-basededucation

Of community basedschoolsDemand for cross-

cultural education

Risk management for

development

Host Nation NZ Changingtrade,

Immigration, investment

and tourism patterns

FTA China/NZ

Limited Resources from

state education sources

promotes establishment

Potential conflict

between Chineseeducation

style/objectives

And host country

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It is difficult to see how a researcher can possibly ignore the context in which theresearch is undertaken particularly in the case of study such as this which makesexplicit the importance of context in explaining the different perspectives taken byimmigrant or New Zealand born Chinese students and the providers of a traditional

Confucian-based education in a community school.This research used qualitative in-depth interviews as the research method at a

single study site, namely; a community-based Chinese language school in a provincialcity in New Zealand. We used this approach to develop an understanding of the rich,complex and idiosyncratic nature of human phenomena (Cavana et al., 2000, p. 12) andgain an in-depth understanding of the ideas of the interviewees. The qualitativemethod mainly focuses on finding the reasons why people make decisions (Merriam,1988). Therefore, qualitative researchers prefer to choose specific and smaller groups ofpeople or samples for the investigation (Cavana et al., 2000). The advantage of thequalitative research method is that it can help develop a detailed understanding of theresearch project, but also it can help create new theories or concepts (Merriam, 1988).

However, the disadvantage of the qualitative research method is that it only focuseson a small group of interviewees (Merriam, 1988). Interviews from qualitative researchcannot be thought to be typical and comprehensive of the whole population. In terms ofthis research, the researchers used the method of face-to-face interviews with selectedpeople. Using face-to-face interviews helped the researchers to get a betterunderstanding of institute As administrative and educational conditions. Then,based on the results of the interviews, the researchers carried out a risk assessment tofind out what the risks are, how they can manage these risks and offer suggestions onhow to improve the management of their operations.

Data collection and analysisTen interviews were conducted with the principal, board members, teachers, local

students of institute A, students parents (both Chinese and New Zealand) and interestedparties (who were outside the institutional environment of institute A) to collect theprimary data for this research (Appendices 1-5). All of these people were interviewed,using a set of prepared, systematic and straight forward questions and discussing someissues and opinions with them through amplified and specific key questions. In thisresearch, the use of prepared and systematic questions avoided the chaotic and confusedissues that can appear in the process of an interview. Interviews were conducted in thenative language of the interviewee (either Mandarin or English) then, recorded (with thepermission of the interviewees) and the resulting tapes were then translated (if inMandarin) to English and then transcribed into written format.

In addition, secondary sources were consulted such as the sustainability reports ofcross-cultural businesses in New Zealand and relevant articles on cross-cultural

educational business. The research used content analysis as a technique (Krippendorf,2004) to examine the transcribed interview material to ascertain whether the institutesnew project carries any management risks and what issues they might face. FollowingKrippendorf (2009, p. 48) we listened to the linguistic expressions of the interviewees totry to understand what they meant to say and respect what they said in an account of thesituation in which they found themselves. For this reason the names of the institutionsand the identity of the interviewees has been disguised in order to maintain theirconfidentiality.

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FindingsCase backgroundThe case institution (institute A) is a not-for-profit community educational school in aprovincial city in New Zealand. Its main purpose is to teach Chinese language and

culture to local Chinese children who were born in New Zealand. The ultimate aim ofthe institute is for these children to understand Chinese traditions and to learn moreabout Chinese culture.

There are two main sources of income for the institute. One is through New ZealandGovernment funding which supports community education (although the expenditureon community education is increasingly coming under budgetary scrutiny). Anothersource is from students tuition fees (personal communication, principal M).

At the institute, the tuition fee for each student is currently NZD3.50 per hour. Thetotal number of students is around 100 and this number is quite stable. The basic incomeand expenditure is evenly balanced. The institute has been operating for 15 years andnow has about 20 employees including ten teachers. The wages for teachers areNZD15.00 per hour for each teacher. The principal said that the teachers and other staffin the institute are mainly driven by a dedication to this community work. Almost all ofthe teachers have little educational experience and only a few have qualifications andexperience of teaching in China (personal communication, principal M).

Table I reports on the characteristics of the institute (institute A) co-aligned with aninterpretation of transcriptions from the interviews.

The biggest competitor of institute A is a formal Chinese language school in the sameprovincial city, called institute B. It is a private school and also a non-profit organization.The differences between these two institutes are as follows. First, their purposes aredifferent. Institute B mainly focuses on education whereas institute As primary focus ison servicing the Chinese community in a New Zealand provincial city. Second, instituteA has operated for 15 years, but institute B has only been operating for four years. Third,

institute A has more interaction with social activities. For example, every year they willprovide performance opportunities for their students in the provincial city. On the otherhand institute B hasnever joined in these community activities.In addition,institute A isinvolved in after-school care for its students. There are specific after-school care teachersin institute A, but no additional fees are added for this service (personal communication,principal M).

The board members and principal of institute A are appointed by the parents ofstudents. The director and board are independent. The board focuses on the funding,but the director focuses on the management and administration (personalcommunication, principal M).

The results of interviewing board members, the principal and the CEO ofinstitute AThe purpose of interviewing board members, the principal and the CEO of institute Awas to find out about their aims and plans for institute As operation and themanagement concepts. We also wanted to know the advantages and issues of institute Afrom the angle of a practical manager. Here we report on dialogue which allows eachparticipant to interrogate his or her own history and grow beyond it (Krippendorf,2009, p. 48).

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Items

Characteris

tics/descriptions

Selectedpersonalcommunication

Unabletocommunicateanddiscussideasfreely

betweenmembers

ofstaff.Mismatchedgoalsandobjectives

Forinstance,intermsofplanningthepromotionofCh

ineseculture

tothelocalpeople,themembersofthemanagementte

amhave

differentideas.On\theotherhandtheCEOisultracons

ervativeand

hejustwantstomaintainthepresentstudentlevels.E

venso,they

actuallydidnotknowabouteachothersideas(person

al

communication,CEON)

Opportunity

Potentialm

arketsexistWiththeExpoandOlym

picGamesbeing

heldinChi

na,moreandmoreforeignersarebeg

inningtopay

attentiontoChineseculture.EspeciallysinceChinaandNew

Zealandha

vesignedafreetradeagreement,whichisbeneficialfor

ChinesepromotionbytheinstitutetoNewZeala

ndstudentsand

businesspeople(ChinaFTA,2010;NZIER,2005)

Forexample,I[thePrincipal]wouldprefertopromoteChinese

culturetothelocalpeopleandexpandtheireducation

market

(personalcommu

nication,principalM)

Threats

Internalmanagementconfusionandhavingnounifiedorganization,

coordinatio

nandmanagementcapacity.Thissituationcausesthe

principaltocarryaworkoverloadandthereare

resultantrisksto

CLCsoperatingstructure

Duetotheoperationalconceptofacommunityeducation,the

institutehaslimitedcapacityinitsmanagementando

peration

(personalcommu

nication,principalM)

Managementstaffdonothaveprofessionalknowledge

Studentexpectationsarenotbeingmet.Mismatchbetweenteaching

experience

receivedattheirregularschoolsand

experienceatthe

institute

Futuredevelopmentmaybecomprisedbecauseo

fthelowpayissue

whichmak

esitdifficulttoretaingoodteachers

Thelackofprofessionalmanagementknowledgeisalsoathreatto

instituteA(pers

onalcommunication,teacherA)

Theirregularmethodofrecruitingteachersisahuge

threatand

couldruintheinstitutesreputation(personalcommunication,

teacherA)

Thelowpayfor

teachersisalsoathreatbecausethe

lowsalary

structuremakesithardtoretaingoodteachersanditwillbea

barriertothedevelopmentoftheinstitute(personalcom

munication,

teacherB)

Table I.

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From the results of interviewing board members, the principal and the CEO of,institute As the research found that the CEO and most board members did not have acomprehensive knowledge of the operational status of the school. In addition theoperational approach of institute As management team is very conservative. The goal

of board members, principal and CEO of institute A is just trying to make ends meetfinancially. They do want to find new opportunities for institute A but most of themare finding this quite difficult. Although the principals view of institute A is relativelyopen, he cannot work out the conservative operational status of institute A. Themanagement team believed that the advantage of institute A is its community natureand they get along well with the local Chinese community. So they get a regular flow ofstudents from the local Chinese community. They also said that they have run instituteA for many years, and they have enough teaching experience. They believed that themajor issues are a lack of capital and having enough staff and good teachers. Theseissues hamper institute As development and achievement of the status their studentswant (personal communication, board members, the principal and the CEO).

The principal also said that he wants to expand the Chinese cultural educational

market to local students in New Zealand, but the problem is that he has no idea how toaccomplish this and he does not know whether he can attract enough local students toexpand thistype of education intothe local market (personal communication, principal M).

The results of interviewing the teachers of institute AThe purpose of interviewing the teachers in institute A was to find out how theyrecruited teachers and why they wanted to teach at the institute. We also wanted tofind out the teachers viewpoints on the issues facing the institute.

In terms of the results from interviewing teachers in institute A, we found that bothTeachers A and B knew about the institute through the local Chinese newspaper. Themotivations for both teachers to join the institute were an interest in teaching and to gain

work experience. Another reason is that both of them thought that teaching Chinesecourses in an overseas country is a meaningful thing and can help Chinese people inoverseas countries to inherit Chinese culture. The teachers thought that one of theadvantages of the institute is that it has been operational for a long time (15 years) andthe teachers have a systematic teaching method. Also the teachers have more Chineseteaching experience. The main issue that the teachers found was that some of theteachers in the institute found it hard to adapt to local students ways of learning. Theway of local students learning is exactly opposite to the way of teaching in China. Thiscreated conflict between the students and the teachers. Second, they found that the lowcash flow in the institute results in low pay for teachers, making it hard to recruit goodteachers. This could impact on the quality of teaching. Finally, they questioned the waythe school recruits its teachers. Teacher A said that most teachers did not have previous

teaching experience so they lacked professional educational knowledge. This affects thequality of the students learning experience (personal communication, teachers A and B).

Interviews with New Zealand studentsThe purpose of interviewing New Zealand students at the institute was to find out whythese students go to the institute; why they want to learn the Chinese language; whatproblems they experience in their learning and what they like about studying at theinstitute.

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A New Zealand university student (H) came to institute A, because he wanted to learnthe Chinese language and understand Chinese culture. His reasons were twofold; one isthat he has a lot of Chinese friends, which made him interested in Chinese culture. Theother reason is that he wants to go to China to work or to do business with Chinese

companies in the future. H quite likes the friendly atmosphere at institute A, but he saidthat he did not like his Chinese teachers teaching style. All of his classmates want tochange their present teacher and get someone who is more professional. Anotherproblem is they do not want to have classes at the weekendas this New Zealand weekend(a two day holiday) is sacrosanct (personal communication, student H).

Interviews with New Zealand parentsNew Zealand parents of students at institute A were asked the same questions. Whythey wanted to send their children to attend institute A; what problems they found asparents and what they liked about the school.

A New Zealand students mother (C), stated she wanted her child to study aChinese dancing course because her child is half Chinese and her child has an interestin Chinese dancing. Mother C also wants her child to learn more about the Chineselanguage and culture before she grows older. The problem for Mother C at the instituteis that she finds it is hard to communicate with most Chinese parents. Institute A offersstudents limited chances to get to know each other better. Mother C said that she needsthe opportunity to learn about Chinese family culture and she wants to be able toget along with other Chinese students families. However, she likes the friendly studyatmosphere at institute A and she has an appreciation of the teacher who teaches herchild (personal communication, mother C).

Interviews with interested parties (outsiders) on institute AThe purpose of interviewing the outsiders of institute A was to find out if local people

have any interest in Chinese culture and what they know about institute A. We alsowanted to find out whether they have been exposed to Chinese culture and what theirfeelings about China were.

Mr A has an interest in Chinese culture and he has a basic knowledge of the Chineselearning school. He said that he already knows something of Chineseculture and history.Although he cannot speak Chinese, he knows some Chinese words and greetings.He thought that China is the most interesting country in the world and that it is goingthrough a transition from the old communist system to a vibrant capitalist basedeconomy with corresponding social changes. He said that he has a lot of Chinese friendsand students. If he had a chance to learn the Chinese language, he would be able tocommunicate with his Chinese friends and students better and this would be his reasonfor learning the Chinese language (Personal communication with outsider, Mr A).

DiscussionThe first main issue is that the management team of institute A generally thought thatcommunity-based education organizations should not put monetary gain as their firstpriority. They thought the operational ways of institute A should be open and impartialthough they thought that they needed to address the issue of lack of capital if they wishedto pursue future development. According to studies of community-based educationthe purpose of community education is not to aim for maximum profit,

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but it also does not mean that they should always provide free benefits.Community-based education also needs to address the issues of survival anddevelopment. That is to say, the principal contradiction is that the open and impartialoperational style which institute A has chosen to pursue is a barrier to its future

development.The second issue is that some board members of the institute are still shackled by

traditional thinking. They have not developed a formal marketing system, which leadsto low work efficiency. As Principal M said, some of theboard members have realized theimportance of marketing and they had begun to make marketing an important part oftheir function (personal communication, principal M). Expanding on this issue suggeststhat the first reason for the low efficiency of institute A is that they lack ideas or anyconcepts about marketing. Community educational institutions have only recentlybegun to embrace modern marketing theories (compared with for profit firms) andthey tend to use these theories less in daily practice. This results in a lack of expertise inthe area of marketing (Bryson, 1988). The lack of ideas in institute As managementteam is the fundamental reason for the low effectiveness and efficiency in theorganization.

The third main issue is that community educators often do not know anythingabout market demand for their services. The weakness is that the organization has notinvestigated the market demand in enough depth (Bryson, 1988). Through interviewingthe management team of institute A, the researchers found that the management teamknew little about the local market. They said that they had not found out whatNew Zealanders think about Chinese learning. So they cannot understand thedevelopmental patterns and trends of the cultural and language education market(Bryson, 1988).

The fourth issue is that institute A lacks market positioning and market breakdown.Community education has not undertaken any systematic, qualitative analysis of the

market and forecasting, to help theme target customers (Bryson, 1988). In the case ofinstitute A, the management team does not have a systematic approach to its operations.For example, ten-year-old students share the same class with five-year old students andhave done so for many years. This situation has certainly caused dissatisfaction amongthe parents of students.

The fifth issue is that there is the potential for cultural conflict between the teachersand students in institute A. The cultural conflict issuewas first pointed out by Froot etal.(1993), who stated that when organizations start operating in different countries or arecooperating with different cultural sponsoring organizations risk events are likely toemerge. The cultural conflict was reflected in an incident where students from one classall asked to change their Chinese teacher, because they did not want to put up with theirteachers teaching style any longer.

The last main issue is related to institute As poor innovation ability. In terms of theconcept of educational innovation, it lacks the required knowledge. The administratorsand most of the teachers still remain in the stage of Chinese exam-oriented education.They have not considered or factored in foreign educational philosophy. This situationhas caused most local students to say that they cannot accept the teaching methods oftheir Chinese teachers. However, the Chinese teachers in institute A have not attemptedto change the ways in which they are teaching. This has led to teaching ineffectivenessand a decline in satisfaction and has damaged their reputation.

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Conclusions and implicationsIn this section, we return to the propositions developed from the literature review,expressed in the model in Figure 1 and demonstrate how these propositions hold up inlight of the evidence provided from the empirical research from the interviews carried

out at the case study site.OurP1 was:

P1. Changes in the composition of New Zealand society and increasinginteractions in trade and tourism will lead to increased demand forcross-cultural language and learning.

This proposition is partially supported from the secondary evidence examined.Although the principle of language learning is recognized by policy makers; in reality analready overcrowded curriculum in primary and secondary schools and a commitmentto provide language support and cultural learning to revive and retain the indigenouslanguage (Te Reo Maori) demonstrates that there is limited support for the inclusion ofother foreign languages (at least in the state sector). From the empirical evidenceprovided we can conclude that the demand for Chinese language and cultural course isprimarily driven by the desire of Chinese parents of New Zealand-born children tomaintain a connection with their ancestry and culture. This, however, conflicts withwhat happens in mainstream education of New Zealand-born children of foreignparentage.

As they assimilate into the New Zealand culture, their links with their Chinese heritageand language become more tenuous. The New Zealand-born children become theinterpreters of their host countrys mores for their parents and even their grand-parents asthey immigrate to New Zealand through family re-unification policies. This policy hasprovisions for older parents to come to New Zealand provided that younger familymembers are able to provide financial guarantees with regard to medical care and support.

As for P2, this stated that:P2. Where there are significant Chinese migrant groups community-based

schools will meet the demand for education for new migrants and fornative-born Chinese children.

This proposition is supported by the evidence examined. Parents of New Zealand-bornchildren (even if only of half-Chinese ancestry) wish their children to learn about theircultural roots, their ancestry and their language. Given that there is now significantmigration from Chinese speaking migrant groups, this could serve as a futureadvantage for these students; if they are able to develop and maintain a bi-lingual oreven a multi-lingual orientation this would bode well for their future careers. TheEuropean model of multi-lingual capability is one that could be utilized.

The community-based schools seem to be filling the gap where the provision oflanguage learning and traditional cultural activities is concerned. The perceived gap isthe gradual but seemingly inevitable decline of interest in other foreign languagecompetence and training in the tertiary education sector in the mistaken belief thatEnglish is the global medium of communication. While other countries have mandatedlanguage learning at the primary and secondary school levels, the New Zealandeducation system has made no such provision and the declining enrolments in foreignlanguage courses in New Zealand universities means that there will be a skills shortage

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in the future if the policy to effect the introduction of foreign languages in schools is to befollowed. Most worryingly, foreign languages are principally taught in English andparticipating students have limited capability to be able to speak the language they arelearning after completion of their courses.

P3stated that:

P3. Where community-based schools are established to meet the needs of a migrantgroup wishing to retain contact with their own language and culture there ispotential for conflict between these institutions and the external environment.However, it can also be viewed as an opportunity if risk managementtechniques are used to mitigate risk situations.

This proposition is supported by the empirical evidence from the case study. As acommunity not-for-profit institute their objectives are to serve the community throughlanguage courses and cultural activities. However, operating a traditional institution in anenvironment which is markedly different, in terms of teachingphilosophy and style, wherethe students learn in an after-school setting, means that, inherently, there is potential forconflict.Although the institute recognizes the potential for development by reachingout tothe local community, their limited resources, in both capital and human resources, meansthat they are unable to undertake the necessary market analysis, market research andmarket positioning to be able to determine exactly how they should go down this route.

Finally, by articulating some of these issues for the institute we hope that we canoffer some insights for the institute and for other community organizations operatingin New Zealand and elsewhere of the potential conflict that may exist between theespoused goals of these organizations and what, in reality, they can offer.

References

Bryson, J.M. (1988), A strategic planning process for public and non-profit organizations,

Long Range Planning, Vol. 21 No. 1, pp. 73-81.

Cavana, R.Y., Delahaye, B.L. and Sekaran, U. (2000), Applied Business Research, Wiley,New York, NY, p. 65.

Chapman, C. and Ward, S. (2003),Project Risk Management: Processes, Techniques and Insights ,Wiley, New York, NY.

Chen, X. (2008), No passion for New Zealanders learning Chinese, available at: http://news.ifeng.com/world/2/200802/0228_2591_416817.shtml (accessed December 12, 2010).

China FTA (2010), Import and Export Statistics: Statistics NZ, available at: www.chinafta.govt.nz/3-Progressing-the-FTA/1-Why-China/Key-economic-statistics/0-nz-total-imports.php(accessed December 12, 2010).

Edwards, R. (2001), Children, Home and School: Regulation, Autonomy or Connection?,

Routledge, New York, NY.Froot, K.A., Scharfstein, D.S. and Stein, J.C. (1993), Risk management: coordinating corporate

investment and financing policies,The Journal of Finance, Vol. 48 No. 5, pp. 1629-58.

Huang, L. (2004), Research on Community Education, Shanghai Press, Shanghai.

Ip, M. (2003), Preface, in Ip, M. (Ed.), Unfolding History, Evolving Identity: The Chinese inNew Zealand, Auckland University Press, Auckland, pp. xi-xvi.

Ip, M. (2009), Introduction, in Ip, M. (Ed.), The dragon & the taniwha : Maori & Chinese inNew Zealand, Auckland University Press, Auckland.

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Krippendorf, K. (2004), Content Analysis: An Introduction to its Methodology, 2nd ed., Sage,Thousand Oaks, CA.

Krippendorf, K. (2009), Major communication metaphors, in Bermejo, F. (Ed.),On Communicating Otherness, Meaning and Information, Routledge, New York, NY, p. 48.

Li, S. (2010), The significance of cooperation between China and New Zealand, available at:http://politics.people.com.cn/GB/1026/11886046.html (accessed December 12, 2010).

Merriam, S.B. (1988), Case Study Research in Education. A Qualitative Approach, Jossey-Bass,San Francisco, CA.

NCEA (2010), Defining Community Education, available at: www.ncea.com/defining_community_education.aspx (accessed 15 May, 2011).

Nie, R. (n.d.), Cooperation and Communication with Foreign Countries, available at: http://202.205.177.9/edoas/website18/62/info1226296320482262.htm (accessed December 12, 2010).

NZIER (2005), The Asian dimension in New Zealand business education, available at:www.asianz.org.nz/sites/asianz.org.nz/files/AsiaNZ%20NZIER_BusinessEducation05.pdf (accessed December 15, 2010).

OSullivan, F. (2008),Trade agreement just the start,available at: www.nzherald.co.nz/trade-deal-with-china/news/article.cfm?c_id1501819&objectid10502506 (accessed March 10, 2011).

Pang, D. (2003), Education, politics and Chinese New Zealander identities: the case of the 1995Epsom Normal Primary Schools residency clause and english test, in Ip, M. (Ed.),Unfolding History, Evolving Identity: The Chinese in New Zealand, Auckland UniversityPress, Auckland, pp. 236-57.

Robinson, G.L.N. (1981), Issues in Second Language and Cross-cultural Education: The Forestthrough the Trees, Heinle and Heinle, Boston, MA.

Tolentino, P. (1993), Technological Innovation and Third World Multinationals, Routledge,London.

Tourism New Zealand (2011), Visitor Arrivals, available at: www.tourismnewzealand.com/markets-and-stats/north-asia/china/visitor-arrivals/ (accessed May 15, 2011).

Wang, Z. (2005), Community Education and Learning Community, China Society Press, Beijing.

Welch, C., Piekkari, R., Plakoyiannaki, E. and Paavilainen-Mantymaki, E. (2011), Theorizingfrom case studies: towards a pluralist future for international business research,Journalof International Business Studies, Vol. 42 No. 5, pp. 740-62.

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Yang, Y. (2000),National Community Education Concept, Shanghai University Press, Shanghai.

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Further reading

Anheier, H.K. and Seibel, W. (1990), The Third Sector: Comparative Studies of Non-profitOrganizations, Walter de Gruyter, New York, NY.

Renz, D. and Herman, R.D. (2010), The Jossey-Bass Handbook of Nonprofit Leadership andManagement, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA.

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Appendix 1. Interview questions for students attending institute A

1. What is your Chinese language level?

2. Are you or your parents of Chinese descent?

3. Why are you attending institute A?4. Do your enjoy learning at institute A?

5. What kind of Chinese courses are you interested in?

6. How well do you interact with your teacher at institute A?

7. Are the teachers and staff at the institute friendly and approachable?

8. Are you happy with how you are progressing at institute A?

9. Do you think that institute A provides a friendly atmosphere for learning?

10. Do you want to join the activities held by institute A? Would you be interested incross-cultural activities?

11. What are your kiwi (New Zealand) friends feelings about Chinese culture?

12. Do you have any problems or issues at institute A?

Appendix 2. Interview questions for parents with students attending institute A

1. Are you or your partner of Chinese descent?

2. Why are your children attend\ing institute A?

3. Does your child/do your children enjoy learning at institute A?

4. What kind of Chinese courses are you interested in?

5. How is your interaction with the teacher at institute A?

6. Are the teachers and staff of institute A friendly and approachable?

7. Are you happy with how your child is progressing at institute A?

8. Do you think that institute A provides a friendly atmosphere for learning?9. Do you want to join the activities held by institute A? Would you be interested in

cross-cultural activities?

10. What do your friends think about Chinese culture?

11. Do you have any problems or issues with institute A?

Appendix 3. Interview questions for people (randomly selected outsiders)

1. Do you have any interest in Chinese culture? Would you be interested in participating inChinese language or Chinese culture learning courses?

2. How much do you know about institute A in city Y?

3. If you had a chance to gain experience of learning Chinese culture, what kind of coursewould you want to choose?

4. If you wanted to attend Chinese culture courses, what would you expect to pay forthem?

5. If you wanted to learn about Chinese culture, what method would you prefer, private tuitionor classroom learning?

6. What would be your requirements from a chosen school?

7. How much do you know about China? Can you speak Chinese?

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8. If you chose to learn Chinese language, what would be your purpose?

9. What do you think of China as a country?

Appendix 4. Interview questions for board members, the principal and the CEO ofinstitute A

1. What are the main features of the school? What kind of institute is it?

2. What are the main purposes of this school?

3. What is the value and cultural philosophy of the school?

4. What is the schools current operational scale and scope? How long has it been operating?

5. Do you have any ideas about your competitors? What is the schools major competitivestrength?

6. What are the main courses? How students experience Chinese culture (through what kindof programs and activities?

7. Where do most of the students come from? How do you let them know about your school?

Are there any local students in your school? Do you have any ideas about their attitudesand perceptions toward your teaching courses?

8. How many teachers are there in your school? How do they find out about your school?What about their current salaries/wage scale?

9. Are you clear about your own advantages and disadvantages?

10. Do you regularly keep contact with the students parents? How often?

11. Could you comment on your schools financial situation?

12. Do you have any ideas about why students and teachers come to this school?

13. What about the board and management structure?

14. What is the age distribution of the students (including non-Chinese students)?

15. How do you assess the teaching quality and how do you improve it?

16. What is the biggest challenge faced by the school? Are there any other difficulties inoperating the school?

17. Do you have any expectations/plans about schools future development?

Appendix 5. Interview questions with teachers at institute A

1. How did you find out about the school?

2. Why did you select this school to teach at?

3. Are you satisfied with the current salary scale at the school? What do you think about theschools management (are there any problems at the school)? Do you have somesuggestions about how these problems (if any) may be resolved?

4. Are you clear about schools value concept and teaching purpose?

5. What are your main feelings about working here?

6. What do you think are the biggest challenges faced by the school?

7. Do you regularly keep contact and interact with the students parents?

8. Where are those students mainly coming from?

9. How many non-Chinese students are in your school (class)? Have you ever communicatedwith them to know their study interests and requirements? Do they regularly attend theclass or not? Do you have any idea why they are studying here?

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10. Do you often interact with the students after class?

11. How long do you spend preparing the teaching courses each week?

12. How is teaching quality measured by the management of the school?

13. What do you think are the advantages of the school? Have you ever found somechallenges and difficulties during working here?

14. If the school wants to promote the Chinese cultural education to locals in New Zealand,what do you think of that idea? Will you support it or not?

15. Do you have any expectations/suggestions about schools future development and yourown value enhancement?

About the authorsDr Michele E.M. Akoorie is an Associate Professor in the Department of Strategy and HumanResource Management, Waikato Management School, The University of Waikato, New Zealand.She is a graduate of the University of Auckland, New Zealand (BA in English and History), holdsan MBA (with distinction) in Export Management and International Business from City

University, London (now the Sir John Cass Business School) and a DPhil in InternationalManagement from the University of Waikato. Michele E.M. Akoorie is the corresponding authorand can be contacted at: [email protected]

Dr Qiang Ding is an Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Strategy and Human ResourceManagement, Waikato Management School, The University of Waikato, New Zealand. He holdsa Masters Degree in International Affairs (World History) from Nanjing University (PR China),a second Masters Degree in International Business and Management from Massey University(Albany, Auckland) and a PhD in International Management from the University of Waikato.

Yafei Li is an international Masters student majoring in Finance at the Waikato ManagementSchool. She has experience in multicultural research and practice having organized manycross-cultural activities with students from different cultures. Yafei Li has been involved inhosting large cultural activities for international students at the Waikato Management Schoolsuch as the Chinese Lantern Festival, Chinese Sports Day and the Hamilton Rainbow Concert.

Yafei Li has also taught on an after school program for the United Somali Community Trust andhas also worked for the Rainbow Chinese Community Centre. Her research interests covercross-cultural communication and studies, the international business environment andinternational business strategy.

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