Introduction

Recent studies on transnational education (TNE) emphasise the scale, scope , and strategic importance of TNE for the UK higher education sector and note the diversity of the models in operation and of the motivations fuelling them (WECD 2018; HE Global 2016). Of the different delivery methods, the most common is collaborative provision whereby the UK institution partners with an overseas institution (WECD 2018). China is a major hosting country for such collaborations and has a relatively high concentration of UK HEIs operating TNE programmes (HE Global 2016), though here too there is great diversity in size, priorities and approach. There are multiple challenges associated with these TNE partnerships, many of which relate to the quality assurance of providing education across borders. Successful TNE engagement benefits from commitment, resources and collaboration to ensure academic quality. This case study explores one aspect of this engagement, namely, capacity building through ongoing staff development developed specifically for the Chinese TNE context. This chapter focuses on a training programme designed by the University of Reading for the teaching staff employed at NUIST-Reading Academy, a Sino-British joint institute in China. A Knowledge Management framework has been employed in order to explore how such capacity building engages knowledge creation and innovative practice. Based on this chapter’s findings we offer some recommendations for future practice.

Literature Review

Previous research into the experiences of academic staff involved in TNE delivery has highlighted the significant challenges associated with TNE teaching as is seen in the metaphors used by researchers in this area. Flying faculty may face ‘disorienting dilemmas’ (Smith 2014: 118); staff in branch campuses may feel as if they are ‘serving two masters’ (Dobos 2011) or even ‘sinking in the sand’ (Smith 2009a). Many of these challenges relate to tensions inherent to the complexities of working to two sets of systems, practices, regulations and expectations while seeking to ensure a quality teaching and learning experience for students. Dobos’ (2011) interviews with academics at an offshore campus in Malaysia led her to identify key concerns about a lack of equality or professional recognition from the sending institution and a desire for better communication. These two themes had equal, or even greater, importance than quality assurance and curriculum matters. In fact, Dobos concludes that the issue of professional treatment is seen to be the most important and underpins their feelings about the rest of their academic work.

Smith (2009) sees these challenging TNE teaching experiences as offering great potential for transformative professional development as long as appropriate support is provided. Staff support and development is therefore a crucial need in the TNE context: ‘professional development of all staff involved in transnational partnerships has become a component of a quality regime’ (Hicks and Jarrett 2008: 239). However, some studies have found that professional development and induction programmes have not always been sufficiently adapted to match the needs of transnational staff (Hicks and Jarrett 2008; Smith 2009a). Leask et al. (2005) further specify that in the complex and demanding intercultural TNE environment, teachers may also need specific types of support and development at different stages in their careers. They outline three ‘guiding principles’ for academic staff’s continuing professional development (CPD) in these contexts. These are that the professional development of academic staff needs to involve tutors from the local and sending institution, address the intercultural nature of TNE teaching and be able to take into account the different backgrounds/knowledge of the individuals involved. These principles suggest the importance of collaboration, intercultural sensitivity, and flexibility to the success of any TNE professional development programme. Keevers et al. (2014) emphasise these same points while additionally noting that such development activities should be practice-based as well as contextualised. It thus seems to be the case that TNE staff development is an area that could benefit from further research (O’Mahony 2014). There are still relatively few studies focused on TNE-specific CPD and even fewer on the development needs of local staff in offshore locations (Hicks and Jarrett 2008).

Theoretical Framework

The joint education institute (JEI) represents an innovative enterprise for the partnership institutions. As expected by China’s Ministry of Education, such education partnerships are to introduce new resources and innovative practices in pedagogy and management so as to enhance the quality of China’s higher education. The authors of this chapter see staff development as contributing to capacity building and innovative practice in such a context and feel Knowledge Management (KM), as discussed in Li and Edwards (2014) in the context of staff development and innovation, can help to frame their discussion.

KM means the way in which knowledge is created and managed in an organisation in order to achieve innovation. Within KM, two types of knowledge are contrasted: explicit and tacit knowledge. Explicit knowledge can be clearly stated (Polanyi 1967) or codified, which ‘involves know-how that is transmittable in formal, systematic language and does not require direct experience of the knowledge that is being acquired’ (Howells 2002: 872). Tacit knowledge, on the other hand, refers to the unarticulated or embedded elements of knowledge in people’s mind (Garavelli et al. 2002; Miller 2008). It includes ‘subjective insights, intuitions, and hunches … and is deeply rooted in an individual’s action and experience, as well as in the ideals, values, or emotions he or she embraces’ (Nonaka and Takeuchi 1995: 8).

Nonaka and Takeuchi’s (1995) model of knowledge helps to explain how the two types of knowledge are created and interact with each other. For example, tacit knowledge is acquired through socialisation and internalisation of explicit knowledge and explicit knowledge is created through a combination of explicit knowledge and externalisation of tacit knowledge. They represent two extremes of a knowledge continuum (See also Li and Edwards 2014) (See Fig. 9.1).

Fig. 9.1
figure 1

Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995) model of knowledge conversion and knowledge continuum. (Adapted by Li and Edwards 2014: 90)

Full size image

Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995) used the metaphor of the ‘knowledge spiral’ to characterise the dynamic process of organisational knowledge creation (see Fig. 9.2). There are two dimensions of organisational knowledge creation: epistemological and ontological. The epistemological dimension is represented by the knowledge continuum and the interaction between the two types of knowledge as outlined above. The ontological dimension represents different levels of knowledge creation, e.g. from individual to group, organisation, and inter-organisation. It depicts the social process of knowledge sharing and creation. The dynamic interaction along the two dimensions of the knowledge spiral accelerates the expansion and creation of knowledge and drives innovation within an organisation and beyond.

Fig. 9.2
figure 2

Spiral of organisational knowledge creation (Nonaka and Takeuchi 1995: 72)

Full size image

The present study aims to answer the following research questions using the KM framework:

  1. 1.

    To what extend do CPD activities contribute to capacity building and help drive innovation in teaching at the JEI?

  2. 2.

    What are the main issues and challenges?

Methods

A case study design was used to explore staff development issues at NUIST-Reading Academy in some depth. This not-for-profit JEI and non-independent legal entity was established in 2015 with the formal approval of the Chinese Ministry of Education. The Chinese partner, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology (NUIST), is located in southeast China. NUIST has approximately 35,000 students studying a wide range of subjects including science, technology, arts and humanities and business studies. It is one of the ‘Double First Class’ Universities in China, leading in one subject area in the country. The University of Reading, the UK partner, is located in southeast England. It is a medium-sized university with slightly over 20,000 students in a wide range of programmes including science, life science, social science, arts and humanities and finance and business. It typically ranks among the top 30 universities in the UK with several world-leading subjects. Both institutions have internationalisation as part of their mission statements. Building on previous collaboration between academics in individual disciplines in the two institutions, it was felt that establishment of the JEI would help expand the scope of the collaboration and promote their internationalisation agendas.

The JEI currently operates a 4+0 franchised model of delivery through which approximately 300 students per year are enrolled on one of several dual-award degree programmes. Under this model, although students are entitled to stay at the JEI for the four years if they elect to (hence the 4+0), as stipulated by the Chinese Ministry of Education the expectation is that most students will spend the first three years studying in China and transfer to the UK for the final year of their degree. Teaching at the JEI mostly follows the UK curricula, is through the medium of English, and is delivered primarily by academic staff employed by the JEI. The academic staff include both English-language teachers and subject teachers. The majority of the lecturers of English are recruited from within China with many of them having lived or studied overseas, though not necessarily in the UK. A smaller number are recruited internationally and may or may not have experience of UK higher education but have suitable experience of EAP (English for Academic Purposes). This requirement mirrors the traditional strength of the University of Reading, which believes a strong foundation in EAP is directly relevant to students’ academic success on the programme. Among the subject teachers, some are recruited internationally with full time engagement at the JEI. A minimum requirement for these teachers is that they are PhD holders, although their teaching experiences vary. Additional teaching is brought in from the relevant schools at NUIST with staff who have overseas study and/or work experience, typically in Western countries, and who are expected to deliver the relevant programme in English. A proportion of the teaching is delivered by flying faculty from the UK, usually during two-week visits once per semester.

With the varied backgrounds of the staff involved in the delivery of the programme and the transition the JEI is expected to make, particularly in English language teaching from EGP (English for General Purposes) to EAP, staff development was perceived by the management of NUIST-Reading Academy as key to its success. Since 2015 the University of Reading has undertaken a programme of staff development activities delivered by their staff locally in China and in the UK. The staff development programme has two main purposes. Firstly, it is to ensure quality through staff development and capacity building by aligning academic practices at the JEI with those at Reading. Secondly, it is to help and support academic staff at the JEI to achieve the so-called “RTS (Recognised Teacher Status)” of Reading. It comprises six criteria that include CPD in addition to academic qualifications and experience. Two teams of academics have been involved in the delivery of the programme – academic developers from the staff development centre at Reading and EAP teacher trainers from a specialist school at the university. The staff development programme has been designed and developed at Reading based on similar activities already taking place there. The generic component of the training programme has been designed for all the academic staff involved in teaching at the JEI to ensure that the lecturers have the knowledge and skills they need in order to effectively support student learning on a UK degree, especially in approaches to areas such as assessment and active learning. It typically lasts up to three days, including the weekend, delivered at the JEI by two academic developers travelling to China. Organisation of the training activities is supported by the senior management of the JEI. In addition, teacher training specialists in EAP have delivered one- to two-week sessions on EAP to the English-language lecturers only. These sessions have taken place either in China or the UK.

Within the present case design, two types of data have been collected: focus groups (FGs) and document analysis, with the former constituting the main sources of data. Four focus groups were conducted – two with training providers from the University of Reading and two with the course participants at NUIST-Reading Academy. Details of the focus groups are provided in Table 9.1 below.

Table 9.1 Focus groups
Full size table

Both the subject teacher and the English-language teacher groups comprise locally recruited Chinese teachers or teachers ‘loaned’ to the JEI from academic schools of NUIST and internationally recruited teachers. Arranging focus groups with academic staff at the JEI was logistically challenging. It was hoped that the authors could conduct face-to-face FGs during their trips to China; however, it turned out to be impossible to arrange due to the tight schedule of the visits and the timetable of the teaching at the JEI. In the end, it was decided that the only feasible solution was to conduct the FGs via Skype link. As is sometimes the case, technology is not always reliable. Although the Skype with the English language teacher FG went smoothly, it did not work well with the subject lecturer FG. Only brief answers to the questions could be elicited, thus lacking in depth compared with the other focus groups. FGs were conducted in English in all cases and facilitated by either or both authors. Questions explored include the training they have provided/participated in, motivation of the participants, benefits and challenges and impact of training on their practice. Ethics approval was granted by the University of Reading. Prior written consent was obtained from all the FG members, including permission to audio-record the discussions to facilitate transcription and analysis.

Validity and trustworthiness have been improved via triangulation of both data sources (e.g. training providers and participants) and through validation of the analysis and identification of the main themes by the present two authors. The main findings are reported below around the main themes identified.

Results

KM at the Individual Level

Motivation and Expectations

KM at the individual level reflects individual efforts to convert knowledge to achieve innovation. Motivation to participate in staff development activities can be seen as the starting point in the knowledge management process at the individual level. The following is a brief summary of the motivation and enthusiasm as reported by the participating teachers and observed by the EAP trainers and academic developers.

The development programme was mandatory for the teaching staff at the JEI but the focus groups indicated that participants were generally enthusiastic and interested in taking part. This was the observation of the Reading staff delivering the program who mostly felt that the participants had had good levels of motivation and engagement in relation to the sessions. The two EAP trainers described the teachers in their sessions as ‘generally pretty motivated, willing to participate, learn and contribute – to varying degrees’. They remembered only one particular participant who had been more sceptical. The academic developers also reported seeing positive attitudes, perceiving the majority of the subject teachers as willing and as engaging with a ‘great opportunity’. However, they saw differences between cohort groups and had experienced one year when some international staff visibly lacked enthusiasm. The developers expressed uncertainty about whether this was due to a lack of understanding about the course aims, the bad timing of the course (scheduled over a weekend) or to a sense on the part of the lecturers in question that they were too experienced. They had subsequently tried to address all of these potential issues in the design and delivery of later sessions and did feel matters had improved.

For one of the subject teachers it was only about fulfilling a requirement, but two others described having additional interests beyond the fact it was mandatory. In one case it was to improve teaching skills and, in the other, it was to learn how courses were taught at the University of Reading. The EAP teachers echoed this interest in acquiring new skills or knowledge, especially as preparation for delivering a new curriculum and meeting new teaching needs. There was a sense that the training could fill gaps in their knowledge in relation to the pedagogy of Reading and to EAP teaching in particular. As Tina explained ‘We took the training so we could be better prepared for our teaching’. (EAP teacher – local Chinese).

Experience of Training

An analysis of the end course evaluations indicate that the participants had positive views of the training overall and the FGs helped to shed further light on their experiences. For both the subject teachers and EAP teachers, the generic training offered by the academic developers helped them to understand academic practice at Reading and some relevant policies and procedures. The following are some examples:

They gave us a flavour of what Reading’s about and were useful that way. (Joe, EAP teacher – international)

We spent a lot of time discussing different forms of assessment and assignment, formative and summative. Probably that part is the one that I found most useful or I applied most in my courses here at the [JEI]. (Pat, subject teacher – international)

Based on the [Reading] training I received, it was quite insightful to know more about receiving proper feedback from the students on a periodical basis just so I can improve my teaching and also be more involved with the students. (John, subject teacher – international)

It was also interesting to note that both sets of teachers commented on not remembering the details of the training, or ever receiving such training at all, on Reading’s policy and procedure. It was possibly either due to the time lapse between the training and the present study or due to different interpretations of policy and procedure, e.g. whether exam policy and procedure counts since they did talk about the usefulness of the training in that respect.

Additionally, for the English language teachers, EAP represents a new body of knowledge and skills to be acquired as most teachers had only had EFL (English as a Foreign Language) or EGP teaching experience prior to the training. This state of affairs was recognised by both the EAP teachers and EAP trainers.

During the training and staff development sessions the course participants were exposed to a large amount of explicit knowledge, whether it was in the form of specific pedagogical skills or more general academic practice of the university. However, they also had the opportunity to engage in interaction with both the trainers and their fellow participants as a Community of Practice (CoP) and reflecting on pedagogical skills and activities and the rationale behind such practice. For instance, Joe (EAP teacher – international) valued the opportunity ‘to spend structured time with colleagues’. Catherine’s statement that they were already experienced teachers, but these sessions were very helpful in encouraging them to reflect more systematically on practice and theory, was met with agreement by the rest of the group. These processes undoubtedly helped to facilitate the creation of explicit knowledge.

The EAP teachers had the additional opportunity to train at Reading in the UK. As part of their two-week residential course in the UK during their summer vacation, they were able to observe classes and saw EAP teaching in action. Catherine (EAP teacher – local Chinese) remembered: ‘It was quite impressive. I remember one teacher asked students to do discussions and afterwards they had to send a message to other groups.’ This enabled them to acquire tacit knowledge of how to conduct EAP teaching which they were likely to apply in their own practice.

Impact on Practice

The training and professional development activities had some impact on practice. Participating teachers reported a change in their philosophy of teaching as well as specific pedagogical techniques or activities which they were able to implement or apply in their own practice. For example, one EAP teacher commented that the course helped her to realise a silent class is not always a failure and that students may need the space to learn and grow. Another felt the theoretical basis she acquired gave her more confidence when she walked in the classroom. Some reported on the usefulness of the activities introduced on the course, e.g. jigsaw reading and the SQ3R (Survey, Question, Read, Review and Reflect) approach to reading in their own teaching. Several EAP teachers commented on the helpfulness of sample/demo teaching and observation of teaching done in the UK in their actual practice. One remarked ‘I actually used that in my own teaching afterwards’. (Catherine, EAP teacher, local Chinese). There is clear evidence here of the link between tacit knowledge acquired on the course and their practice upon return.

The subject teachers also reported uptake of pedagogical practices at the University of Reading. They gave several interesting examples of aspects of the training they found particularly useful, e.g. how to obtain feedback from students to help improve teaching and engage with students and how to use different forms of assessment and grouping in their teaching. Kim remembered learning how to group students:

The most amazing thing is (…) I grouped the students and got each group to make a presentation. And I think it is a good way to estimate teaching equality. (Kim, Subject Teacher – International)

We spent a lot of time discussing different forms of assessment and assignment, formative and summative. Probably that part is the one that I … applied most in my courses here at the [JEI]. (Pat, Subject Teacher – International)

Challenges and Issues in KM

Focus group data also revealed several challenges and issues in KM. They relate to design and structural or organisational aspects which seem to have limited the impact of the staff development initiative.

Efforts were made by the academic developers and EAP trainers to conduct needs analysis through a questionnaire or site visits and the training and development sessions were designed and developed with the information gathered in mind. However, among at least some of the subject and EAP teachers, there was a sense that they had been insufficiently involved in the early design of the training programme so that the training and development was perceived as ‘imposed’ on them by the university rather than starting with them with due consideration given to the local context in China. For example, there is a strong feeling from one EAP teacher that the training was excellent on what to do and how to do it but he was not totally convinced on the why in some areas. He also questioned the strong focus on EAP asking how realistic it was with the foundation year students. In his words, it was like ‘asking them to run before they can walk’.

One subject teacher seemed to feel frustrated about the lack of their involvement:

So far, training and professional development has only been one-sided…. The University of Reading offers but doesn’t really receive feedback from us. All the training we receive is based on English students but not the Chinese ones. If we are to improve this bit, I think the Reading side has to listen to what we have to say as well. So far there has not been anything of this sort. (Pat, subject teacher – international)

Interestingly, international teachers seemed to be more vocal about these than the local Chinese teachers.

On the part of the academic developers and EAP trainers of the university, there was also a sense of frustration over the perceived lack of enthusiasm on the part of one or two international teachers for participation in the training and over the perceived lack of implementation of EAP by the EAP teachers based at the JEI. It may take longer than expected by the EAP trainers for the new body of EAP knowledge, much of which is likely to be explicit knowledge, to imbed in practice.

Another issue in the design of the staff development programme was the lack of sufficient follow up or ongoing support following the training. Follow-up activities could facilitate interaction and knowledge creation either among the teachers themselves or between the teachers and the academic developers or EAP trainers, whether on-site or by distance with the help of technology. For instance, one EAP teacher suggested having colleagues from the UK over for an extended stay so that the teachers can benefit from the interaction and guidance, particularly in relation to the teaching of EAP. Given the noticeable anxiety over transition from EGP to EAP, as commented on by both the EAP trainers and teachers, and the lack of conceptual clarity in the minds of the EAP teachers, strengthening follow-up support seems a priority. Such an arrangement is likely to enhance knowledge conversion and creation through social interaction at the group level.

These challenges and barriers to effective knowledge management and innovation in teaching point to the need for building a stronger community of practice (CoP) where knowledge creation can take place and innovation can be accelerated as suggested in the spiral of knowledge creation.

There also seem to be organisational challenges and barriers to KM. For example, the first round of training and development activities provided by the academic developers at Reading was only possible during the weekend due to the heavy teaching load of the teachers. The participating teachers had to make a huge effort to attend, e.g. one had to miss a wedding in order to do so, which seemed to have caused some unhappiness and even resistance among a small number of participating teachers. Although lessons were learnt and subsequent staff development sessions were organised from mid-week so that they do not encroach unduly into the teachers’ weekend time, the issue is not fully resolved. Within the constraints of the staff workload it might be possible, through sufficient advance planning, to move the training and development sessions to the week so as to boost staff morale and motivation to participate.

There also seemed to be the problem of follow-up and organisational support for KM and innovation. The academic developers at Reading valued the support for the staff development by the senior management of the JEI and efforts made to co-ordinate arrangements, however, the EAP trainers suggested the need for explicit managerial support in the implementation of EAP following the training. Such support could be in the form of leading innovation or working together with the teachers to facilitate interaction and knowledge conversion and management.

Discussion and Conclusion

NUIST-Reading Academy is a new joint enterprise between the Chinese and overseas partners. Delivery of quality and its success requires innovative practice. In this chapter, one aspect of such an endeavour, staff training and development or capacity building, was examined as a case study of one JEI. The KM framework was used to help frame discussions on the findings. Focus group data indicate efforts made by individual teachers to engage in knowledge creation through innovative pedagogical practice but several design and organisational issues and challenges in relation to knowledge creation and innovation were also identified. Based on the evidence gathered in the present study, the following are proposed as lessons learnt and potential ways forward:

Firstly, to avoid the danger of being perceived as one-sided and ‘imposing’ training on the teachers at the JEI, it is important to involve the teachers at earlier stages of the design and implementation of the training programme. It will ensure due consideration is given to the local knowledge and context. Secondly, follow-up will need to be built into such staff development activities to gather feedback from the teachers and plan more targeted support. Follow-up support can take place on-site but technology could also be used for virtual support. Such follow-up is unlikely to be effective without adequate levels of managerial support as it requires the commitment of additional resources. Thirdly, general academic practice can serve as an induction for new faculty to align with practice at the overseas partner, however, teachers may feel they need stronger pedagogical support to achieve innovation. Sometimes, for pedagogical innovation, it may take longer than expected to imbed in practice, so the expectation of a quick fix is likely to be met with disappointment and frustration. Within the framework of the KM, mechanisms that facilitate the interaction between explicit and tacit knowledge, and particularly the conversion to tacit knowledge (e.g. through observation and reflection and workshop activities, in addition to input sessions), will undoubtedly help. Fourthly, collaborative efforts, for example in the form of CoP, is crucial for the success of innovative practice as suggested in the KM model.