Local Areas: Formulating Action Plan to Globalize Education & Economy - Research Paper

Introduction

Therefore, the local areas are required to make it a priority to formulate an action plan for globalizing local education and economy by making full use of their geographical advantages and regional characteristics. Moreover, they should also do so to keep up with China's overall layout. That involves taking advantage of allocated resources. Similarly, the area mentioned above should also consider the initiative to provide platforms at home and abroad that promote complementary strengths, sound cooperation, and joint development of schools and enterprises. In the process, the responsible authorities should develop coordinated measures to support and guide local education systems in carrying out extensive cooperation and exchange programs with countries along the Belt and Road. As a result, such efforts will create the regional demonstration zone for educational cooperation and exchanges and push the local education standard forward. (Source: Education Action Plan for Jointly Advancing the Belt and Road Initiative, The Encyclopedia of Chinese Education, Ministry of Education)

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The implementation of the proposals highlighted above has led Shaanxi into ranking as the top destination for central Asian students studying abroad. In 2018, Shaanxi attracted nearly 12,000 international students from 156 countries and regions. Interestingly, more than 6,000 of the students mentioned above were from Belt and Road countries. In emphasis of the fact highlighted above the statistics cited accounted for 54% of the total number of international students in the province. Moreover, the figures also indicated that international students' presence exceeded 50% for three consecutive years. (Source: China Education Daily, the 2ndEdition, September 29, 2019)

However, the existing management policies for international students in colleges and universities have been incompatible with the enrollment surge. The international students are generally under separate management. They are considered to be a relatively select group. In essence, that depicts low-level openness and low degree of internationalization. Therefore, considering the current trend is characterized by an increased number of international students and a higher degree of internationalization, such an approach to management is no longer suitable. In other words, the management is out of date. Xiong Bingqi (2018) China Science Daily (the 5thEdition, July 10, 2018, University Weekly)

Problem Statement

As China gets involved in more global issues, the global talents flow within its boundaries accelerates. As a result, China will see a higher proportion of international students, and international students related problems related will no longer be case-by-case. "The method of encircling 'special policy zones' we adopted in the past to manage the foreign students would be hard to continue with the group's expansion."(Hou Dingkai (2018))

Therefore, universities in China need to establish a balanced and comprehensive management approach concerning the dynamics of international and local students, as the number of the former grows sharply.

Also, as the number of international students increases, it is prudent to note that they originate from diverse backgrounds. Imperatively, therefore, they differ in terms of ethnicity, culture, language, and lifestyle. As a result, it is inevitable for some of them to encounter confusion in language use, behavioral cognition, and cultural understanding. Mainly this is true in light of school rules. Similarly, students are also likely to misunderstand rules and regulations due to cultural diversity. On the same note, some international students have a poor sense of time and self-control. Consequently, they tend to be late for class, ignore classroom discipline, and rarely participate in teaching activities, which are part of manifestations indicating a lack of good learning habits. Therefore, these are problems that schools must struggle with the education management of international students. (Yao Lihong, Research on the Education Development of International Students in Shaanxi, Xi'an Jiaotong University Press, 2011)

It is common to recognize and acknowledge the differences that cultural diversity has brought to work and life. Still, there are few research pieces on figuring out more reasonable management modes based on these differences.

In recent years, there have been a lot of researches on classroom teaching management (Shi Ping, Research on Building the Teaching Quality Guarantee System for International Students in China under the Background of Education Internationalization, Contemporary Education Research and Teaching Practice, February 20, 2020/ Discussion on the Application of PBL and CBL Teaching Methods in the Experimentally Diagnostic Teaching for International Students, Guan Xiuru; Jin Yingyu; Jiang Lixin; Zhou Haizhou; Zhao Yu, China Continuing Medical Education, January 30, 2020/ 2019-11-29 An Empirical Study on Cross-cultural Adaptation of International Students in Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language, Zhou Xueting; Yin Mengjie; Chen Ke, Education Modernization, November 29, 2019), most of which focus on classroom teaching, while only a few probe into the problems of international students in extracurricular time management and daily management.

In the years-long education practices for international students, Shaanxi witnesses an increased number of local colleges and universities enrolling international students. As of now, the figure has reached 36, including 33 public and three private colleges and universities. There is a complete system of talent cultivation and primary setup, ranging from continuing, undergraduate's, Master's, and Doctor's education to as many as 12,816 students in 2018. More so, Xi'an Jiaotong University has taken the initiative of teaching English in its medical courses, thus emerging as the leading institution in terms of both international graduates and enrolled students. (Expanding Scale and Enriching Connotation – Higher Education to Achieve Leapfrog Development in Province: Review of Shaanxi's Reform and Opening up in Higher Education, Shaanxi Education 10). Shaanxi, a major province of education in China, boosting abundant higher education resources, provides the necessary foundation for the education development of international students. However, its higher learning institutions lag behind China's such developed cities as Shanghai, Beijing, and Tianjin. Precisely, it lags in terms of scale, level, and the consideration of the source countries of international students. Therefore, It is inconsistent with its label as a major province of educationyang2010 11yangshanshan.

Since 2013, the author has made several faces to face interviews with international student managers. Notably, that has been taking place during the academic conferences capturing a wide range of enrollment topics, publicity, and on-campus management, teaching practices, scholarship evaluation, and employment channels of international students in Shaanxi province. Moreover, the focus has also been on the understanding of the education quality guarantee for the international students, the role and significance of management, and how to improve management techniques. As a result of the interviews, the author found that the following problems seem to affect many Shaanxi colleges and universities' international students' management:

• Lack of initiative and resourcefulness in the international students' enrollment
• Low enrollment threshold results for low-quality international students who have difficulty in verbal communication
• Dysfunctional management mechanism for the international students and some overlapping functional institutions
• College and universities' knowledge shortage concerning education quality of international students coupled with out-of-date teaching methods and low assessment standards

Also, colleges and universities fail to pay attention to the employment of international students in China and neglect their employment demand.

Therefore, in light of the observations listed above, this paper will proceed with conducting in-depth research.

Research Objectives

WG Monaghan, a famous management expert, holds that "all key issues in modern society are destined to be linked to management... Every social problem, whether economic industrialization related or youth education-based, can find solutions in some management function" ([12] Wang. Therefore, Scientific and effective management form essential means through which sound and orderly education development of international students in China can be satisfactory. That is so because management levels directly affect the education quality and international reputation of China's higher education. Solving the eminent management problems is a prerequisite for rolling out education frameworks' development. Because of this, therefore, this research project considers "the management of foreign students in universities of Shaanxi Province" as the primary research object and endeavors to solve the following problems:

Summarize the history of the development occurrences affecting management policies developed to manage international students in Chinese universities and clarify the current development status.

Establish problems existing in the current management through multi-level and diversified data of questionnaire survey, and explores the root causes of the issues by combining the interview results with data resulting from multi-level managers and international students from various countries.

Develop an in-depth analysis of best practices in managing international students studying in other developed countries and advanced areas of china.

Design the right strategy for improving the international students' management techniques in Shaanxi province.

This study intends to analyze the existence of international students in Shaanxi Province, and ensure feasible and effective measures are taken to help the universities establish and improve the global student management system.

Research Questions

There are wide-ranging issues involved in the management of international students in China. They even include issues affecting management of enrollment, teaching, and such livelihood aspects as household registration and social security, among others. Additionally, it is also critical to take note of the fact that other than campus students, there are also a few international students in the primary and secondary levels of Chinese education institutions. Therefore, considering the limited energy, resources, and time, the research finds the topic a perfect area of research. In the process, it also finds those conferred with degrees and those without degrees as the object of study.

Following the results the survey is seeking, the research questions meant to guide the...