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Based on a phenomenological exploration of Chinese students at a UK university business school, this article supports a growing body of research questioning the assumptions underpinning the putative Socratic/Confucian dichotomy of academic cultures. Beginning with a review of research literature on the experiences of Chinese students on Active Learning courses, the main part of the study is based on an analysis of qualitative interviews conducted in English and Mandarin. Findings suggest that, whilst Active Learning pedagogies are perceived as supporting their learning on these modules, for some students the ‘double-learning agenda’ entailed by these pedagogies can make their classrooms an uncomfortable space. The conclusion makes a strong case for reconceptualising the ‘language problems’ reported by many international students as ‘conversational problems’, and for recognising the nexus of language, relationships and meta-cognitive skills as legitimate areas for intervention by teachers in their role as facilitators of Active Learning.

In this chapter, the authors link the notion of University Autonomy to the marketization of higher education in England with a focus on three separate, but overlapping thematic areas which are principally shaped by the three corresponding interfaces introduced in this volume: funding and finances (government-university interface); academic freedom (university management-faculty interface); and the international context (university-internationalization interface). A close analysis of these three areas of the English higher educational landscape reveals that certain ‘quasi-market’ mechanisms have been adopted by successive governments to help them achieve broader social and economic aims. However, the authors suggest that without a clear focus on the social purpose of universities, there is a danger that UA will be the Trojan horse of the free market, that is, as a gift (freedom from government interference) which will expose them to market forces beyond their control, and constrain their ability to take optimal long-term decisions. The focus of this chapter will be the Higher Education sector in England, although for historical reasons, reference will sometimes be made to the UK where HE policy has treated the UK as a single entity.