The Chinese learner ± a question of style Sally Chan A learned man is very careful and timid in every word he says; but in action, he works swiftly and is not lazy (Confucius). Introduction Chinese history began as long ago as 2697 BC and the current population of 1.2 billion is estimated by the World Bank to increase to 1.5 billion by 2025. The drive for the modernisation of China led the government in 1979 to focus its industrial development on the 14 coastal cities which included Dalian, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. Such special economic zones (SEZ) were estab- lished primarily to encourage foreign investment in China, create employment opportunities and facilitate the acquisition of technical knowledge. The ``open door'' policy encouraged many foreign companies to seek joint venture relationships with state-owned enterprises, the former attracted by the prospects of selling to a market of one billion Chinese consumers. As well as decentralising government control to the regions, the Chinese Government sought to develop a new generation of internationally-minded man- agers to deal with the increase in foreign trade. Since the 1950s, the communist govern- ment began an educational campaign with the objectives of increasing the nation's literacy rate and providing educational support for the Chinese in both rural and urban areas. Education in China is designed to foster the country's cultural values as well as improve the skills of the Chinese people. As the quality of education improved, increasing numbers of students were better able to pass the notor- iously difficult university admission tests. There has also been a renewed interest in Western management expertise and techni- ques by the Chinese with increasing emphasis placed on higher level learning for managers. Since 1980, the numbers enrolled on masters programmes rose to 7,000 and, in 1992, at least 78 Chinese graduates had a masters qualification (Chan, 1996). The first MBA in China was only launched in 1990 and the trends indicate that the demand for Western- style qualifications will continue to increase. For Western educators, the opportunities for developing international management train- ing courses are endless ± the China Europe International Business School in Shanghai, in The author Sally Chan is at the Faculty of Business, Leeds Metropolitan University, Leeds, UK. Keywords China, National cultures, Learning styles, Students, Education Abstract This paper challenges any misconceptions that Westerners may have about Chinese learning styles by highlighting how the Chinese mind operates and why certain styles of learning are preferred by Chinese students. The author discusses some of the reasons for the over-emphasis on education for the Chinese overseas, how cultural values and beliefs have helped to shape Chinese thinking and how typical classroom behaviour has been developed over centuries of rote/repetitive learning. The problems that Western educators may face when teaching Chinese students is also considered, such as the lack of abstract thinking, constraints on behaviour caused by face, the over-emphasis on concrete examples, lack of creativity, and the need to compromise in group situations. The author suggests that further understanding is needed to unravel the mystery of the Chinese learner before Western educators can fully appreciate the different approaches to learning and design better educational programmes for Chinese students on management courses. Electronic access The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at http://www.emerald-library.com 294 Education + Training Volume 41 . Number 6/7 . 1999 . pp. 294±304 # MCB University Press . ISSN 0040-0912