During our AL sociology field trip, we listened to Professor Xie Ailei from the Faculty of Education in Guangzhou University on how it is like to be a educational sociology researcher, and we gained a brand-new understanding of how Chinese rural college students fit into the academic and social habitus of the elite 985/211 University.
Long before we set off, we were introduced to the concept of social mobility in Mr. Driscoll’s AL sociology class. Before our departure, Mr. Dean Aldred of the sociology Department had already provided us with the paper jointly published by Professor Xie Ailei of the School of Education of Guangzhou University and Professor Diane Reay of Cambridge University, as well as Professor Xie’s other research, so that we could have a full understanding of Professor Xie’s research methods and lecture topic before the lecture began. The two professors published a research in 2020 on how rural stduents entering elite Chinese universities can integrate into the habitus of higher education. Professor Xie’s other research was on the subculture culture of deviance in Chinese schools in 2017.
On the morning of January 26, we set off to Guangzhou by bus on time. At this early winter morning, everyone was obviously still a little bleary-eyed, but as the bus compartment became filled with our heated conversations, everyone’s anticipation for the lecture was already over the surface. After one and a half hours’ drive, we finally arrived at the Guangzhou City in Panyu District. On this dim, cold morning, we braved the cold wind after getting off the bus and walked through the campus of Guangzhou University. The campus was so large that we walked through several lanes before reaching the teaching building where the lecture room is located.
During our AL sociology field trip, we listened to Professor Xie Ailei from the Faculty of Education in Guangzhou University on how it is like to be a educational sociology researcher, and we gained a brand-new understanding of how Chinese rural college students fit into the academic and social habitus of the elite 985/211 University.
Long before we set off, we were introduced to the concept of social mobility in Mr. Driscoll’s AL sociology class. Before our departure, Mr. Dean Aldred of the sociology Department had already provided us with the paper jointly published by Professor Xie Ailei of the School of Education of Guangzhou University and Professor Diane Reay of Cambridge University, as well as Professor Xie’s other research, so that we could have a full understanding of Professor Xie’s research methods and lecture topic before the lecture began. The two professors published a research in 2020 on how rural stduents entering elite Chinese universities can integrate into the habitus of higher education. Professor Xie’s other research was on the subculture culture of deviance in Chinese schools in 2017.
On the morning of January 26, we set off to Guangzhou by bus on time. At this early winter morning, everyone was obviously still a little bleary-eyed, but as the bus compartment became filled with our heated conversations, everyone’s anticipation for the lecture was already over the surface. After one and a half hours’ drive, we finally arrived at the Guangzhou City in Panyu District. On this dim, cold morning, we braved the cold wind after getting off the bus and walked through the campus of Guangzhou University. The campus was so large that we walked through several lanes before reaching the teaching building where the lecture room is located.
Compared with the freezing weather outdoors, the multimedia classroom where Professor Xie and his student volunteered welcomed us was cozy and welcoming. After the volunteers guided us to find our seats, I found a commemorative gift prepared by Professor Xie on the seat – a metal bookmark from Guangzhou University.
When Professor Xie first introduced his research fields and academic background, he was a little nervous in the face of the intense gaze from the audience filled with curious, unacquainted students. However, after Professor Xie’s humorous sharing of his academic “star chasing” anecdotes, we successfully broke the ice.
The first part of Professor Xie’s lecture was about the cultural, social and interpersonal dilemmas faced by elite rural college students in the process of fitting into the habitus of outstanding institutions of higher education. Professor Xie’s insight into French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu’s renowned concepts of “cultural capital” and “habitus” further deepens our knowledge and understanding from our A-level sociology courses. Professor Xie shared with us the differences between different educational cultures he discovered during his collaboration with Professor Reay of Cambridge, the class identities of the two countries and the influence of class on education in each country. This not only makes us realize what it is like to solve the education problems of the world together with the world’s top education researchers, but also provides us with a deeper understanding of the education problems in our country in the absence of our experience to participate in the Entrance Examination and studying in a university in China.
The second part of Professor Xie’s lecture was relevant with the first part: it was mainly about about his observations on the problems of urban and rural students adapting to the university habitus, the research methods and some original data he collected in the project, and Professor Xie’s own advice on our study of sociology, education studies and social sciences. In the course of his lectures, Professor Xie supplemented and explained in detail the theories and coined concepts of every educational sociologist mentioned, and provided us with many books on the concepts he mentioned, such as the Oxford Mobility Study by British sociologist Goldthrope. In the end, Professor Xie spent plenty of time answering our questions on his research, education concepts overall and intriguing debates in education. In the end, we presented Professor Xie with a souvenir gift specially prepared by SCIE. Professor Xie’s lecture lasted for almost 3 hours, but neither Professor Xie nor us paid much attention to the time flying during our the concentrated listening and vigorous academic discussions.
From my point of view, Professor Xie certainly gave us a new perspective on the adaptation of students from different backgrounds to the habitus in domestic universities, allowing us to fill the gap in sociological knowledge. More importantly, Professor Xie introduced us to the preparation and current challenges necessary of becoming a researcher in the sociology of education, and also provided us with many new channels to understand education theorists at home and abroad. This spiritual legacy is undoubtedly my biggest takeaway from this sociological field trip.
The second part of Professor Xie’s lecture was relevant with the first part: it was mainly about about his observations on the problems of urban and rural students adapting to the university habitus, the research methods and some original data he collected in the project, and Professor Xie’s own advice on our study of sociology, education studies and social sciences. In the course of his lectures, Professor Xie supplemented and explained in detail the theories and coined concepts of every educational sociologist mentioned, and provided us with many books on the concepts he mentioned, such as the Oxford Mobility Study by British sociologist Goldthrope. In the end, Professor Xie spent plenty of time answering our questions on his research, education concepts overall and intriguing debates in education. In the end, we presented Professor Xie with a souvenir gift specially prepared by SCIE. Professor Xie’s lecture lasted for almost 3 hours, but neither Professor Xie nor us paid much attention to the time flying during our the concentrated listening and vigorous academic discussions.
From my point of view, Professor Xie certainly gave us a new perspective on the adaptation of students from different backgrounds to the habitus in domestic universities, allowing us to fill the gap in sociological knowledge. More importantly, Professor Xie introduced us to the preparation and current challenges necessary of becoming a researcher in the sociology of education, and also provided us with many new channels to understand education theorists at home and abroad. This spiritual legacy is undoubtedly my biggest takeaway from this sociological field trip.
- Article / Vicky Zheng
