Exiting their Comfort Zone: Unpacking the Educational Experiences of Nigerian Students in China

Abstract

In this paper, we highlighted the voices of six Nigerian students who lived and studied in China for four to seven years by investigating their educational experiences. We focused on the challenges encountered, the coping mechanisms employed and, ultimately, their post-China reflection, which was an attempt to understand the value of their study migration to China. To guide the study, a narrative inquiry approach was employed, and six themes emerged: feeling out of place; difficulty blending; teachers’ support; language barriers; and learning to cope, in addition to exiting China’s comfort zone (a post-China reflection). Other findings revealed the alignment between the participants’ Chinese degrees and their present job/career and the value of meaningful connection, among other factors. Furthermore, the paper calls for further investigations into the aspects of mixed-classroom integration and learning experiences between international and host students.