The world of work as lifelong learning for Chinese youth in Taipei, Taiwan, and Shanghai, China: A critical hermeneutic inquiry

This research explores the meaning of the world of work for young Chinese in Taipei, Taiwan, and Shanghai, China. The question of work as lifelong learning among the two groups of Chinese youth is explored from a critical hermeneutic research orientation.; Since 1949, the historical separation of Taiwan and China has obstructed the mutual understanding of young Chinese from the two sides of the Taiwan Straits. Until now, the only stories being told about the situation have come from official political authorities. The voices of the younger Chinese generation were missing.; Data were collected through on-line narratives and face-to-face conversations among fourteen graduate students from Fudan University, Shanghai, and Taiwan University, Taipei. In addition, educational administrators as well as communication and technology professionals in Taiwan, Mainland China, and the United States were also invited to research conversations. Research categories included narrative identity, fusion of horizons, and communicative action. These categories provided the parameters for data collection and data analysis.; Six critical findings emerged that pertained to a new understanding of the world of work as lifelong learning among young Chinese in Taipei and Shanghai. These findings are: (1) narrative learning awakens imagination, (2) identity mimesis enables ethical learning, (3) adult learning is relational and ontological, (4) participatory relationships provide the context for realizing care, (5) communicative adult learning remedies gaps, and (6) Internet discourse releases communicative freedom. Implications for educational reform of adult learning are also discussed.; The interpretive analysis of this participatory research discovered new meanings in the world of work among young Chinese. Moreover, understanding differences as well as commonalities among the two groups of Chinese youth emerged with specific themes including care, hope, freedom, and justice. It is within this participatory world of learning that there is the potential for trust and friendships to develop among young Chinese on both sides of the Taiwan Straits.