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Education Research Frontier
June 2014, Volume 4, Issue 2, PP.35-41
Innovation of Talent Cultivation Mode under
the Background of Transnational Cooperation
Lihui Xie
1, #
, J unyue Cheng
2
, Youping Fan
3

1. School of Inter-cultural Studies, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang, 330022, P.R.China
2. College of Arts and Sciences, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA
3. Department of Electrical Engineering, Jiangxi Electric Power Vocational Technology, Nanchang, 330032, P.R.China
#Email: lhxie2111@126.com
Abstract
University is based on the fundamental philosophy of educating and has, all along, adhered to the idea that teaching quality is
lifeblood of institutions of higher learning. The talents cultivated by a university can be used by the society and can amount to
something. Ever since the past over one decade after Chinas entry into the WTO, education has also become more and more
geared to the international society. As one of the important patterns of international cooperation and communication in China
education, universities of Sino-foreign cooperation education play a positive role in burdening the task of cultivating all kinds of
talents urgently needed for the national economic construction. This paper makes an analysis of formation of human capital from
an international perspective, proposes establishment of talent cultivation objective and system in international cooperation
innovates the talent cultivation mode and idea and realizes comprehensive development of man.
Keywords: Higher Education; International Education; Talent Cultivation; Mode I nnovation
1 INTRODUCTION
Currently, the concepts of global village and globalization have been gradually accepted and become a common
view. More and more Chinese students have the opportunity to choose to receive higher education in other
developed countries that possess abundant educational resources, such as, the United Kingdom, the United States,
Australia, Canada and so on and to employ the global common language (especially English) to acquire professional
knowledge, broaden the cultural horizon and strengthen international comprehension. Nevertheless, restricted by
geographical environment, economic condition, cultural background, social religious and even kinship and ethics,
their wishes and choices are limited. Therefore, Sino-foreign cooperation in running schools has played a favorable
and complementary role in satisfying peoples demands on higher education and enabling them to get in touch with
foreign high-quality educational resources. Students in Sino-foreign joint school running cooperative universities are
entitled to choose the following cooperative school running mode to finish their school: either finishing the credit
hours of the basic courses in the first two or three years in the mother country or choosing to go to the foreign
cooperative universities to continue their studies at the last one or two years. This infuses new vitality to talent
cultivation in higher education of transnational cooperation and also brings new challenges and problems. With
continuous and thorough practice of this kind of mode of Sino-foreign cooperation in running schools, it will
necessarily become an eternal topic in talent cultivation of higher education in transnational cooperation.
2 HUMAN CAPITAL IN INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION IN HIGHER EDUCATION
2.1 The Concept and Formation of Human Capital in I nternational Cooperation
Human capital is an important backbone for development of a country and is also the most important wealthy
foundation and significant resource of development. With regard to the concept of human capital, western scholars
extend their viewpoints on capital. That is, the knowledge and skills of man are means of production produced by

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investment in human resources which can bring income and wealth. Schurz defines human capital from the
perspective of formation of human capital. According to him, human capital is embodied on laborers and the capital
is constituted by the knowledge, skills and physical strength of laborers in the form of investment. It is thus clear that,
human capital is an outcome of investment made by education in cultivation of labor forces and popularization and
improvement of technology. And education plays an extremely important role in the process of human capital
formation. Just as Schurz (1964) concluded in his analysis of the US economic growth during the period from 1929
to 1956 that 21% to 40% of US national revenue growth should be attributed to the educational investment made for
the purpose of increasing human capital stock. (Schultz, 1964, pp450-464) In order for all countries all over the
world in the 21st Century to remain at an invincible position in the fierce competition, it is necessary to vigorously
cultivate talents and develop education. Just as Scott says, it is no longer fleet and guided missile that are the major
means adopted by all countries in the international competition. Instead, it is the intellectual property symbolized
by basic science and commercial patent and the human capital symbolized by advanced and experienced labor
force. (Peter Scott, 2009, 166) As the highest level of educational system, higher education has played an
incomparable role in the historical development of human kind and in economic growth by means of investment in
human resources with high quality. For the time being, integration of global economy, and popularization and
internationalization of higher education have proposed new requirements for higher education. To respond to the
fierce international competition, institutions of higher learning need to adjust their talent cultivation objectives and
cultivate talents equipped with an international vision and international communication competence, international
economic theory, international economic market operation and international economic knowledge. That is, these
talents are supposed to be familiar with the current international economic and technical conditions as well as
modern management methods and have a good knowledge of relevant rules and standards as well as the national
situation, which are necessary for them to participate in the international competition and better serve the economy
and the society.
2.2 I nternational Cooperation I s an I mpounding Reservoir for Formation of Human Capital in
I nstitutions of Higher Learning
Development of international cooperation in running schools can date back to the beginning of the 90s in the 20
th

Century (when international cooperation in running schools in a real sense has begun to take shape). However, Sino-
foreign cooperation in running schools which has gone through a development course for two decades has been
widely known. By August 11, 2011, there had been altogether 1340 institutions and projects engaged in Sino-foreign
cooperation in running schools, covering 26 provinces, autonomous regions and municipal cities. (Jin Xibin, 2008,
62) Considering the geographical distribution, these areas are relatively concentrated in Shanghai, Beijing, Shandong,
Jiangsu, Guangdong and other big cities in developed eastern coastal regions. Regarding the cooperative partners,
foreign cooperators mainly came from the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, France, the United Kingdom and
other countries and regions with developed economy and advanced science, technology and education.
Then, what, on earth, makes those economically developed and culturally abundant areas become a breeding place
for Sino-foreign cooperation in running schools? And why Sino-foreign cooperation in running schools has extended
to the sacred palace of institutions of higher learning within just a few years?
It is discovered through investigation that it is quite persuasive to explain all the above phenomena from the
perspective of human resource development.
In light of the purpose of human resource development, it is not difficult to find that, in the society led by high
technology, the continuously fossilized talent organization structure and seriously disconnected knowledge
architecture can no longer satisfy the daily increasing job requirements, and even, to a large extent, obstruct
development of the working process. Therefore, an urgent requirement is posed in the face of each enterprise or
organization group. It is how to analyse, plan, adjust and even train corresponding human resources and enhance the
existing human resource management level of the enterprise or the organization group to increase the efficiency of
human resource management and create more value for the enterprise or the organization group. Of course, this issue
is, first of all, put forward by economically and culturally developed areas as it is these areas that have this demand
in the first place. Nevertheless, the heavy burden of resolving this issue is dropped, in the first place, on the human

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resource department of all enterprises or organization groups. At the very beginning, the human resource department
resolves issues at hand at leisure. However, they feel more and more short of capacity. Especially when this demand
expands to the degree that it can even independently represent an era, human resource managers come to realize all
of a sudden that they lack scope for their ability even if they have a magic art.
This era is called an era of Sino-foreign cooperation in running schools.
Skilful Chinese and western integration in Sino-foreign cooperation in running schools and the western talent
cultivation strategy employed by China cater to the demand of talent market and also incessantly cultivate super-
value human resources for the society. Sino-foreign cooperation in running schools is sparing no effort to serve for
development of human resources in the enterprises or organization groups. It is not difficult to find that Sino-foreign
cooperation in running schools and human resource development supplement each other. Sino-foreign cooperation in
running schools is a manifestation form of human resource development. On the contrary, human resource
development is the fundamental purpose of Sino-foreign cooperation in running schools.
3 REFLECTIONS OF HUMAN ORIENTATION ON TALENT CULTIVATION OF
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION IN HIGHER EDUCATION
3.1 Talent Cultivation of I nternational Cooperation
Talent is a kind of resource and the long process in which one amounts to something needs realization of internal and
external functions. Value of man is also excavated and discovered in this process of realization. A general survey on
the definition of talent, it is usually defined as competence, knowledge, capacity, appearance and contribution of a
person. Then, popularly speaking, talent refers to the high quality human resources who possess certain skills or
speciality and who are able to make contributions to social wealth. Talent is more cultivated after one is born. Hence,
in order to become useful, it is necessary to cultivate talents in the future, which is usually realized by means of
education and training in the forms of systematic education and spare time education and off-job training or on-job
training. Talents are of great importance to development of a country. In the current situation of globalization, talent
cultivation has been enhanced to a level of national policy. By virtue of its unique advantages, a university more
highlights its particular position in terms of cultivation of innovative talents.

FIG 1. REALIZATION OF THE OBJECTIVE OF TALENT CULTIVATION IN INTERNATIONAL
COOPERATION IN HIGHER EDUCATION
(Data source: Xi Youmin et al. Study on Development Features and Strategy of Chinese Universities. Beijing: China Renmin University
Press, 2010, 62, 136, 204. Statement: this figure was based on compilation of the data)

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3.2 I nnovation of Talent Cultivation Objective in I nternational Cooperation
At the Davos summer forum held in Dalian, China in September 2009, the 2009-2010 Global Competitiveness
Report released by the World Economic Forum listed human resource as one of the indicators to evaluate the
comprehensive competitive force of a country. Development of human resources by countries all over the world has
never come to an end. Ever since the birth of the European medieval universities, universities have fulfilled the
internationalization talent cultivation mode in dissemination and learning of knowledge by means of teachers and
students flowing and migrating. Until today in an era of knowledge economy, the following requirements for
international talents have proposed new demand on talent cultivation, namely, talents with solid basis, strong
competence, innovative spirit and entrepreneurship consciousness, international vision and international competitive
force. This kind of talents can play an important role in the international stage and are engaged in multinational
operations, international negotiations, international cooperation projects and international scientific institutions. Just
as showed in Fig 1, cultivation of internationalization talents has become a principle and strategic objective of
Chinese universities.
3.3 I nnovation of Talent Cultivation System in I nternational Cooperation
In the process of higher education internationalization, talent cultivation in higher education turns to be committed to
cultivating universal talents with an international vision, and open to new thoughts and new opportunities who
are able to face the world and possess the international competition competence. Internationalized talent cultivation
ought to conduct internationalization education on basic theoretic courses, provide internationalization cultivation by
consideration of the practical ability and integrate outward bound with the topic of all kinds of international
exchange activities to construct an internationalization talent cultivation system (see Fig 2).

FIG 2. INTERNATIONALIZED APPLICATION-BASED TALENT CULTIVATION SYSTEM IN
HIGHER EDUCATION
(Data source: Pan Jun. Innovation of Undergraduate Application-based Talent Cultivation Mode in Sino-foreign Cooperation in
Running Schools --- Based on the Relationship between Application-based Talent Quality Model and Cultivation Mode. In Conference
Proceedings in the International Conference on Standardizing Chinese-foreign Cooperation in Running Schools, Exercising
Administration According to Law and Promoting Sustainable Development. 2011, unpublished openly. Statement: this figure was based
on compilation of the data)

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Internationalization education of basic theoretical courses in the knowledge system adopts the teaching design of
modularization. It concentrates on the solid theoretical and knowledge basis of students in the entire teaching
process. The curriculum constitutes foreign language training, international academic research and disciplines that
cover international application-based subjects and the leading subjects urgently needed domestically. This is aimed
to enable students to master many skills while specializing in one and realize accumulation of knowledge and
formation of knowledge structure.
Internationalization training of the practical capacity focuses on all aspects of capacity of students. This can cultivate
students comprehensive capacity and capacity of practice as well as the capacity of observing, reflecting and
resolving problems from a global perspective by means of exchange students project, international conference, joint
cultivation, international competition, overseas internship and summer course.
The quality system contains the life outlook of happy living and successful career. It emphasizes the values of
innovation and contribution and trains an open mind with a global vision with the life philosophy of seeking
common points while reserving differences.
3.4 Talent Cultivation in I nternational Cooperation and Overall Development of Man
As the image and symbol of education sustainable development, the overall and unconstrained development of man
is the essential requirement of Marxism for construction of the new socialist society and is the essence and core of
Marxism education. (Wang Zongguang, Li Jianqiang, Sheng Yi, 2003, 22) In the process of overall development of
man, higher education should adhere to the strategic policy of facing the modernization, the world and the future
and cultivate a new generation with the four qualifications of ideal, morality, culture and discipline. Cultivation
of innovative talents with international competitive competence in the 21
st
century becomes a subject in
internationalized development and talent cultivation in higher education all over the world.
3.4.1 Positioning of human-oriented idea and objective
It is proposed in Higher Education for the Twenty-first Century: Vision and Action (1988) that, In the
contemporary world changing quickly, obviously, higher education needs a new student-centered perspective and a
new mode. In the situation when internationalization of higher education becomes increasingly distinct, a university
should establish the educational idea based on overall development of students, and integrate both Chinese and
western educational thoughts from the idea of school running to curriculum setting according to the rule and
characteristics of talent growth, namely, Chinese learning as the fundamental structure and western learning as the
complementary structure. A university is supposed to cultivate the innovation consciousness and pioneering spirit
of students who are practical talents equipped with an international vision and an international competition capacity.
In order to carry though the fundamental idea of overall development of man, it is the first thing to set up a new
higher education quality concept and to be strict with talent cultivation requirements. Then, the education and
teaching process should highlight the subjectivity of student learning. Finally, it is necessary to construct and
innovate the knowledge platform of talent cultivation by consideration of the reality of talent cultivation objective
and the actual local situation as well as the requirements for talent cultivation.
3.4.2 Innovation of internationalized curriculum system
In order to innovate the curriculum system, it is necessary to bring in overseas education resources and international
frontier curriculum according to the discipline features and requirements for talent cultivation and penetrate such
elements as innovation, application and internationalization in the curriculum system. The heading of the
Acknowledgment section and the References section must not be numbered.
It is also necessary to promote English original teaching materials in due course according to the process of students
foreign language learning and integrate cross-cultural comprehension into course teaching.
A university should make full use of overseas education resources to launch high level academic seminars at the
academic foreland and in a crossing field which introduce the latest international academic tendency and
achievements. This helps to strengthen the international atmosphere and broaden students international vision.

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3.4.3 International communication activities
In the final analysis, competition in the 21
st
century is the competition of talents. In the face of increasing global
competition, it is a must to walk out of the campus and the country and to step to the international stage and have a
face-to-face communication with advanced science in the world. A university is supposed to provide vigorous
support in terms of human resource, material resource and financial resource and enable students to have more
opportunities to participate in an international communication. Among the four 1/3 undergraduate talent cultivation
strategies implemented by Beijing University of Technology, the third 1/3 plan is to enable 1/3 undergraduates to
receive international education, or, have short-term or long-term exchange experiences abroad.
3.4.4 Internationalized university spirit
Effect of the university spirit on overall development of man has the characteristics of diversity, dispersivity and
elusiveness. It has become a unique spiritual culture with a feature imbued with personality and manifests powerful
spiritual strength. (Wang Zongguang, Li Jianqiang, Sheng Yi, 2003, 22)
4 CONCLUSIONS
The preliminary task of a university is to cultivate talents and the human oriented talent cultivation is regarded as
the first function of a university. In Higher Education Law of the Peoples Republic of China, it is definitely
stipulated that institutions of higher learning are supposed to focus on cultivating talents. The 21
st
Century is one
when science and technology is developed quickly and when the international competition environment becomes
increasingly fierce. In such a situation, modern universities with the duty of cultivating talents have to size up the
situation from a brand-new international perspective, comprehend characteristics of demand on talents more
comprehensively and thoroughly and cultivate talents that are of real use to the society, satisfy the demand of social
development on talents and that also comply with the need of overall development. Under the circumstance of
internalization of higher education, university talents are supposed to international compound and application-based
talents who possess fund of knowledge and are able to resolve actual problems and engage in research with relevant
skills and knowledge. This kind of talents is also supposed to have competence social adaptation capacity and
solidarity and cooperation spirit and possess innovative spirit and an international vision in participation of
teamwork. Besides, they are required to have a profound comprehension in economy, science and culture of the
international society, being optimistic and possess the competence for globalized cooperation, exchange and
communication.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
One of the achievements of the planned project in the 12th Five-Year Plan (2012) of social sciences in Jiangxi
Province [No: 12YY21], of the Humanities and Social Sciences planning project (2013) in Jiangxi Province Colleges
and Universities [No: GL1328], of Doctoral Start-up Funded Project in Jiangxi Normal University Sustainable
Development Research of the International Education under the Vision of Public Management
REFERENCES
[1] M. J. Bowman, Schultz. Denison and the Contribution of EDS to National Income Growth [J]. The Journal of Political
Economy, Oct., 1964:450-464
[2] Peter Scott. The Globalization of Higher Education: Theory and Policy, translated by Zhou Qian, Gao Yaoli. Beijing: Peking
University Press, 2009:166
[3] Lin Jinhui. Pedagogy of Sino-foreign Cooperation in Running Schools. Xiamen: Xiamen University Press, 2011:55 (In Chinese)
[4] Jin Xibin. Pedagogical Economics. Beijing: People's Education Press, 2008:62 (In Chinese)
[5] Wang Zongguang, Li Jianqiang, Sheng Yi. Reform of Higher Education and Overall Development of Man. Shanghai: Shanghai
Jiaotong University Press, 2003:22 (In Chinese)
[6] Xi Youmin et al. Study on Development Features and Strategy of Chinese Universities. Beijing: China Renmin University Press,
2010:62, 136, 204 (In Chinese)
[7] Pan Jun. Innovation of Undergraduate Application-based Talent Cultivation Mode in Sino-foreign Cooperation in Running

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Schools --- Based on the Relationship between Application-based Talent Quality Model and Cultivation Mode. In Conference
Proceedings in the International Conference on Standardizing Chinese-foreign Cooperation in Running Schools, Exercising
Administration According to Law and Promoting Sustainable Development, 2011
[8] Zhang Junchao. Human Resource Management of Universities at an Age of Globalization [J]. Journal of Higher Education, 2010,
31(08).
AUTHORS
1
Lihue XIE (1968- ), female, born in Nanchang, obtained PhD
degree from School of Political Science and Public
Administration of Wuhan University in 2012, major in Public
Management; Master degree from Poitiers University in France
in 2003, major in MBA; BA degree from Jiangxi Normal
University in 1996, major in English Education and graduated
from Nanchang Vocational Technical Teachers College in 1989,
major in English.
2
Junyue Cheng (1990- ), female, born in Nanchang, obtained
BA degree from Kansas State University in 2012, major in Art
Science.
3
Youping Fan (1973- ), male, born in Nanchang, PhD candidate
at School of Political Science and Public Administration of
Wuhan University, works currently at Jiangxi Electric Power
Vocational Technology as Assistant to the President , title of
Senior engineer.