Community of inquiry framework for Chinese cultural dimensions in social work education

This study explores the application of the community of inquiry (CoI) framework in Chinese social work education, which emphasizes the need for culturally responsive adaptations in blended learning environments. Given the commitment of the social work profession to cultural responsiveness and global focus on indigenizing practices, this research work addresses a significant gap in the literature on the effectiveness of CoI in non-Western contexts. While the framework has been successfully implemented in various Western educational settings, existing methodologies and curricula primarily reflect Western cultural norms, thus limiting their applicability in other cultures. This study seeks to culturally contextualize the CoI framework by proposing modifications that enhance planning and implementation, thereby instilling more confidence of the framework among institutions, instructors, and students of Chinese background. A cross-institutional social work blended learning design is used to explore such contextualization and discusses the integration and synthesis of the CoI framework, development of a culturally contextualized extended CoI tailored for the Chinese context, and leveraging of artificial intelligence to enhance the dynamic fluidity of integrated learning within blended learning environments.