Cross-Border Mobility and Identity in Educational Contexts

Cross-border mobility in education encompasses the movement of learners, families and educational resources across national boundaries, shaping experiences of belonging and identity formation. This phenomenon ranges from daily commuting by schoolchildren in border regions to international student migration and virtual exchanges. Such mobility both reflects and reconfigures political economies, social networks and cultural practices. Identities are negotiated through encounters with differing curricula, languages and governance regimes, producing hybrid subjectivities that transcend singular national affiliations. Educational institutions and intermediary actors—tutoring centres, transport providers and digital platforms—mediate encounters between “local” and “other” groups, often producing complex dynamics of inclusion and exclusion. Recent global events, including health crises and policy shifts, have further transformed mobility patterns and identity work, revealing the resilience and adaptability of learners and educators. Understanding these processes is crucial to designing equitable education systems that acknowledge mobility as an integral driver of identity and social cohesion.

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Studies of daily cross-border schooling between Shenzhen and Hong Kong have illuminated the emergence of a sophisticated mobility industry that organises buses, escorts, tutoring centres and boarding houses to facilitate the journeys of young commuters. This industry interlocks with state policies and private enterprises to govern flows of children, ideas and educational practices, while continually redefining the socio-cultural landscape of the border region. Analysis shows how this network of actors contributes to both economic integration and social stratification, as families seek “better education” under shifting political constraints and public health challenges.

Complementary research adopts a spatial lens to examine schools as sites of in/exclusion for Mainland Chinese students in Hong Kong. Physical classrooms, digital learning environments and school gates become arenas in which local and non-local identities are performed, contested and reconfigured. These studies reveal that schools operate as multilayered webs where power relations, language differences and policy frameworks intersect, producing moments of solidarity alongside barriers to full participation.

Further work explores intermediary spaces—such as school buses, online forums and community centres—that bridge home and school contexts. These spaces serve as crucibles for negotiating cultural norms, sharing resources and building support networks. They demonstrate how separation and integration, exclusion and inclusion, are enacted through everyday interactions, and how both state and non-state actors shape children’s trajectories. Insights into the impact of global health emergencies underscore the fragility and adaptability of these intermediaries in sustaining cross-border educational ties.

Cross-Border Mobility and Identity in Educational Contexts publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in cross-border mobility and identity in educational contexts across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Cross-border mobility: Movement of learners or educational resources across national boundaries for schooling or learning.

Identity formation: The ongoing process by which individuals construct a sense of self through social, cultural and institutional interactions.

In/exclusion: The simultaneous practices of admitting and marginalising groups within educational settings based on social or cultural differences.

Mobility industry: Network of public and private actors that organise and facilitate cross-border educational journeys and services.

Intermediary spaces: Physical or virtual sites that mediate interactions between home, school and community for mobile learners.

References

1. Making ways for ‘better education’: Placing the Shenzhen-Hong Kong mobility industry. Urban Studies (2021).
2. Schools as spaces for in/exclusion of young Mainland Chinese students and families in Hong Kong. Comparative Migration Studies (2021).
3. Bridging home and school in cross-border education: The role of intermediary spaces in the in/exclusion of Mainland Chinese students and their families in Hong Kong. Urban Studies (2022).