The voice of the plateau: a qualitative interview study of student management and educational practices in higher education in Xizang Autonomous Region

Background: In the multi-ethnic regions of China's Xizang Plateau and its border areas, higher education not only shoulders the task of cultivating talent but also faces the dual challenges of promoting cultural understanding and ethnic unity. Labor education, as a crucial form of experiential learning, is considered a key mechanism for fostering students' sense of responsibility, identity, and cultural adaptability. However, the underlying psycho-social-cultural mechanisms remain under-researched. Objective: This study aims to explore how labor education in Xizang universities promotes the internalization of responsibility, the construction of identity, and cross-cultural adaptation among students, while analyzing the mediating and guiding role of teachers between institutional governance and cultural inclusivity. Methods: Drawing upon theories of experiential learning, identity formation, and educational equity, this study employed a qualitative research approach. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 34 participants (undergraduate, postgraduate, teachers, and experts) from universities in Xizang and surrounding plateau regions. The research followed Braun and Clarke's six-phase thematic analysis method, identifying core themes and mechanisms through open, axial, and selective coding. Results: The analysis yielded four key findings: (1) Students exhibited emotional resistance to excessive management while rationally acknowledging institutional order; (2) Labor education facilitated the psychological internalization of responsibility and the formation of cultural belonging through embodied experiences; (3) The role of teachers shifted from "managers" to "cultural mediators" and "growth guides," bridging understanding between tradition and modernity; (4) A structural disconnect exists between national policies and local practices, necessitating the establishment of flexible, feedback-oriented educational governance mechanisms. Conclusion: This study reconceptualizes labor education as a socio-educational governance mechanism that fosters identity integration, social cohesion, and emotional resilience. It reveals the psychological pathways through which experiential learning transforms individual and collective identities within multicultural educational contexts. The research offers novel theoretical perspectives for the fields of cross-cultural psychology and educational psychology, along with practical implications for educational reform in multi-ethnic regions.