Presentation Schedule
You Look Like Me? (96626)
Session: On Demand
Room: Virtual Video Presentation
Presentation Type: Virtual Presentation
This presentation documents my experiences of being a Chinese academic teaching in a Chinese university delivering a UK design curriculum. I will discuss the difficulty of attempting to reconcile the UK’s student-centred, exploratory studio practice with the more instructor-led, exam-oriented Chinese system. It will demonstrate the need for a robust and honest intercultural dialogue in transnational education to ensure pedagogical equity and effectiveness. While international programmes in China increasingly adopt Western educational models, Chinese students and staff often retain deeply ingrained expectations on what constitutes teaching and learning. Additionally, students say that foreign education must be taught by foreign educators, unconsciously privileging white Western instructors as the "authentic" bearers of knowledge. Despite my 8 years’ experience of UK and Chinese systems, this bias has undermined my authority in the Chinese classroom. I have received negative comments about my teaching, even though the learning conformed to the expectations of the Sino-Chinese requirements of TNE. Students sometimes resist my methods, wanting passive learning and clear-cut answers, rather than open-ended, creative development. Institutional structures further complicate this dynamic, as administrative and assessment frameworks remain rooted in Chinese norms, creating friction with the UK system’s emphasis on process over product. Navigating these tensions requires constant negotiation—defending my credibility, adapting Western methods to local expectations, and challenging stereotypes about who can teach "foreign" knowledge. This paper argues that more dialogue is needed to help Chinese universities and students create innovative and creative designers for the Chinese economy.
Authors:
Jianlan Feng, University of Wales Trinity Saint David, United Kingdom
Timi O'Neill, University of Wales Trinity Saint David, United Kingdom
About the Presenter(s)
I am the programme director of a professional doctorate in art and design
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