East-Asian teaching practices through the eyes of Western learners

Abstract

Many East-Asian countries are actively positioning themselves as receiving countries of international students. Consequently, the number of international students in these countries is steadily growing. Given the differences between Eastern and Western conceptions of teaching and learning, it could be expected that Western learners studying in the region may encounter educational practices that are foreign to them. This study sought to understand contemporary East-Asian teaching practices as experienced by Western students. Specifically, it explored Anglo and Hispanic students' perceptions of the pedagogic approaches they encountered at a Taiwanese university. In-depth interviews were conducted with 22 degree-seeking students in different fields of study. The findings indicate that despite the government's continuous initiatives to foster less traditional pedagogic approaches, a transmission model of instruction still looms large in Taiwan's higher education context. It was also found that the students in this study were ill-adapted to this form of teaching practice.

Keywords:

• international students
• Western learners
• Chinese teachers
• Confucian heritage culture
• East-Asian higher education

Acknowledgement

I would like to thank the National Science Council of Taiwan for funding this research (NSC 100-2410-H-004-211).