Pedagogical adaptions of Chinese students on a UK Music Education MA programme: Perceptions of Chinese students, MA teaching staff, and Chinese returnees

Globalisation and internationalisation have interconnected people through
education. While much intercultural research focuses on the culture shocks and
adaptive challenges faced by international students due to academic, cultural, and
educational differences, fewer studies have examined how these experiences impact
their instrumental and vocal teaching approaches, career expectations, and
employability. Haddon (2019) explored how Chinese students viewed their prior
educational experiences in relation to their MA music studies. Further research
(Haddon, 2024) examined how their overseas education could be perceived as both
beneficial and potentially at odds with their home country’s educational values upon
their return.
The thesis extends Haddon’s (2019; 2024) research by investigating enrolled
students’ and returnees’ pedagogical and intercultural perceptions before, during,
and after UK Music Education masters study, also investigating the related
perceptions of programme teaching staff. Qualitative data were gathered through
three sets of interviews (13 instrumental/vocal teaching students, 13 masters
teaching staff, and 13 returnees). The findings reveal that overseas learning and
teaching training is seen as an expansion of students’ understanding of education
and impacts their career decisions. Various factors, such as personality, career
expectations, pre-MA educational experiences, post-MA teaching contexts, changing
societal values, and the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic, impact students’
adaptabilities during UK study and returnees’ employability and challenges in
applying MA knowledge to their teaching in China. This research has implications for
the teaching adjustments and adaption of overseas students, and educators in both
UK and China contexts.