A western perspective on teaching Taiwanese students – cultural differences in higher education – Part 1

NCKU’s Research Express has an interesting article called “Experiences of Teaching Engineering Students in Taiwan from a Western Perspective” (Frode Sandnes, Yo-Ping Huang and Hua-Li Jian (2006), International Journal of Engineering Education, Vol. 22, No. 5, pp. 1013-1022) which goes to the heart of something I’ve been wondering about for the last year or so in my studies so far in Asia. It discusses the cross-cultural differences in education between Taiwan and the US from a westerner perspective with some very interesting observations. As this semester I’m taking a class outside the international program in a course where I’m the soul international students and all the rest are Taiwanese it’s very interesting to try and observe Taiwanese students as somewhat of an outsider, even though the class is taught in English.

I’ll try and compare those observations made to mine, in two parts.

Selecting a textbook was not easy. A textbook should cover most of the syllabus, and the material should be covered in an understandable, pedagogical and correct manner. However, in Taiwan two more requirements emerged – availability and price. Textbooks easily available in the West can be hard to find in sufficient quanta in Taiwanese bookshops. Although English language textbooks are commonly used by local teachers, Chinese-language textbooks, or translations, are more common. Furthermore, locally printed books are less expensive than foreign imported books. Unfortunately, there are few locally printed English language textbooks. It was therefore necessary to select an imported foreign book with an acceptable price tag.

This is indeed a reoccurring issue, not only in Taiwan but also in Israel. A high quality business school English book goes for atleast 1000NT$ and usually takes over half the semester to arrive. Many of the students here, both Taiwanese and international students, result to using scans and perfect copies that usually cost half that much. Some professors look the other way, some professors don’t mind, some professors select unavailable books that make it impossible for students not to do this. The only courses I’ve heard an explicit request to try and avoid this practice were my business ethics classes.

Much has been written about the Chinese and Taiwanese classroom versus the Western classroom. Western teachers often view oriental students as passive and plagiary, while oriental students often view Western teachers as unprepared, unauthoritative and not knowledgeable in their field. A “good” Western teacher is one that is dynamic and stimulates discussion and interactivity, while a “good” Chinese or Taiwanese teacher is an expert in the field, knows and provides all the answers and is a moral role model. Western exploratory teaching, i.e., to learn by trial and error, seems haphazard and unprofessional in a stereotypical Chinese or Taiwanese view.

This is definitely the prevalent stereotype, which I’ve always had a hard time accepting, though I’ve come to accept that it naturally has a sense of truth to it. The last remark is especially disturbing. I’d say the Taiwanese I know would enjoy a combination of the traits described for a “western” and “Taiwanese” teacher as long as they know what game they’re playing. This is especially confusing in an international program in Taiwan. Is a Taiwanese professor who studied abroad and teaches using English in an international program a “Chinese” style teacher or a “western” style teacher? would he be happy if I challenge his views and expertise in a class discussion or would he forever hate me if I do so?

The few teachers who take the time to explain themselves and layout their teaching philosophy during the first class enjoy fewer misunderstandings with  students and usually get the kind of atmosphere they’re after. Asking students what they want in a setting that invites students to share their thoughts seems to help make students more comfortable and happy with the professor and the course.

The Chinese and Taiwanese are taught to learn by copying the masters to reach perfection. The students are to learn to become like the teacher, who has to be an authoritative role model. Obviously, the concept of “imitating the master” is not compatible with Western teaching ideology where plagiarism is one of the worst academic offences.

I think this is where definitions start causing problems. I’m not sure students are expected to learn to become like the teachers, but are rather expected to try and best understand what the professor is saying and accept his experience and authority on the topic without saying whether he’s right or not. Not agreeing with the professor is acceptable, as long as the student is well aware of the fact that he’s still young and inexperienced and so challenges to higher academic authority should be done in a very dignified and respectful manner.

I’ve heard Israeli students respond to professors in class with “that’s not right” or “that just doesn’t make any sense” and even “I think you’re totally wrong” without knowing much about the field, and I’ve heard Taiwanese saying to each other “he’s the professor then he probably knows best”. To me, both are a bit extreme and unrepresentative of the average Israeli and Taiwanese student, but extremes can be used to give examples of cross cultural differences where Israelis are expected to constantly challenge authority and others by speaking their minds while the Taiwanese are expected to show respect and humility towards authority and others. This, however, shouldn’t be confused with the statements that Israeli don’t respect authority or that Taiwanese never speak their own minds. It’s just a different way of doing things.

(To be continued…)