Teaching Public Administration as a Fulbright Scholar in China: Analysis and Reflections

Abstract

After spending fall semester, 2007, on a Fulbright Scholarship at Renmin University of China, Dr. Infeld examines her experiences in light of the literature about teaching in China. Six aspects of teaching in China are discussed, including (1) Chinese students’ English and academic listening, (2) teaching with cases, (3) the “good” teacher, (4) “the “good” student, (5) Chinese conceptions of teaching, and (6) questioning. Descriptive examples are used to explore differences between teaching public administration to first-semester graduate students in China and in the U. S. The “Lessons on American Teaching Style,” developed by Dr. LI Wenzhao, a junior faculty member who assisted Infeld in her classes, are shared to provide insight from a Chinese perspective on the difference in teaching styles. A secondary objective of the paper is to encourage public administration scholars to apply for Fulbright Scholarships to teach in China, or elsewhere around the world.

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