This article investigates how Chinese MA music education students in the UK engage with student-centred pedagogy in the context of instrumental and vocal teaching, and how these pedagogical approaches are reinterpreted upon their return to China. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 39 participants—including MA music education students, their UK-based tutors, and graduate returnees—this qualitative collective case study examines intercultural pedagogical adaptation and professional repositioning. Findings reveal that students initially struggled in the UK with using open-ended questioning, reflective teaching, and safeguarding restrictions, but gradually developed greater pedagogical awareness and learner responsiveness. Upon returning to China, graduates encountered institutional resistance, exam-oriented cultures, and parental expectations that conflicted with UK MA-informed teaching values. Returnees employed adaptive strategies to preserve pedagogical intent while aligning with local norms. The results highlight the need for international music education programmes to embed culturally responsive support for both in-study and post-study transitions. This article contributes to the literature on pedagogical adaption of student-centred teaching, intercultural teacher identity, and graduate employability in music education across global contexts.
BiestaG. J. J. (2014). The beautiful risk of education. Routledge.
2.
BrinkmannS.KvaleS. (2015). Interviews: Learning the craft of qualitative research interviewing (3re ed.). Sage.
3.
BurwellK. (2012). Apprenticeship in music: A contextual study for instrumental teaching and learning. International Journal of Music Education, 30(3), 276–291. https://doi.org/10.1177/0255761411434501
4.
ByramM.WangY. (2011). ‘But when you are doing your exams it is the same as in China’ – Chinese students adjusting to Western approaches to teaching and learning. Cambridge Journal of Education, 41(4), 407–424. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764x.2011.625001
5.
CohenL.ManionL.MorrisonK. (2002). Research methods in education. Routledge.
6.
CreswellJ. W.PothC. N. (2018). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (4th ed.). Sage.
7.
DaiQ. (2023). Chinese international students’ wellbeing: Experiences of assessment in higher education. Citizenship, Social and Economics Education, 22(2), 118–133. https://doi.org/10.1177/14788047231194173
8.
GauntH. (2008). One-to-one tuition in a conservatoire: The perceptions of instrumental and vocal teachers. Psychology of Music, 36(2), 215–245. https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735607080827
9.
GauntH. (2017). Apprenticeship and empowerment: The role of one-to-one lessons. In RinkJ. S.GauntH.WilliamonA. (Eds.), Musicians in the making: Pathways to creative performance (pp. 28–56). Oxford University Press.
10.
GuQ.SchweisfurthM. (2015). Transnational connections, competences and identities: Experiences of Chinese international students after their return ‘home’. British Educational Research Journal, 41(6), 947–970. https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3175
HaddonE. (2024). Negotiating pedagogical cultrues: Adaptive challenges facing Music Education graduates engaging in instrumental teaching on their return to China. In ProkopR.ReitsamerR. (Eds.), Higher music education and employability in a neoliberal world (pp. 159–172). Bloomsbury.
KongS. H. (2025). Pre-service kindergarten teachers’ confidence and creative development in music teaching: Cultural inheritances and teacher-centred traditions in China. Education Sciences, 15(6), 772. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15060772
15.
LatukefuL.PollardJ. (2022). How can we prepare music students for early career challenges?British Journal of Music Education, 39(2), 218–231. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0265051722000122
16.
LeaskB. (2015). Internationalizing the curriculum. Routledge.
17.
LiH. (2024). Navigating Language Challenges and Support Provision for Chinese MA Music Education Students on their English-based UK Programme: A case study. Unpublished Doctoral dissertation, Univeristy of York.
18.
LiH.ZhengX. (2025). Understanding subject-specific language challenges for Music learners with English as an additional language (EAL): What are the impacts and how can teachers provide support? In HaddonE. (Ed.), Instrumental music education (pp. 119–131). Bloomsbury.
19.
LiS.TimmersR. (2021). Teaching and learning of piano timbre through teacher–student interactions in lessons. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, Article 576056. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.576056
20.
LiuD.XuY.ZhaoT.CheS. (2022). Academic career development of Chinese returnees with overseas Ph.D. degrees: A bioecological development perspective. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, Article 859240. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.859240
21.
López-ÍñiguezG.BennettD. (2021). Broadening student musicians’ career horizons: The importance of being and becoming a learner in higher education. International Journal of Music Education, 39(2), 134–150. https://doi.org/10.1177/0255761421989111
22.
MarginsonS. (2008). Global field and global imagining: Bourdieu and worldwide higher education. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 29(3), 303–315. https://doi.org/10.1080/01425690801966386
23.
MocklerN. (2011). Beyond ‘what works’: Understanding teacher identity as a practical and political tool. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 17(5), 517–528. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2011.602059
24.
PengY. (2025). When the halo of my overseas credentials disappeared: Chinese student returnees and their domestic employability. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 46, 815–833. https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2025.2519491
25.
PriestleyM.BiestaG. J. J.RobinsonS. (2015). Teacher agency: An ecological approach. Bloomsbury Academic.
26.
RyanJ.LouieK. (2007). False dichotomy? ‘Western’ and ‘Confucian’ concepts of scholarship and learning. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 39(4), 404–417. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-5812.2007.00347.x
27.
SchippersH. (2009). Facing the music: Shaping music education from a global perspective. Oxford University Press.
28.
StakeR. (1995). The art of case study research. Sage.
29.
WardP. (2014). Language, music and culture: The translation of Western music education in China. International Journal of Music Education, 32(1), 3–18. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1115423.pdf
ZhangL. X.LeungB. W.YangY. (2023). From theory to practice: Student-centered pedagogical implementation in primary music demonstration lessons in Guangdong, China. International Journal of Music Education, 41(2), 271–287. https://doi.org/10.1177/02557614221107170
32.
ZhengX.HaddonE. (2023). Pedagogical transformation and choice-making: A longitudinal study of Chinese pre-service guzheng teachers in the UK. Asia-Pacific Journal for Arts Education, 22(special issue), 1–33. https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/211244/
33.
ZhouG.GuanT. (2025). Patterns of engagement with professional development among in-service primary music teachers in China and their associations with teaching readiness, school identification, and job satisfaction: A latent profile analysis. International Journal of Music Education. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/02557614251338588
