Studying in the UK – A Chinese student’s perspective

By Hui Luo

I did not consider studying abroad until the last year in my undergraduate study. Honestly, the most important reason for me to study in the UK is that I think this experience will highlight my CV. But now I am so happy that I made such a decision, which has changed my life forever.

Talking about the differences between Chinese Education and British Education, the most impressive image for me is the relationship between the teachers and the students.

We are taught to call our teachers with a Mr, Miss in front their surnames in China. No matter how close you are with your teachers, they are still your teachers. In other words, you have to show your respect to them anytime and anyplace. Moreover, you are not allowed to argue with your teachers as what they say is always right. If you disagree with your teachers, you are foolish or you are a bad student. The situation is better once you reach university, but only a little.

While in the UK, the teachers told us that we should only can call them by their first names in the first day. I was so surprised by this. It took me a while to get the hang of this, but I did after a few embarrassing moments.

Sara, Howard, Verica, Tony, Angela, these are my tutors names. I am so familiar with them, which makes it easier to forget their surnames. But I like them, I like talking with them rather than Mr Who or Ms Who. Calling by first names really shortens the distance between the teachers and the students, especially international students. We come here with a different culture and customs, and starting off on first-name terms breaks down a lot of barriers.

The other thing I cannot learn from the Chinese education is that the teachers can say “sorry” to the students as well. The first time I heard the “sorry” from my teacher was when the teacher had made some mistakes about a definition in the PowerPoint. In fact, it was not a big mistake as he did not update the definition according to the newest version. We would not know if he did not tell us. And he sent the email to correct the definition that night with his sincere apologies.

At first, I thought it was over exaggerated. But then I realise that it is very common in western countries. In their point of view, everyone in the teaching and learning process can be a teacher as well as a student. Students can learn knowledge under guidance from the lecturers and professors. Meanwhile, the teachers can improve their academic experience by teaching as every student will bring something new to the debate.

Thus, we can see that there will be discussions in the class not only between students but also between the students and teacher. In my experience, these arguments are another type of learning.

Generally, freedom is the most outstanding characteristic when I am thinking about western education. Freedom is for both teachers and students. I believe this is one of the most important reasons that why western countries can achieve higher and better educational outcomes compared to China.

Source: Asian Corresponsent . com