Unexpected Education in China

12/02/2015 8:00 AM

By Matt Hawkins

A last-minute internship assignment change gave Bradley English education major Jay Mehta ’16 an unexpected career-shaping summer abroad. Originally scheduled to teach a freshman writing course at a Chinese university, Mehta instead mentored Chinese educators for a month.

The change in plans exposed the Bartlett, Illinois, native to new understandings of education methodology and opened his mind to pursue certification in English as a second language.

“Teaching Chinese teachers was the most influential and rewarding experience,” Mehta said. “I’m grateful I was able to practice what I learned in Bradley’s classrooms in an ESL classroom abroad so early in my career.”

Mehta and a team for the U.S. Federal Bureau of Education built relationships with teachers and showed how to shift classrooms from teacher-centered models to student-centered learning environments.

Those interactions showed Mehta that student learning styles are just as varied abroad as they are in U.S. classrooms. He discovered the mental library of tips and techniques he learned at Bradley applied easily to Chinese classes, and it was his task to show teachers the alternative ideas and how to use them.

That practice sharpened his teaching and communication skills.

“Teaching ESL forced me to think and improve how I explained concepts,” he said. “The process helped me find holes in my own explanations, which accounted for teachers not always understanding what I was trying to teach.”

As a mentor, Mehta also became a cheerleader to counter cultural understandings of educators’ duties. While many of the Chinese teachers saw their roles as bodies in front of a class with a duty to pass along required information, Mehta and his team encouraged the teachers to think about the ways they could impact students’ lives.

“It felt gratifying to teach them that they have important jobs, and that a different approach will add to the personal fulfillment they receive from their jobs,” Mehta said.

The cross-cultural experience left a mark on Mehta’s life that won’t soon be forgotten. As he continues conversations with teachers he mentored, lessons learned will be constant reminders of the value of studying abroad.

“Why stay with something comfortable when there is so much more to experience in the world?” Mehta said. “I gained new understanding of the Chinese lifestyle by integrating myself into the culture and meeting new people.”