The PhD project will explore which factors affect the potential for interaction between teacher and student and how interactions affect the learning experience.

Qualitative case studies will reveal the learning strategies that arise when teachers from abroad interact with students who are in their home country and thus simultaneously exposed to multiple learning traditions. Thus, the interplay between the Western and non-Western educational tradition and practice is examined, based on a recognition that educational traditions originate from different foundations (Reagan, 2018).

Outcome and research methods

The project will produce applied knowledge for competence development and evaluation of virtual synchronous learning with a focus on the cross-cultural dimensions of instrumental music teaching at the conservatory level.

The research method belongs to a theoretical frame with a pragmatic approach which includes the didactic relation model (Hiim and Hippe, 1993) as a learning theory, which emphasizes the complexity and diversity of learning abilities considering altogether physical, biological and sociocultural aspects.

The project contains two concepts derived from research on intercultural teaching methods, westernization and policy development in the educational reform pedagogy in China. Dilemma pragmatism (Beckett and Zhao, 2016) is a concept which examines how the teacher suppresses their own ideals of learning in recognition that something else is needed to make learning happen. Another concept is Repair Moment (Zhao, 2019) whereby the teacher applies self-reflection to adjust the teaching practice.

The empirical material will be examined through the Stimulated Recall observation method.  Teachers and students will observe and comment on videos of their own teaching and learning. The data will consist of the informants’ own experiences and their own observations will be investigated as the core content for the final research findings.

The project is supported by the S.C. van Foundation.