Stock Learns Joys, Frustrations of Teaching Abroad

For Karen Stock, assistant professor of fine arts, teaching abroad is as much about learning as it is about educating.

Stock has spent the fall semester teaching two Western art history classes at Beijing Normal University in Beijing, China, as part of the Fulbright Scholar Program. She has learned how to deal with some unexpected challenges.

“The language barrier is not the greatest challenge; instead, it is the unspoken etiquette and dynamics of a Chinese classroom,” said Stock. “Unlike American students, I have only the vaguest idea of their other responsibilities or where my class fits into their overall educational experience.”

But that uncertainty translates into “interesting discussions in class,” Stock said, because she “can never anticipate the art works that will fire the students’ interest.” Though this is Stock’s first experience teaching abroad, she has lived in Paris, France, and visited England, Scotland, Switzerland, Italy and Germany to do research.

In fact, Stock said one of her most memorable experiences was “walking into the classroom on the first day.”

“I was nervous before the first day of class and exhilarated after the class. Some things were very difficult but also very familiar, and I was pleasantly surprised at how well I could communicate with the students,” explained Stock.

The experience has given her the opportunity to visit Shanghai and Chongqing, travel up the Yangtze River, climb the Great Wall and see the Three Gorges dam. She also rides her bike – like millions of others – alongside “pedestrians, cabs, buses, motorcycles and even horses” on Beijing’s roads. Stock said biking gives her the feeling of being “in sync with the pace of the city.”

Still, though Stock participated in two Fulbright orientations, she said she doesn’t think “any amount of reading or planning can prepare you for day-to-day living in a foreign country.”

“There are daily joys and daily frustrations that make living here an adventure.”

Read Stock’s blog at http://kareninchina-fulbright.blogspot.com/.