Bridging the East and the West: Reflections on Learning, Leading, and Life

Abstract

This chapter examines the life, learning, and research experiences of an American scholar who immigrated to the United States from China where she received her primary and secondary school education, and taught ESL at the prestigious Chinese university from which she graduated. The scholar reflects on her stories in China and in the United States and how those stories have shaped who she is. Through telling and retelling, living and reliving her stories over time, her juxtaposed (East-West) thoughts on teaching, learning, and research bubble to the surface. As a Faculty Academy member, her long-term intention is to use her bilingualism and her understanding of the research traditions and cultures of the United States and China to become a leader where reciprocal learning is concerned. [For the complete volume, "Cross-Disciplinary, Cross-Institutional Collaboration in Teacher Education: Cases of Learning and Leading. Palgrave Studies on Leadership and Learning in Teacher Education," see ED616372.]