Commentary: What Pedagogical Principles Underlie Reciprocal Intercultural Learning?

This chapter reflects on one particular aspect of the Reciprocal Learning Project (RLP), namely the pedagogical beliefs and principles underlying the case studies reported in this volume. In both Chinese and Canadian contexts, educators expressed a belief in ‘student-centered’ teaching but the case studies revealed diverging understandings of this concept deriving from the very different social, cultural, educational, and historical contexts operating in the two countries. I examine these different understandings of student-centered teaching in light of the pedagogical orientations and beliefs that fueled previous intercultural partner class projects over the past century, and the distinction between transmission, social constructivist, and transformative orientations to pedagogy that has been used to interpret the outcomes of previous projects.