Integrating Creativity into Higher Education in Vietnam: A Trioethnographic Approach

Traditional didactic approaches to pedagogy predominate in Vietnamese higher education. Using trioethnography, the combination of duoethnography that aims to shatter preconceived ideas and photography, we explore how to integrate creativity into the higher education curriculum. The chapter makes three contributions, firstly, to revitalize learning and teaching, secondly, to redefine the relationship between teachers and students, and, thirdly, the role of internal communities inside the institutions. The study takes place in Vietnam among a diverse research team of seven transnational scholars with experience of national and international programs at different levels and in different disciplines. In the three circles of an indigenous approach, we share cultural artifacts, such as images and objects, to form our discourse. Central to our chapter are three distinct voices: educators, learners, and a community-based project leader. These three groups practice creativity in different contexts and are rooted within three key topics: the teaching process promoting creativity, the energy driving creativity in learning, and trust-based collaboration to foster diversity in academic methodology. Through our creative lens, we reveal multiple facets of our experiences and examine emerging and unresolved issues of Vietnamese higher education.