A Study On The Relationship Between Students And Confucius Institutes Chinese Volunteer Teachers

In recent years,with the establishment of Confucius Institutes in overseas countries,a large number of Chinese volunteer teachers have worked in the Confucius Institutes every year to teach around the world.Most of these Chinese volunteer teachers are young school graduates.They are generally young,lack of experience,and have short tenure.This article investigates and interviews the teachers and students of the Confucius Institute in Szeged,Hungary,and discusses how the Chinese volunteer teachers establish a teacher-student relationship in the initial period of the new cross-cultural environment and how to develop the teacher-student relationship.How to maintain teacher-student relationship after leaving.We are particularly concerned about the various factors that affect the relationship between teachers and students at Confucius Institutes,and try our best to provide reasonable suggestions for the contradictions and challenges that arise in the process of teachers and students getting along.The target of this study was all the seven volunteers who worked as Chinese volunteer teachers at the Confucius Institute at the University of Szeged,Hungary,from September 2016 to July 2017.They worked for five different types of classes:elementary school interest classes,elementary school compulsory classes,high school interest classes,compulsory secondary school classes and adult amateur class.We have investigated eight aspects of teacher-student relationship:(1)teachers’ perception of their own anxiety,(2)sincerity,(3)recognition,and(4)understanding of empathy,(5)Cross-cultural adaptation,(6)assistance from others,(7)maintenance of follow-up relationships,(8)overall review and reflection.Afterwards,we also used questionnaires to understand the perceptions and impacts of the students at the Confucius Institute at the University of Szeged and provided a cross-reference for the investigation.Then,with the help of the interviews of volunteers,we carefully sorted out many factors that affect the teacher-student relationship.In the end,we summarize the characteristics of the relationship between teachers and students in the Confucius Institute and providevolunteers with eight suggestions for establishing and developing a good teacher-student relationship:(1)Continuously enrich the knowledge base of Chinese and Chinese culture;(2)Understand the culture of the visiting country,the education System and language,Using Chinese and foreign contradistinction in teaching;(3)Observe and learn from local experienced teachers to teach lessons;(4)Be true to students’ understanding,recognition and empathy;(5)Reserve some class time to communicate or discuss with students;(6)Avoid too-close relationships with students;(7)Enhance communication with teaching assistants;(8)Leave detailed student information for the next volunteer.We hope that the above conclusions can provide a reference for the sustainable development of the Confucius Institute.