Stepping Into Masters-Level Teaching: Reflections from SRMC

This month, I officially stepped into the lecture room for a Master’s-level module: Creative Workshopping for Education and Community Settings. My first session was an intro to jazz improvisation, reworked to serve as a case study for facilitation and creativity in non-traditional ensemble formats.

Let’s just say.. the reality check came fast.

The students? Honestly? Most didn’t care. Half were on their phones. One or two leaned in a little - maybe they found the content interesting, who knows. But engagement was low. Not from malice, just apathy. Most of them have been spoon-fed or checked out for years.

What hit hardest was the language barrier. A few students wanted to respond. You could see it. But their English was so poor, it turned every question into a staring contest. And I’m not allowed to teach in Mandarin or anything else.. policy’s clear. It has to be in English. So I’m navigating students who barely speak the language in a programme that's supposed to be postgraduate-level discourse.

Was I nervous? A bit, yeah. I dressed the part: sharp, put-together, professional. That helped. Once I started, I was fine. I’ve lectured before, but this was different. The expectations are higher and the gap between what’s expected and what’s possible, given the cohort, is huge.

The hardest part wasn’t the prep or the content. It was adjusting how to deliver when the students just weren’t ready - cognitively or linguistically - to receive it. That’s not something you can plan for with slides or citations.

And yet when I wrapped up and started packing, a few of them came over. Some mumbles of “thank you..” “辛苦了老师..”

This isn’t the kind of teaching that feels good in the moment. But it’s real. And I’ll show up again next time. Because they deserve someone who takes this seriously even if they haven’t figured that out yet.