Shedding Light on the East Asian Learner Paradox: Reconstructing student-centredness in a Shanghai classroom

The East Asian learner paradox refers to the apparent contradiction between the teacher-dominated learning environment in East Asia, which is generally perceived to be non-conducive to learning, and the outstanding performance of East Asian students in comparative studies. This study attempts to explain this phenomenon based on the perspectives of a Chinese teacher from Shanghai, his group of students, and the author's own observations as a researcher. The analysis was based on the theory of variation and it showed how the teacher handled the relationship between the procedural and conceptual aspects of the mathematics. This analysis also shows that the teacher in this study had a strong pedagogical belief and highly valued his students' thinking and participation. At the same time, his students also expressed a consistent concern for learning the mathematical content. Therefore, this author argues that what seems to be a teacher-dominated lesson may actually be interpreted as an alternative form of student-centredness, which is accepted in the teacher's culture.