‘Boring and stressful’ or ‘ideal’ learning spaces? Pupils’ constructions of teaching and learning in Chinese supplementary schools

Chinese supplementary schools have been accused of having ‘old‐fashioned’ and ineffective teaching methods, with most teaching being undertaken by ‘unqualified’ volunteer parent teachers. But how do pupils themselves interpret and experience the complementary school setting and to what extent do they feel it affects their learning? Drawing on empirical data from an ESRC study, including classroom observations and interviews with 60 British‐Chinese pupils and 21 teachers across six Chinese supplementary schools, this paper explores pupils’ preferred teaching/learning approaches and questions to what extent do pupils feel the culture and organisation of Chinese schools helps them to learn? Indeed, might complementary schools contribute in any way to British‐Chinese pupils’ phenomenally high achievement within mainstream education? The analyses highlight both positive and negative aspects of the young people’s experiences, paying particular attention to the implications for their constructions of learner identities within the complementary school setting.