Professorship in Learning and Teaching of Chinese

Professorship in Learning and Teaching of Chinese

The Department of Education and St Antony’s College intend to appoint a Professor of Learning and Teaching of Chinese who will provide leadership in teaching and research at the highest level in Chinese learning and teaching.

The Department of Education is currently in the process of establishing a Centre of Excellence for Learning and Teaching Chinese as a result of a generous donation from John Swire & Sons Ltd. This Centre will support and expand on the work of The Swire Chinese Language Foundation which has widened the learning of Mandarin Chinese in Britain over the last several years.

The successful appointee will be the inaugural endowed Chair and Director of this Centre. The aim of this initiative is to transform the study of Chinese (Mandarin) in the school system across the UK. The Centre will provide initial and continuing teacher education (including the professional programmes detailed above) and the successful appointee will undertake associated world-leading research in collaboration with a network of schools across the country. It is expected to become fully operational in 2026. The Centre will be an important addition to the Department’s work on how learners develop in the areas of language, literacy and related cognitive and development capabilities. Two other appointees will work with the Director of the Centre in the first instance: a Departmental Lecturer in Mandarin Learning and Teaching (who has already been appointed), and an Associate Professor (non-tutorial fellow) in Chinese Language Education who will be recruited in 2026.

The successful candidate, as the inaugural Director, will play a key role in the development of the Centre of Excellence for Learning and Teaching Chinese and will carry out international level research in the field of Chinese language learning and teaching. The successful candidate will pursue a research agenda that situates Chinese language learning and teaching within wider social, cultural, and political contexts. They will be expected to engage critically with the global rise of Chinese as a world language and to explore the socio-cultural and policy dimensions of language education as they operate across multiple scales — from transnational and national frameworks to local communities and families. They will be expected to supervise doctoral students and to participate in the work of the Centre. They will also be expected to contribute to teaching in the Department as the integration of Chinese language offerings in our programmes evolves, such as PCGE (Modern Languages), MSc in Learning and Teaching (Modern Languages), and PGDip in Learning and Teaching Mandarin.  

The Department would particularly welcome applicants with a research focus that has applications to Chinese language learning and teaching in schools in order to fulfil the Centre’s aim of bridging research knowledge and good pedagogical practices.  

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