As a design educator and reflective practitioner, my teaching practice is grounded in the belief that design is not only a technical discipline but a way of understanding and engaging with the social world. With over eight years of experience teaching, I approach design education as a critical, reflective and exploratory process that encourages students to question assumptions, observe their environment and engage in meaningful discussions. My teaching philosophy can be synthetised around two main principles – dialogue and methodology – which together frame hands-on design projects.

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My pedagogical approach supports dialogic teaching, where social interactions take place in tutorials, small groups or with the whole class, ideally oriented towards a supportive and cumulative way of learning from one another. By scaffolding students’ learning through clear instructions and sustained dialogue, I aim to progressively create a collaborative environment in which exploratory talk becomes embedded in group discussions and tutorials at a level that would have not been possible at the beginning of the academic year. This process is not always evident, and can even be challenging, especially if students have limited experience expressing complex ideas in a foreign language before or lack the maturity and confidence to do so, but I believe it is essential to develop a growth mindset in any learning environment, as it ultimately contributes to shape independent and critical thinkers.

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​In Visual Communication Design, students learn to communicate visual messages to a specific audience and context through non-verbal ways, but their intentions through work process and presentation also need to be clearly expressed. It is therefore my role to help them understand that the clarity and strength of their ideas, and how these are understood, are more important than the final outcome alone. This approach is particularly important in foundation-level education, where students are transitioning from structured learning environments to more independent and self-directed forms of study. As a facilitator, I aim to make the design process more accessible by framing it as both a teaching tool and a methodological guideline for students to implement across projects. Following the Design Thinking approach, I have also developed my own diagrams and activities, which are continuously refined through their use in the classroom, often leading to new learning methods. Hence, I strongly believe in structured experimentation, where anything is possible within a given framework and where methods are at the core of meaningful learning experiences. Such methods are human-centred, action-oriented and collaborative, while remaining mindful of the process in defining problems and creating relevant and innovative solutions.

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​Through my teaching experience in Beijing, I aim not only to prepare students for professional practice, but also to help them develop the ability to think independently, engage critically with others, and developing metacognitive skills by using design tools and methods as a means of reflecting on their own learning and creative processes.