Faculty of the Week: Ting Yuan

By: Alia Bonanno, Emi Levine, Catherine Wu

When you walk into Chinese Instructor Ting Yuan’s classroom and hear her give a lesson, one thing is overwhelmingly apparent: she was born to teach. In fact, teaching has always been a part of Yuan’s aspirations. “Since I was a child, I wanted to become a teacher. I remember when I was in elementary school, one of my favorite things to do after returning from school was to teach my father what I learned in school,” Yuan said.

“After completing my undergraduate education in China, I came to the United States to pursue my graduate studies. Coming from a mostly lecture-based education background, when I first took the foreign language pedagogy classes in graduate school, I was really fascinated by the student-centered interactive teaching methodology,” Yuan said. “I worked as a teaching assistant and part-time instructor at the University of Pittsburgh and teaching fellow at Vassar College. All my interest and passion for teaching really grew with these experiences, which made me even more determined to pursue it as my lifelong career.” 

“When I started teaching at Exeter, I really loved the discussion-based and students-centered pedagogy,” Yuan continued. “It is a more inspiring, engaging and empowering teaching methodology.”

Having been at the Academy for 15 years, Yuan used to teach in both the French and Chinese departments, but she currently only teaches Chinese. “For the first 10 years I was teaching both. But for the past five years, I've just focused on teaching Chinese because I enjoy teaching Chinese more and I could also serve the program better,” Yuan said.

When teaching, Yuan focuses on making students laugh and smile. “I really value fun in teaching and learning, because I feel when students enjoy they learn the best. So that's why I try to integrate some fun activities in my classes, such as songs, calligraphy, and games. In the past, before COVID, I’ve done cooking and have taught students to make dumplings,” Yuan said.

In particular, prep Mitchell Tam enjoyed playing games in class such as Kahoot, Quizlet Live, Mafia, Imposter, guessing games and more.

Yuan also ensures Chinese culture is integrated into her curriculum. “I hope to have students learn to view things from different perspectives,” she said.

There are many aspects about teaching at Exeter that Yuan loves. “This is actually my first full-time job in the United States, and I feel really fortunate to be able to teach here,” Yuan said. “I truly enjoy teaching highly motivated students...[they] are talented learners with so much intellectual curiosity.” 

Senior Mei Li Hart noted Yuan’s kind and understanding nature. “Ms. Yuan is especially kind, caring, and deeply intelligent. She clearly cares about Chinese and instills this excitement and care in us during each class,” Hart said. “She has the remarkable ability of being able to create an environment where students are learning so much, yet it remains truly fun, such that students don’t feel the burnout common among other classes.”

Upper Liza McMahan has had Yuan as her Chinese teacher for the past three terms. “There are so many words that can describe Ms. Yuan: hardworking, punctual, organized—these are all things that she constantly brings to the classroom and out,” McMahan said. “Ms. Yuan is sweet and understandable when you are experiencing issues, but at the same time is fair and holds you up to your expectations when you need to. Her Chinese classes are no joke, and she holds you accountable to study well. She truly wants her students to excel in class, and that emanates a dignified respect.”

  Upper Alexandria Westray felt similarly. “She loves teaching us Chinese. She seems to really enjoy being with us, and we really enjoy being with her. She's just energetic, and always is and she makes class really fun,” Westray said.

“She was very patient and understanding when teaching us Chinese. She always finds a way to make a hard topic fun and interesting,” lower Alysha Lai said. 

“She is just an understanding and caring teacher. Most teachers have a rule of emailing them at least 24 hours before moving a test. During my prep fall, I emailed her three hours beforehand. I was just so stressed. I was just having one of those days when you're just going crazy,” Westray recalled. “I kept on thinking, ‘I'm never going to get this in, what's going on in my life? I'm never going to do it.’ She replied, ‘Okay, hope it all works well,’ and that was it. She never brought it up or anything, and was super understanding.”

Several students also shared the role that Yuan played in their experience learning a new language at Exeter. “I was also embarking in a language I had never studied formally. A lot of my friends were jumping into a new world at Exeter while also continuing a previous language like Spanish or French. Something about doing Chinese for the first time was very difficult for me, and she made it a lot of fun. She really wanted to keep me in Chinese, and I am very thankful for that,” Westray said. 

“I didn't think that I would love Chinese as much as I did, and I think having her all of my first year, without interruption, really made the difference...Chinese was the class for me, all of prep and lower year, but especially with prep year when I would walk in and be genuinely happy to come to class,” Westray added. “She can create a class dynamic where you're not counting down the minutes to leave.”

McMahan shared similar thoughts. “I absolutely love how excited she gets when my classmates and I begin to use difficult grammar structures and vocabulary into our daily discussions—I can only imagine how gratifying it must feel to see your students showing understanding in what you're teaching them, and it brings a warm feeling every time she commends us for it,” McMahan said.

Hart said, “Ms. Yuan is such an important part of the Exeter community because of her genuine love of teaching and interest in her students. She genuinely listens to the concerns of students and is interested in how they are inside and out of the classroom.”

In addition to serving in the classroom, Yuan is also involved in extracurriculars. “I worked as the CSO [Chinese Student Organization] adviser for several years. I used to help the club organize their hot pot and dumplings dinner gatherings, plan and supervise activities during Asian Night Market and International Students Festival. Now I am the advisor for CLS,” Yuan said.

Upper and Chinese Language Society (CLS) co-head Pedro Coelho regarded Yuan as an integral part of his experience learning Chinese. “I can't really picture the Chinese language department existing without her, to be completely honest,” Coelho said. “She's definitely the cornerstone when it comes to foreign language teachers. I think the thing about her though is that she's very consistent. I think that's one of the things that makes her such a great teacher is that she's ready to listen to student feedback.”

Westray hopes more students can meet Yuan. “I wish she was a teacher that everybody was required or had the chance to get, like an English teacher or math teacher, so that everybody could have her,” she said.

In her free time, there are many other activities Yuan enjoys doing. “I love cooking, traveling, running and skiing.  And I recently discovered a new passion for aromatherapy. I enjoy making all natural products such as body butter, lip balms, soap, sunscreen, bug spray using essential oils,” Yuan said. “My favorite restaurants nearby are Lexie’s, Pine Garden, and Sue’s Korean Kitchen.”

Chinese Instructor Ning Zhou recounted his memories of Yuan making lip balms. “Ms. Yuan is so creative in making different products. I remember one time she made lip balms because New Hampshire is a little dry in the winter, but she was so thoughtful and shared those lip balms with the colleagues in the department,” Zhou said.

Yuan values the diverse and close-knit community of Chinese instructors at Exeter. “Many of us come from different cultures and diverse backgrounds. I can always learn from them, whether that's teaching ideas and practices, or different cultures and perspectives,” Yuan said.

According to Zhou, Yuan is someone to look up to. “She's been my mentor for the past two years, and every time I have any questions about classes, about the dorm, [or] about the school life, she's always so supportive and helps me along the way,” Zhou said. [She] is so dedicated towards her work and she is my role model,” he said.

Fellow Chinese Instructor Levi Stribling also noted Yuan’s kind and supportive nature. “It has been a positive experience for me to learn from her professionally, as she has been my mentor for the duration of my time here at PEA. She is a colleague who wants me to succeed; she knows that if she can bring out the best in me as a teacher, then our teaching team as a whole is stronger to bring out the best in the students,” he said.

Stribling’s favorite memories of Yuan highlight her kind and compassionate nature, which parallels her drive and passion for her work. “When I first arrived in Exeter, she was so welcoming and invited me to her house to have dinner. [She told me] about Exeter’s school life and about teaching here,” he said. 

“I know her to be strongly organized and well-structured in the classroom,” Stribling said. “Our classes are right across the hall from each other, and I have frequently had the pleasure of observing the gaiety and energy from the students in her classes. Ms. Yuan is constantly using different techniques to drive home the lesson.”

“In pre-COVID times, Mr. Zhou, Ms. Yuan and I got together and spent the entire day with all of our classes together in the dining halls celebrating the New Year (Chinese Spring Festival),” Stribling recalled. “I remember we were so tired at the end. Ms. Yuan was right there with each class ready for another run-down of activities.” 

Ms. Yuan has lived in Exeter for the past several years with her children on campus. “I have both my kids in this community, and I’ve lived in Bancroft and Amen before. My kids really enjoy hanging out with the girls in the dorm and it was definitely a great experience for them. They also hang out with the other faculty children on campus because there is a community, and they definitely also enjoy watching all the sports games here. They have big Exeter pride, and one of their favorite things to do is to cheer for Exeter in the E/A games,” Yuan said. “When I was pregnant with my son, my students were so sweet, and towards the end of the term, because I would be on maternity leave the following term, they all wrote very nice, cute words with pictures on the blackboard for me.”

Though she is already exemplifying the best of Exeter, Yuan plans on growing even more in her years ahead at the Academy. “One exciting thing about my job is that I am constantly learning new things,” Yuan said. “Moving forward, it's for me to keep learning more about my teaching, about my identity, and to discover better teaching ideas and practices for my classes, better ways to support my students, and just learning more new things.”