A Critical Ethnography Of 'westerners' Teaching English In China: Shanghaied In Shanghai (routledge Critical Studies In Asian Education)

Tens of thousands of Western ‘teachers’, many of whom would not be considered teachers elsewhere, are employed to teach English in public and private education in China. Little has previously been known, except anecdotally, about their experiences, about the effect they have on education in the context, or on students’ perceptions of ‘the West’ that result from this contact. This book is an ethnographic study of Westerners’ lived experiences teaching English in Shanghai, China. It is based on three years of groundbreaking research into the pre-service training, classroom practices, personal identities and motives, and local socially constructed roles of a group of ‘backpacker teachers’ from the UK, the USA and Canada. It is a study that goes beyond the classroom, addressing broader questions about the sociology, and politics, of transnational education and China’s evolving relationship with the outside world. Cover 1 A Critical Ethnography of ‘Westerners’ Teaching English in China: Shanghaied in Shanghai 4 Copyright 5 Contents 6 Illustrations 10 Acknowledgements 11 1 Introduction 14 Contextualizing the study 15 Locating the study 17 Defining the research focus 18 Navigating the text 22 Notes on terminology 23 2 English teaching in China 27 Curriculum ideologies and Chinese students 27 Models of culture 29 ELT approaches in China 32 Communicative Language Teaching in China 34 ‘Foreign experts’ 38 Teachers’ motivations 39 Teaching ‘culture’ as part of ELT 43 Assessing English language teacher expertise 46 Foreign teachers’ experiences in China 49 Conclusion 51 3 Theorizing transnationals in China 52 Critical ethnography and ELT 52 Problematizing ‘postcolonial resistance’ 55 Occidentalism and discourses of difference 59 Chinese nationalism and ‘patriotic education’ 64 Transnationalism and sensemaking 67 Identity and authenticity 70 Westerners’ gendered identities in East Asia 73 Conclusion 76 4 Showing the workings 77 Qualitative research and grounded theory 77 Research practicalities and participants 79 Reflexivity, positionality, and ethics 83 Stimulated recall: Ollie’s relative clauses lesson 87 Limitations of this study 92 Conclusion 93 5 Teachers, training, and teaching 94 Foreign teachers at People’s Square University 94 Teachers’ work at PSU 96 Meet the participants 98 Teachers’ paradigms 101 Teacher induction and support at PSU 107 Circumstantial constraints on effective teaching 108 Conclusion 111 6 Understanding oral English 112 The nature and purpose of tertiary education 113 The nature of (English) language 115 The nature of language learning 118 The nature of oral English 121 Student output types 124 Classroom activities 126 Phil’s methodological sleight of hand 129 Overcoming student resistance 131 Changing practices in oral English 135 Conclusion 137 7 The pressure to be ‘fun’ 138 The nature of ‘fun’ in oral English classes 139 Effects of ‘fun’ on teachers’ work 142 Effects of ‘fun’ on teachers’ morale 144 My own teaching at PSU 147 Effects of ‘fun’ on teacher development 150 Imagining funny foreign teachers 153 Bottom up and top down: Pressures to be fun 156 Crossing cultures or reinforcing stereotypes? 160 Conclusion 163 8 It’s not about English teaching 164 Foreign teacher recruitment 164 Foreign teachers or foreign creatures? 167 Teaching culture: Western artefacts and meanings 169 Teaching culture: Exploring Chinese culture 171 The foreign teachers’ role: A clearing in the woods 172 Ryan’s story: The ideal foreign teacher? 174 Infantilizing Chinese students 176 Conclusion 179 9 Gendered identities 181 Becoming superheroes? Constructing Western men 181 Transactional relationships and identity tensions 185 Men behaving badly 189 ‘A guy who happens to have breasts’: Western women 193 Living under the cloak of invisibility 196 Leo and the boys’ club at PSU 200 Identity struggles 203 Conclusion 205 10 Training outcomes and teacher needs 207 Four models of teacher effectiveness and success 207 Critiquing CELTA outcomes 210 Critiquing the CELTA model of post-course support 213 Leading or misleading? Teacher support at PSU 214 Phil’s idealism 217 Conclusion 221 11 Constructing and maintaining identities 222 Karen’s story: Mixed and changing motivations 223 Teachers’ motivations: Staying in China 224 Karen’s story: ‘Trapped’ in ELT 226 Foreign teachers as irrelevant 228 Appropriating other identities 230 Frustrations and notions of superiority 232 Conclusion 234 12 Recommendations and reflections 236 Riding a donkey to go looking for a horse 236 Multiculturalism with Chinese characteristics 241 Revisiting the participants: Beth 245 Teacher development: Ollie 248 ‘Sink or swim’ challenges: Ollie 251 Moving on: Dan and Leo 253 Transferable capital: Phil and Ryan 257 The glitter ball: Reconsidering reflexivity 260 References 267 Index 287 Tens of thousands of Western teachers are employed to teach English in public and private education in China. Little has previously been known, except anecdotally, about their experiences, about the effect they have on education in the context, or on students ́ђة perceptions of ́ђبthe West ́ђة that result from this contact. This book is an ethnographic study of Westerners ́ђة lived experiences teaching English in Shanghai, China. It is based on three years of groundbreaking research into the pre-service training, classroom practices, personal identities and motives, and local socially constructed roles of a group of ́ђبbackpacker teachers ́ђة from the UK, the USA and Canada. It is a study that goes beyond the classroom, addressing broader questions about the sociology, and politics, of transnational education and China ́ђةs evolving relationship with the outside world Western 'teachers', many of whom would not be considered teachers elsewhere, teach English in public and private education in China. This book sheds light on their experiences, the effect they have on education and on students' perceptions of 'the West'.