Professional development for chinese EFL

Professional Development for Chinese EFL Teachers in Australia: Perspectives, Challenges, and Research Potentials Dat Bao This chapter discusses the experience of Chinese in-service teachers of English who participated in a professional development program in Australia The program reflects an increasing trend in English language education in today’s context of globalisation and transnationalism where it is common to see practitioners from one context seek interaction with colleagues and senior experts in another context The chapter presents, first of all, an overview of the current discourse on EFL teacher development in China Instead of focusing on a Western view, the discourse takes on a Chinese perspective which is a less-commonly discussed positioning on this theme In doing so, the review looks at both the need and the challenge in teacher development in context Secondly, the discussion reports an empirical study based on the program as offered by Monash University which annually hosts Chinese teachers in ten weeks’ course in the city of Melbourne The aim of the study is to examine the teachers’ experience with the program in terms of D Bao (*) Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia e-mail: dat.bao@monash.edu © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 A Ahmed, O Barnawi (eds.), Mobility of Knowledge, Practice and Pedagogy in TESOL Teacher Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64140-5_6 107 108 D Bao satisfaction, need, difficulty, criticism, and aspiration Data will highlight both strengths and existing challenges to Chinese in-service teachers’ professionalism, that is, where the program has performed well and has failed to meet the teacher expectations Thirdly, it highlights what can be further taken into consideration so that the program would reach out better to such needs These recommendations not only serve the teachers’ efficient development but also assist Australian institutions in developing new strategies for teachers to improve English pedagogy in schools or institutions Due to the limited scope of the chapter, the discussion will not compare the Australian program in this project with other teacher development programs in the world Instead, it reveals the teachers’ reflection on the design, components, and implementation which will be concretely described in the chapter Readers can benefit from this discussion by looking at how the range of activities offered by the program are received and evaluated by the teachers Current Discourse: Needs and Challenges The Need of Professional Training Overseas This section captures the relevant literature from academic and publicdebate sources published in the Chinese language It touches on the need of professional training overseas and research on the impacts of such overseas training on teacher development The discussion then identifies a number of existing challenges to Chinese in-service teachers’ professionalism and proposes recommendations with regard to areas to be addressed for future improvements in overseas development courses In scholarly discourse in China, it has been unanimously agreed that teachers’ pedagogical skills and research competence are two areas that need to be improved and updated (Han, Wang, & Li, 2011; Xu, 2009; Zhang, 2012) This is true in in the educational system generally and in English language teaching specifically These dimensions are like two sides of the same coin whereby research-based outcome should Professional Development for Chinese EFL Teachers in Australia 109 constantly inform instruction decision and quality To elevate such capabilities, educators need interaction and updated input with advanced expertise on an international basis; and thus, teacher development requires more professional work in overseas programs When it comes to such activities, research on positive impacts of overseas training and development has demonstrated the fact that many Chinese teachers who have participated in such programs have reported positive learning experiences For instance, a study by Ju Kao la (2018) has found that out of 18 teacher participants who attended training at Pennsylvania State University, 17 (94.4%) have greatly benefited from what they perceived as high professionalism and responsibility of American lecturers As far as the impact of such experience on educational practices at home is concerned, the same project has documented that professional training overseas has resulted in teachers’ advanced teaching performance In particular, the communicative approach and task-based pedagogy have boosted dynamic learning atmosphere in classroom and enhanced students’ learning interest As self-evaluation is included towards the end of the program, teacher reflection shows that most teachers could feel improvement in their everyday teaching quality Many overseas programs have led to teachers’ integrative competence in essential areas such as language skills, digital skills (including wiki, podcasting, blog, and so on), culture knowledge and understanding, and research skills (Ju Kao la, 2018) By the same token, documentation from international experiences has shown that most participants hold the opinion that overseas training is ideal for their professional development (Xu, Zhang, & Xu, 2010) Existing Challenges Having recognised the above advantages, scholars share concerns regarding various problems with ELT development programs both in China and overseas In particular, Chinese researchers have realised that more problems occur when training takes place domestically rather than in an overseas setting Many teachers who have participated in domestic programs hold negative opinions toward teacher development programs 110 D Bao In many cases, such programs often involve experts invited from overseas to assist Chinese teachers in updated ELT knowledge and skills Below are some challenges arising from teacher development programs being offered in mainland China Sustainability Issues There is hardly any post-program support to sustain development Such lack of attempts towards specialised continuation results in low sustainability In other words, trainees’ confidence has limited time and experience to grow due to the short-term nature of the course (Xu et al., 2010) Unresolved Workplace Constraints In addition to their participating in the program, teachers find themselves confronted by heavy teaching load (Zhang, 2012) It remains a dilemma when teachers are expected to spend time and energy on skill-upgrading workshops without ever being given relief support from the everyday responsibility at their schools A Lack of Professional Readiness Some participants are selected against their will to join in the training program (Sun, 2004) In every school, some teachers are prone to furthering their practice while others not feel the need for change in their instruction quality When their motivation in professional development seems low, attending the program becomes a routine and teachers would not wish to invest all their effort in improving their pedagogy More Pedagogical Input Than Hands-On Teaching Rehearsal Insufficient practical experience during the development program Although training and practice should go hand in hand, the programs not create instant conditions for practice to demonstrate the updated principles Without newly generated evidence to support practice, the program ends up delivering more knowledge than implementation Arguably, new pedagogical theories are often difficult to digest due to the lack of theory combined with practice Professional Development for Chinese EFL Teachers in Australia 111 Low Contextualisation The efficiency of development programs often suffers when trainers and trainees hold opposite objectives Much of this predicament is due to the difference in cultural background between overseas experts and Chinese teachers Besides, many experts who conduct the program, due to their lack of knowledge about the Chinese ELT context, are not highly capable of providing responses to all the diverse needs of participants This is not mention different understandings of language teaching due to different sociocultural, political, educational environments Conflict of Values Part of the content obtained from the training program in many cases seems contrary to Chinese teachers’ professional beliefs, perceptions, and understanding (Sun, 2004) This tension, unfortunately, is often downplayed by many program organisers In many cases, experts who came from outside of China not educate themselves in contextual and cultural knowledge when they designed program contents Because of this, delivery is sometimes not well catered for local needs and interests In many cases, it is hard for participants to put what they have learned into practice, simply because there is a gap between lecturers’ contextual knowledge and Chinese teachers’ expertise While the experts are good at teaching, they not understand the Chinese socio-cultural, political, educational circumstances On the contrary, while Chinese teachers know their context well, they not possess a wide range of advanced knowledge and skills to select and apply in their everyday performance Unlike the discourse found in the West, which is often enriched and well-generated, the Chinese literature on the same topic remains minimal As a result, the number of references in this discussion are few However, it is important to make such less known perspective visible so that both experts and teachers can make sense of potential gaps in the program and adjust the program content accordingly 112 D Bao Research Design This qualitative study is contextualised in the real-world setting of a teacher development program Every year, one group of approximately 20 Chinese in-service teachers from Mainland China arrive in Australia to participate in a ten-week teacher development program The main component of the program includes workshops on current trends of pedagogical input and skills development for teachers, all of which take place at Monash University This is coupled by a number of off-campus activities for providing exposure to social communication in English, organising visits to schools, museums, and other cultural venues, as well as interaction with Australian educators In this scenario, I happened to be among expert team members who worked directly with the teacher participants on a regular basis The project follows a case-study approach as it takes on these important features: • It has a authentic scenario; • It seeks potential of challenging issues for insights into program improvement; • It examines an open-ended situation that requires in-depth illuminative investigation; • The setting has multiple components that requires interaction among resources, which inspires the need to address the integration of broader theoretical, social, and contextual contexts in the program Data were collected from 17 teachers from Zhejiang Province who wished to share their views by reflecting on their learning experiences during these ten weeks in Melbourne, Australia Data collection tools comprise focus group interviews, observations of workshop dynamics, and teacher discussions based on field trip to schools Monash University has a well-established TESOL program which provides teacher education to pre-service teachers at PhD and Masters’ levels as well as to in-service teachers from around the world The program is part of the Faculty of Professional Development for Chinese EFL Teachers in Australia 113 Education, which ranks first in Australia and 12th in the world according to Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU, 2019) The content of data collection cover four key areas: • What the teachers think they have learned and valued from on-campus workshops; • What the teachers benefit from field trips outside the university; • The kind of knowledge and exposure teachers find meaningful; and • Challenges they identify as noticeable which can be considered as aspects for improvements in future programs Below is a summary of teacher responses to the areas in questions (Table 1) Finding 1: Teacher Contentment with Workshop Quality Satisfaction was expressed towards the quality of professionalism, interactive experience, and richness of the program components These range from academic activities to the interaction with experts and peers; enhanced input to teaching approaches to practical discussion; supportive classroom setups to academic resources; project work to peer presentation; materials evaluation to formative assessment; frequent use of English to EAL pedagogical tools (e.g vocabulary development, mindmapping, differentiated reading kits, and so on) One cannot single out any huge component as the major role-player in making the teachers happy Instead, it is the dynamic mixture of various factors that bring success together Another important comment that stands out in the focus interview is teachers’ enjoyment thanks to the atmosphere of workshops, the collegiality of the delivery team, and the hospitality of program staff Arguably, it is the balance between the intellectual experience and the sociocultural dimension of professional development program that effectively shapes the teachers’ approval 114 D Bao Table Chinese teachers’ reflection on experiences with the ELT development program at Monash University Activities at Monash Field trip and follow-up outside of Monash campus Interaction with Observation of teacherexperts and student peers interaction during school visit Frequent use of Making Discussion English comments and about interaction teacherstudent interaction in Australia Project work Hands-on practice Exposure to education methods in Australia Experience of teaching approaches Exposure to ways of educational practices in Australia Identified challenges Critical thinking Integrated curriculum Limited English proficiency (struggle to participate in discussion and understand advanced academic materials) Collaborative Diverse, flexible work with materials peers instead of outside of one workshop prescribed hours textbook Meeting with Emphasis on skill-based, school all-rounded leaders development Limited prior Taking notes Flexible class arrangement knowledge during (Chinese classroom teachers’ lack visits and of preparation; sharing Australian them later educators yet at to learn about workshop Chinese educational context) (continued) Professional Development for Chinese EFL Teachers in Australia 115 Table (continued) Field trip and follow-up outside of Monash campus Exposure to ways of educational practices in Australia Formative assessment Learning activities at schools Peer presentation Interaction with teachers during school visit Exposure to school culture Observations of student activities at museums Assessment as guidance instead of evaluation Small class size Insufficient Team-teaching interaction with Australian teachers Activities at Monash Supportive classroom setups EAL pedagogical tools (e.g vocabulary development, mindmapping, differentiated reading kits) Interaction Social Diverse with experience learning Australian activities at colleagues Monash at schools Identified challenges Resourceful classroom Australian teachers’ expertise knowledge Emerging in Australia working relationship Limited mutual understanding of the Australian and Chinese contexts for a comparative perspective Finding 2: Appreciating the Value of Fieldtrips Professional development for teachers is not just about pedagogy workshops Teachers who fail to see the overall picture of curriculum and context would be considered as teaching in the dark With this philosophy in mind, the participants express appreciation towards a range of external 116 D Bao activities offered by the program These include school visits for the exposure to the educational culture of Australia, interaction with colleagues, observation of teacher-student interaction, meeting with school leaders, observations of student activities at museums, among others First of all, such exposure allows the teachers to see another educational perspective different from their own and why Australian colleagues employ a variety of teaching approaches Secondly, understanding context would allow insights into why pedagogy is being practised in a certain way Thirdly, what comes out of the exposure and observation at the schools would be incorporated into workshop discussion as follow-up activities In other words, there is a clear connection between external activities and the workshop on campus The teachers would take notes during school and classroom visits for sharing them later at workshop for further discussion of educational culture and context Understanding the Australian setting is important for the Chinese teachers because they need to see the relationship between what Australian teachers in their everyday practice and the specific context which they operate within For example, social communication often receives a great deal of emphasis in the Australian society while school knowledge and practical soft skills are other, equally important, dimensions of student development The Chinese educational system, on the contrary, emphasises academic work most of all Pedagogical approaches in China often favours knowledge over social interaction and recreation Such issues in contextualisation need to be examined when teachers plan their own professional practices Finding 3: Exposure to Ways of Educational Practices in Australia Both on-campus workshops and school visits allow exposure to a different set of educational practices in Australia When such ideas are brought up, the experts and the in-service teachers could identify a range of factors which shape an educational system They include, for example, the practice of critical thinking, the value of integrated curriculum, the need for diverse, flexible materials instead of one prescribed textbook, the emphasis on skill-based, all-rounded development, flexible classroom Professional Development for Chinese EFL Teachers in Australia 117 seating arrangement, formative assessment which guides teaching and learning, the need for team-teaching, resourcefulness, among others Being aware of the presence of all these components gives the teachers a sense of educational philosophy, which shows the ecological picture of what teaching and learning looks like as well as how various components work together to support a whole system Finding 4: Ongoing Challenges The teachers identify a number of difficulties, some of which come from the Chinese context and others have to with the program itself Firstly, the teachers admit that due to their limited English proficiency, they struggle to participate in discussion and understand advanced academic materials Secondly, due to limited prior knowledge about each other, the experts and the participants did not yield the optimal intended outcome for the program In particular, while the Chinese teachers were lacking in preparations to fully participate in the program content, the Australians experts were yet to learn sufficiently about Chinese educational context Thirdly, participants’ interaction with Australian teachers at the visiting locations remains insufficient, that is, the Chinese teachers feel that the two groups of teachers did not have much opportunity to learn about each other’s educational practices This is very hard to achieve due to the difference in learning motivation While the Chinese teachers feel the need to know about Australian education to learn new ideas and bring home, their Australian counterparts seem too busy with their everyday teaching to look elsewhere and learn something different Recommendations Based on the above insights and the open discussion with the teachers at focus-group interviews towards the end of the short course, four areas of recommendations are offered for the improvement of the program quality in general, for academic research in the future, for localising program 118 D Bao content, and for following up to see how teachers might continue to develop what they have learned from overseas experience Below are specific suggestions so that the program could meet teacher needs more effectively, not only within the operation of the course but also after the course when the teachers have returned to their respective schools in China and carry on their daily teaching responsibilities Program Enhancement Making contextual knowledge and contextualisation of pedagogy is an important focus of the program This would include teachers learning about the host context and program staff learning about the teachers’ own context It is through such understanding of the setting that every discussion of pedagogical ideas has a chance to make relevant sense Giving more attention to teachers’ English proficiency rather than just academic knowledge, such as making advanced English competence a requirement for attending the program and giving guidance on how teachers can improve English skills It was realised by both the teachers and program that the quality of discussion and interaction can be strengthened or weakened depending on how teachers are comfortable participating in and engaging with workshop contents More dialogues should be created between the host and guest institutes so that preparations are effectively made and mutual expectations are explicitly clarified In many cases, the program experts expect teacher participants to be responsible for their pedagogical adaptation of the program input while teachers assume that it is the expert who should tell them what adaptations should be made While the host hopes to learn from the teachers about their own local context and expect the teachers to share such knowledge at workshops, the teachers assume that the program has already collected such knowledge prior to the program and expect the content to be catered for that context These are serious areas of mutual misinterpretation which have been observed during the program implementation For example, when the expert asks the teachers during workshop whether they think an approach might work in the Chinese context, the teachers feel surprised as they assume that the expert should already know the answer Professional Development for Chinese EFL Teachers in Australia 119 Academic Research Research can be conducted prior to and after the program For example, critical incidents in the Chinese classroom can be collected and brought to the program for discussion Such problem-solving moments in the everyday classroom need to be investigated on a regular basis to build teaching improvement In this way, both the program and the teachers can learn from each other to specify the workshop content and strengthen discussion quality through practical contextualisation efforts A second theme for investigation would be to understand cultural challenges in the Chinese context that would resist methods from the West This is an area constantly brought up during workshop discussion but was not really responded to It is an often-heard complaint that some of the tasks and methods may not work in the Chinese setting The dilemma is that the program staff and the teachers expect each other to take more initiative in appropriating pedagogical resources: both teams never seem to agree whose responsibility it is A third research theme would be to investigate the community of practice, which include, for example, how teachers work together for sharing good practices, how teams develop collective lesson plans, and how teachers conduct peer observations as mutual learning opportunities Localising Program Contents It might be helpful for international experts to visit China to learn about the local context as a way of preparing for future development programs To facilitate this process, the local education authority might provide financial support For effective collaboration, educational institutions in China could develop websites which inform international expert about local education information, available resources, and teacher concerns in professional development In addition, there is the need for international experts to understand Chinese schoolwork culture, recognising constraints and addressing them in teacher development courses rather than leaving these for teachers to go home after the training and deal with by themselves Some examples 120 D Bao of such contextual elements might include the fact that Chinese administrative culture which does not support confrontation: when a teacher needs help, they might not go to the authority; when the authority does not agree with some teachers, they change policy to affect them rather than speaking directly to individuals Follow-Up After Overseas Experience A number of strategies can be employed to explore teachers’ pedagogical practice after their return to schoolwork after an overseas development program Such activities might include requesting teachers’ reflection on what has changed in their practice as far as self-development is concerned; conversation with teachers and department leaders for a sense of teacher needs and school needs (such as new role and responsibility, new freedom, existing control, and teacher aspiration); classroom observation for a glimpse of ongoing challenges and potential solutions as well as how much of improvement might be inspired by teachers’ overseas professional experiences Due to the scope and timing of this study, follow-up research on the Chinese teachers’ application of program content back in China cannot be conducted, especially when this chapter was freshly written after a program was completed For these reasons, the Chinese teachers who returned home have not had sufficient time to implement new knowledge and report back to Monash University Conclusion: Contribution from the Study Overall, both the data from this project and current discourse have identified these areas for improvement: the need for more teacher readiness, the need for contextualisation, and the need for understanding educational values The discourse, in particular, pays more attention to the local context back in China and the problems at home rather than issues during overseas development programs These include heavy teaching load at Chinese schools (Zhang, 2012) and the aspiration for sustainable development (Xu et al., 2010) Professional Development for Chinese EFL Teachers in Australia 121 Unlike the discourse, findings of this study show teacher concerns about the ongoing experience, which includes delivery quality, the diversity of activities, the richness of program components, as well as the novelty of updated pedagogy, educational culture, and social interaction Although there are follow-up tasks during the program as well, these tasks stay within the length of the program implementation rather than after it Among the most appreciated aspects of the program are welldesigned program components such as diverse, helpful, updated, collaborative, and connectable insights; teacher awareness of current development in the field, which embraces new knowledge, debate, updated skills, helpful ideas for task design, and up-to-date resources; diverse activities on and off campus, including the opportunity to work with schools, collaborative projects, the exposure to the Australian educational system, teacher familiarisation with a different social networking culture; and finally, well-guided teacher reflection and follow-up activities References ARWU (2019) Academic ranking of world universities Monash education rankings and reputation Retrieved from https://www.monash.edu/education/ about/rankings Han, H. M., Wang, J. H., & Li, N (2011) 高校英语教师自主发展中的问 题与对策研究 [Problems and solutions in independent development among 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