International Teachers Lived Experiences

This book explores the emerging and under-researched phenomenon of internationalised schooling in China. It focuses on a group of “accidental” teachers who fell into teaching through happenstance or necessity, a group of teachers increasingly seeking refuge in Chinese Internationalised Schools. Chinese Internationalised Schools cater to an affluent middle class in China, offering some form of international curriculum which is taught by host country Chinese nationals and expatriate teachers. Chapters focus on three dimensions of teachers’ lived experiences of working in these schools: the intercultural, which explores teachers’ negotiations of intercultural teacher identities; the precarious, which highlights the struggles they might face at work; and the resilient, which illustrates how teachers survive—and even thrive—in the position. The author identifies a complex interplay between surviving and thriving, giving rise to the concept of “sur-thrival.”

"This book is a timely and valuable contribution to research on Chinese education mobilities, especially on international teacher mobility to China. Poole's theorisation of the 'sur-thrival' of these international school teachers is innovative and carries tremendous analytical promise for the field. This book would be of great interest to scholars and students of teacher education, international and comparative education, China studies, and migration studies. I highly recommend this book." -Cora Lingling Xu, Assistant Professor in Education, Durham University, UK "Poole delves deep into an under-researched and under-theorised world. The lived experiences of those who 'accidently' end up teaching in the emerging arena of non-traditional international schools in mainland China offer a fascinating insight into coping within a complex field of insecurity and precarity. The Chinese Internationalised School is a growing beast and hearing the voices of some who work in them is a fascinating treat." -Tristan Bunnell, Lecturer in International Education, University of Bath, UK This book explores the emerging and under-researched phenomenon of internationalised schooling in China. It focuses on a group of "accidental" teachers who fell into teaching through happenstance or necessity, a group of teachers increasingly seeking refuge in Chinese Internationalised Schools. Chinese Internationalised Schools cater to an affluent middle class in China, offering some form of international curriculum which is taught by host country Chinese nationals and expatriate teachers. Chapters focus on three dimensions of teachers' lived experiences of working in these schools: the intercultural, which explores teachers' negotiations of intercultural teacher identities; the precarious, which highlights the struggles they might face at work; and the resilient, which illustrates how teachers survive-and even thrive-in the position. The author identifies a complex interplay between surviving and thriving, giving rise to the concept of "sur-thrival.".

Poole’s book illuminates the experiences and perspectives of host country national teachers at internationalised schools in China. The international school sector in China has undergone significant changes in recent years. This is due to the growing demand for international education from local middle-class families. In response, a new type of school has emerged. Going by various names, such as private, bilingual or internationalised, these schools offer a fusion of national and international curricula and are staffed predominantly by host country national teachers. Despite these changes, we still know little about who host country national teachers are and what draws them to the world of international schooling. Accordingly, this book explores the motivations and mobilities of host country national teachers in China. It identifies three types of teacher: Returners, Reachers, and Remainers. Returners are graduates who have returned to China from overseas study. They are drawn to international schools by the opportunity to use their international experience and qualification. Reachers are internal migrants who face structural inequality and attracted to international schools by the opportunity for social mobility. Remainers are married teachers with children. They are motivated to work in international schools by the perceived stability and security these schools offer. Discussing implications for teacher recruitment, development, and retention in international schools, this book is an essential read for international educational researchers as well as students researching international education or teacher identity.

“This book gives a voice to English language teachers faced with the challenges posed by English language curriculum change. As a core component of national state system curricula in virtually every country in the world, there has nevertheless been little research exploring how the millions of English teachers worldwide navigate the challenges posed by such curriculum changes. This volume includes eleven stories from teachers based across every continent, providing a global glimpse of how national English curriculum change projects have been experienced by classroom teachers who are commonly (if erroneously) viewed as mostly responsible for its implementation success or failure. The final chapter synthesises these experiences and suggests wider implications for the development of curriculum change planning processes, and how they might better support teachers’ attempts to achieve curriculum goals. Edited and authored by leading experts in the field, this ground-breaking collection will be of interest to students and scholars of English language teaching, teacher education, curriculum change and education policy.”

This book offers first-person narratives of teachers’ curriculum encounters. The reflections of teachers are presented using Pinar’s Method of Currere as a tool for undertaking deep analysis of teachers’ curriculum encounters. The Method of Currere allows teachers to embody curriculum in all its forms, allowing for reflection on encounters in the formal, informal, hidden curriculum and beyond. The book aims to provide readers with a broad understanding of curriculum as the lived experience encapsulating the educational, personal, and professional life of the teacher. In this way teachers are able to trace and make sense of the development of their knowledge and make changes that lead to the continuous offering of quality education. The book will be of interest to students, scholars and practitioners involved in curriculum studies, teacher education/training, teaching, and general education.

This book embarks on an ever-expanding array of language, academic mobility, neoliberalism, and accompanying rich scholarly debates. It examines the ways in which international English language teachers in Saudi Arabia’s higher education system position themselves, negotiate, interact, adjust, make sense of their classroom dynamics, and validate their senses of selves and pedagogies in their day-to-day (dis)engagement with their institutions and encounters at work. Informed by rich empirical data from a multi-year, multi-site project in addition to other qualitative studies, the book reveals on-the-ground complexities involving speaker status, language, ethnicity, nationality, race, religion, sociocultural factors, emotion labour, work dynamic and professionalism. It promotes thinking beyond normative ideologies on marginalisation, the native and non-native speaker dichotomy, linguistic, racial, religious and ethnic (inter)relations, and translanguaging pedagogies, while also offering new material for original theorisation in multi-Englishes multilingualism, local-trusting-local and the limits of negotiability.

The Handbook of Research on Critical Issues and Global Trends in International Education addresses the growing complexity and diversity of international schools by examining the critical issues and global trends faced by practitioners in this field. With a lack of research on the experiences and actions of school practitioners in these isolated workplaces, this book aims to provide practical and evidence-based solutions. The book covers a wide range of topics, including equity and access, diversity, teacher retention, legal frameworks, school typology, governance, cultural competence, third culture kids, leadership and practice, technology, and parent engagement. Written by educational professionals, researchers, and anthropologists, it offers a unique collection of voices from those with lived experiences in this field, making it an invaluable resource for anyone interested in gaining a deeper understanding of the international school sector. Whether you are an educator, researcher, policymaker, school leader, lecturer, or anthropologist, the Handbook of Research on Critical Issues and Global Trends in International Education is a must-read comprehensive guide to the complexities and challenges of international education, providing practical solutions for improving the quality of education in this rapidly evolving field. If you are looking to gain a nuanced understanding of the critical issues facing international schools and evidence-based approaches for addressing these challenges, this book is the perfect resource for you.

Understanding the Dynamics of Teacher Agency, Resilience, and Identity in the Neoliberal Age foregrounds how the neoliberal educational reforms contribute to the (trans)formation of teacher agency, resilience, and identity through various theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches.