A Narrative Exploration of Experiences of Culture Shock Among Teacher-Returnees From Northeast Asia

• In Event: 29.066 - Intercultural Learning Following an International Teaching Experience: Preparing Intercultural Teachers for Social Justice

Abstract

Objectives: In this presentation, I discuss the findings of a study into the experiences of novice Canadian teachers who engaged in life and teaching in Japan or Hong Kong prior to returning to Canada and Canadian schools. In particular, I examine issues of culture shock from the vantage of both the process of acculturation to foreign settings and re–acculturation to the home context. I make use of a narrative lens as a means of highlighting a nuanced understanding of culture shock.

Theoretical Framework: This investigation is a narrative inquiry self study with co–participants following the research tradition of Connelly and Clandinin (2000). I drew on the notion of inquiring into experiential stories while building on Dewey’s (1938) conception of the interconnection between education and experience. Additionally, I employed Schwab’s (1969) work on the practical in education to structure a pragmatic inquiry into cross–cultural teaching. Research on cross–cultural teaching and learning also supported my investigation of intercultural teaching (Cushner & Brennan, 2007; Garii & Schlein, 2011; Phillion et al., 2008; Walters, Garii, & Walters, 2009).

Methods and Data Sources: Over the course of my investigation I interacted with three participants via five 90–minute informal, tape–recorded interviews. I logged extensive technical and reflective field notes following all interviews. Following data collection, I reviewed all field notes and interview transcriptions to uncover common narrative themes.

Results: Through exploring my co–participants’ and my own stories of experience, I uncovered an envisioning of culture shock in a new setting as stages of panic, survival, and coping. I further came across a possible understanding of reverse culture shock upon reentry to the home country as life on an in–between landscape, where teachers need to face differences and find a personal and professional niche to fit in.

Scholarly Significance of the Study: Few studies examine the experiences of in–service or novice educators who teach abroad. Even less qualitative research explores the impact of such experiences on teachers’ practices upon re–entry. This study is significant, since it comprises a narrative investigation of novice teachers’ intercultural experiences, including those related to professional re–entry within the home country. Moreover, this study offers narrative deliberation on culture shock and provides a fluid definition of culture shock that might contribute to the literature on culture and cultural interactions. The narrative interpretations of culture shock that are discussed within this presentation might further be illuminating for studies of intercultural teaching and inquiries into the development of intercultural competence among new and experienced educators.

Author

• Candace M. Schlein, University of Missouri - Kansas City