Becoming a Chinese Teacher: Narratives of Chinese Teachers in a Chinese School in the United States

• In Event: Habitus, Capital, and Power in Educative Spaces

Abstract

This study explores the identity of three Chinese teachers in a Chinese school in the US. Viewing identity as a practice, this study investigated language teacher identity in a learning – practice relational triangle system which is composed of experiential knowledge, learned knowledge, and knowledge-in-action. Bourdieu’s theories of habitus (1977) and self-analysis (2007) and Wenger’s theory of community of practice (1998) provided the theoretical bases. Clandinin’s narrative inquiry (2013) was used as the methodology. The result of the study suggests that though constrained by the contexts, Chinese teachers were productive practitioners in exploring their own and collaborative identities. Their continuous problem solving and reflective thinking to address triumph and struggles to their identities disclosed different cultural understanding in ideology and philosophy.

Author

• Nuoyi Yang, University of wisconsin - Madison