Conceptualizing Teacher Education for Social, Cultural, and Ethnic Diversity in China

• In Event: Re-thinking pedagogy in teaching and teacher education

Proposal

This paper calls for a paradigm shift in current teacher education research on preparing teachers to teach and support diverse students in China. First, we explain some key terms and overview the teacher education system in China. Next, through a critical review and analysis of more than 50 papers, we examine current dominant epistemologies that scholars assume when addressing the education of diverse students in China. Then, we locate the shift in epistemology 1) within the ethics of scholar’s roles in educational research, 2) within complexity of diverse groups’ needs inside China, 3) and within our current global environment. Finally, we propose a paradigmatic shift in the analytic conception of teacher education’s purposes within the contemporary contexts of late-socialist China—by extension this entails a careful examination of the processes through which teachers are (or might be better) prepared to teach in ways that support more fully China’s incredibly diverse populations of students, in addition to considering differently the role of Chinese teacher education research.

The structure and history of teacher education in China has been well documented (e.g., Guo, 2005; Zhu & Han, 2006; Shi & Englert, 2008). The role of mass education to support diverse students, especially ethnic minority education in China, has tended to be discussed by scholars specifically in terms of language policy (e.g., Zhou, 2001; Wang & Phillion, 2009; Nima, 2001; Lin,1997), higher education (e.g., Zhao, 2011; Zhu, 2010), national identity (e.g., Yu, 2007; Tse, 2011; Ma, 2007a), minoritized students within dominant discourses (White, 2008; Zhao & Postiglione, 2010), and K-12 schooling policy (e.g., Snavely, 2004; Postiglione, 2017; Ba, 2007). Despite the existence of this amalgam of partially-related research, there is surprisingly little research about the preparation of teachers to teach diverse students in China. Of the small number that do take diversity into consideration, most (e.g. Postiglione, 2002; Bai, 2008) neglect to fully discuss and consider possible criteria for so-called “qualified teachers” for diverse population of students. In response to this gap in knowledge, we propose a need for opening a space within Chinese teacher education research to discuss how Chinese teachers are learning to teach diverse Chinese students. At the same time, we call for an epistemological shift in terms of conducting research on teacher education in China.

This research is designed as an analytic study addressing critical issues within the changing field of contemporary education, with a specific focus on teacher education in China. As conceptual research, the methods of data analysis are based upon a comprehensive review of peer-reviewed studies on teacher education. We draw from more than 50 academic articles published in both Chinese and Western academic journals over the past 21 years that focus on the Chinese teacher education system and ethnic minority education in China. At present, there is little research that speaks directly to the preparation of teacher to teach diverse students in China. To narrow our selection, we focus specifically on domains connected to the Chinese teacher education system and ethnic minority education in order to establish a representative collection of research addressing current paradigms of scholarship that considers diverse student population needs in education in China. Through the examination of these papers, we raise concerns about how diverse populations’ needs in China appear to be viewed by educational researchers and offer guidance for future research.

We categorize these papers into following categories based by topic: 1) overviews of teacher education, 2) recognition of diversity in Chinese teacher education, 3) language policy, 4) ethnic minority higher education, 5) national identity for diverse groups, 6) how ethnic minorities are portrayed in dominant discourse, and 7) K-12 schooling policy for diverse groups in China. For each category, the following questions help to guide our analysis: 1. Is the issue discussed viewed from grassroot-culture’s own perspective or is it viewed from the top-down national policy already decided for them? 2.To what extent do the papers/research studies acknowledge diverse groups’ struggles for equity in education? 3. Do the papers acknowledge the need for preparing teachers for diversity in China—in particular, do these papers address the importance of preparing culturally responsive teachers in contemporary Chinese contexts? By asking these questions of each paper, we attempt to examine current dominant paradigms through which diverse students’ educational needs in China are being discussed in contemporary scholarship—the purpose of which is intended to guide future research on teacher education in China.

China is a nation with tremendous regional and socioeconomic diversity. Its levels of economic and social development vary significantly (Zhu & Han, 2006). And in addition to being a multi-ethnic country with 56 distinct ethnic groups, there have been contentious struggles to maintain ethnic diversity within a framework of national integration and unity (Chen & Yuan, 2015). China’s ethnic minority education has adapted Fei Xiaotong’s framework of “a unified pluralist,” with the Han ethnic group as the core (Ma, 2007b, p.17), and the selected concepts of multicultural education in their discussions on the education of ethnic minority groups (Wan & Bai, 2008). On one hand, this emphasis has given way to concerns about ethnic solidarity and plurality and preferential policies—all of which is intended to provide education for ethnic minority students (Yuan, 2010). On the other hand, recognition of multiple axes of inequalities produced by interrelated identities such as gender, class, culture, language, dis/ability is often at cost of subsuming ethnic diversity into national unity and social stability, and assimilating ethnic minority groups into mainstream society (Author, 2018). While there is a growing perception that many well-trained teachers are joining the workforce to teach in China’s urban centers, in less developed rural areas and ethnic minority regions concerns persist about educational resources and teacher recruitment, retention and professional development. The debates over cultural preservation, ethnic autonomy, and state schooling in China remain complex (Author, 2016). By critically analyzing current studies on teaching and learning for socially, culturally and ethnically diverse students in China, this paper offers key insights into targeting key challenges for teacher education in China.

Authors

• Reyila Hadeer, Michigan State University

• Christopher B. Crowley, Wayne State University

• Min Yu, Wayne State University