How Do Teachers in China Develop Culturally Responsive Teaching: A Case Study Based on Sociocultural Theory

• In Event: Challenges and Possibilities of Teaching Innovation and Curriculum Reform

Proposal

1. Background
Under the influence of globalization, the world has become more complex and multicultural. With the more complex and diverse learners in schools, teachers have faced two major challenges: the first one is how to teach equally to students from different ethnics, areas, cultures, and so on; and the second challenge is how to connect the students’ prior knowledge and cultural experience brought from their homes or communities to the classroom teaching activities. Therefore, to solve the above two major difficulties, countries around the world have successively called for attention to learners' cultural diversity and differences in their educational policy and incorporated relevant courses such as culturally responsive teaching into teacher education and training. Culturally responsive teaching uses “the cultural knowledge, prior experiences, frames of reference, and performance styles of ethnically diverse students to make learning more relevant and effective… It teaches to and through strengths of these students [and] is culturally validating and affirming” (Gay, 2000). As for China, with the rapid economic development and the acceleration of population flow, urban schools in China are also faced with the problem of the intersection and collision of diverse cultures, for example, a group of students such as migrant children and ethnic minorities have flooded into cities. It is currently difficult for China's education to provide equal education to these marginalized groups. Meanwhile, in China's educational context, there are very few studies on culturally responsive teaching, and most of them focus on Hong Kong, ethnic minority areas, and remote areas. Based on this, the research questions of this study are as follows: (1) How do teachers understand the relationship between culture and teaching? And how do they understand culturally responsive teaching as an equitable teaching method? (2) How do teachers connect students’ individual cultural experiences with school knowledge in classroom teaching? (3) In the process of teaching, what are the difficulties of integrating social and cultural experiences into classroom teaching?

2. Theoretical Perspective
Based on sociocultural theory, the process of learning and the construction of knowledge is the mechanism by which the individual mind interacts with the social and historical environment. It is believed that children and their experiences can be defined and shaped by the social, cultural, and historical context (John Steiner et al.,1999). In schools, social and cultural experiences play a key role in determining the quality of learning activities. In addition to the differences in cultural and social environments, each individual has a different culture and knowledge experience. Therefore, learners will inevitably have a different need to develop themselves in the learning process based on their own needs. As a result, an important challenge in learning is the integration of different cultural practices (NASEM, 2018).
For school education, the problem that needs to be solved is "how to connect the cultural practice from daily life with the cultural practice of the school", while teachers face a challenge in determining how to incorporate their existing knowledge and cultural experience into classroom instruction. An important approach to solving this dilemma and challenge is culturally responsive teaching, which is based on the premise that “when teachers place academic knowledge and skills in students’ life experience and reference frame, students are more likely to find these knowledge and skills meaningful and interesting, thus supporting their learning” (Gay, 2010).

3. Research Method and Data Collection
This study is qualitative research, mainly using the case study method, which can delve into the phenomenon that is happening in a real-life environment (Yin, 2004). J School in Shanghai was selected as the case study object for this study. It is a nine-year public school for migrant children. Currently, this school has nearly 2300 migrant students from over 30 provinces and cities in mainland China, including 16 ethnic minorities. Due to this, the cultural background of the students at J school may be more complex than that of other schools in Shanghai, meaning that teachers may face more challenges in adapting to this culture.
In this study, data was collected in the following steps: (1) To collect teachers' cognition and understanding of cultural response teaching, researchers conducted semi-structured interviews with teachers from several disciplines and learning segments, and then transcribed and encoded their recordings. (2) During the interview process, the researchers collected the teaching design scheme, reflections, and notes of the interviewed teachers. (3) The researchers entered the classroom teaching of the interviewed teachers, observed and recorded the teachers' teaching activities, and examined the teachers' ability to deliver culturally responsive instruction and how they connected the students' cultural experiences with the subject knowledge.

4. Findings
(1) Generally, teachers accepted that culture plays an important role in shaping the learning and thinking of students, including national, family economic, and social factors. Even though culturally responsive teaching is beneficial, particularly for marginalized students, they also noted that it could be challenging in China, as teachers must align their progress and plans with those of the entire class. As a result, they cannot respond to students' diverse cultural experiences.
(2) During the classroom teaching process, teachers usually incorporate students' cultural experience and prior knowledge, as described in the following two stages: 1) A situational introduction. 2) Knowledge development and application.
(3) The exam-oriented examination system and teaching pressure are the main obstacles to the implementation of culturally responsive teaching. As a result of examination culture, students' grades serve as the most significant criterion for assessing students, increasing school enrollment, and meeting parental expectations. In the classroom, teachers may disregard students' cultural backgrounds and daily lives and often use standardized and unified test questions.

5. Scholarly significance
Firstly, this study demonstrates teachers’ understanding and practices of culturally responsive teaching methods in the context of China’s education. Secondly, this study provides a new perspective to analyze the teaching practice of cultural response based on socio-cultural theory.

Authors

• Hua Hu, East China Normal University

• Tainian ZHENG, East China Normal University