Colorism In Employment: Hearing the Voices of “Waiguoren” Teachers in China

• In Event: Refugee education and the experiences of migrant parents and teachers

Proposal

The growing popularity of international education made Chinese parents educate their children to learn English. Historically, foreign teacher recruitment started in the pre-1949 era with Christian affiliations that began recruiting foreign teachers (Zheng & Wu, 2023). In the post-1949 era, China changed rapidly from Western models to the soviet approach. In the late 1970s and 1980s, the opening up transitioned from the soviet model to the Western approach, which started the rise of the recruitment of foreign teachers (Chen & Su, 2021).

The massive migration of foreign teachers to China made China unprepared to cater to the diversity of needs. Foreign teachers face cultural adaptation and language barriers. They faced challenges adjusting to life's cultural and everyday aspects, such as overcoming language barriers, lacking a supportive environment, and navigating differing views on teaching practices and professional boundaries (Yi et al., 2020).

The emerging economic prospects with China present a chance for individuals from the global north, including those "backpacker teachers," to engage in English teaching roles within private and public educational institutions (Stanley, 2013). According to Kim (2015), this trend of skilled teachers moving to China is driven by economic factors that benefit their careers, research opportunities, adventure, and as a last resort. Nevertheless, some Chinese people perceive foreign teachers as subject to their judgment of desire, curiosity, envy, and resentment (Henry, 2013).

Foreign teachers in China are referred to as "外国人 or waiguoren," since the word waiguoren means "foreigner." Waiguoren was the term used to characterize foreign migrants who were not of Chinese ethnicity (Liu, 2021). According to Henry (2013), "the term waiguoren is typically reserved for those perceived to be most different, racially and culturally, from the Chinese population: white westerners (p.225)." Scholars have a common belief that waiguoren is a form of othering.

"Waiguoren" is associated with nationality and color distinct from the dominant group. Norwood (2014) argued that colorism is another form of racism that, even within non-white majority groups, power and privilege are often linked to whiteness. Although, the concept of colorism is complex to define (Culbreth, 2024). In a study by Lan (2022), those with "white skin privilege" received better treatment and greater job opportunities. Furthermore, the existing literature on the presence of foreign teachers predominantly focuses on white Westerners, while there appears to be a lack of research addressing the context of global south workers identified as foreign teachers. Thus, this research examined the context of being "waiguoren" through the perspective of foreign teachers who belonged from the global south.

In this research, we utilized critical ethnography, where the researchers visited, engaged, and talked to the participants for ten months. It involves the study of "ethno," particularly focusing on culture, social relations, and race. Critical ethnography is an ethnography with an emphasis on being "critical" (Barab et al., 2004; Carspecken, 2013). In addition, critical ethnography has a political purpose (Thomas, 1993).

This research is part of our ongoing project investigating foreign teachers' experiences in China on sustainable migration. Thirty participants were involved in the study, all of whom were from the global south. However, only four cases will be presented and analyzed. Two participants are Afghans who hold a Master of Education degree, both professional experience and a Bachelor of Education qualification. Conversely, a female participant of African descent from Tanzania possesses a master's degree in education. She lacks teaching experience and does not hold a degree in education from her undergraduate studies. Lastly, a Filipino teacher who identifies as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) possesses extensive teaching experience in China, despite not having an education degree diploma but a bachelor's degree holder. He encounters "closeted" experiences while doing his role as an educator. One thing in common between the four is that they were employed in a kindergarten under an agency/company rather than directly hired.

We uphold in protecting our research participants by ensuring no identifiable data, including addresses, birthdays, and personal details. However, we reveal their nationality and some background details as part of being "critical" in analyzing their experience as a foreign teacher in China. In addition, we secured an informed consent form prior to the data collection and anonymized their names on the paper. The interview lasted 30-40 minutes with a semi-structured interview guide. The data was analyzed using ATLAS.TI 24.

The findings revealed three important themes: 1. Nationality privilege in international recruitment, 2. Skin color and salary disparities, and 3. Parental influence on teacher recruitment. Nationality privilege in international recruitment shows that the nationality of foreign teachers can put them in a high position despite their educational background. From the participants' experience, their educational qualification has less bearing on recruitment but rather on their passport and nationality. One of the participants said, "From developing countries, there is no such opportunity. The schools can hire you if you are from Canada, America, or those native English five countries; you must be a white native speaker, no you must hold a European visa or European or North American passport or Australian passport so that the passport will help you greatly." Skin color and salary disparity's theme revealed among all participants that colorism influences salary. Westerners and white-looking foreign teachers received better salaries. One of the participants shared, "And one thing is that it is unfair because if they have these white looking at, I noticed they are not native speakers just like Kazakhstan, Russia, [though] their accent is different. They, too, had a hard accent and would get a higher salary than us." Lastly, the theme of parental influence on teacher recruitment revealed that parents have the power to decide who will be the teacher of their kids.

In conclusion, the findings of this research show the link between colorism, race, and neoliberalism. Colorism shapes the foreign teacher's experiences and makes them "waiguoren" as a form of othering and discrimination in the workplace. This study offers recommendations and future direction for research.

Authors

• Nilo Jayoma Castulo, Mindanao State University TCTO

• YIFU LI, Qingdao City University