Navigating Multiple Storylines: Constructing Local Bilingual Teacher Identities in Chinese International Schools from a Positioning Theory Perspective

• In Event: Becoming Teachers: Navigating Identity Across Borders and Boundaries

Proposal

International schools in China have expanded over the past two decades. However, research on international school teachers has focused on the experience of expatriate teachers with little attention to local bilingual teachers (LBTs) (Author, 2023), while most schools staff both expatriate and LBTs. It is also suggested to expand its parameters, including studies that approach teachers from an emic, not an etic perspective, by moving from labeling teachers to understanding their experiences of becoming such (Poole, 2023). Using Positioning Theory (PT) as the guiding framework, this study examines how in-service LBTs construct their professional identities in the context of a Type C international school in China (Hayden & Thompson, 2013). The purpose of this study is twofold: (1) to reframe the academic discourse on Chinese international schools, shifting from an etic, Western-centric, and objectifying perspective that marginalizes LBTs to an emic, local, and subjectifying lens that amplifies their cultural and linguistic assets; and (2) to engage with the proposed epistemological shift toward postmodernist frameworks by foregrounding the lived experiences of all teachers at international schools. The implications of this study can inform teacher education and development research and practice in international schools worldwide, particularly regarding local teachers at these schools. Understanding their identities and work is an essential step towards decolonizing international education, a complex field where cultures, languages, identities, and beliefs entangle.

Informed by positioning theory (henceforth PT), this study asks the following research questions: (1) How do LBTs report their positionings in the context of a Type C international department in a Chinese high school? (2) What storylines are shaped by and shape LBTs’ reported positions? (3) How do LBTs construct teacher identities through these positionings? Existing research culminates in the ontological understanding of teacher identity as deeply situated in changing contexts and constructed through constant interactions and reflections (e.g. Akkerman & Meijer, 2011; Beauchamp & Thomas, 2009; Beijaard et al., 2004; Bakhtin, 1981; Wenger, 1998), which requires an approach of research that can reveal the construction process in relation to its contextual background.

PT’s theoretical framework and analytical tools afford teacher identity’s multiplicity, fluidity, momentariness, and contextuality characteristics. It theorizes social interactions as people constantly and momentarily using language to distribute rights, duties, and obligations among interlocutors through speech actions and speech acts (Davies & Harré, 1999). This moment-to-moment process of assigning, receiving, accepting, or resisting entitlements is called positioning. The collective set of personal attributes associated with these entitlements constitutes a position - “a complex cluster of generic personal attributes, structured in various ways, which impinges on the possibilities of interpersonal, intergroup, and even intrapersonal action through some assignment of such rights, duties, and obligations to an individual as are sustained by the cluster” (Davies & Harré, 1999, p. 1). Identities, both professional and beyond, can be seen as accumulations of positions over time (Kayı-Aydar, 2019). This moment-to-moment positioning reflects the fluidity of teacher identities. Speech is used for positioning within cultural and contextual storylines, which give meaning to identities. Davies and Harré (1999) describe storylines as implicit scripts that make positions coherent. Without them, positions lack clarity. People operate within, reinforce, or challenge these storylines, revealing dominant cultural, political, and institutional contexts that shape or contest identities—something other discursive frameworks often miss.

Data was collected through a 120-minute focus group with four participants, all in-service LBTs working at a Type C international school in Southwest China. The participants reported complex use of deliberate self- and other-positioning and encounters with forced positioning of self. They constructed identities by actively positioning themselves and others and evaluating forced positions (Arvaja, 2016). The evaluative strategies included accepting, negotiating, and rejecting forced positionings, with some cases followed by repositioning. The diverse modes and actions of positioning emerged into three storylines: (1) education as a market-driven endeavor with measurable deliverables, (2) education is accomplished through collaboration, and (3) education is for long-term academic and social development.

Within Storyline 1, Participant 1 actively constructed LBT identities as both leaders pursuing ideal scores and responders to parental needs. Participant 2, however, critiqued and rejected her peripheral school role, positioning herself as a central supporter and advocate for teaching. These actions show how participants exercise agency through active and reactive micro, meso, and macro-level positioning, with neoliberal pressures influencing their identity tensions. In Storyline 2, Participants 1 and 3 self-positioned as collaborators with stakeholders but faced forced evaluation by homeroom teachers, aligning more with Storyline 1. Participant 3 rejected this, reaffirming her collaborator role, while Participant 1 adapted her position without direct rejection. The storyline also revealed how institutional pressures limit agency, as participants adopt roles as language and moral education teachers, extending their LBT identities under these constraints. This illustrates how power dynamics constrain teachers’ agency, forcing them into positions that may not align with their intended identities. In Storyline 3, participants 2 and 4 use deliberate positioning to emphasize their roles in fostering long-term academic and social development. Participant 2 also adopts the “guide” position, however oriented toward long-term student development, aligning with her own past experiences as an international student—a connection consistent with findings in existing literature (Garza, 2019; Yuzlu, 2023). These tensions across intrapersonal, interpersonal, and inter-storyline levels reveal LBT identity construction as a discursive process where multiple contextual logics intersect and conflict, leading to unresolved identities.

These findings highlight the promise of using “storyline” as an analytical lens. While “position,” “subject position,” and “positioning” examine interpersonal interactions for identity, storylines reveal overlooked contextual realities and tensions between agency and institutional constraints. The study advocates interventions at micro, meso, and macro levels (Bronfenner, 1979) to help LBTs manage conflicting storylines and develop coherent identities. Micro supports can ease narrative tensions, foster cohesion, enhance agency, and improve student outcomes. Meso efforts should align institutional goals to reduce conflicting expectations and strengthen identity. Macro frameworks from educational authorities could challenge neoliberal agendas causing internal conflicts. The study amplifies LBTs’ voices in Chinese international schools and calls for further research on identity reconciliation and tension negotiation.

Author

• Yueyue Wang, College of Education, University of Maryland, College Park