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International schooling in China – the starting point, Richard Mast
International schooling in China – the starting point
Richard Mast makes a call to action to establish genuine and lasting collaboration
There are now many schools across China offering international education in some form to Chinese students. This phenomenon has evolved over time and is gaining a high level of prominence. The typical approach is to find the legal and operational structure to be able to offer this service. In most cases, there are foreign teachers and administrators involved. Chinese teachers and administrators perform their roles, ranging from being fully in charge through to having supportive roles. Foreign administrators can have high level leadership responsibilities and the foreign teachers are there as the experts in international education.
This situation can be seen as a coming together of parallel universes. All the participants are able to interact as if they share the same dimension, but that is not the reality. The Chinese world is a way of thinking, interacting with the universe, perspectives and methods of action that are fundamentally different from the western-constructed universe of the foreign teachers and administrators. The schools are offering education that includes the use of an international curriculum. This Trojan Horse is placed into the Chinese world and then all the participants try to merge the Western pedagogy, assessment and cultural values with China. How can this work?
One starting point is to understand what is happening and to develop a successful model that supports the decision by parents to send their children to the school. Parents are paying for their child and their family to gain the benefits of an education that includes the learning of English and attaining advantages from the international component. At least, on the surface that appears to be the reason. To a large extent, these are the responses parents will give when asked, because it is likely that they may be underestimating the potentially negative effects of placing their child in an educational experience that is dominated and shaped by western education and values.
What the parents do not want is also important to recognise. They do not want their child to be ‘Westernised’ through experiencing an international curriculum, the pedagogy or the cultural essence that underpins them. Chinese culture and values must be not only preserved but also enhanced and honoured in the education process. The danger – the reason for tension in these schools – is that a structure is created that achieves very little in terms of what the parents and the foreign educators are seeking. To start the process of having Chinese schools fulfil a promise that is valid, is reflective of the culture and allows the students to gain benefits from international education in a way that supports the values and ambitions of the family, we have to look at the dynamics.
Let us assume that international education, in some form, has a place in an education process for Chinese students. For this to happen, there have to be benefits. If international educators are asked what the benefits are of international education, they could provide a list. Look at any of the documentation available from the international curriculum providers and you will see the list, or at least a starting list, and then examination of the pedagogy and assessment will show the emphasis of the learning and so what is valued. Show this same information to Chinese parents, teachers and administrators and you may not find agreement. Herein lies the challenge. Even if the parents, teachers and administrators agreed with some of the list of advantages, there is need for significant caution. This situation is one of the traps of bringing the parallel universes into a common location. How the Chinese parents, teachers and administrators interpret the list is the critical part of the process. Their interpretation will be very different from that of the developers of the curriculum, the examining authority and the foreign teachers and administrators in their statements.
If a school is created with a combination of Chinese teachers and administrators with foreign teachers and administrators for Chinese students, this question has to be addressed: ‘what are the advantages that the school can bring to the learning and development of the students?’ It is wise to assume that the perspectives of everyone in this situation are not aligned. The school needs to engage in an in-depth dialogue to flesh out the answer for its community. There is potentially an immovable object or two in the room. When the school hires the foreigners, they are hiring experts in international education. That is correct. However, they are not experts in Chinese culture, education or the learning and thinking of students. The experts in this domain are the Chinese teachers, administrators and parents. If the school accepts the idea that the international curriculum is the immovable, inflexible object then there is a problem. It is important to remind the foreign teachers and administrators of one of the foundational elements of western education. The heritage of the Age of Enlightenment has resulted in a
foundational belief that all students are unique and that their learning journey is unique. It is the mission of the teacher to consider the student’s uniqueness and then determine how to ensure that the student has a successful learning journey.
Given this premise, it is important to remind the foreigners of where they are and who their students are. Chinese students will always think in a Chinese way. They have a perspective in relation to teaching and learning that is shaped by their culture and experience. They will always interact with the teaching and learning presented to them in ways and layers that are unknown to the foreign teacher. The best foreign teachers and administrators will accept this situation, and do what has to be done to provide the inclusive education that each student deserves. This is also true for foreign teachers and administrators interacting with Chinese teachers, administrators, parents and educational authorities. The foreign teachers and administrators have to accept a potentially uncomfortable and threatening position. They have to adapt and adjust to China, not the other way around.
Another factor has to be recognised. The Chinese teachers, parents and administrators tend to accept the idea that international education is better and of value. They are not experts in the type of education they are bringing into their world and that of their students. Therefore they do not know or recognise the cultural values and assumptions that are entering the world of their children.
For this to work, we need to have a very different approach. The foreign teachers and administrators need to accept that they will have to change their methods of teaching, assessment and operating to be able to honour their commitment to the individualised learning journey of the students and the Chinese teachers and administrators. If they do not change, if they hold on to the international approaches they are so good at using in a western culture, they will risk their purpose and effectiveness as teachers and administrators. The way they are perceived will be the telling factor. If they dogmatically hold on to ‘the way it is always done’ overtly or covertly, the parents, students, teachers and administrators will interpret this as a form of cultural and educational imperialism. This should not happen.
The answer for the foreign teachers is to take advantage of all the skills and processes that are in their experience set, to shape a culturally attuned learning and teaching process that benefits the students in the ways that it should. This has to be a learning environment in which the foreign teachers are using all their skills to develop an effective and successful learning experience. Success should be measurable from a learning as well as a cultural perspective. The answer for the Chinese teachers and administrators is to step forward and teach the foreigners about China. Not only in the sense of its history and festivals, but also in a much more meaningful way that teaches the foreigners how a Chinese child will interpret the curriculum, the lesson activities, the statements the teacher makes, the assignment wording, the assessment activities and the operational expectations of the school. Without this knowledge and understanding the foreign teachers cannot be the experts it was assumed they should be.
This is a call for genuine cooperation. A partnership. A coming together of equals. Each participant has a key piece of the puzzle and for the sake of the students, their parents and the school, the communication has to be clear and open. There have to be probing questions and a willingness to dig deep to find the real meaning of a situation. Once a teacher or administrator (Chinese or foreign) identifies the correct way to start, a much richer journey of learning, development and discovery can be created. The first step is to accept each other for who we are. Typically, when foreigners are introduced to Chinese teachers, administrators and students they hear an English name for that person. This is done to be courteous and it makes name recognition easy for the foreigner. This is not, though, the place to start a relationship. All people are defined by their name. Chinese people have a deep sense of their connection to family and ancestors. There is a very clear reason why the family name comes first.
For this journey to start, the foreigners have to resist the temptation to use the English name, even if the person insists. Learn the person’s real name and use it. This is the signal that has to be sent, to show that you are prepared to respect the people and to work with them, to create the relationship that is going to be needed for the school to succeed. This is the first step and it is huge. The notion of talking to a person and using their name is important no matter what culture they inhabit. What has to be clear is that all of us have an identity that is partially but importantly represented by our names. If a person feels that they have to present themselves with another identity via the use of a personal name from another person’s culture, something very wrong is happening.
Ask students who come to study in your country if they felt that they had to leave their culture at the airport. Sadly, the answer is usually ‘Yes’. This should never happen. No student should feel that they have to leave their culture at the school gates or at the classroom door. Our responsibility as educators is to reach out to our students and provide an open, caring, respectful environment for learning. Imposing our values or rejecting their culture is not the way.
