Recent studies reveal that language teacher identity makes the difference in classroom teaching and has increasingly become a valuable focus in the field of language teaching research. However, a review of the research literature shows that there have been limited studies about the professional identity formation and even fewer studies involving teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) in the context of mainland China. English language teaching (ELT) has increasingly gained attention in mainland China, with the curriculum reforms, which promoted communicative language teaching (CLT) and later task-based approach (TBA), have been initiated since 1970s, yet the professional identities of English teachers acting as the key players of the curriculum reforms have not been given due attention. This is particularly true for those teachers in the Northwestern Hinterland areas with relatively limited resources and a challenging environment. In order to fill the diverse gaps, this study provides valuable information and knowledge not only for teacher professional identity research area but also for Chinese ELT, CLT and TBA reforms, By exploring three experienced secondary EFL teachers’ professional identity formation in Lanzhou city, in Gansu province, a whole heretofore unresearched area has been brought into view. With a case study approach, the study collected the teachers’ personal life experiences from their childhood to current teaching experiences. By building up a theoretical framework based on the features of professional identity formation proposed by Beijaard et al. (2004), the study has examined the teachers’ personal life experiences, school contexts and agency and achieved rich understandings about their professional identity formation. This study shows that the teachers’ biographies, particularly their fathers and pre-service teacher education acted as important components of and exerted an enduring influence on their professional identity formation of the three teachers. Findings highlight that teachers’ three levels of professional contexts had an important impact on their professional identity formation; among the three levels of contexts, the macro context of the College Entrance Examination and the meso context of school leaders were the most influential. The findings of this study extend the understanding of the complexity of teachers’ professional identity formation, and shed light on how to develop a more effective professional learning mode for pre-service teachers. This study also gives a voice to life history and offers the possibility of helping pre-service teachers to effectively understand the teaching profession in new ways in the teacher education programs. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Educational reforms have been widely discussed across the world in the 21st century, and recent research suggests that teachers are the mediating agents in implementing educational reforms, particularly curriculum reforms. The eighth curriculum reform in China, which requires a paradigm shift from the teacher-dominated, knowledge-based transmission mode of teaching to the student-centered, experience-based inquiry mode of teaching, has greatly challenged teachers. Notwithstanding the great importance of teachers’ responses to China’s new curriculum reform, there is a little qualitative research that examines teachers’ responses to the new curriculum reform. The present study sets out to examine teachers’ responses to the new curriculum within the particular social, cultural and institutional context, and to explore the factors that might influence teachers’ responses through a qualitative multiple case study. Three dyads of mentor-mentee senior secondary English teachers in three schools at different levels in Beijing, China were selected as the main research participants. Data were collected over a period of time in each school through interviews, observations and analysis of documents such as teaching logs and students’ homework. Data were analyzed following a grounded approach in an iterative process to provide insights into the process of teachers’ implementation of the new curriculum and to ascertain the mediating factors impacting teachers’ responses. Findings from case studies reveal that secondary English teachers in China responded to the new curriculum reform at both cognitive and behavioral levels. These responses altogether triggered changes in teachers’ professional world, which constituted teachers’ professional growth. Grounded in Wenger’s theory of identity formation, this study suggests that the changes in teachers’ professional world mediated teachers’ professional identity reconstruction through the participative and reificative dual process of identification and negotiation of meanings, in which teachers’ competences, trajectories, and participation in the new curriculum implementation were negotiated. During this process, secondary English teachers reappropriated the meaning of secondary EFL teaching in China as a student-centered, individually selective, pedagogically integrating communicative and traditional methods, Chinese context-adapted, but still exam-oriented teaching process in relation to the curriculum reform, and also reclaimed that secondary EFL teachers need to be equipped with updated knowledge pool, be aware of individual needs, make compromises to seek a balance between the prescribed curriculum and teaching reality, and allow an interactive teacher-student relationship in response to the curriculum reform. Findings suggest that the process of teacher identity reconstruction was mediated through three-level factors, socially and culturally: national policies, institutional powers, and teachers’ personal factors. This study contributes to an understanding of teachers’ cognitive and behavioral actions and the interplay between the two in response to a paradigm-shift curriculum reform from a sociocultural perspective. It provides a theoretical lens, namely teacher identity formation to interpret teachers’ responses to the curriculum reform. Situated in a Chinese context where Confucius largely impacted the culture of teaching and learning, this study provides a fresh perspective on Chinese culture of teaching and learning, and raises positive voices from frontline teachers, suggesting that teachers’ responses to the curriculum are not simply mass resistant, but rather complex and dynamic. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

In recent years, many teachers in Hong Kong are reported as dissatisfied, stressful, and burnt out. The literature has suggested the negative emotions affect both teachers’ well-being and teaching quality. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the phenomenon of teachers’ emotional experiences at work in Hong Kong. Since a large number of teachers in Hong Kong are found to be unhappy, their emotional experiences can be regarded as a social issue more so than a psychological one. Thus, this research studies teachers’ emotional experiences from sociological perspective. In order to have an in-depth understanding about Hong Kong teachers’ emotional experiences, this study interviewed 21 Hong Kong secondary school teachers who were selected by maximum variation sampling and snowball sampling, investigated the documents of the informants’ schools, and analyzed the education policy documents and the Hong Kong educational news which were published between 1980 and 2011. The findings show that all the informants were committed to making a difference in students’ lives as their major teaching purpose. When there was a mismatch between how they perceived their work and what in actual the teaching purpose was, they would feel negatively; otherwise, they would feel positively. The study also finds that positive student-matters were the source of teachers’ positive emotions because the positive student-matters signified the informants that they successfully made a difference in students’ lives. On the other hand, workload, especially the administrative or what the informants called “non-instructional work”, tended to signify to the informants that they spent a lot of time on work that was unhelpful in making a difference. Therefore, the teachers were dissatisfied with heavy workload not only because the workload gave them no leisure, but because they perceived their work as purposeless and unworthy. However, when this study took a closer look at the “non-instructional work”, it found that most of the “non-instructional work” suggested by the informants were “instructional” or had “instructional” values in nature. The phenomenon was a result of the power relation between school administrators and teachers which was embedded in and structured by career stage, school administration, and education reforms. Under this relation, the power of school administrators overpowered the teachers in school when it came to the decision-making process. In other words, the teachers often were unable to access the “instructional” values behind their work, school policies and measures decided by the administrators. Under this situation, they might find it difficult to make a difference in students’ lives by doing their work, resulting in a negative self-concept. Therefore, they were inclined to experience negative emotions at work. Nevertheless, it is noted that different groups of teachers enjoyed different levels of power in the power relation. For example, the late-career teachers tended to have more power because they were the members of school administrators, but the early- and mid-career teachers were more powerless because most of them were front-line classroom teachers excluded from many school decision-making processes. In addition, some school administrative practices might favour the overpowering relation, but some school administrative practices might not. Accordingly, Hong Kong teachers’ emotional experiences should be differentiated across different groups of teachers, although they generally feel negatively at work. According to the findings, this study gives different recommendations to school administrators, the government, and teacher education to improve Hong Kong teachers’ emotional experiences at work. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Curriculum Studies / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Thesis (Ed. D., Multicultural Education Program)--University of San Francisco, 1986. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 545-581).

published_or_final_version / abstract / Education / Master / Master of Education

This study was designed to explore the beliefs of teachers in the People's Republic in China regarding education policy, work conditions in the schools, teacher education, student discipline, curriculum, and the teaching profession. Subjects were 60 secondary teachers in the Beijing area, from both "keypoint" and "ordinary" schools. The teachers completed a 60-item questionnaire, designed to assess multiple educational belief dimensions. The results revealed that, as a group, teachers perceived themselves as having poor social status, inadequate pay, limiting work conditions, and a lack of opportunities for advancement. Teachers also reported a high degree of stress and health problems. There were distinct patterns of responses reflecting beliefs that students should be given more freedom to speak their minds and that students' ability to think is more important than memorizing facts. Teachers expressed a high interest in helping students learn and working for the good of society. Regarding educational policy, teachers believed that the government does not adequately support neither education nor teacher preparation. This pattern of results varied by demographic factors. For example, male teachers reported stronger perceptions that their families lack pride in them as teachers. Teachers without degrees felt more strongly that resources at their schools were less adequate. Older, more experienced teachers reported a stronger belief in permissive parenting as the major cause of behavior problems in the schools, and agreed that parents should be responsible for their child's moral education. Younger teachers expressed the most dissatisfaction with their pay and also felt that younger teachers are more capable than older teachers. A cluster analysis revealed statistical separation of teachers into three groups. The first group of teachers was younger, less experienced, and better educated. They expressed the most dissatisfaction with being teachers and felt the lowest social status. However, they also believed that they make a difference in the lives of their students. The second teacher group reported teaching as more challenging and stressful, advocated the need for strong discipline, and felt they made little difference in their students' lives. These teachers were more experienced, older, and less educated. The teachers in the third group, who shared common demographic characteristics with group two, were the most positive about their social status, pay, and commitment to teaching. They reported more support and resources than teachers in the other two groups, and felt they made a difference in their students' lives. Results of this study extend previous findings regarding the beliefs of teachers in the People's Republic of China. Through the use of multivariate techniques, three types of teachers emerged. The implications of these findings are discussed both with regard to government interest in reforming educational policy and directions for future research.

published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / abstract / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education