“I Am Combined”: Chinese Teachers’ Cultural Identities and Pedagogical Learning

Abstract

In order to become effective instructors of cultural sensitivity, teachers need spaces to engage in cultural identity work while developing their teaching practice. This qualitative case study analyzed the integration of cultural identity work and pedagogical learning of bicultural teachers of Chinese during a two-week long professional development (PD) course in the US. Data consisted of classroom videos, observations, and student work and was theorized within an identity-as-pedagogy framework. Findings revealed a bidirectional and dynamic relationship between teachers’ cultural identity work and their pedagogical learning: Teachers did - although not consistently - appropriate pedagogical theories (e.g. on curriculum planning) by integrating them with their own cultural experiences and identities and vice versa. These appropriations were not always in line with the goals of the PD course but highlight a need to deliberately and systematically integrate teachers’ cultural identity work with their pedagogical learning.