Rethinking Teacher Education for Ethnic Diversity in China

Abstract

In this article, we discuss the current state of research on Chinese teacher education as it directly pertains to issues of ethnic diversity. Drawing on an extensive review of the research literature published over the past 20 years, we highlight some of the limitations present within the contemporary research literature on teacher education in China. By paying close attention to studies discussing both structural considerations and instructional/practice-based considerations, we raise key questions about the need for future research to explore how to better prepare teachers to serve ethnic minority students. Through a careful examination of current dominant epistemologies in Chinese teacher education research, this study argues that diversity in China remains significantly and woefully underdeveloped in the understandings and analyses of teacher education and much of the existing research in teacher education presents diversity as regional differences in social and economic development in China. There is a need for how ethnic diversity is conceptualized and supported within Chinese teacher education.