Job Discussion Forums

[MsBlackcurrant]

I notice that a new academic tome is to be published next month on the experiences of Western teachers in China:

Phiona Stanley, 'A Critical Ethnography of 'Westerners' Teaching English in China: Shanghaied in Shanghai', (Routledge Critical Studies in Asian Education).

It'll be hugely expensive (according to Amazon) but it does sound very interesting.

[lemak]

Likely pretentious crap, but might be worth the download.

[thatsforsure]

I will definitely check it out, Phiona.

[7969]

Here's the book description from Amazon:

[scot47]

HOW MUCH ? This is a joke, right ?

[JamesD]

"......It is based on three years of groundbreaking research into the pre-service training, classroom practices, personal identities and motives, and local socially constructed roles of a group of �backpacker teachers� from the UK, the USA and Canada....."

And yes, it's $147.55 but "...ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping..."

That's just sad on so many levels.

EDIT
With all respect, I have never been a fan of rantings from the PC Police but I wonder about an academic who would use a culturally insensitive term in the title of a 'study' simply to inject a note of humor.

[RPMcMurphy]

Here's a link to her academic page. My university library has other publications by her, but not this latest one. I'll have a look once [if] it does appear on the shelves and report back. As for the price, even popular, big print run TESOL texts by people such as Nunan and Brown are up around $60-70.

http://education.arts.unsw.edu.au/staff/phiona-stanley-1221.html

Some of her conference papers could upset a few people here as well! Here's a few examples. I'll have a look as I should be able to access them.


Stanley, P. (2008). 'The foreign teacher is an idiot': Symbolic interactionism, and assumptions about language and language teaching in China. Linguistics and the Human Sciences, 4(1), 67-89Stanley, P. (2013).

Superheroes in Shanghai: Constructing and living transnational Western masculinities. Reprint of Gender, Place and Culture article (2012) to appear in M K Asante, Y Miike, and J Yin (Eds) (2013) The Global Intercultural Communication Reader. New York: Routledge.Stanley, P. (2011).

Performing foreigners: Attributed and appropriated roles and identities of Westerners teaching English in Shanghai. In M. Lobo, V. Marotta, and N. Oke (Eds) Intercultural Relations in a Global World (pp.137-156). Champaign, IL: Common Ground Publishing.

[MisterButtkins]

I'll be having a look on my bootlegging site for the book in the next few months.

[7969]

[RPMcMurphy]

[creeper1]

I forsee tales of promiscuity and irreponsibility.

I also expect critiques of teaching methods from said "backpacker teaches".

[roadwalker]

[keeperofpythons]

If someone can find a download, please post it here for us!

[RPMcMurphy]

I can download this one. If genuinely interested, PM me with your email. No trolls or time-wasters please; I'll check posting history if in doubt.

Title: Performing foreigners: Transnational English teachers� training needs, role, and identities at a Chinese university
Author: Stanley, Phiona
Principal Supervisor: Jill Brown
Subjects: Backpacker Tourism ; Oral English ; Transnational Space ; Occidentalism ; Teaching Culture ; Student Engagement ; Student Evaluation Of Teaching ; Grounded Theory ; Gendered Identities ; Gap Year ; Celta
Summary: Minimally qualified �backpacker teachers� of English have been characterized as agents of neocolonialism in the spread of English. However, little is known about such teachers� actual experiences and their effects. This study provides an insight into the role, the needs, and the constructed identities of Western English teachers at a university in Shanghai, China. The study found that such teachers were not primarily engaged in English teaching, but instead served as representatives of the Chinese notion of the Western Other, in part as a foil against which to define the Chinese Self. This results in tension between teachers� habitus, perceived role, and their performances, with consequent effects on the teachers� identities. This differed by gender, and the construction of gendered identities is discussed, particularly masculinities. The study used qualitative interviewing, classroom observations, and participant research. An interdisciplinary literature is reviewed, including discussion of Chinese nationalism and the development of intercultural competence. Models of symbolic interactionism, transnationalism, and forms of capital frame the data analysis and the resultant grounded theory. The participants teach �oral English�, the nature and theoretical premise of which stem from a quantifiable view of language and a transmission view of language teaching; these differ from theories assumed and inculcated in teachers� training. But CELTA-type �toolkit� training does not equip teachers to problematize assumptions or to make principled adaptations to praxis. Instead, they implement communicative-style teaching, which stakeholders interpret to be fun but ineffective. This reinforces an Occidentalist notion of �fun foreigners� and creates pressure on teachers to perform, and thereby reify, this identity. Teachers therefore entertain students rather than teaching them; they are ineffective as language teachers, and their professional development and morale suffer. However, such teachers may not be expected to succeed. An inductive interpretation of their raison d��tre is considered: they are the bringers of �foreign culture(s)�. It is therefore suggested that CELTA-type courses, and oral English teaching be reworked with a greater emphasis on teaching culture.

[Shroob]