A Qualitative Examination of Teacher-Student Power-Sharing in Chinese Classrooms: A Study in Hong Kong

Abstract

This article explores the dynamics of power-sharing between teacher and students in learning and teaching situations, and describes the theoretical bases, implementation, and results of an empirical study in three elementary schools in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. Findings from 58 class observations and interviews with 50 students, 25 teachers, and three school principals suggest that teachers can empower students by acknowledging their right to and responsibility for learning and by sharing power with students. Power-sharing classroom practice requires the dual efforts of teachers and students, and can be facilitated by the teachers' interactive teaching mode, students' cooperation and willingness to engage in learning, and school policy and culture, etc. In the power-sharing classrooms, teachers played the role of facilitators and students played as collaborators. In this article, theoretical implications for understanding power-sharing and critical pedagogy are discussed. The empirical evidence from this Hong Kong study contributes to an understanding of teacher-initiated power-sharing in the Chinese context, and the practice of critical pedagogy in classrooms.

Sharing Power in Read‐Alouds with Emergent Bilingual Students

“…By sharing power with Sahra, Ms. Oliver provided herself and other students the opportunity to gain cultural competence through unanticipated learning opportunities (DiGiacomo, 2020; Harjunen, 2011; Wong, 2015). Specifically, by allowing Sahra to share her cultural expertise, Ms. Oliver and Ditya learn that you do not put a book with an image of the Qur’an on the floor because it is disrespectful (Cummins et al, 2012).…”

“…Thus, inferential responses that are not expected or anticipated by the teacher, but rather stem from the children’s abilities to connect with the text, are included in the discussion (lines D2 and D3). Like vignette A, this vignette also underscores the importance of making space for and encouraging students’ new ideas in the conversation (DiGiacomo, 2020; Wong, 2015).…”

“…Ms. Oliver positions Sahra as a conversational collaborator (Harjunen, 2011; Wong, 2015) by affirming (lines B 7, 9, 11) Sahra’s contributions to developing Assad’s understanding of what a Bible is. This shows a transformation from the traditional model of learning in which the teacher disseminates knowledge to a dialogic and more liberated model of learning (Freire, 1970).…”

“…Essentially, CSP centers the selves and practices of students and minoritized communities in a critical and additive way while de‐centering whiteness and linguistic supremacy (Alim & Paris, 2017). One way to shift toward this is by sharing power with students—that is, making space for students’ ideas and treating them as learning collaborators (DiGiacomo, 2020; Wong, 2015).…”

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“…Ayrıca, bu yaklaşım, öğretimin ve sınıf yönetiminin iyileştirilmesine; öğrencilerin akademik, duyuşsal ve sosyal ihtiyaçlarının karşılanmasına yardımcı olmaktadır (Black, 2009). Wong (2015) sınıf içinde öğretmen ve öğrencilerin eşit ilişkiler geliştirmeleri için kullanılacak stratejileri belirlemek gerekmektedir. Sınıf içinde güç paylaşımının özelliklerinin rol ve stratejiler açısından incelenmesi sınıf içi pratiklerini anlamak açısından önemlidir.…”