Challenges facing teachers new to working in schools overseas

The purpose of this paper is to extend Bunnell's (2016) thesis that international education teachers (IETs) are forming a 'global educational precariat'. The paper draws upon interview data from a larger study of international teachers in two international schools in Shanghai, China. In order to substantiate and develop Bunnell's thesis, narrative inquiry was employed as a guiding methodology, which ensured that data analysis remained rooted in the participants' lived experience but also allowed for triangulation, thereby enhancing validity. Findings confirm Bunnell's thesis by highlighting a lack of agency, financial insecurity, and the marginalisation of professional identities as common experiences of IET precarity. The findings also challenge the notion of a global educational precariat by arguing that it may be more appropriate to conceptualise IETs in terms of a localised educational precariat rather than a global class in and of itself. The paper ends by sketching a research agenda that would involve comparing teachers' experiences in different types of international schools in China and other contexts.

Section: International Education Teachers As An Educational Precariatmentioning

confidence: 99%

International Education Teachers’ Experiences as an Educational Precariat in China

Poole

2019

“…However, the (perceived) advantages of British-style international schools soon become apparent to teachers after taking up their posts and from talking to parents. For UK-trained teachers, a British-style international school matches their pedagogic habitus and as a result they anticipate that there would be less of a culture shock than would be the case in other (say, American-style) international schools, particularly in terms of organizational culture (Burke, 2017; Halicioglu, 2015; Roskell, 2013). However, the UK-trained teachers at the school in this study seemed to have selected a British-style international school specifically because they identify with the type of schooling.…”

Section: Decision-making: the Importance Of Social Capitalmentioning

confidence: 99%

The practice of choice-making: applying Bourdieu to the field of international schooling

Khalil

Kelly

2020

This paper presents findings from a recent study on choice-making among teachers, school leaders and parents in a for-profit British international school in Kuwait. Using a Bourdieusian field analysis, the choice-making of the various stakeholders is investigated to reveal their positionality within the school’s social space, to examine the resources they hold and the capitals in which they are willing to invest. We find that choices made by, and within, an international school reveal symbolic violence, and a ‘taken-for-granted understanding’ that this form of schooling (British- rather than American-style international schooling) is superior. Participants in the study included teachers, parents, graduating class students and school leaders. Teachers and parents were a representative mix of local (both Arab and non-Arab) and expatriate. The study makes an important contribution to the body of knowledge relating to international schools, in its theoretical framework and its inclusion of the wider stakeholder population, which together generate a deeper understanding of professional practice in the international school context.

“…Mancuso et al (2010), meanwhile, reach a similar conclusion that teacher turnover in international schools in the Near East and South Asia region is associated with satisfaction with salary and perceived effectiveness of school leadership. Halicioglu (2015) also discusses the professional challenges faced by expatriate teachers, which may come from a lack of familiarity with the curriculum, with students, with staff cultural norms, and with local leadership styles.…”

Section: The School Commitment Of Expatriate Teachersmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Social and Organisational Determinants of School Commitment of Expatriate Teachers

Yang

Badri

Rashedi

et al. 2018

The employment of expatriate teachers is explored here through the perspective of their organisational commitment. Drawing on the results of a public school teacher survey conducted in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi in 2014, this study used a multilevel framework to investigate the effects of teacher characteristics, school environment, and district level human resource management policies and practices on expatriate teachers’ school commitment. The results of the three-level model revealed that while teacher level attributes remained strong predictors of their school commitment, the social and organisational environment of the school greatly contributed to the organisational commitment of expatriate teachers. Interpersonal support within the school community and supportive work climates were crucial for expatriate teachers to build and sustain their commitment. Nationality was found to moderate the relationships between several workplace factors and teacher school commitment.