International Schools, Teaching and Governance

Abstract

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Precarious privilege in the time of pandemic: A hybrid (auto)ethnographic perspective on COVID‐19 and international schooling in China

“…As already stated, we had noticed how (auto)ethnography in particular has become a popular research method (e.g. Blyth, 2017; Burke, 2017), and one that offers the IST a means to self‐reflect on both the negative experiences and the positive coping strategies that were adopted. This sort of pragmatic/practical research would arguably be difficult to carry out with external researchers, given the ethical implications of recalling the upsetting and emotive conditions of precarity and insecurity.…”

“…Whilst there has yet to be an (auto)ethnographic study on the pandemic in relation to international schooling, a number of (auto)ethnographic studies exploring the lived experiences of ISTs have been undertaken, which serve as inspiration for our paper (e.g. Blyth, 2017; Burke, 2017). Blyth's frank (auto)ethnography explored ‘the teacher's position in an international school as subordinate and how [the teacher] is wronged on three counts; epistemically for being wrongfully mistrusted, ethically for being wrongfully excluded and ontologically for being wrongfully positioned as a lesser human being’ (p. xv).…”

The social reality of working overseas in the ‘Chinese Internationalised School’: Exploring cliques as a precarity and insecurity coping strategy

“…Since Mayer's (1968) seminal study, the arena has often been viewed as involving much turbulence and tension, with high levels of turnover. A rare auto-ethnographic and personalised account of one person's reality (Blyth, 2017) paints a very bleak picture of being an expatriate teacher. The fragmentation of many international schools can lead to much micro-politics (Caffyn, 2015) caused by 'issues of identity, fear and vulnerability' (Caffyn, 2010: 50).…”

‘I’ve Become a Lot Tougher’: Expatriate Teachers’ Experiences of Precarity and Resilience in Non-Traditional International Schools in China

“…Further, the teachers there found (Bailey, 2015, 5), 'a renewed joy in teaching in the international context.' Yet, at the same time, the literature also confronts the darker, more negative side of international school teaching involving insecurity and instability (e.g., Blyth, 2017;Brady, 2022;Bunnell, 2016;Caffyn, 2018;Poole, 2019;Savva, 2017). This is a by-product of structural factors such as short-term, temporary contracts.…”

“…Caffyn has shown how the Traditional' models are prone to micro-politics due to their inherent fragmentation, caused by 'issues of identity, fear and vulnerability' (Caffyn, 2010, 50). Meanwhile, Blyth's (2017) poole and bunnell autoethnographic account of a contractual dispute paints a bleak picture of life in the arena. Hardman (2001, 128) points out that a major problem is the fact that there is often a high degree of resentment felt by 'Local Hire' teachers towards the better paid 'International Hire' teachers.…”