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CFL Teacher Identity Construction: A Core Element of Future Innovative Practice

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Exploring Innovative Pedagogy in the Teaching and Learning of Chinese as a Foreign Language

Part of the book series: Multilingual Education ((MULT,volume 15))

Abstract

Teacher identity construction is seen as crucial for professional development and in readiness for adoption of pedagogical innovation. Based on life-history narrative study of three experienced CFL teachers, this chapter explores how the three teacher participants account for their experiences of constructing successful professional identities. The three teacher participants shared their stories of over 20 years of teaching Mandarin Chinese to non-native speakers in both the national school context in Australia and the international school context in Hong Kong. Their collective reflection on the process of constructing successful professional identities in Western-based school contexts revealed the complex and shifting nature of identity construction. The study finds that the processes of constructing a successful professional identity in Western-based school contexts are reflected in narratives of an effective blend of Eastern and Western cultural values and pedagogical practices. This “middle ground” notion of constructing professional identity has important implications for CFL pedagogical innovation in Western-based school context.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The study was my M. Phil study on CFL teacher professional identity in international schools, completed on 14 July 2014, at University of Cambridge.

  2. 2.

    PGCE (Postgraduate Certificate in Education) or PGDE (Postgraduate Diploma in Education) is a teacher-training programme offered in the UK, Australia, New Zealand or Hong Kong, where all teachers need to take a PGCE or PGDE, or an equivalent programme to become fully registered teachers.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Education, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People’s Republic of China

    Zhen Li

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  1. Zhen Li
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Correspondence to Zhen Li .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Human Sciences, School of Education, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    Robyn Moloney

  2. Faculty of Arts, Department of International Studies, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    Hui Ling Xu

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Li, Z. (2016). CFL Teacher Identity Construction: A Core Element of Future Innovative Practice. In: Moloney, R., Xu, H. (eds) Exploring Innovative Pedagogy in the Teaching and Learning of Chinese as a Foreign Language. Multilingual Education, vol 15. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-772-7_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-772-7_10

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-287-771-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-287-772-7

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