The Dual-Challenge of Teaching Online in a Foreign Land: Understanding Western Foreign Teachers' Professional Identity and Confidence Development via a Transformative Learning Lens

Wen, Biying, Wang, Qian, Gooden, Amy, Grasso, Floriana ORCID: 0000-0001-8419-6554, Chen, Qing and Shen, Juming (2023) The Dual-Challenge of Teaching Online in a Foreign Land: Understanding Western Foreign Teachers' Professional Identity and Confidence Development via a Transformative Learning Lens. ASIA-PACIFIC EDUCATION RESEARCHER, 33 (1). pp. 239-251.

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Abstract

This study takes a transformative learning lens to gain insights into Western foreign teachers’ identity as educators and professional confidence in online teaching at a Sino-British university. The biographical narrative interpretive method was used for data collection and analysis. The researcher gathered critical incidents during the pandemic through in-depth interviews with six Western foreign teachers. Western foreign teachers encountered dual-dimensional challenges: one related to cultural differences in teaching and the other caused by a shift to online teaching. Western foreign teachers’ belief in their professional identity as educators anchored by their pedagogical and curricular rationales helped them overcome workplace challenges. Through action-taking and critically reflecting on their experiences, Western foreign teachers gained skills and competencies that promoted their confidence in transnational education. This study developed a framework to explain teacher identity as educators and professional confidence development in teaching as an iterative process led by transformative learning. The reflective practice serves as a medium to help Western foreign teachers construct experiences in unfamiliar situations. The study makes a practical contribution to understanding Western foreign teachers’ professional development, which can be used for recruitment and retention.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Cross-cultural teaching, Online teaching, Professional confidence, Transformative learning, Transnational education, Western foreign teacher identity
Divisions:	Faculty of Science and Engineering > School of Electrical Engineering, Electronics and Computer Science
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	21 Apr 2023 10:39
Last Modified:	31 Mar 2024 01:30
DOI:	10.1007/s40299-023-00723-3
Related URLs:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3169652