Teacher Mediated Agency in Educational Reform in China

224 Pages·2015·2.71 MB·English

by  Hongzhi Yang (auth.)

English Language Education
Hongzhi Yang
Teacher Mediated
Agency in
Educational
Reform in China
English Language Education
Volume 3
Series Editors
Chris Davison , The University of New South Wales, Australia
Xuesong Gao , The University of Hong Kong , China
Editorial Advisory Board
Stephen Andrews, University of Hong Kong, China
Anne Burns, University of New South Wales, Australia
Yuko Goto Butler, University of Pennsylvania, USA
Suresh Canagarajah, Pennsylvania State University, USA
Jim Cummins, OISE, University of Toronto, Canada
Christine C. M. Goh, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technology
University, Singapore
Margaret Hawkins, University of Wisconsin, USA
Ouyang Huhua, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Guangzhou, China
Andy Kirkpatrick, Griffi th University, Australia
Michael K. Legutke, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany
Constant Leung, King’s College London, University of London, UK
Bonny Norton, University of British Columbia, Canada
Elana Shohamy, Tel Aviv University, Israel
Qiufang Wen, Beijing Foreign Studies University, Beijing, China
Lawrence Jun Zhang, University of Auckland, New Zealand
More information about this series at h ttp://www.springer.com/series/11558
Hongzhi Yang
Teacher Mediated Agency in
Educational Reform in China
Hongzhi Yang
The University of New South Wales
Sydney , NSW , Australia
ISSN 2213-6967 ISSN 2213-6975 (electronic)
English Language Education
ISBN 978-3-319-15924-9 ISBN 978-3-319-15925-6 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-15925-6
Library of Congress Control Number: 2015933495
Springer Cham Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London
© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015
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Acknowledgments
I owe the completion of this book to my supervisors Professor Chris Davison and
Dr. Michael Michell, for their mentoring and encouragement for my research and
book publication. Without them, the completion of my research and this book would
not have been possible. My gratitude to them is beyond words. Besides, I would like
to deeply thank Professor Chris Davison and Associate Professor Gao Xuesong for
being supportive and responsible editors. I would also like to thank Dr. Matthew
Clarke and Dr. Phiona Stanley for their generous and constructive advice on the
draft of the manuscript.
I thank my dear husband, Xianchao Wang, whose love and support made such a
difference to this journey. Many thanks to my parents Yurong Du and Pengyu Yang,
as well as my mother-in-law, Tangfeng – a great thank you for your endless support
and patience while I was engrossed in my work.
Last, but not least, I would also like to express my appreciation to the leaders,
teachers, and students of the participating university for their support, particularly
the three case study teachers – the discussion between us made me think deeply
about the emerging issues and the context.
v

Contents
1 Introduction .............................................................................................. 1
1.1 The Inquiry ...................................................................................... 2
1.2 The Methodological Approach ........................................................ 5
1.2.1 Participants ........................................................................ 6
1.2.2 Data Collection.................................................................. 7
1.2.3 Data Analysis .................................................................... 7
1.2.4 Transparency and Trustworthiness .................................... 8
1.3 Outline of the Book ......................................................................... 9
References .................................................................................................. 10
2 A Sociocultural Perspective on Teacher Agency ................................... 13
2.1 Teacher Roles in Educational Change ............................................. 13
2.1.1 Studies in the Context of the People’s
Republic of China ............................................................. 18
2.1.2 The Need to Explore Teacher Agency in Response
to Curriculum Reform ....................................................... 23
2.2 The Need to Study EFL Reading Instruction
from the Sociocultural Perspective .................................................. 25
2.3 Theoretical Framework for Analysing Teacher Agency .................. 27
2.3.1 Teacher Agency in Activity System .................................. 27
2.3.2 Teacher Agency in the Zone of Proximal
Development (ZPD) .......................................................... 30
2.4 Summary ......................................................................................... 34
References .................................................................................................. 35
3 Advanced Activity Systems ..................................................................... 43
3.1 Macro-level Context: Development of College English in China ... 43
3.1.1 College English Syllabus and Test Reform in 1999 .......... 45
3.1.2 College English Curriculum and Assessment
Reform in 2007 ................................................................. 45
vii
viii Contents
3.2 Meso-level Context: The Activity System of the National
College English Curriculum Reform ............................................... 46
3.2.1 Brief Introduction to the CMoE ........................................ 46
3.2.2 Objects and Outcome of the National
Curriculum Reform ........................................................... 47
3.2.3 The Tools of the National Curriculum Reform ................. 50
3.2.4 The Broader Educational Community of the Reform ....... 55
3.2.5 The Rules of the National Curriculum Reform ................. 56
3.2.6 The Division of Labour in the National
Curriculum Reform ........................................................... 56
3.3 Micro-context: The College English Department ........................... 58
3.3.1 The Subject of the Activity System of the Department ..... 59
3.3.2 The Objects of the Activity System of the Department .... 60
3.3.3 The Tools of the Activity System of the Department ........ 63
3.3.4 The Community of the Activity System
of the Department .............................................................. 67
3.3.5 The Rules of the Activity System of the Department ........ 74
3.3.6 The Division of Labour in the Activity System
of the Department .............................................................. 77
3.4 The Interaction Between Two Activity Systems ............................. 77
3.5 Summary ......................................................................................... 80
References .................................................................................................. 81
4 The Case Study of Sunny: The Prisoner ................................................ 85
4.1 The Activity System of Sunny’s Classroom Teaching .................... 85
4.1.1 Sunny as Subject of Her Activity System ......................... 86
4.1.2 Objects and Outcome of Sunny’s Activity System ........... 87
4.1.3 The Tools of Sunny’s Activity System .............................. 88
4.1.4 The Community of Sunny’s Activity System .................... 98
4.1.5 The Rules of Sunny’s Activity System .............................. 101
4.1.6 The Division of Labour in Sunny’s Activity System ........ 102
4.2 Levels of Contradictions in Sunny’s Teaching Activity .................. 105
4.2.1 Primary-Level Contradictions ........................................... 106
4.2.2 Secondary-Level Contradictions ....................................... 108
4.2.3 Tertiary-Level Contradictions ........................................... 111
4.3 Sunny’s Agency in Her ZPD ........................................................... 113
4.4 Summary ......................................................................................... 116
References .................................................................................................. 117
5 The Case Study of Jenny: The Unresponsive Apprentice..................... 119
5.1 The Activity System of Jenny’s Classroom Teaching ..................... 119
5.1.1 Jenny as Subject of Her Activity System .......................... 120
5.1.2 Objects and Outcomes of Jenny’s Activity System ........... 121
5.1.3 The Tools of Jenny’s Activity System ............................... 124
5.1.4 The Community of Jenny’s Activity System ..................... 136
5.1.5 The Rules of Jenny’s Activity System ............................... 139
Contents ix
5.1.6 The Division of Labour in Jenny’s Activity System ......... 140
5.2 Levels of Contradictions in Jenny’s Teaching Activity ................... 142
5.2.1 Primary-Level Contradictions ........................................... 142
5.2.2 Secondary-Level Contradictions ....................................... 144
5.2.3 Tertiary-Level Contradictions ........................................... 145
5.3 Jenny’s Agency in Her ZPD ............................................................ 146
5.4 Summary ......................................................................................... 150
References .................................................................................................. 151
6 The Case Study of Lynne: The Reflective Practitioner ........................ 153
6.1 The Activity System of Lynne’s Classroom Teaching .................... 153
6.1.1 Lynne as Subject of Her Activity System.......................... 154
6.1.2 Objects and Outcome of Lynne’s Activity System............ 156
6.1.3 The Tools of Lynne’s Activity System .............................. 159
6.1.4 The Community of Lynne’s Activity System .................... 171
6.1.5 The Rules of Lynne’s Activity System .............................. 174
6.1.6 The Division of Labour in Lynne’s Activity System ......... 174
6.2 Levels of Contradictions in Lynne’s Teaching Activity .................. 176
6.2.1 Primary-Level Contradictions ........................................... 176
6.2.2 Secondary-Level Contradictions ....................................... 177
6.2.3 Tertiary-Level Contradictions ........................................... 179
6.3 Lynne’s Agency in Her ZPD ........................................................... 181
6.4 Summary ......................................................................................... 183
References .................................................................................................. 184
7 Discussion and Conclusion ...................................................................... 187
7.1 The Overall Findings ....................................................................... 187
7.1.1 Reform Implementation .................................................... 189
7.1.2 The Department ................................................................. 191
7.1.3 Teachers’ Agency .............................................................. 192
7.2 Factors Infl uencing Teacher Agency ............................................... 194
7.3 Key Factors in the Transformation .................................................. 197
7.4 Limitations ...................................................................................... 200
7.5 Conclusion ....................................................................................... 200
7.6 Future Research ............................................................................... 202
References .................................................................................................. 203
Postscript......................................................................................................... 205
Appendices ...................................................................................................... 207
Appendix A: The Interview Guide for Case Study Teachers ..................... 207
Appendix B: The Interview Guide for the Head of the Department .......... 210
Appendix C: The Interview Guide for the Focus Group Interviews
with Students .............................................................................................. 210
Bibliography ................................................................................................... 213