Taking the stance that policy is an active process among policy documents, the context and the actors in it (Ball, et al., 2012; Menken & Garcia, 2010), this paper applied a three-step research procedure to investigate how... [ view full abstract ]
Taking the stance that policy is an active process among policy documents, the context and the actors in it (Ball, et al., 2012; Menken & Garcia, 2010), this paper applied a three-step research procedure to investigate how teachers are positioned and how they position themselves in the shifts of English Language education policies in China, which has been unstudied compared with other contexts (Ball, et al., 2012; Chung & Choi, 2016; Menken & Garcia, 2010;Wolff & De Costa, 2017). It first described the oscillation of English language education policies in China, then drew on policy texts (41 documents) to analyze teachers’ position imposed by policy-makers, and finally made a narrative study of eight college English teachers to reveal how they position themselves. The research results show that: (1) Policy texts connotate teachers as scapegoats for failures in policy enactment, accusing them for not conducting efficient teaching to enact the policies; (2) teachers are passive performers though they believe they should play an active role; meanwhile, their understanding of policies remains to be common sense rather than professional knowledge; (3) teachers who take part in school administration are supposed to build a bridge between policy-making and enactment in school; however, such a role is played rather inadequately. It is argued that the ambiguous positioning of teachers in China reflects the weak points of the up-down policy-making process, and to ensure valid and efficient policy reforms, teachers’ voice must be heard, at least in the formulation and enactment of policies in school level.
References
Ball, S. J., Maguire, M., & Braun, A. (2012). How Schools Do Policy: Policy Enactments in Secondary Schools. London/New York: Routledge.
Chung, J., & Choi, T. (2016). English education policies in South Korea: Planned and enacted. English Language Education Policy in Asia, 11, 281-299.
Menken, K., & García, O. (2010). Negotiating Language Policies in Schools: Educators as Policymakers. New York: Routledge/Taylor & Francis.
Wolff, D., & De Costa, P. I. (2017). Expanding the language teacher identity landscape: An investigation of the emotions and strategies of a NNEST. The Modern Language Journal, 101, 76-90.
