“The Students Have Been Spoilt Previously”: A Case Study on the Professional Development of Chinese Language Teachers in Hamburg

Abstract

The professional development of Chinese teachers of Chinese as a foreign language (cfl) in Europe is confronted with various complex educational challenges and problems. Traditional Chinese educational schemata and cultural values have great impact on these teachers’ professional beliefs and their perceptions. My case studies of six cfl teachers show that their professional challenges are connected with the cultural differences of Chinese and German educational contexts. Open-ended questions, in-depth interviews and classroom observation were employed. And multiple data sources, such as the transcripts of teacher interviews, field notes were included. Cross-case analysis indicated that the cfl teachers have to deal with some conflicts of their previous biographies and new requirements of local educational context, such as teacher-centered didactics versus student-centered didactics, traditional Chinese language approaches versus intercultural communicative didactics; strict classroom discipline versus acknowledgement of students’ individuality etc. I depict their professional development by employing a theoretic framework of developmental task theory, i.e. professional competence, mediation, acknowledgment and institution. My study may help to shed light on understanding the individual difficulties that cfl teachers face in overseas teaching environments. The study's findings and recommendations therefore are of significance for the future design of teacher training for cfl teachers in Germany and in other European countries.