Today, the world is characterized by economic and cultural globalization, advanced digital technology, and the convenience of international travel, conditions that enable the global communication of policies and practices that can transform people’s social lives. Globalization has already become a reality within the larger historical trajectory of human development despite of its contentious impact on the world, including education. While educational policymakers are able to exchange ideas globally, at the micro level the characteristics of teaching and learning themselves are also changing, and teachers face new challenges for learning and development. For example, a teacher can easily find resources by searching on the Internet. He or she might even be able to help students connect with other students in a classroom in a foreign country for learning purposes. Research has also shown that education in many places in the world is no longer an entity confined within the sociocultural and political situations of separate nation states (Kenway & Bullen, 2005; Lingard & Rawolle, 2011; Moutsios, 2010; Steiner-Khamsi, 2004, 2012; Tarc, 2012). Particularly, the idea of learning across borders at either educational policy or practice level has been discussed for a long time in the comparative education literature (Biggs & Watkins, 2001; Hayhoe, 2008; King, 1973; Stevenson & Stigler 1992). Arguably, for teachers, the views and practices of other education systems and cultures can be useful learning sources to renew their own thinking, knowledge, and skills in the goal of improving education. In this globalized and interconnected world, there is no reason to confine the practice and research of teacher education and teacher professional learning to the boundaries of nation states.
This book reports a unique endeavor of Canadian and Chinese researchers and educators to build a cross-cultural school network in a hope of facilitating dialogue about school education and teacher education between the two countries. It focuses on a group of classroom teachers who were involved in a new cross-cultural school network between one province in Canada and one provincial municipality in China. These teachers from the two socially, culturally, and educationally distinct places spoke to each other, observed each other’s practice, and learned from each other. One side of this school network is located in the western developed world in the province of Ontario in Canada, the other side is located in the municipality of Shanghai in China, which is in the eastern developing world but which has undergone enormous economic growth since the 1990s. Presumably, due to obvious geopolitical, cultural, and economic differences between the two places, their respective approaches to education can differ in many aspects, such as political environments, social norms, traditions, and values. On the side, education in both contexts is successful and reputable around the world as demonstrated, in part, by their excellent results in international tests. For instance, Shanghai took the first place in both 2009 and 2012 PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) tests, while Ontario has always been one of the top performers—on the PISA ranking chart. Citing their educational policies and outstanding achievement in education, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) describes both Ontario and Shanghai as “successful reformers” (OECD, 2011). These two places continue to reform their education and endeavor to become future world leaders in terms of education (Fullan, 2013; Shanghai MEC, 2010). Given the disparities and commonalities on either side of the fledgling school network , there is great potential for educators in the two high profile education systems to learn from each other about policies, traditions, and practices through dialogue and collaboration.
1.1 Purpose of the Book
This book reports the early development of international teacher communities as a part of an emerging school network between China and Canada that evolves in the environment of the RL partnership project . Although the research on professional learning communities (PLC ) is not new, the knowledge about creating and sustaining teacher PLCs is limited and it is even more so in international settings (Grossman, And, & Woolworth, 2001; Stoll, Robertson, Butler-Kisber, Sklar, & Whittingham, 2007). This knowledge is obviously needed when schools and teachers around the world now have more opportunities and channels through which to connect. This book contributes to this area of knowledge by telling a story of the early development of internationally networked PLCs (INPLCs) in the context of Chinese and Canadian education. At the same time, this book also shows the effect of professional learning in intercultural teacher communities and shows the potential of the growing international school network . Lessons on difficulties and setbacks associated with the processes of building the school network and facilitating teacher learning are also revealed in a hope of future improvement for the school network in question.
This book is about the practice and conditions of in-service teacher education in a cross-cultural setting, as the teachers involved in the Canada-China school network are all practicing classroom teachers in public schools. Little research has been conducted in this new area. By contrast, much more has been done in relation to pre-service teachers’ learning and growth in international settings. For instance, teachers’ global competence as a requirement for preparing competent youth in this global age has been promoted as part of pre-service teacher education programs (Devlin-Foltz, 2010; Goodwin, 2010; Longview Foundation, 2008; Mansilla & Jackson, 2011; West, 2012). Internationalized teacher education has been providing student teachers with a range of intercultural experiences such as overseas teaching practica (Alfaro & Quezada, 2010; Cruickshank & Westbrook, 2013; Langford, 2013; Martin & Griffiths, 2012). In-service teachers, however, seem to be neglected in this area of learning and development research, although global competence and intercultural knowledge and skills are equally important to those who are already working in classrooms. Moreover, studies on pre-service teachers’ intercultural learning were mainly conducted from the perspective of developed western countries, particularly the USA. Therefore, there is a need to learn from educators in other countries and cultures. In the context of Chinese and Canadian education, this work provides evidence of successfully connecting in-service teacher learning with teacher collaboration in professional communities in the international school network . Potential improvement in teaching and student learning as a result of this is also discussed.
This book also makes an effort to bring a comparative lens to the professional learning community research. A comparative lens seems especially relevant as the teacher communities under investigation occur internationally. The educators participating in the Canada-China school network come from two different countries and cultures. While they have much to learn from the differences and similarities between the two countries, researchers also have much to learn from the reactions and reflections of educators in one context when they were exposed to the education in the other context. A comparative analysis of Canadian and Chinese teachers’ experiences and learning gains in these professional communities will provide insights into differences and similarities in teacher education in relation to different sociocultural and institutional situations. These insights can provide knowledge about how to better facilitate teacher learning in international professional communities. Moreover, the comparative analysis occurs as a result of Canadian and Chinese teachers’ collaboration and conversation. In this way, this comparative study is unique, as it differs from many other comparative studies that only compare separate places and hence learn from results of the comparison. This unique feature of the study permits an investigation into how educators from the two countries experienced and perceived differently or similarly when they interacted in the same learning space between the two places. This comparative approach to teacher education is useful when international PLCs are of interest. Lastly, it is my hope that the results of this book can be applied to or tested by later school network or school partnership development in the RL project and in other international efforts. Ideally, the story told in this book will stimulate similar educational initiatives in different international settings and boost scholarly interest in relation to international school or teacher networks, in general, and cross-cultural professional learning , in particular.
1.2 Conceptual Framework and Theoretical Lens
1.2.1 From PLC to INPLC
The concept of a professional learning community (PLC) originally refers to an approach to school reform that is characterized by “shared mission, vision and values; collective inquiry; collaborative teams; an orientation toward action and a willingness to experiment; commitment to continuous improvement; and a focus on results” (DuFour & Eaker, 1998, p. 45). Over the past three decades, the PLC as a means of school improvement through teacher learning and development has become a ubiquitous practice at all levels in many school systems. Theoretically, teacher learning in PLCs can be linked to the constructivist view of learning and social learning theories that emphasize learning through participation in practice in social settings (Jones, Gardner, Robertson, & Robert, 2013; Mireles, 2012). It is also informed by the research and theories of communities of practice (Lave, 1996; Lave & Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1998). The social learning of professionals can be theorized as participation in communities of practice. According to Wenger (1998), learning and knowing as social participation consists of four components: community, practice, meaning, and identity. Specifically, members of professional communities learn...