ERIC Number: EJ1349926
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2022-Oct
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0894-8453
EISSN: EISSN-1556-0856
When Their Voices Are Heard: Bilingual Paraeducators and Organizational Dynamics
Journal of Career Development, v49 n5 p989-1004 Oct 2022
Paraeducators play a marginal yet essential role in fulfilling teaching-related tasks in many international classrooms in China. In order to meet high standards of education, schools often provide professional training to paraeducators. However, in the training process, schools primarily focus on their own needs and rarely consider the personal condition or positionality of paraeducators. Informed by positioning theory, this study argues that overlooking paraeducators' needs and positions can be detrimental to the success of institutionally provided training. This case study, which spans the course of 2 years, explores how Chinese bilingual paraeducators' self-positioning impacts their responses to professional training, their daily teaching practices, and their subsequent professional development. Findings suggest that paraeducators should not remain peripheral figures in an organization because hearing and understanding their self-positioning practices and concerns can be beneficial to both paraeducators' professional learning and schools' organizational development.
Descriptors: Paraprofessional School Personnel, Bilingual Teacher Aides, Foreign Countries, Educational Needs, Teaching Methods, Professional Development, Organizational Development, Self Concept, Preschools
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2993
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Early Childhood Education; Preschool Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: China
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A