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ERIC Number: EJ1387689
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2023
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0218-8791
EISSN: EISSN-1742-6855
International Schools in China and Teacher Turnover: The Need for a More Nuanced Approach towards Precarity Reflecting Agency
Bunnell, Tristan; Poole, Adam
Asia Pacific Journal of Education, v43 n2 p463-478 2023
The under-theorized arena of "English-speaking International Schooling" continues to grow and morph. The continuous growth seems paradoxical in light of the well-established view that the arena is an insecure and precarious working environment characterized by short-term contracts and subsequent high rates of annual turnover per school. We investigate this paradoxical situation in Asia Pacific, where a newer and large body of "Non-Traditional" models are beginning to appear. Here we ask: "what coping strategies do teachers adopt to survive, and even thrive on, the precarity as experienced by the short term contract?". Our study of three teachers in the under-researched arena of "Chinese Internationalised Schools" in Mainland China reveals and explores how they plan their transitions both within and from school-to-school strategically, taking advantage of insecurity and precarity rather than merely being the victims of it. We develop a new concept of "transition capital", which encompasses a newer, more nuanced approach, imagining the social reality of being a teacher as being a mixture of both an isolated "global educational precariat" and a member of a privileged "global middle class", with much agency. Turnover offers an accumulation of resilience through experiences, which in turn are empowering and advantageous in the long-run.
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: China (Shanghai)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A