Running Head: INTERVIEWING AMERICAN EDUCATORS IN CHINA

Interviewing American Educators in China: A Country Case Study

Kristen Collins

University of Maryland University College

EDTC 645

April 9, 2019

Professor LeAnn Derby

Interviewing American Educators in China

Introduction

China has invested into technology use in education. The government’s national

education agency has developed curriculum that infuses information technology use as part of

their standard curriculum. Public schools began receiving updated infrastructure and digital

devices in the early 2000’s (Jun & Zhuzhu, 2010). Chinese citizens view technology as an

important part of life and consistently vie to have the next new “thing” when new technological

tools are created (R. Dudley, personal communication, April 1, 2019). In the private and charter

sector, schools have a lot more individual say in the way technology is used. Many charter and

private schools are Western immersion schools that offer a unique globalization approach to

education. Students generally of higher socioeconomic class can receive instruction from

Western teachers and in English in order to prepare them for globalization, while also receiving

curriculum that respects Eastern tradition in these charter and private schools (Hong Kong Yew

Wah International Education Foundation, n.d.). In order to gain first hand knowledge of the use

of educational technology in China, two educators were interviewed. One, an administrator and

one a teacher, both in English immersion schools.

Interviewees

Doug Woodruff, Administrator and Global Perspectives teacher at Yew Wah School of

Shanghai Chagning. He works at an English immersion school where most classes are taught in

English by English speaking natives. The school has 2 principals, one representing Western

culture, one representing Eastern culture. All administrators at the school under the principals

also have a small teaching load. Doug has been working in this capacity for 2 years and has

taught in China for a total of 4 years. Email: doug.woodruff@ywies.com.

Interviewing American Educators in China

Rachel Dudley, Music Teacher at YK Pao School. Rachel currently teaches 6th and 7th grade.

She has been teaching at this school for 4 years and has taught for 6 years total in China. She

teaches band, choir and beginning orchestra. In previous years, Rachel has taught 6th through 10th

grade at the same school. She is proud of the fact that she has started and built the first band

program at this school from nothing. Email: Dudley.raysuz@gmail.com.

Interview Questions

1. What technology is available for your students to use?

Rationale: This question gives a general understanding of what technology is

available for students in China.

2. What have you experienced in China that is different than a school in America?

Specifically, anything related to educational technology?

Rationale: Since I have the unique opportunity to interview Americans who are

teaching in China I was interested to gauge their specific opinions on the

comparison of the two countries educational systems.

3. How are teachers in your school trained to implement technology?

Rationale: In order to compare differences between experiences teaching in

America and China and what I could expect an educator to know and do in China.

4. Do you believe your students in China are more prepared for globalization than American

students? Why or why not?

Interviewing American Educators in China

Rationale: Since I have the unique opportunity to interview Americans who are

teaching in China I was interested to gauge their specific opinions on the

comparison of the two countries educational systems.

5. At what age/year do students begin technology integration in their classrooms?

Rationale: This question gives a general understanding of what technology

education is available for students in China.

6. How often do you think students use technology at home in China?

Rationale: Understanding cultural positions on technology would be important in

developing global relationships.

7. Do you think Chinese society values technology in education? Is it different than

American views?

Rationale: Understanding cultural positions on technology would be important in

developing global relationships.

8. Do you receive continuing education on technology integration?

Rationale: In order to compare differences between experiences teaching in

America and China and what I could expect an educator to know and do in China.

9. Do you think technology enhances your students' education?

Rationale: Individual educators opinions on technology could be a source of bias

when answering other questions in the interview.

Interviewing American Educators in China

Strategy for Interviews

I am lucky to have personal connections to teachers abroad. I contacted a friend, Doug

Woodruff, who I studied with at Towson University who is currently teaching in China. He was

very receptive to my invitation to participate in an interview, and also followed up with

suggestions for additional educators that would be good resources for my interview. I contacted

Doug through Facebook messenger originally and again through e-mail. Conversations with

Doug are in Appendix A. I contacted Rachel Dudley through e-mail as well. Conversations with

Rachel are in Appendix B.

Conclusions

Through the interviews, my general perception of Chinese education was confirmed.

While I expected China to have similar programs to America, I was pleased to see that many

schools in China have 1-to-1 devices or bring your own device policies for use in education.

Interestingly, both interviewees expressed that consistent use and often misuse of technology in

the classroom was a concern. While we of course have classroom management issues in America

with devices, both educators supported the idea that it was a much bigger issue in their Chinese

schools. According to Rachel Dudley, music teacher, “Because money is no object at my school,

I've actually seen parents buy a second or third computer or iPhone for their child because it was

taken away at school by a teacher” (personal communication, April 1, 2019). The training and

professional development that the interviewees received is also similar to schools in America.

Rachel’s school, YK Pao School, has a tech coach to help implement technology, while Doug’s

school, Yew Wah School of Shanghai Chagning, had very little organized training and leaves it

up to the teachers. This reflects very similarly to American schools of different districts and

educational philosophies.
Interviewing American Educators in China

A stark difference between American and Chinese access to technology is the access they

have to the internet. The Chinese government censors certain websites that would be available to

American teachers. For example, YouTube, Google and similar sites are not available to use in

China. Doug also mentions, “Schools are not equipped with a lot of digital library resources. We

are working on finding things that will work, but because of government restrictions we have not

finding many of the resources we would normally have in the USA” (personal communication,

April 3, 2019). It seems to be an interesting conundrum, especially since Chinese culture is

invested in using the most state-of-the-art technology.

Another difference between the education in China seems to be the approach to teaching

and learning. Rachel mentions that China seems farther ahead when it comes to globalization.

The data shows higher math skills, most students are bilingual if not trilingual, student travel

abroad is much more common, and they use technology often. However, the teaching and

learning is still very lecture centered. While American education is headed towards student

centered learning, student innovation and finding ways for students to solve problems to prove

understanding, Chinese teaching feels rigid and not individualized. Rachel believes it’s a give

and take, and that American students may have skills that Chinese students don’t have when it

comes to 21st century preparedness (personal communication, April 1, 2019).

Both of my interviews were conducted with American teachers that were sourced

specifically for schools to teach in English. While this is a common practice for private and

charter schools in more affluent areas, there is a large gap between the education at these schools

and the schools in rural China. In 2017, 35% people in rural China had access to the internet.

(Barnes, 2018). In a move to bring this number up, the Chinese Education Ministry put into law

that all local governments spend at least 8% of their budgets on technology in education.
Interviewing American Educators in China

(Barnes, 2018). Most recently, companies such as VIPKid have helped bring streaming lessons

to children in rural areas. They are implementing online education “because of a teacher shortage

in remote and impoverished areas” (Barnes, 2018). And while there are companies that are

working to bring rural China up, there are still areas that have difficulty accessing the internet, or

even electricity on a regular basis. Some areas of China have a way to go still when it comes to

closing the gap.

Overall, while parts of the more affluent areas of China have similar access to technology

as American students, there is a larger gap between the poor rural areas and those in successful

urban areas. Teacher shortages and limited resources have required the Chinese government and

companies to be creative with bringing high quality education to all students. Educational

technology is being used to bridge the gap, while students in affluent areas are using technology

to develop globally competitive skills. It will be interesting to see the development of rural

education over the next ten years, to evaluate the effectiveness of their programs and if similar

implementation would benefit students in American classrooms.

References
Interviewing American Educators in China

Barnes, A. (2018, December 03). How tech firms say they'll change rural China. Retrieved from

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/30/how-technology-is-changing-rural-china.html

Hong Kong Yew Wah International Education Foundation. (n.d.). Hong Kong Yew Wah

International Education Foundation. Retrieved April 9, 2019, from

http://www.yewwah.com/en/

Jun, H., & Zhuzhu, W. (2010). Capability building in educational technology for teachers in

China. British Journal of Educational Technology, 41(4), 607-611. doi:10.1111/j.14467-

8535.2010.01089.x

Appendix A
Interviewing American Educators in China
Interviewing American Educators in China
Interviewing American Educators in China

Appendix B
Interviewing American Educators in China