Chapter 11: Teacher Thinking and Practice From A Chinese Cultural Perspective: Lessons for East and West

In the 1960s and 1970s most attempts in teacher education colleges and university staff development units to improve teaching focused on developing the instructional skills needed to transmit structured knowledge to students. However, over the last 20 years this approach has typically been replaced by one focusing on the teachers’ thinking. Indeed the term “the reflective practitioner” has become synonymous with the aims of teacher education from America, Australia, and Great Britain to Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Zimbabwe.

This latter approach is based on the seemingly logical proposition that the way a teacher thinks about the nature of teaching will affect how he or she will teach, thence how their students will learn, and ultimately the quality of the learning outcomes they are likely to achieve. Surprisingly, despite the plethora of research on teaching and learning, there is little evidence in the literature to support this proposition. Even less common is the demonstration of its validity in a non-Western culture. The purpose of this paper is to present such evidence for the teaching of Chinese students in Hong Kong and the People’s Republic of China.¹ Specific questions asked in this research by the writer and his students and colleagues include: What conceptions of teaching are held by school teachers in China? How do such views compare with those of Western teachers? How does teacher education in Hong Kong impact on teacher thinking and practice? How do Chinese teachers cope with large class sizes? Are Western teachers more student-centered? Do Western innovations work in Chinese classrooms? Why? Can staff development change teachers conceptions and influence their students’ learning? Finally I consider the implications of this research on teacher thinking for teaching innovations in both Chinese and Western cultures.