Currently there is an increased demand for Chinese language teachers across the U.S. The majority of today’s Chinese teachers are faced with the daunting realization that teaching in U.S. schools is tremendously different from their own schooling experiences; numerous factors contribute to this contrast. This study specifically focused on classroom management and discipline and examines how teachers address the challenges of working across the languages and cultures of U.S. schooling. Through a carefully designed sequence of blended learning activities, this study provided participants multiple opportunities to explore and examine introspectively critical considerations that directly influence transitioning into a learner-centered classroom, utilizing various classroom management skills and strategies with millennial learners. Data collection instruments included two online surveys, a group interview, and online discussion board threads. Results indicate that there remains a great deal to be done in this area to assist Chinese teachers. Speaker: Marjorie Hall & Sherry Steeley Dr. Marjorie Hall Haley is tenured Professor of Education at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA. She is a former Spanish, French, German, and ESL teacher of 14 years.She teaches Foreign Language methods and ESL methods courses as well as doctoral courses in Brain-compatible Teaching and Learning, Bilingualism and Second Language Acquisition Research. She is actively involved in ongoing action research projects with teachers at local, national, and international levels. Dr. Haley’s research and publication record is wide. Her most recent books are, Content-Based Second Language Teaching and Learning: An Interactive Approach (2nd Ed.) (2014) and Brain-compatible Differentiated Instruction for English Language Learners (2010). In addition, she is a featured scholar in the WGBH and Annenberg/CPB video, “Valuing Diverse Learners” available at www.learner.org

1. Dr. Marjorie Hall Haley- George Mason University
Dr. Lihong Wang- George Mason University
Dr. Sherry Steeley -Georgetown University
1Haley, Steeley, Wong (2015)

2.  Increased demand for Arabic and Chinese
teachers in U.S.
 Focus on classroom management and
discipline and how teachers address these
challenges across languages and cultures of
U. S. schooling.
2Haley, Steeley, Wong (2015)

3.  Based on “Planning for Today’s Learners:
Effective Classroom Management and
Discipline.
 Blended learning activities
 Multiple opportunities to explore and
examine transitioning to a learner-centered
classroom.
 Utilizing classroom management skills and
strategies with millennial learners.
3Haley, Steeley, Wong (2015)

4.  Focus on critical dimensions of effective
classroom management (Kounin, 1970):
 1. “withitness”
 2. smoothness and momentum
 3. behavior expectations
 4. variety and challenge
 Focus on classroom management at the
beginning of the school year
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5.  Pre-survey
 Post-survey
 Group interview protocol
 Online discussion boards
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6.  Combination of Arabic and Chinese pre-
service and in-service teachers
 Public and parochial K-12 schools
 Range of teaching experience
 Native and heritage speakers
 All participants were female, ranging from
23-51 years old.
 All volunteered for this study
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7.  How do Chinese and Arabic teachers
negotiate the cross cultural challenges
inherent in classroom management?
 How do culturally and linguistically diverse
teachers/ teachers of critical languages
experience school culture?
 How do teachers of critical language perceive
their identity as teachers?
7Haley, Steeley, Wong (2015)

8.  Based on pre-/post- survey results, extensive
learning in specific areas of classroom
management directly relevant to student
Example: Survey Question: Describe your level
of knowledge about classroom management
skills and strategies
Pre-Institute: 5.26% high level
Post-Institute: 40.0% high level
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9. Overcoming cultural challenges:
Socio-political context
Student-teacher relationship
Learning styles
Thinking styles
Praise
Interactions with parents
9Haley, Steeley, Wong (2015)

10. Developing a Cross-Cultural Classroom
Management Plan:
Incorporating culture of origin into U.S.
classroom
Using L1
Student centeredness
10Haley, Steeley, Wong (2015)

11. Negotiating School Culture
and Developing Classroom
Management Plans
11Haley, Steeley, Wong (2015)

12.  How do Chinese and Arabic teachers
negotiate the cross cultural challenges
inherent in classroom management?
 How do culturally and linguistically diverse
teachers/ teachers of critical languages
experience school culture?
 How do teachers of critical language perceive
their identity as teachers?
12Haley, Steeley, Wong (2015)

13. 13Haley, Steeley, Wong (2015)

14.  Dealing with differences directly:
 “You can always tell the haves and
have-nots…”
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15.  Heterogeneous population as
challenge:
 “I might be confused what kind of
rules are acceptable for all
students…”
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16.  Different ethnic backgrounds:
 “I personally found that it is very
difficult not to think about the
ethnicity and race…I am still working
on that.”
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17.  Negotiating cultural differences:
 “…American parents sometimes have
their own thoughts about education.”
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18.  Presenting teacher culture to parents:
 “…Communicating with parents is
not easy…explaining our Chinese
classroom culture to parents is very,
very important.”
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19.  Diversity of parent cultures vs. U.S.
school culture:
 “…not familiar with USA’s classroom
and school policy…”
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20.  School support:
 “the counselor, the principle and the
favorite teacher might get involved...”
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21.  Peer input
 “…how American teachers respond to
the students…”
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22. 22Haley, Steeley, Wong (2015)

23.  Due to cultural differences, a strong
management plan is critical:
 “my perception regarding the
importance of having a classroom
management plan…”
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24.  Rules must be explicit:
 “…I will just make the classroom
rules clear..”
24Haley, Steeley, Wong (2015)

25.  From “sage on the stage” to guide on
the side…:
 “…in a typical classroom in the U.S.,
the teacher acts like a fellow learner
who have more expertise in the
subject…”
25Haley, Steeley, Wong (2015)

26.  Motivation is key:
 “…working hard and they will get my
attention (help) 100%.”
26Haley, Steeley, Wong (2015)

27.  From negative to positive feedback:
 “I need move my focus from negative
side to good side when I view
students.”
27Haley, Steeley, Wong (2015)

28.  Awareness of and planning for
cultural differences:
 “…we need to include all students'
cultural background .”
28Haley, Steeley, Wong (2015)

29.  Proverbs as input:
 “Engineers of the human soul.”
 “一日为师，终生为父“ (If you teach
me 3 days, you will be my parents
forever)”
29Haley, Steeley, Wong (2015)

30.  Teachers’ cultural beliefs:
 “…teacher should have the students’
undivided attention…students should
face the board.”
30Haley, Steeley, Wong (2015)

31. School
culture:
Leadership
& Peers
Student
cultures
Parent
cultures
Student-
centered
classrooms
Teaching
models
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32. Qualitative data samples
(culture and identity issues)
 How do Chinese and Arabic teachers negotiate the cross cultural
challenges inherent in classroom management?
 How do culturally and linguistically diverse teachers/ teachers of
critical languages experience school culture?
 How do teachers of critical language perceive their identity as
teachers?
32Haley, Steeley, Wong (2015)

33. Existing literature
Perceptions of US school
culture
 Chinese educational culture
strongly influences how
Chinese immigrant teachers
perceive themselves in an
overseas context (Pratt,
Kelly, & Wong, 1999), and
have suggested that their
professional identities tend
to be authoritarian and
teacher-centered as a result
of the impact of
Confucianism (Gao &
Watkins, 2002; Ho, 2004).
 American educational
culture is characterized
by a low power
distance and higher
level of equity in
teacher-student
relationship and by
students’ active role in
choosing teaching and
learning activities.
33Haley, Steeley, Wong (2015)

34.  I totally agree with you that how to motivate students is very difficult. This
is even harder for us as foreigners because we have different culture
backgrounds with our students. I always want to use humor in my
classroom to let my students feel this class is interesting, so they have more
motivation to learn this class. However, this does not always work well. I
had the same experience with you. Last semester, I used a lot of time
creating activities in order to engage student, but turned out they did not
like many activities. Therefore, now I am a little bit confused what kind of
activities will attract students' attention. I still need to learn how to
motivate them.
34Haley, Steeley, Wong (2015)

35.  In Chinese culture, teachers are authority figures towards
students. I also want to become the authority figure when I
become a teacher, because I don't want my class to be out of
control. But at the same time, I don't want students to be too
afraid of me, their fear might influence their engagement. I
want to have great interactions with my students. I think this
is the biggest challenge for me.
 I thought once I enter the classroom, the students will meet
me with the respect I had for my teachers when I was student.
Here in U.S schools teachers have to earn the respect with
good classroom management.
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36.  According to my culture, managing my classroom meant
everyone is sitting quietly listening to me. Shifting from that
to adapt what I have been learning, I will just make the
classroom rules clear. And work harder in the beginning of
the year to establish routine and gradually let the students
take big part of the responsibility of their learning.
 Also, my communication style was so different from that of
my students that it led to many unpleasant and conflictive
moments. Now, I became more aware of my personal identity
and more appreciative of the diverse cultural backgrounds of
my students. This will help me in managing my classroom by
considering all students and different cultural backgrounds.
36Haley, Steeley, Wong (2015)

37.  I feel the same regarding how to find the right balance
between lecturing and interactive activities. As you
mentioned, we should always have a purpose while
implementing games into our lessons. The games are
included in the lesson because they will facilitate the learning
further, not only because they are fun.
 I like the fact that everyone is talking about fun and games.
HOWEVER, as we all know, learning is not always fun, but it's
drudgery and hard work too. Sometimes I worry if I have too
much fun with the kids. That's when I hold back and pull on
the reins a little.
 Before, I thought playing games and working in groups wasn't
part of teaching-learning . Now I understood that while
students are rotating and playing game they are learning too.
(Arabic teacher)

37Haley, Steeley, Wong (2015)

38.  Due to the fact that I went through the majority of
my education in typical Chinese classrooms, I feel
that my biggest challenges is how not to assume
while carrying out my classroom management
plans. While introducing the classroom rules and
routines to my students, I shouldn't assume that
the students will automatically follow them. There
should be thorough explanations and discussions
involved regarding the rules between my students
and me. Modeling is absolutely necessary, and
there should be consequences and positive rewards
built in to ensure consistency and fairness.
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39.  I think the biggest difference between Chinese culture and
here is the value towards people. We tend to focus on
conformity and obedience in appearance, in other (sic) to
achieve that, we always take the short cut sometimes
including harsh criticism and discipline. The focus is on
result not on people. But here, all students are respected and
their needs are being addressed individually. The focus is on
students as individual, result is the by product of good
relationship and inspiration. It takes longer to achieve the
result, but it also last longer and a much happier
experience for students.
39Haley, Steeley, Wong (2015)

40.  One example is: American students don't expect homework
during weekends while Chinese teachers tend to give more
homework during the weekend. I grew up in a culture that
teachers thought we had more time to do homework during
weekends, so I had more homework on weekends than during
weekdays. Sometimes I apply my American mind (which I have
developed after 3 years teaching); sometimes I apply my
Chinese mind. It really depends on what kind of issue, and we
as teachers need to be flexible to deal this them.
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41.  In other words, We always tell students don’t do this, don’t’
do that, rarely to encourage them to positively participate the
classroom activities. We did not give them enough praise no
matter by tone, by words, or by prices.
 The Chinese culture, as most people have already mentioned,
emphasizes a lot on discipline. Although it is all that helpful
in the American tradition, it does provide a model for how an
organized classroom should look like. However, we should
use positive reinforcement, instead of negative
reinforcement, to reach that goal. Meanwhile, we also learned
that an organized classroom created by positive
reinforcement is a lot more friendly and encouraging
environment than one created by negative reinforcement.
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42.  Classroom management problem is much easier for teachers to
handle if teaching in China. My classroom management plan is
influenced by this culture, I also want to be the authority figure
when I become a teacher. However, American students are not the
same. I noticed there are two characteristics of American education.
First one is the diversity of the members and the second one is the
foundation of freedom and democratic value. The population of
American students are heterogeneous, it consists of students from
all over the world. These students come with diverse cultural,
linguistic and historical background. They might not value my
classroom management culture and might /can not understand my
plans. Most importantly, they value the spirit of freedom and
equality. Therefore, I need my class to be student-centered, I will
give students authority and choices in class. I should earn the
respect and authority by my own efforts instead of take that for
granted.
42Haley, Steeley, Wong (2015)

43.  I definitely agree with you that communicating with parents is
not easy! I heard many Chinese teachers complain about this.
I think your solution that explaining our Chinese classroom
culture to parents is very very important. Parents should
know that this is just our culture instead of thinking we are
not high-quality teachers. We should keep an openly (sic)
communication with our students' parents, after all, we have
the same goal---promote students' learning.
43Haley, Steeley, Wong (2015)

44.  The use of technology to classroom management and the
introduction of new technology to classroom, both can help
building our relationship with student. Students usually hold
the belief that Chinese teachers are very conservative. If we
are able to introduce something new and interesting to our
students. They will be : OMG, this is so cool. This will make
the classroom more efficient and also as teachers, we can
increase our influence.
44Haley, Steeley, Wong (2015)

45.  As we discussed yesterday, it is always a challenge to use
target language while maintaining classroom management,
therefore we need to go beyond the verbal communication
and use body language, eye contact, and of course,
technology! With their interactive nature, the tech tools often
provide comprehensible input to our students and help them
to understand the subject better.
 (one Chinese teacher also said that now she
used more body language in the US
classroom)
45Haley, Steeley, Wong (2015)

46.  “we define who we are by where we
have been and where we are going’
 (Wenger, 1998, p.149)
46Haley, Steeley, Wong (2015)

47.  Teacher’s perception of him or herself influences his or her
actions (Fraser, 2011).
 ‘’identity is closely related to practice; and the construction of
one’s identity is related to identification and meaning
negotiation within community” (Wenger, 1998, p.149)
 A prevalent assumption in studies of immigrant teachers’
identities and beliefs is that because of beliefs and identities
formed earlier in their lives, adapting to a new educational
system brings challenges and transformation in teachers’
identities and views on teaching. (Wang & Du, 2014).
47Haley, Steeley, Wong (2015)

48.  Teachers’ beliefs about their roles as teachers and about
student-teacher relationships are shaped by both their prior
experiences and backgrounds and the current social and
cultural contexts in which they are situated.(Wang & Du, 2014)

 Teacher’s professional identity has a dynamic and shifting
nature, subject to cultural, contextual, and personal
influences (Beauchamp & Thomas, 2009).
 Identity change is an active process of negotiating meaning
between the individual and the outside sociocultural context
(Xu, 2013). Trend (2010) argues that experiences of border-
crossing are consequential for identity because they can
involve a feeling of becoming someone new (Trend, 2010, p.2)
48Haley, Steeley, Wong (2015)

49.  Reconciling the duality of teacher’s culture
and U.S. classroom context
 Macro and micro factors impacting learning
and communication
 Process approach to classroom management
led to positive results
 This study is further evidenced of the
strength and importance of StarTalk
programs and their impact.
49Haley, Steeley, Wong (2015)

50.  Wenger, E. (1998). Community of Practice. Cambridge University Press
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Cruickshank (Eds), Teaching and learning Chinese in global contexts (pp.151-164). London:
Continuum.
 Pratt, D. D., Kelly, M., & Wong, W. S. (1999). Chinese conceptions of “effective teaching” in
Hong Kong: Towards culturally sensitive evaluation of teaching. International Journal of
Lifelong Education, 18(4), 241–258.
 Gao, L. B., & Watkins, D. A. (2002). Conceptions of teaching held by school science teachers
in PR China: Identification and cross-cultural comparisons. International Journal of
ScienceEducation, 24(1), 61–79.
 Xu, H. (2013). From the imagined to the practiced: A case study on novice EFL
teachers’professional identity change in China. Teaching and Teacher Education, 31(11), 79–
86.
 Beauchamp, C., & Thomas, L. (2009). Understanding teacher identity: An overview of issues
in the literature and implications for teacher education. Cambridge Journal of
Education,39(2), 175–189.
 Wang, L. & Du, X.Y. (2014) Chinese Teachers’ Professional Identity and Beliefs about the
Teacher-Student Relationships in an Intercultural Context, Frontiers of Education in China
9(3): 429–455
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