International teaching experience in Kazakhstani and Chinese context

Abstract: rising demand for foreign teachers increases the number of teachers going

abroad. The teachers face many different challenges, both teachers and schools have to

consider the challenges. Five expatriate teachers in Kazakhstan and China were surveyed,

to find the challenges they faced or face. Similar challenges social networking and

management issues were found, country-specific issues also present. Recommendations for

hiring agencies and schools’ leadership and management teams, based on other studies

and the survey results, were made.

Keywords: expatriate teachers, Kazakhstan, China, challenges

Globalisation led to ease in both studying and teaching abroad. There are more and

more people who are working outside their home countries. When travelling to a foreign

country people in general face many difficulties, cultural differences, new living environment,

new rules and laws. If the travel is related to work, then professional issues add up to these.

Teachers have to deal with many different challenges, studies related to problems teachers’

face state that workload, class size, administrative bureaucracy, conditions, role ambiguity

are the main causes of stress (Chen & Miller, 1997; Kyriacou, 2001).

Although these are general challenges and applicable to all teachers, working abroad

can reinforce or weaken some of the challenges. Studies about teachers and the challenges

they face, mostly country-related and show many different results, from communication

problems, inequality, financial problems to family relationship problems (Doki et al., 2018). In

countries like Korea or Taiwan where xenophobia is a common feature teachers point at

racism, judgmental approach and other external sources of stress (Santos, 2020; Chen &

Cheng, 2010), while in more open countries curriculum, students’ misbehaviour, time,

resources and poor leadership are more pronounced (Aydın et al., 2019; Bailey, 2015; Yip et

al. 2019).
 Kazakhstan has its own distinct culture, however, there are almost no studies on

problems of foreign teachers in Kazakhstani context. Fimyar (2017) lists a few possible

challenges for foreign teachers in Kazakhstan such as interest and curiosity of the local

population, poor management, high expectations. China on the other hand is a big country,

both size and population-wise, and there are many studies on this topic. Studies report on

personal challenges, class size, symbols over substance approach issues (Garcia & Soremi,

2019; Leigh, 2019). Two similar and interesting papers (Yaylaci & Islam, 2013; Degen &

Absalom, 1998) focusing on considerations for teachers coming to work in the two countries

represent some of the problems. They have a cultural connotation, as centralised structure

and reliance on factual knowledge rather than functional for the Chinese context and

cheating and plagiarism for the Kazakhstani context.

The paper can add to understanding problems and benefits of international teaching

in Kazakhstan and China, by contrasting the two find cultural and common issues, suggest

strategies and tools for principals and senior leaders to avoid them. This also can be of

benefit to foreign teachers going to work in Kazakhstan or China. The purpose of this

qualitative study is to identify the difficulties of expatriates working in Kazakhstan and China.

Following research questions will be addressed: what challenges do foreign teachers face in

Kazakhstan and China? What are the common problems? What can be done to reduce the

problems that have arisen?

Method

A survey was used as a primary tool for this qualitative study. Five teachers from

Kazakhstan and Five teachers from China were surveyed. Demographics is given in Table 1.

The teachers have different backgrounds, both professional and cultural. The survey was

done anonymously to keep their (the teachers’) privacy and motivate honest answers. There

were no direct questions, positive and negative experiences were asked. The participants

from Kazakhstan are international teachers working a high school, science and ESL

teachers. The participants from China are international teachers working at a High School in

china, science teachers.

 First four questions were using a Likert scale, to get the teachers’ assessment on

work-related and off work experience, results are present in Table 2. After that, they were

asked to elaborate and write their opinion on the assessment. Private conversations with

some of the teachers were made to get a more detailed understanding of the issue. Analysis

of the answers on similar structures and keywords helped to reveal common challenges and

issues.

Table 1

Participants demographics

Teacher Age Gender Teaching Nationality

group experience, years

KZ_teacher_1 33-40 male More than 10 Kenya

KZ_teacher_2 40-50 male More than 10 Philippines

KZ_teacher_3 33-40 male More than 10 South Africa

KZ_teacher_4 33-40 male 5-9 South Africa

KZ_teacher_5 40-50 male More than 10 United Kingdom

CH_teacher_1 33-40 male More than 10 Netherlands

CH_teacher_2 33-40 male 5-9 Indonesia

CH_teacher_3 33-40 male 5-9 Kenya

CH_teacher_4 40-50 female More than 10 South Africa

CH_teacher_5 33-40 male 5-9 Portugal

Findings

On average teachers both from Kazakhstan and China positively assessed their

work-related experience, with more positive answers regarding experience in Kazakhstan.

Assessment of the experience before their current employment and cultural adaptation

showed generally positive feedback from expatriate teachers in Kazakhstan and China. The

not work-related experience was assessed to be slightly more positive for foreign teachers in

Kazakhstan than in China.

Table 2
Experience comparison

Average score, where 1-very bad, 5-very good

Criteria
Kazakhstan China

Teaching experience in the 4.8 4

country

Teaching experience before 4 4

the country

Off work experience in the 4.6 4.2

country

Cultural adaptation 4.2 4.2

The negative experience of Kazakhstani international teachers was related to

management and planning, communication was a problem in particular. “Management

decisions that are unrealistic most of the time” (KZ_teacher_2) “Having to do work which has

nothing to do with my core subject teaching” (KZ_teacher_4). Foreign teachers in China also

mention management in their negative experiences “Management seems very chaotic and

aggressive at times” (CH_teacher_1). In addition to these participants from both countries

mentioned the lack of interactions with the local teachers and integration into day to day

activities.

The language barrier was mentioned by foreign teachers in Kazakhstan, “The first

year was difficult because the classes were mostly in Russian and Kazakh” (KZ_teacher_2).

The teachers in China had different complaints regarding students’ behaviour, “The greedy

way the learners hunt marks and would not think twice about lying about a teacher”

(CH_teacher_4), workload “Working on weekends” (CH_teacher_3), priorities “but maybe

the priorities set which some times have education or students for last” (CH_teacher_5). On

the positive side, all five teachers in Kazakhstan state that students gave them positive

experience “The students are hardworking, polite and eager to learn” (KZ_teacher_3) and “I

met very hard working students'' (KZ_teacher_1). Teachers in China also mention students

as one of the positive factors of their work “Students are very driven and bright. They are
very keen on learning and are not afraid of putting in the amount of work needed to succeed

in the course” (CH_teacher_2).

Regarding not work-related experience, both groups find the countries to be safe,

interesting and good to live in general. Teachers in China mention cultural enlightenment,

teachers in Kazakhstan admire friendly locals and colleagues. “I have loved my life in

Kazakhstan, I have found it safe, friendly and incredibly rewarding if one puts themself out

their to meet people and discover this beautiful country” (KZ_teacher_3), “Always learning

something new be it culture, history, etymology, language, gastronomy from locals and other

foreigners” (CH_teacher_5).

All the participants were critically assessing their situations and saw change

recommendation opportunities not only for schools and management but for themselves too.

They want and recommend to be more flexible and open for changes “Be flexible and

adaptable.” (CH_teacher_2), “To myself, be open-minded and prepare to co-teach and be

very flexible.” (KZ_teacher_2).

Discussion

Because of a little of a xenophobic approach and the country being closed for many

years, China has some specific issues. Teachers here tend to have less communication with

the locals and therefore have more stressing factors from social networking (Wang &

Kanungo, 2004). Research on China’s foreign teachers’ experience emphasizes a certain

teaching approach adaptation, aggressive management (Wolff & Qiang, 2009), which is

supported by this study. Historically China practised top-down approach and centralised

control, which is also changing, but seems to be aggressive and limiting still. Other issues

such as incredible culture shock, programming human robots, hostile environment, class

size issues stated by many different studies (Wolff & Qiang, 2009; Leigh, 2019; Degen &

Absalom, 1998) were not found during this research. China is a big country that has many

different cultures in it, also it is a country that changes very fast both economically and

ethically. Some issues found by foreigners ten years ago as distinct behavioural specifics
are not seen in the current generation, which is also modern and globalised. Class size

intentionally limited by some international programs, that can be the reason why these

teachers did not feel that as a challenge.

Some challenges stated by Fimyar (2017) as the language level of the local teachers,

high expectations, curiosity of the locals were not mentioned by the participants. It can be

explained by the fact that these are teachers who lived in Kazakhstan for more than two

years. Kazakhstani context makes the experience different, as was reported teachers do not

face problems with the locals and their colleagues, it can be the case of these teachers’

experience only. The main sources of challenges are management and communication, it

supports Fimyar’s (2017) study. Teachers are treated differently compared to the locals,

which leads to sometimes inadequately high expectations for foreign teachers and poor

communication. As one of the teachers said, “They should involve the international teachers

more in the day to day activities of the school” (KZ_teacher_1). Usually, the foreign teachers

have less responsibility and are not required to do some activities that locals do, which is

why they experience a lack of information. Management team considers some of the

information to be unnecessary for the teachers, positioning the foreign teachers lower and

generating stress. “...successful schools require good communication and Coherent

messaging. Planning should be done beforehand and educators should be included in

decision-making.” (KZ_teacher_3).

The main limitation of this qualitative study is that only five teachers from certain schools

were surveyed. This implies that the experiences and challenges the teachers’ face can be

considered certainly only in the context of these schools. Still, the data obtained can be

trusted and used to a certain degree in other contexts. Another limitation is that the study did

not compare gender, marital status and previous experience. Although it gives prospects for

further studies. The experience was considered and used in the explanation of some of the

results.

Conclusion
 Teaching experience abroad can have very strong benefits as well as challenges.

Although some authors tend to over criticize and exaggerate issues present in the Chinese

context, many things there have been improving and not causing issues anymore. Low

standards, hostile environment, shocking culture, contract issues and even bad

management stated by Wolff & Qiang (2009) were improved and in better conditions now.

There is always room for improvement, as the country is getting more open, xenophobia is

decreasing, but there is still a need to “integrate the foreigners and locals more”

(CH_teacher_5). As management and leadership are also improving, more qualified

managers and leaders take those positions, it still can be too quick in their decisions, “Things

from the administrative side can change very quickly.” (CH_teacher_1), which probably has

the cultural aspect in it. Foreign teachers in Kazakhstan generally experience less cultural

shock and enjoy being in the country. They still face similar challenges from the

management and administration in form of exclusion and miscommunication, “To the

management, be inclusive in policies and decisions, listen to the teachers because they

know better.” (KZ_teacher_2).

Further quantitative studies on how well the recommended solutions can help to cope

with the challenges and stress should be done. Repeated study with gender focus would

reveal how and what challenges if it is, male and female teachers face.

Implementation for senior leaders and hiring agencies

As it was suggested by the participants and the study of Doki et al (2018) family

support can help to cope with stress levels. Although the study done by Alkhadher & Al-

Naser (2006) states that there is no difference between single and married foreign teachers

in stress levels, it is related to more freedom of single teachers. The hiring schools should

think of ways to ease teachers to bring their family members with them.

Another way is to integrate local and foreign teachers more, make conditions for

increased interactions. Teachers from this study stated that they receive help from other

colleagues. This supports the idea that a social network plays an important role in
expatriates well being (Wang & Kanungo, 2004). As Wang & Kanungo (2004) suggested and

this study results support it, hiring agencies should pay more attention to social skills and the

senior leaders should think of ways to build a strong team and belonging via training

programs, team-building activities.

Communication problems are multi-faceted, one way to solve the problem is to write

in the contract a language training program. Teachers both from Kazakhstan and China

mentioned that they have or had language barriers. That was solved by the foreign teachers

themselves but could be supported by the schools. School-based language courses giving at

least a “survival” level can improve the experience quality of foreign teachers.

The second way is to have a more inquiry and inclusive approach regarding foreign

teachers. Instead of considering the foreign personnel as a tool and a prestigious resource,

they should be treated as teachers in the first place. All information should be passed

equally, to locals and foreigners. Decision making should be shared not only by locals but

the foreigners as well. This requires very precise leadership and probably a significant

change, but can contribute to the school progress and foreign teachers’ attitude and

experience.

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 Appendix

The survey questions

1. What is your gender?

2. What is your age group?

3. How many years have you been teaching?

4. How is your teaching experience so far (in this country)?

5. How was your teaching experience (prior to this country)?

6. How is your off work experience (in this country)?

7. How was your cultural adaptation?

8. Describe your positive experience related to work here

9. Describe your negative experience related to work here

10. Describe your experience not related to work here

11. What advice would you give to yourself when you first came to China? to the local

leadership/management team?