Educ Res Policy Prac

DOI 10.1007/s10671-015-9182-3

ORIGINAL PAPER

Constructing professional identities in shadow education:

perspectives of private supplementary educators in Hong
Kong

John Trent1

Received: 31 March 2015 / Accepted: 3 August 2015

© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

Abstract Despite its rapid expansion in many countries around the world, private tutoring
has attracted only limited attention from policy makers and researchers. This is especially
surprising in the case of Asia, where high rates of private tuition have been reported. In
particular, comparatively few studies have considered the views of the individual stakeholders
in private tuition; students, parents, teachers, and tutors. This study addresses this research
gap by using in-depth interviews to provide detailed descriptions of the challenges one group
of private tutors in Hong Kong confronted as they positioned themselves within the teaching
profession. The findings expose and problematize discourses which establish a rigid division
between educators providing private tutoring and those in mainstream schools and constrain
the capacity of the former to construct their preferred professional identities. It is argued
that educational authorities should respond to the growth in private tutoring in ways that
overcome the antagonisms that such division can imply for professional relations between
educators in private tutoring and those in mainstream schools.

Keywords Teacher identity · Discourse · Teacher education

1 Introduction

In many countries, private tutoring is a major phenomenon (see, for example, Bray 2006,
2009; Dawson 2010; Silova 2010; Zhang 2013). According to Manzon and Areepattamannil
(2014), Asia is “a cradle of private tutoring” (p. 389). In the case of Hong Kong, for instance,
it is reported that the proportion of Hong Kong school students receiving private tuition rose
from 34 % in 1996 to more than 63 % in 2012 (The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups
2013).

B John Trent
jtrent@ied.edu.hk
1 Department of English Language Education, The Hong Kong Institute of Education,
10 Lo Ping Rd, Tai Po, Hong Kong

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As Bray (2006, 2009) suggests, the rapid expansion of private tutoring is frequently
described using the metaphor of a shadow. This characterization reflects the fact that such
tutoring owes its existence to the presence of mainstream formal schooling. In addition,
private tuition adapts to changes in the size and orientation of the mainstream. Finally, as
far greater attention is devoted to mainstream educational settings, the characteristics of this
shadow often remain opaque.
Given the growth in private tuition around the world, researchers and policy makers are
urged to “look closely” (Bray 2010, p. 70) at shadow education. However, as Coniam (2013,
p. 1) points out, “shadow education systems have been under-researched”. This observation
is supported by Kwo and Bray (2014), who argue that “researchers have been slow to focus
on the phenomenon” (p. 403). Yet, it is crucial that researchers and policy makers “confront”
(Bray 2010) the potential social, economic, and educational implications of shadow educa-
tion. The urgency of this task is underscored by research suggesting that private tuition may
distort parts of mainstream education systems, impose economic burdens on households,
and place considerable pressure on students (Bray 2010). In particular, Bray et al. (2014)
maintain that policy makers would benefit from having available qualitative data that explore
the voices of different stakeholders: parents, teachers, tutors, and school administrators. This
study contributes to this research agenda by exploring private tuition from the perspective of
one such stakeholder group, private tutors. In doing so, the study builds upon Manzon and
Areepattamannil’s (2014) call for multidimensional and multilevel analysis, addressing in
particular their observation that comparatively little research into private tutoring has been
conducted at the level of the individual (p. 394).
It is important to first establish the scope of the current study because “shadow education
takes different forms in different cultures” (Bray 2010, p. 62). For example, private tutors
may provide educational services to individual students in the home of the tutor or client,
to small groups of student’s in education centers, or to large numbers of learners in lecture
theaters with video screens (Ireson and Rushforth 2011). Shadow education can also refer to
tutoring provided free by relatives or teachers, include extra-curricular activities such as music
lessons, and encompass homeschooling (Bray 2009). However, the scope of the current study
is limited to investigating what Bray et al. (2014) refer to as private supplementary tutoring
(PST), defined in terms of a three parameter model. First, PST refers to supplementation,
which means tutoring in subjects taught in regular schooling beyond the standard duties
of schools. In addition, PST is characterized by privateness, implying that supplementary
tutoring is supplied for a fee. Finally, PST relates to tutoring in academic subjects, such as
mathematics and Chinese and English language, which form part of public examinations in
Hong Kong.

2 Shadow education: The Hong Kong context

In Hong Kong, where high rates of private tutoring are reported (Kwo and Bray 2014), the
education system is regarded as highly competitive and exam-orientated. Education in Hong
Kong prioritizes rote learning, memorization, and the use of examination-orientated teaching
and learning activities. Reviewing this highly competitive public examination system, Au,
Watkins, and Hattie (2010, p. 129) conclude that:

This examination-orientated curriculum has led students to spend an inordinate amount

of time on their studies—attending regular classes and after-school cram schools and
doing schoolwork at home.

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The emphasis on private supplementary education in Hong Kong is confirmed in a recent

survey of students in primary 5 to secondary 6 (grades 5–12), which claims that the proportion
of Hong Kong school students receiving private tuition rose from 34 % in 1996 to more than
63 % in 2012 (Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups 2013). In the words of Bray et al.
(2014), “students and their parents still have a great desire to invest resources with the hope
of ‘buying’ better results in the public examination and thus a better future” (p. 35).
However, the demand for private tutoring in Hong Kong and similar education systems
has attracted criticism and is positioned by some as “a great threat to the normal functions
of formal schooling” (Kwok 2004a, p. 9). For instance, the emphasis PST places on teacher-
centered pedagogy and examination-orientated learning is thought to “challenge” efforts
to reform the Hong Kong education system. Thus, tutorial schools are seen by some as
emphasizing shortcuts to learning, reinforcing examination pressure, and leading to students
paying less attention to lessons in mainstream schools (Kwok 2004b).
Bray (2003) notes that government responses to PST have included banning, ignoring,
recognizing and regulating, or encouraging such tutoring. In the case of Hong Kong, although
teachers in Hong Kong schools have long been banned from providing PST to their own
students, for a large part of the twentieth century, the Government’s approach to PST could
be characterized as laissez-faire (Bray 2003). However, commencing in the 1990’s, a more
regulatory approach was adopted. Thus, tutorial schools need to be registered and comply with
requirements regarding safety and space, for instance. In addition, the government provides
members of the public with information on how to select institutions offering PST, including
advice about fee payment (Hong Kong, Education Bureau 2015)

3 Towards an integrated framework for understanding teacher identity

Identity represents “the way we make sense of ourselves and the image of ourselves that we
present to others” (Day 2011, p. 48). Varghese et al. (2005) maintained that understanding
identity requires attention to both “identity-in-discourse” and “identity-in-practice”. Identity-
in-practice refers to the operationalization of identity through concrete practices. Identity-in-
discourse recognizes that “identity is constructed, maintained and negotiated to a significant
extent through language and discourse” (Varghese et al. 2005, p. 23). Figure 1 summarizes
the role of practice, language, and discourse within a framework for understanding teacher
identity:

3.1 The discursive construction of identity

Figure 1 suggests that identity reflects in part the influence of discourse, which is manifest
through language, and consists of beliefs, attitudes, and values (Danielewicz 2001, p. 11).
A discourse provides individuals with subject positions from which they “actively interpret
the world and by which they are themselves governed” (Weedon 1997, p. 93).
Investigating the ways in which the participants in this study discursively constructed their
professional identity necessitates the use of a set of tools for discourse analysis. One such
framework is proposed by Fairclough (2003), whose understanding of discourse “as part of
social practice—ways of ways of acting, ways of representing, ways of being” (p. 27) provides
a means for operationalizing definitions of identity as “how to be”, “how to act”, and “how to
understand” (Sachs 2005). Thus, Fairclough (2003) describes the discursive construction of
this being, acting, and understanding as the “texturing of identity”, arguing that what people
commit themselves to within texts “is an important part of how they identify themselves”

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Discourse

Institutional

Interpersonal

Intrapersonal
Practice
Language
Engagement Agency Modality
Imagination
Evaluation
Alignment

Fig. 1 An integrated framework for investigating teacher identity

(p. 164). In terms of strategies for discourse analysis, the commitments an author makes can be
assessed in terms of modality and evaluation (Fairclough 2003). Modality, Fairclough (2003)
argues, refers to what individuals commit themselves to in terms of truth, obligation, and
necessity, and is often displayed in the use of modal verbs, such as “should” and “must”, and
modal adverbs, including “probably” and “possibly”. Evaluation describes what is believed
to be desirable or undesirable and can be expressed in terms of what is considered good
or bad, as well as useful and important. While such evaluations can be expressed explicitly,
through the use of terms such as “wonderful”, they can be deeply embedded in texts, invoking
implicit value systems.

3.2 The experiential construction of identity

According to Schatzki (2002, p. 51), individual identities are constituted not only conversa-
tionally but also “in the full range of actions that he or she performs or that are performed
towards him or her”. To investigate the role of such action teacher identity construction, this
paper draws upon Wenger’s (1998) theory of identity, which begins from the premise that
“identification takes place in the doing” (Wenger 1998, p. 193). Within Wenger’s (1998)
theoretical framework, identity construction is conceptualized in terms of three modes of
belonging: engagement, imagination, and alignment. Through engagement, individuals estab-
lish and maintain joint enterprises, negotiate meanings, and establish relations with others.
Wenger’s (1998) emphasis on the individual is reflected in recent attention to the role of a
teacher’s emotions, cognitions, and behaviors in understanding their identity work (Day and
Lee 2011). Furthermore, teacher identity is recognized as being constructed partly through an
individual’s relations with others, including mentors, school authorities, teacher educators,
and other teachers (Cohen 2010). Within Fig. 1, the role of the individual, as well as his
or her relations with others, in the construction of professional identities is reflected in the
intrapersonal and interpersonal dimensions of identity work.
Through imagination, individuals create images of the world across time and space by
extrapolating beyond their own experience. Alignment coordinates an individual’s activi-
ties within broader structures and enterprises, allowing the identity of an organization, for

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instance, to become part of the identity of the individual. This aspect of identity construction
is analyzed in terms of institutional practices and activities within Fig. 1.
Drawing upon this theoretical framework, the collection and analysis of data were guided
by the following research question:

How did one group of private supplementary educators in Hong Kong construct their
professional identities?

4 The study

4.1 Settings and participants

The six participants, three female and three male, who took part in this study were born in
Hong Kong, spoke Cantonese as their first language, and at the time of the study were aged
between 25 and 34. Throughout the period of data collection in 2012–2013, each participant
held a teaching position in a different private tutorial center in Hong Kong.
As Merriam (2009) points out, sampling can adopt several forms. For example, in this
study, a convenience approach to sampling was initially employed. For instance, one of the
participants, Brian, was known to me in my position as a teacher educator in Hong Kong.
Having gained his consent to participate in the study, Brian was able to introduce me to two
other participants, each teaching at different tutorial centers in Hong Kong, who also agreed
to participate in the study and were able to recommend other potential participants. In this
way, additional information-rich cases were included as a form of snowballing approach to
sampling was adopted (Merriam 2009).
At the time of data collection, each of the six participants, whose names are pseudonyms,
provided PST at different privately owned tutorial centers in Hong Kong. The six participants
provided tutoring in academic subjects that were taught in mainstream schools. For example,
all the participants were employed as tutors of English Language, an academic subject which
appears in Hong Kong’s Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE) examination and which
students complete at the conclusion of their secondary education (i.e. Grade 12). In addition,
several of the participants also provided tutoring in other academic subjects, including History
and Liberal Studies.
Four of the participants were employed by large tutorial companies, who operate several
centers across Hong Kong, with the remaining two employed by small stand-alone PST
service providers. The participants were responsible for classes of varying sizes, including
one-on-one tutoring and small group settings, typically containing three to five students, as
well as medium-sized classes of up to 20 students. Table 1 provides additional biographical
information about the participants.

5 Data collection and analysis

Each participant took part in a semi-structured interview conducted in English. The interviews
ranged from approximately 40 to 70 min and were audiotaped and transcribed. Participants
were asked to describe their motivations for pursuing a teaching career, their decision to
take up a teaching post in a PST environment, their experiences of teaching in such an
environment, including their relations with students and colleagues, as well as their future
career aspirations.

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Table 1 Biographical information about participants

Name Gender Qualifications Years of private Subjects taught

supplementary teaching
experience

Thomas M Bachelor of Business 6 English language

Commerce
Brian M Bachelor of Arts 4 English language
Post Graduate Diploma History
in Education
Vicky F Bachelor of Commerce 2 English language
Chinese language
Gary M Bachelor of Arts 2 English language
Shirley F Bachelor of Arts 3 English language
Chinese language
Liberal studies
Grace F Bachelor of Public 1 English language
Administration
General knowledge

Data analysis was based on the thematic approach which Braun and Clarke (2006) describe.
After I read and reread the entire dataset to gain an understanding of the data, an initial list
of codes was produced. This coding process followed St Pierre and Jackson’s (2014) advice
that qualitative researchers make use of theory “to determine, first, what counts as data and,
second, what counts as “good” or appropriate data” (p. 715). Thus, adopting a “theory-driven”
(Braun and Clarke 2006) approach to data analysis, the conceptual framework summarized
in Fig. 1 was used to understand how participants textured their professional identities as
educators through what they committed themselves to, as illustrated in the following excerpt
from one participant, Thomas:
…as teachers, ideally, we must be helping students to improve over time but this
so-called improvement is just an obsession with exam results. But, as a tutor, I feel
disillusioned. Is that all I should care about, fast paced exam results?
In this excerpt, Thomas positions himself using the identity “teacher” or “tutor” (“as teach-
ers…as a tutor…”), which in the dataset represented examples of “indigenous concepts”,
that is, terms “that the people interviewed have created to make sense of their world” (Patton
2002, p. 454). He goes on to argue that this identity is reified in practice partly in terms of the
capacity to assist students improve. However, the use of the term “but” contrasts this imagined
reification of his professional identity (“ideally we must…”) with the reality of his current
engagement in teaching as “an obsession with…fast paced exam results”. The selection of
the term “disillusioned” offers an implicit negative evaluation of his current participation in
teaching, an assessment which is supported by the use of a rhetorical question that places in
doubt his alignment with the perceived goals and pedagogical practices of PST.
The next step involved data analysis at a broader level, which Braun and Clarke (2006)
described as a search for themes, which represent “abstract (and often fuzzy) constructs the
investigators identify before, during, and after analysis” (Ryan and Bernard, cited in Braun
and Clarke 2006, p. 86). For example, as I read across the dataset in a form of “cross-case

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analysis” (Merriam 2009, p. 204), other participants were also found to associate the identity
“tutor” with engagement in teaching in ways that were consistent with Thomas’ description
of “fast paced”. For instance, another participant, Shirley, linked the identity “tutor” with “no
time” to develop close interpersonal relations with students. Therefore, indigenous concepts
such as “fast paced” and “no time” were combined into an overarching theme which, after
reviewing the entire dataset, was named as the ‘discourse of time.’ Other discourses identified
in this way included “space” and “interpersonal relations”. Finally, further refinements to
themes were made as I discussed these emerging understandings of identity construction
with participants in a form of member checking (Merriam 2009).

6 Results

6.1 PST: a “second-best” option?

For a majority of participants, teaching was not their initial career choice. As indicated in
Table 1, many did not, at the time of this study, possess formal teaching qualifications, the
exceptions being Tim, who completed an undergraduate degree majoring in education and
Brian who had undertaken a teacher education program only after obtaining undergraduate
qualifications in history. The journey into teaching often came about as a result of a personal
belief that the field of study they originally chose was, as Amanda argues, “not really a good
area for me as a long term career”. In addition, their entry into shadow teaching partly reflects
the existence of barriers, which arose because many lacked teaching qualifications, and that
make it “difficult to find a job in a regular school” (Brian). Several of these motivations and
decision processes are reflected in the views of Grace:

Excerpt one
I studied F and E (finance and economics) but after working for about a year I found
its definitely not suitable for me, my personality and interests…I did some tutoring
when I was an undergraduate and I did find education more rewarding, it’s a feeling
of satisfaction to help students to improve and to help and care for their development,
much better than just numbers or spreadsheets in finance…..so I quit at (the bank)
but the problem of course is that I’m not qualified as a teacher, I don’t have those
paper qualifications to be a teacher so what I can be right now is only a private tutor
in a tutorial centre, rather than a teacher, in a real school…it’s a sort of second best
option for now but I really see myself becoming a teacher in a proper school after I’m
qualified.(Grace)

Grace uses a strongly modalized statement of belief to contrast her negative views about a
career in finance (“it’s definitely not suitable for me”) with an equally emphatic personalized
endorsement of the perceived benefits of teaching (“I did find education more rewarding”),
where the term “rewarding” invokes a positive evaluation of this career decision. Grace draws
upon certain values associated with teaching to underpin this endorsement, including teachers
as providers of help and care for students, where it is assumed that the satisfaction realized
from these activities is a desirable outcome of taking on the identity of a teacher.
Despite her commitment to truth about the desirability of entering the field of education,
Grace uses a strongly modalized statement of belief to underscore her current inability to
realize the identity “teacher”. For example, she refers to a lack of “paper qualifications” to
deny that her current identity can be legitimately regarded as that of a “teacher” (“I’m not

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qualified as a teacher”). Unable to reify her identity as a teacher due to a lack of formal
qualifications, she goes on to locate herself as “only a private tutor”, where the term “only”
appears to negatively evaluate the identity “private tutor”, a conclusion underlined by the
declaration that this identity represents “a second-best option”.
This positioning reflects, according to Grace, the existence of an identity hierarchy in
which those who are able to take on the identity “teacher”, and who are located in “real
schools” are contrasted with a “private tutor”, located in “a tutorial center”. Despite situating
herself in a subordinate position within this hierarchy, Grace offers an upbeat assessment
of her anticipated future career trajectory. Thus, using terms such as “right now” and “for
now”, a temporal element is introduced to her identity construction as her future identity
construction is defined in terms of an overwhelming ambition to achieve the qualifications
necessary to propel her towards the identity of teacher: “I really see myself becoming a
teacher in a proper school after I’m qualified”. In this case, the work of imagination plays an
essential role in Grace’s identity construction. Although providing a negative assessing her
current identity “tutor”, she is able to envisage positive future identity growth, culminating
in her capacity to realize her preferred professional identity.

7 Being a “shadow teacher”

7.1 “Everything happens so quickly”

To understand how participants such as Grace pursue their goals for professional identity
construction, it is necessary to explore the ways in which they believe their experiences of
private supplementary tutoring constrains and enable this construction. For instance, tempo-
rality is a theme mentioned by many participants as impacting their ability to realize what
they believe to be some of the essential meanings of teachers and teaching, as illustrated in
the following excerpt:

Excerpt two
Speed and pace are everything here (a private tutorial center); everything happens
so quickly, so there is no time to think about teaching as gradually developing their
(students’) ability…this is about quickly doing a past (exam) paper, quickly check
answers, give students quick hints about exam techniques…and you don’t see a real
improvement in them as a student, just as an exam taker…as teachers, ideally, we must
be helping students to improve over time but this so-called improvement is just an
obsession with exam results. But, as a tutor, I feel disillusioned. Is that all I should care
about, fast paced exam results? (Thomas)

Thomas begins with an emphatic declaration setting out the crucial role he believes time
plays in PST (“time and pace are everything here”). He reifies this belief by describing his
engagement in certain practices and activities that underscore the importance of temporality,
including “quickly doing past exam papers, quickly checking answers and giving students
quick hints about exam techniques”. The repeated use of the terms “quickly” and “quick”
adds strength to his claims of the centrality of time and pace in PST. Moreover, engagement in
teaching as “quick” appears to critically shape his efforts to construct a preferred professional
teacher identity. To explain this preference, Thomas’ adopts a linguistic strategy that begins
by naming the identity “teacher”. He then fills this identity with meaning by invoking partic-
ular values that are thought to be associated with this identity, such as “helping students to

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improve over time”. In this way, the temporal properties of Thomas’ engagement in teaching
are foregrounded, a strategy which is further developed in his identification of teaching as
“gradually developing (students’) ability”.
This idealized outcome of the role of time in teaching—that teachers develop students’
capacities “over time”—is juxtaposed with the PST context in which Thomas is now situated.
Linguistically, this temporal contrast is achieved through the choice of terms such as “pace”
and “quick”. The impact of these temporal features of PST on teacher identity construction
is presented in terms of a strongly held belief about the potential threat that the premium
placed upon speed represents for his personal capacity to maintain some of the core values he
associates with the identity “teacher”. The strength of his commitment to this belief is evident
in the declaration that “there is no time to think about teaching as gradually developing their
(students’) ability”.
Textually, the decision to preface one reference to student improvement with the term
“so-called” triggers a negative evaluation of the impact that the alleged “obsession” of PST
with the rapid achievement of exam success has on Thomas’s capacity to construct his
preferred teacher identity. This negative evaluation is further underscored in the framing of
his emotional response to this threat as disillusionment (“I feel disillusioned”). Finally, the use
of a rhetorical question adds further weight to the negative evaluation Thomas appears to offer
in terms of the opportunities he believes exist for him to construct a professional identity
within this “fast paced” PST environment. Another element of the participant’s identity
construction that is shaped in part by issues of temporality concerns their beliefs about the
type of interpersonal relations they are able to establish with students and colleagues within
the context of PST, explored below.

7.2 “It’s like distance education”

All the participants recount their experiences of PST partly in terms of the absence of close
personal relations with both their students as well as teaching colleagues. The views of Gary
and Shirley illustrate these perspectives:

Excerpt three
It’s really, really hard to develop relations with students. I always thought the best part
of teaching was nurturing students but here there’s no time; they just come, do the class
and leave. There is no chance to really care about them (students) and guide them, see
them change and grow as students, except for getting them a better exam result. Most
of them have no closeness to the centre or to me…. Unfortunately, it’s like distance
education, I don’t feel close to students like a school teacher should in a regular school,
so I don’t get a lot of satisfaction from seeing them develop. (Shirley)
Excerpt four
I think tutors don’t really seem to have close professional relations…for us in tutorial
schools, it’s not like teachers in schools, they would discuss teaching methods and plan
lessons and reflect. But we don’t interact much, professionally, so I guess we miss out
on chances to develop professionally, which means, long-term, we don’t expand our
teaching abilities(Gary)

Shirley is emphatic in her conviction that her experience of teaching in PST is marked in part
by the absence of close personal relations between herself and students (“It’s really, really
hard to develop relations with students”). Her attribution of this outcome to issues of time
(“there’s no time…”) is couched in terms of a negative evaluation of the absence of such

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relations. For instance, she characterizes the impact of the absence of close relations with
students on her professional identity in terms of a lack of satisfaction.
The lack of close relations with students that Shirley describes in her current PST context
is presented in terms of a contradistinction to some of the meanings she associates with
the identity “school teacher”. For example, bonds between teachers and students “should”,
Shirley argues, represent a feature of “regular” schools. In the case of PST, however, the
expression “distance education” juxtaposes close student–teacher relations with her current
teaching experiences. Linguistically, the prefacing of this assessment of her PST experiences
with the term “unfortunately” leaves little doubt about her negative assessment of this inability
to forge close relations with students. This evaluative stance is validated by an appeal to a
number of overarching values that she associates with teaching and which she perceives as
absent from her contemporary teaching environment, including nurturing students and caring
about their academic development.
In excerpt five, Gary’s exploration of the theme of closeness in terms of his relations with
colleagues at his tutorial school is characterized by a series of commitments to belief that
appear weaker than the adamant assertions expressed in excerpt four. Thus, the definitive
stance taken by Shirley about the desirability for close relations with students gives way to
a far more guarded advocacy of close relations with colleagues. For instance, an opening
personalized statement of belief (“I think…”) is linked to a series of far less certainty com-
mitments to truth than displayed by Shirley: “…tutors don’t really seem to…I guess we miss
out…”.
Despite these weakened commitments, Gary contributes to our understanding of the dis-
tinction that all the participants draw between “teachers in schools” and those teaching in
PST contexts. In this case, this division, which Gary accepts unquestioningly (“for us in
tutorial schools, it’s not like teachers in schools”), is reified in particular practices and activ-
ities that are thought to be absent from his current teaching assignment, such as colleagues
discussing teaching methods, planning lessons, and engaging in reflection together. A final
claim regarding professional development appears to link the supposed absence of these close
collegial relations between teaching staff to a strong belief in the constraints this imposes on
professional identity construction. Here, these limitations take the form of constraints to the
enhancement of teaching competencies: “we don’t expand our teaching abilities”. It should
be noted that the use of plural terms such as “us” and “we” suggests that Garry is claiming
a capacity to speak on behalf of all those involved in PST.
This authority, as well as Shirley’s appeal to a set of overarching educational values,
underscores the powerful role imagination can play in teacher identity construction. For
instance, both Shirley and Gary are able to see beyond the ways in which they interact day-
to-day with students and colleagues in their individual PST settings to envisage the limitations
such relations might imply “long-term” (Garry) for the trajectory of their professional identity
construction. In the case of Gary, claims are made that these constraints extend to all those
teaching in similar PST settings. The contribution of imagination to identity construction is
further considered in the following section.

7.3 ‘Us and them’

Imagination is a powerful force for identity construction because it allows us to look beyond
the here-and-now of engagement in specific activities and practices by connecting both our
understandings of the past, as well as anticipations of the future to current realities. For
example, in excerpt five, Vicky reflects the views of many participants in connecting her past
and present views of different identity positions:

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Excerpt five
When I was a student I know that some of my school teachers did look down on those
working in tutorial schools, as just exam machines with short term goals only on exam
results…they might see us as not really language teachers but as exam teachers only.
(Vicky)
Excerpt six
Teaching at a school or a tutorial center; its two different markets. But they are related
markets. The ideal is that teachers in regular schools do their teaching thing and we do
our own thing…by us doing the exam drilling we can free up them, the school teachers,
to do things other than exams, they can teach in a more interesting or imaginative way
and then we can take care of students exam needs. Right now, it isn’t like that; some
teachers think that tutorial schools are a threat to them because students think we are
the ones who can get them a good grade. (Brian)
Vicky connects her recollections of the past (“when I was a student”) to her current engage-
ment in PST by naming several identities, including “school teacher” and “those working in
tutorial schools”. Relations between these identities are characterized as hierarchical, in which
the former identity is valorized over the latter, a conclusion to which Shirley attaches a strong
degree of certainty: “I know…school teachers did look down on those working in tutorial
schools”. Linguistically, several expressions trigger a negative evaluation of “those work-
ing in tutorial schools”, such as “just exam machines”, “short term goals” and “only...exam
results”, thereby placing them in a subordinate position relative to “school teachers”. The sub-
sequent positioning of those employed in tutorial schools as “not really language teachers”,
although couched in terms of the weakened modality of “might”, represents a particularly
decisive challenge to their professional competency and hence professional identity.
In excerpt six, Brain deploys imagination to transcend current realities of relations between
“teachers in regular schools” and those in PST by anticipating an “ideal” that could contest
the subordinate positioning of the latter. For instance, by locating these identities in “related
markets”. each with clear lines of demarcation (“teachers in regular schools do their teaching
thing and we do our own thing”), Brian contests the negative association between PST and
“exam drilling”. Indeed, by having those who provide PST focus on such drilling, Brian
confidently puts forward several proposed advantages for school teachers. Textually, these
benefits are presented in the form of a number of assumed values, such a providing “teachers
in regular schools” with freedom to “teach in a more interesting or imaginative way”. In this
case, imaginative and interesting teaching is implicitly valued as desirable.
Although allowing those identified as “school teachers” the space and time that is thought
to be crucial for engagement in interesting and imaginative teaching, this “ideal” outcome
also endorses a rigid division between what are seen as very different types of teachers.
Linguistically, this dichotomy is established through the repeated use of terms such as “us”,
“them”, and “they”. Furthermore, Brian’s depiction of this dichotomy in terms of the “threat”
allegedly posed by PST to “teachers in regular schools” (excerpt eight) suggests that such a
division might be characterized by relations of conflict.

8 Discussion

This section uses the theoretical framework described earlier in this paper to consider how
the participants constructed their professional teacher identities in discourse and practice.

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8.1 The discursive construction of identity in PST

As suggested in Fig. 1, the construction of teacher identity is partly a discursive accomplish-

ment. Laclau and Mouffe (1985) argued that the construction of identity occurs around nodal
points of identity, which different discourses fill with particular meanings (Jorgensen and
Phillips 2002). The participants in this study identified one such nodal point as “teacher”,
with several discourses providing content to fill this identity with meaning. For example, the
discourse of credentialism equated this identity with the attainment of “paper qualifications”
(excerpt one). Another discourse, the discourse of space, reflected the role of institutional
settings in teacher identity construction by situating the identity “teacher” within “a proper
school” or a “real school” (excerpt one). Through a discourse of time, this identity was
associated with helping students “over time” (excerpt two). Drawing upon a discourse of
interpersonal relations, “teachers” were positioned as “close to students”, as they “care” and
“guide” them. In addition, the identity “teacher” was associated with developing “close pro-
fessional relations” with others identified as “teachers” (excerpts three and four). Finally, a
discourse of hierarchy valorized the status of “teachers” over other possible identity positions
(excerpt five).
Laclau and Mouffe (1985) suggested that identity construction is relational; “the subject is
something because it is contrasted with something that it is not” (Jorgensen and Phillips 2002,
p. 43). Thus, another potentially available identity position to emerge from the data was “tutor”
(excerpt one) and, as was the case above, discourses also filled this identity with meaning. The
discourse of credentialism, for instance, positioned those who lack formal teacher credentials
as “not qualified”. The discourse of space located this identity within “a tutorial center”
(excerpt one). Within a discourse of time, a premium came to be placed on “speed and pace”,
while further meaning was added to this identity by a discourse of interpersonal relations
which implied that “tutors” have distant relationships with both students and colleagues
(excerpts three and four). A discourse of hierarchy completed this meaning making process
by positioning those identified as “tutor” in a subordinate position relative to the identity
“teacher” (excerpt five). The identity “tutor”, for instance, was regarded as a “second best”
option (excerpt one).

8.2 The experiential construction of identity in PST

Identity, as Wenger (1998, p. 151) pointed out, “is a layering of events of participation
and reification”. For example, several participants in this study found that a lack of formal
teaching qualifications both reifies their identities as a “tutor” and excludes them from taking
on the identity “teacher”. Engagement by participants in certain practices and activities
further underscores this identity division. Thus, a powerful source for the construction of the
identity “tutor” is engagement in teaching as doing past exam papers, checking answers, and
providing hints about exam techniques (excerpt two).
In addition to participation, Wenger (1998) argued that non-participation can be crucial to
identity construction: “we also define ourselves through practices we do not engage in” (p.
164). The results of this study suggest that experiences of non-participation, such as the lack
of close relations with students and teaching colleagues (excerpts three and four), represent
both a means for identification as “tutor” as well as a further point of differentiation from
the identity “teacher”. The non-participation in other practices, including using “interesting
or imaginative” teaching strategies (excerpt six), was a further means for exclusion from
the identity “teacher”. Denial of the opportunity to engage in these teaching practices is
an important source of identification because it challenged the participant’s professional

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competence, excluding them from participating in activities associated with the identity
“teacher” and situating them, rather, as “just exam machines” (excerpt five).

8.3 Making discourses visible

Assisting educators in PST to move beyond the identity exclusion and challenges to their pro-
fessional competency discussed in the previous section could begin by “making discourses
visible” (Davies 1994, p. 16). For example, Davies (1994) advocated engagement in con-
versations that are based not on relations of antagonism but, rather, in which participants
seek to understand what is said from the perspective of other participants, thereby “connect-
ing threads between the meanings available to one with the meanings being expressed by
the other” (p. 27). While teacher professional development has long recognized the value
of conversations between teachers, such as teacher support groups (Richards and Farrell
2005), if such conversations are to multiply the ways in which educators in PST engage in
teaching, they will need to undergo critical interrogation and reflection. Farrell (2015), for
example, describes a process of critical teacher reflection aimed at “unearthing and identify-
ing previously unquestioned norms in society, the community, and the classroom…” (p. 96).
According to Zembylas (2014, p. 212):

The teacher as a critical reflective practitioner is aware both of the socio-historical

reality which shapes his or her life and of his or her capacity to change this reality.

Unearthing and identifying the socio-historical reality shaping the professional lives of
the PST educators in this study could employ the type of discourse analysis undertaken in this
paper. Thus, different stakeholders, including educators in both PST and mainstream schools,
students, and parents, could meet as part of an educator support group to discuss their different
approaches to teaching and learning, including the reasons some stakeholders engage in PST,
similarities and differences in the pedagogical approaches adopted by educators in PST and
mainstream schools, and their expectations for interpersonal relations with other stakeholders.
This might also include educators in mainstream schools and PST observing the teaching
practices and activities of the other. If such conversations and classroom observations could
be recorded and transcribed, these different texts could be subjected to the type of discourse
analysis undertaken in this paper to explore who is speaking, from what position, in what
context, and with what effect in terms of the subject positions that are made available to all
teachers.
This type of reflection enables stakeholders to see the effects of discourses, a process
Jorgensen and Phillips (2002) labeled the “unmasking” of discourses (p. 185). However, this
unmasking does not seek to replace one way of understanding teachers and teaching with
another. Rather, it aims to challenge hegemonic closures of the meaning of identities such
as “teacher” by revealing that the discourses described in this paper are contingent, meaning
that while identities at a given time take a particular form “they could have been – and can
become – different” (Jorgensen and Phillips 2002, p. 37).
Awareness that their positioning by dominant discourses can become different is a pow-
erful force for PST educators identity construction because, as Davies (1994) pointed out,
it opens the possibility for “multiple ‘Is”’ (p.27) by offering stakeholders the possibility of
positioning themselves differently in relation to these discourses. Indeed, imagining this mul-
tiplication of possibilities for identity construction is crucial for enhancing teacher agency
“since being able to imagine alternatives is a first step towards attaining them” (Crooks 2013,
p. 194).

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According to Jorgensen and Phillips (2002), revealing taken-for-granted naturalized

knowledge “can open up a political field to other possibilities and, therefore, can represent
a critical research aim in its own right” (p. 186). Thus, the aim of the critical conversations
described in this section would be to problematize discourse such as those of space, time,
and interpersonal relations that positions all educators in particular ways. In doing so, ques-
tioning their taken-for-granted positionings as either “tutors” providing PST or “teachers”
situated within mainstream schools could call into question the belief that educators in Hong
Kong necessarily confront a stark either / or choice between these two identity positions. This
more complex understanding of identity construction would enhance PST educators’ agency
through a multiplication of the identity categories, allowing them to imagine themselves in
both categories and in neither (Davies 1994).

9 Conclusion

Bray et al. (2014) argued that PST has expanded to such an extent that it is of “global
significance” (p. 24) and that, in the case of Hong Kong, “students and their parents still
have great desire to invest resources” (p. 35) in PST. Against this background, the current
study responded to calls for researchers and policymakers to pay greater attention to PST and
to explore the perspectives and experiences of stakeholders, such as educators who work in
the so-called shadow education sector (Bray et al. 2014). Moreover, if, as Bray et al. (2014)
argue, the reality confronting policymakers is that PST will “grow substantially in China
during the coming years (and) elsewhere in Asia and around the world” (p. 35), then part
of the policy response to PST should consider ways in which high-quality educators can be
attracted to and retained within this shadow education sector.
The results of this study indicated that if this outcome is to be achieved, it is crucial to
question the professional dichotomy between educators in mainstream schools and those pro-
viding PST. In particular, policy responses designed to attract, retain, and sustain high-quality
educators in PST must provide stakeholders with opportunities to expose and problematize
dominant discourses that position all educators in particular ways. This will require stake-
holders to participate in the type of critical conversations described in the previous section,
thereby allowing those that provide PST to explore, question, and potentially resist or reject
discourses which limit their opportunities for professional identity construction.
The results of this study, however, should be treated with caution as they are based on
a small sample of those providing PST services in a single educational setting. Therefore,
additional contextualized investigations of the identity construction experiences of all PST
stakeholders should be conducted. Such studies should be longitudinal, thereby contribut-
ing to understanding how these identities are constructed over time in a diverse range of
educational contexts worldwide.

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