Professional knowledge development of bilingual teacher-researchers : a self-study of making Chinese learnable

Abstract

This study focuses on the potential effects of self-study on the professional knowledge development of a bilingual teacher-researcher at the beginning of her career. To fully understand the significance of this inquiry, three contributory research questions were addressed: (1) How can self-study contribute to the bilingual teacher-researcher's professional knowledge development in knowing students, and how they learn? (2) How can self-study contribute to the bilingual teacher-researcher's professional knowledge development in knowing the content of Chinese and how to teach it? (3) How will professional knowledge development in cross cultural exchanges contribute to Australian school students' learning of Chinese language and culture? As a part of the Research Oriented School Engaged Teacher-researcher Education (ROSETE) Program, the author underwent Chinese teaching experience over a period of one and a half years in a local Australian public high school. Regarding the self-study research, data were collected from surveys and quizzes of students, and interviews, audio recordings, and observation sheets from head teachers and ROSETE colleagues, as well as self-reflection journals. The findings indicate that self-study is an efficient way to develop the bilingual teacher-researcher's professional knowledge at the beginning of the career, and for understanding students and the way they learn. In addition, this method not only contributes to the teacher-researcher's improvement in comprehending content, but also offers an optimal way to deliver knowledge to students. More importantly, this study suggests that advanced professional knowledge in cross cultural exchange and communication can have a significantly positive effect on teaching and helping Australian school students to learn Chinese language and culture.

Date of Award	2016
Original language	English