Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education

ISSN: 1359-866X (Print) 1469-2945 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/capj20

Eastern/Western conceptions of the “Good

Teacher” and the construction of difference in
teacher education

Lilach Marom

To cite this article: Lilach Marom (2018) Eastern/Western conceptions of the “Good Teacher” and
the construction of difference in teacher education, Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 46:2,
167-182, DOI: 10.1080/1359866X.2017.1399982

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/1359866X.2017.1399982

Published online: 06 Nov 2017.

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ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF TEACHER EDUCATION, 2018
VOL. 46, NO. 2, 167–182
https://doi.org/10.1080/1359866X.2017.1399982

ARTICLE

Eastern/Western conceptions of the “Good Teacher” and the

construction of difference in teacher education
Lilach Marom
Department of Educational Studies, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

This paper examines the recertification process of internationally Received 23 December 2016
educated teachers (IETs) in British Columbia (BC). In order to teach Accepted 9 September 2017
in Canada IETs have to go through a recertification process. The KEYWORDS
recertification process varies between provinces and is a full-time “good teacher”; internationally
training process, following an assessment of IETs’ foreign creden- educated teachers; teacher
tials. Through interviews with IETs and professionals, I explored the education; diversity
prevalent conceptions of the “good teacher” in one IET recertifica-
tion program. I argue that while Western-Eastern conceptions of
the “good teacher” differ, they could complement and strengthen
each other, particularly in the multicultural space of BC. Yet in the
recertification process, Eastern conceptions of the “good teacher”
were viewed as deficient, and thus, spaces for IETs to bring their
experiences and voices to bear on reconstructing their profes-
sional identity in Canada were closed down.

Introduction
Internationally educated teachers’ (IETs) ability to recertify and find employment in a
new country is an important concern for the successful diversification of the teaching
profession in many Western countries. New Zealand, Australia, and Canada are among
the OECD countries with the highest immigration rates (OECD, 2017). In these countries,
immigration rates are constantly increasing (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2016; New
Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment, 2014). Since migration direction
is mostly from non-Western to Western countries (OECD, 2017), it is leading to wider
ethnic diversity in these countries (Deters, 2011).
The ethnic diversity of the teaching body in these countries, however, has not
kept pace with the diversity of the student body. In Australia, the percentage of
immigrants in the teaching profession lags behind the percentage of immigrants in
the population overall, and many foreign-trained teachers come from New Zealand
and the UK (Collins & Reid, 2012), while many immigrants come from China, India,
and other Asian countries (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2016). Similarly, in New
Zealand, Howard (2010) reports that although the student body is becoming
increasingly more diverse, “the ethnic composition of the teaching workforce has
remained relatively static” (p. 2).

CONTACT Lilach Marom lilachmr@mail.ubc.ca

© 2017 Australian Teacher Education Association
168 L. MAROM

This overall picture is reflected in Canada, which is the main site of this study. Since
the changes to immigration law of the late 60’s, Canada has become a country with one
of the highest immigration rates, with two-thirds of its population growth resulting from
immigration (Statistics Canada, 2016). Seventy-five percent of Canada’s immigrants
move to urban centres, with different ethnic profiles taking shape in each of its
provinces (Walsh & Brigham, 2007). In BC, most immigrants (70%) are of Asian origin,
and 80% are “visible minorities” (Government of Canada, 2015).
The discrepancy between the diversity of the teaching profession and the student
body in Canada is well known. The Canadian Teachers’ Federation (2006) has identified a
severe underrepresentation of visible minorities and Aboriginal peoples in the Canadian
teaching force, resulting in a profound mismatch between the demographics of teacher
and student populations. In the urban centres of BC, such underrepresentation is even
higher since, as noted above, most immigrants settle in urban areas. In the Greater
Vancouver Area, studies predict that “Almost 7 in 10 metro residents will be non-white
in two decades” (Todd, 2017). Furthermore, over a decade of cuts in teachers’ hiring in
the province has limited access for new teachers into the system. This is about to be
changed as a result of the BC Teachers’ Federation legal victory against the BC liberal
Government, in which one of the main points was to restore class sizes to pre-2002
levels, which will effectually create hundreds of positions (O’Neil & Sherlock, 2016).
Whether increased hiring will increase diversity in hiring, is yet to be seen.
In the current makeup of the Greater Vancouver Area, incorporating IETs, particularly of
East and South Asian background, into the system is an important means of promoting
diversity within the teaching profession. Yet a growing body of literature has demonstrated
many barriers that IETs face during the recertification process in Canada (Cho, 2011; Frank,
2013; Medic, 2007; Phillion, 2003; Rosehart, 2013; Schmidt, 2016). Prevalent themes identi-
fied are language barriers (Faez, 2010), cultural barriers (Deters, 2011), and institutional and
systemic barriers (Beynon, Ilieva, & Dichupa, 2004). There is also a growing literature base
on IETs’ experiences in other Western countries, which identifies similar barriers from a
global perspective (Howard, 2010; McNamara & Basit, 2004; Miller, 2008; Reid, Collins, &
Singh, 2014). Michael (2006) argues that “immigrant teachers are a wasted resource of
human potential in. . .immigrant-absorbing countries” (p. 166).
Within the literature base, limited focus has been given to pedagogical barriers facing
IETs (Duchesne & Stitou, 2010; Frank, 2013). I use “pedagogy” to contain not only teaching
and practices, but also wider interactions with students and parents, which might differ
drastically in diverse contexts. In this study, I focus in particular on pedagogical barriers that
emerged at the interface between Eastern and Western conceptions of good teaching.
I begin by presenting the methodology and data sources of this study, followed by a
review of the main conceptions of the “good teacher” identified in the literature. In the
findings section, I highlight key differences between Eastern and Western conceptions of
the “good teacher.” I then analyze how the recertification process managed these
differences, and what the outcomes were for IETs.

Methodology and data sources

This article is part of a larger, qualitative, extended case study of the University of British
Columbia (UBC) teacher education program (Burawoy, 1998; Yin, 2009), in which I
 ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF TEACHER EDUCATION 169

examined conceptions of the “good teacher” in the recertification trajectory of IETs in

BC. The study was approved by UBC’s Behavioural Research Ethics Board. My main
question was the following: What conceptions of the “good teacher” are evident in
the recertification trajectory of IETs, and how do these open up or close down spaces for
candidates to bring their experiences and voices to bear on reconstructing their profes-
sional identity in Canada?
While IETs can attend any teacher education program in BC, only two programs
(UBC’s included) provide designated recertification tracks (Marom, 2016). UBC has a
well-established teacher education program that was founded in 1956 and has since
prepared hundreds of teacher candidates yearly. UBC’s graduates compose about 55%
of the province’s teaching force (Teacher Education Office, 2017). The recertification
track is integrated into the general B.Ed. program. It was revised in 2011 to become a 30-
credit diploma program that takes eight months to complete. IETs are primarily assigned
methodology and assessment courses, and attend a 12-week practicum (they take
coursework with the rest of the student body).
The UBC recertification program overlaps with other institutions, since in BC (as in
Canada in general), several different institutions have a role in the recertification process
of IETs (Walsh & Brigham, 2007). For instance, the Teacher Regulation Branch (TRB)
evaluates foreign credentials and determines the requirements for recertification; teacher
education programs carry out the recertification process; certification approval is granted
by the TRB; and hiring processes are done at the school-district level (Marom, 2017).
During the academic year of 2013–2014, I conducted two one-on-one interviews with
five IETs who participated in the recertification program, one interview during the first
term of the program and the other at the end of the program. I also conducted one
interview with six recent graduates of the program. All of the interviews were semi-
structured: I held a written list of questions, but I allowed the conversations to develop
in various directions. IETs were recruited by an email that was sent out on my behalf by
one of the program administrators.
I also conducted one-on-one interviews with six faculty and administrative staff
members who were recently or are currently involved in the program as well as with
the director of the TRB. These interviews were intended to extend the perspectives of
the study from that of the IETs’ experiences to one of the wider institutional and
structural aspects of the recertification process.
In addition to the interviews, I observed seven classes from five different courses and
attended two information sessions at the TRB geared toward IETs. I also examined
related educational policies and documents in BC and in the UBC teacher education
program (Marom, 2015). These diverse sources of data were used in order to convey the
many layers of the case, and also as a means of triangulation (Stake, 2006; Yin, 2009). In
this article, my main focus is the recertification program; hence, I mostly use data from
the interviews with the IETs and professionals in the recertification program.
The first stage of the data analysis process was transcribing the interviews, typing up
my field observations, and organizing the different sources of data. After listening to the
interviews a few times, I transcribed them by combining my summary of background
and context information with long chunks of verbatim quotes (Halcomb & Davidson,
2006). Documents of various kinds (e.g., BC policies, course syllabi, program documents)
were organized according to central topics.
170 L. MAROM

In the second stage, I analyzed the data using NVivo software, looking for repeating
threads and patterns. In the coding process, I created a list of topics that were repeated
in the interviews and observations (e.g., “good teacher,” assessment, language, culture,
barriers, school); topics also emerged from the theoretical framework (e.g., “good
teacher,” professionalism). In the third stage, I assembled the topics into several main
themes and searched for connections and relationships between the different themes
(DeCuir-Gunby, Marshall, & McCulloch, 2011). During this process, I also limited the
scope of the study and organized the data to answer my main research questions.
The main categories of findings were: a) Barriers in the recertification process of IETs
in BC; b) players in the recertification process in BC – their roles, their intersections, and
their position in the field; and c) prevalent conceptions of the “good teacher” and their
effect on IETs during the recertification trajectory and particularly during the recertifica-
tion program at UBC. In this article, I focus on the third category.
The 11 IET participants were recognized in BC as “skilled workers”; they had all
obtained post-secondary education and had had professional careers in their home
countries. While the participants were diverse in race, gender, ethnicity, religion and
nationality, they had all shared many similar experiences in the recertification process.
This is not to say that social location did not play out in the recertification process, or
that IETs could be understood as one unified category. Yet many of the barriers IETs
described, particularly pedagogical ones, were shared across the spectrum. In this paper,
I focus on the voices of three IETs from Asian countries of origin. My reason is that when
examining prevalent conceptions of the “good teacher,” a good part of the data,
particularly emerging from interviews with professionals, pertained to a perceived
Eastern-Western teaching style dichotomy.
The three participants were in in their mid-thirties to early forties. They had families
and kids they supported, and immigrated to Canada a few years ago in order to provide
“better lives for their families.” Peter is an East-Asian male with 20 years of experience as
a math teacher in secondary schools; he was attending the recertification program at the
time of the study, and currently works as a Teacher on Call (TOC). Nehlia is a Southeast-
Asian female with 13 years of experience as a secondary English and French teacher; she
is a recent graduate of the program and currently works as a TOC. Dina is a South-Asian
female with 10 years of teaching experience; she was attending the program at the time
of the study and currently works in a private religious school as an elementary teacher.
In order to maintain their anonymity, the three IETs chose or were assigned pseudo-
nyms, and their specific countries of origin are not disclosed.

Main discourses on the “good teacher”

I analyze the “good teacher” as an overarching term that captures beliefs and assumptions
about the role of a teacher. I use the concept of the “good teacher” rather than profession-
alism, although these terms intersect, since my main focus in this article is on more mundane
discourses on teaching. While I often use the term “discourse,” I use it as a way to capture
prevalent conceptions of the “good teacher,” and not as a full methodological frame.
Research has identified several main discourses on the “good teacher” (Moore, 2004;
Pinto et al., 2012; Taylor, 2000). For instance, Moore (2004) differentiates between three,
seemingly opposing, dominant discourses, two of which are “official”: the “competent
 ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF TEACHER EDUCATION 171

craftsperson” and the “reflective practitioner”, and one which is the popular image of a
“charismatic teacher.”1
The “competent craftsperson” is a skill-based approach, framed by standardization
and testing. This approach aims to break teachers’ work into measurable skills that can
be evaluated and reproduced. Many global players, such as the World Bank and the
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), promote this
approach and claim that it increases teachers’ accountably and thus improves students’
success (as measured by standardized tests) (Robertson, 2012). In the Canadian context,
Walsh, Brigham, and Wang (2011) argue that the inclusion of the teaching profession in
Canada under the “Agreement on Internal Trade” (AIT), which imposes governmental
standards on teaching and makes it easier for teachers educated in Canada to move
between provinces (BC Ministry of Education, 2010), is a move in the direction of
understanding teachers as “competent craftspersons.”
There is a connection between skill-based discourses and the push to de-regulate the
teaching profession. De-regulation aims to limit the power of internal regulatory profes-
sional bodies (such as teachers unions), and replace them with overarching, external,
universal standards (Grimmett & Young, 2012). However, as Moore (2004) claims, the
acclaimed positivism and universalism of this discourse is in fact marginalizing and
excluding, since “the concept of the good teacher cannot sit ‘outside’ or untouched
by the larger social conversations, situations, ideologies and purposes within which it is
situated: it cannot easily, therefore, make claims to ‘universality’” (p. 36).
Taylor (2000) uses the “technician discourse,” to identify similar ideas to Moore’s
“competent craftsperson” discourse. He argues that it is craft-competence oriented
discourse that is focused on depositing seemingly neutral knowledge in teacher candi-
dates. Similarly, Taylor (2000) argues that “the technical approach privileges and protects
the dominant forms of knowledge from critique and hence lessens the possibility for
pedagogies of change to be enacted” (p. 86).
The second official discourse in Moore’s (2004) typology is the “reflective practitioner.”
This discourse emphasizes the deeper knowledge and understanding of teachers; it is a
more art-oriented approach to teaching. This discourse understands “good teachers” as life-
long learners who need to constantly reflect on their practice in order to make it relevant to
the context in which they work and to the students they teach. The “reflective practitioner”
discourse is very prevalent in the Canadian teacher educational context. For example, the
UBC teacher education program has the following declaration in its mission statement:

Teacher educators at UBC are aware that enacting global citizenship necessitates a dialogi-
cal approach to issues of social and ecological justice, equity, sustainability and social action.
It is through dialogue that inquiry becomes a hallmark of teacher education and develop-
ment. Teacher candidates need to inquire systematically into their own practice, with an eye
toward enhancing learning experiences for all students in school settings and other learning
environments and an eye toward understanding teaching as a moral activity. (Teacher
Education Office, 2017, para. 1)

The above mission statement is in compliance with the Association of Canadian Deans of
Education’s Accord on Initial Teacher Education (2006), in which “an effective initial
teacher education programme” is defined as one that “supports a research disposition
and climate that recognizes a range of knowledge and perspectives” and that “provides
172 L. MAROM

opportunities for candidates to investigate their practices” (p. 3). On the same note, the
UBC program is constructed as an inquiry-based teacher education program. Inquiry is
defined as the disposition of asking critical questions about curriculum choices, pedago-
gical decisions, and other aspects of teachers’ practice (Teacher Education Office, 2017a).
Although, judging by the above statements, it seems as though the “reflective-
practitioner” discourse is strong in Canadian teacher education, critics argue that it is
often consumed by the competence approach, where reflexivity is focused on core skills
or “self-improvement’” (Moore, 2004, p. 104).
Other analyses, such as that by Hargreaves and Fullan (2012), identify several, some-
times overlapping, metaphors or “stereotypes” of teaching, such as teaching as a gift,
teaching as a practical craft, teaching as a precise science and teaching as a sacred
calling. They argue that different discourses reflect different views of teaching; thus,
these stereotypes can be broadly divided into two overarching discourses. The domi-
nant one is a neoliberal “business oriented” discourse of teaching, in which education is
seen as a business in the free market. The “business oriented” discourse is closely related
to Moore’s (2004) discourse of the “competent-craftsperson”; in both, teaching should
be standardized, supervised, and measured by the standards of the market. Indeed, in
recent years, the teaching profession in many Western countries has been under con-
stant neoliberal pressure. For instance, teachers’ knowledge is expected to be standar-
dized and organized into assessments units, teacher education is being shortened, and
teachers’ authority is challenged on a daily basis by both policy and parents (Steeves,
2012). One well-known example is the McKinsey Report (Barber & Mourshed, 2007), in
which a private corporation provided standards of good education and good teaching.
Other active players in the field are the World Bank and the OECD; both recently issued
policies and assessment projects regarding the teaching profession (Robertson, 2012).
In the alternative discourse, according to Hargreaves and Fullan (2012), the teaching
profession is understood as a complex profession that requires continuous learning and
development and should be viewed as a long-term investment. This discourse is closely
related to Moore’s (2004) discourse of the “good teacher” as a “reflective-practitioner.” In
both, teaching is seen as a life-long learning process that is context dependent and
should be grounded in teachers’ self-inquiry and supported by a community of teachers.
There is, in short, an ongoing debate among teacher education scholars, policy
makers and the public in general over what defines the “quality of a teacher.” This
debate is not neutral but reflects “different ideas, ideals, and world views at the same
time that they differently assign blame and praise regarding the problem of teacher
quality and thus advocate specific strategies and solutions” (Cochran-Smith & Fries,
2011, p. 353). “The frustrating reality is that there is no single factor, nor consensus in
the literature, about what makes a good teacher” (Pinto et al., 2012, p. 74). Furthermore,
since most people in Western societies have substantial interactions with teachers while
growing up, most of us have explicit and implicit ideas about who is a “good teacher”
(Britzman, 2003). And since most people send their own kids to school, the “good
teacher” is both a public and a private discourse.
The problem is, as Pinto et al. (2012) claim, that the “dominance of a particular
discourse privileges a certain conception of a good teacher – and unfairly advantages
the individuals who imbue that discourse” (p. 76). While “good teaching” is a fuzzy
notion with many “intangible” characteristics” (Pinto et al., 2012, p. 75), in a given
 ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF TEACHER EDUCATION 173

cultural context, teachers adopt recognizable body language, speech habits, and even
ways of dressing, that make them stand out. Certainly not all of these markers are
evidence-based practices, deliberately adopted because they improve teaching; some
are reflections of arbitrary norms or of dominant power relations.
This is particularly the case when diverse education systems intersect, as in this study.
While Asian education systems tend to be overtly competitive and test oriented (Zhao,
2015; Zhao, Haste, & Selman, 2014), the Canadian education system promotes a rounder
model of education (BC Ministry of Education, 2015). It is important to note that
Canadian education is by no means disconnected from the regime of global competition
and testing (Grimmett & Young, 2012); still, Canadian teacher education highlights
critical thinking, inclusivity, and diverse knowledge as central tenements (Association
of Canadian Deans of Education, 2006).
In the next sections I demonstrate how diverse understandings of the “good teacher”
played out during the recertification process of three IETs who came from Asian school
systems. I highlight two main components that emerged from the data: The status of teachers,
and pedagogy and assessment. The first point refers to the “good teacher” in a wider societal
context; the second refers to two key aspects of teaching. I start by highlighting the differences
between conceptions of the “good teacher” as described by both IETs and professionals in the
program. I then argue that not these differences, but rather the conceptualization of difference
as deficiency, accounted for barriers in the three IETs’ recertification.

The status of teachers

The status of teachers differs in diverse contexts, as Peter explains:
Teaching in [my East Asian home country] is very different from Canada for a number of
reasons. . .the teachers are regarded as having a higher status than the students. Over here
they are like this [shows same level with his hands], and there it is such [shows one hand
higher than the other]. So in terms of giving instructions, it is easier there. . .the teacher
would tell the students to do something, and most likely they’d do it.

Similarly, Dina shared,

In my home country students are much more respectful toward their teachers. There is this
great respect that students have for teachers. On the other hand, here. . .I feel like the
students don’t respect their teachers that much, they take them very casually. When I was a
teacher in my home country, if parents had a problem with their kids, they would come to
me and ask, “Can you talk to my child about that, because he listens to you,” and I would
talk and they would say, “Now he is listening. What did you tell him?” The trust between the
parents and the teacher is stronger there.

In these examples, teachers were highly regarded; teachers were viewed as authority figures
and were respected by both students and the school community. This position informs
teachers’ interactions with their students and their expectations of them, as Peter shared:
“You have to be very strict with the students in terms of their doing the work. No eating in the
class, no small talk in the class. When it’s time to work, you work. . .Things are very controlled.”
Nehlia recalled,
To be a good teacher in [my East Asian country], you need to work a lot, to prepare a lot, to
give them a lot of homework, contrary to what my kids are experiencing here. . .You spend a
174 L. MAROM

good deal of time teaching the content. . .Here the teachers are more friends. They [stu-
dents] call the teachers by their name. We never do it there – you don’t even know the first
name of your teacher. Hierarchy is very important.

Similarly Dina shared,

[Back home] teachers are strict and if you think you are a good teacher, you have to be
really serious. That means, “straight to business.” The students are scared of you, you feel
that you are in charge; you are the authority in the class.

In comparison to the more authoritative position of teachers in their home countries,

when describing teachers’ status in BC, Nehlia reflected, “Children in Canada are used to
having their own way. They always tell you, ‘We have the right to do it.’” Peter added, “In
the East people respect the authority of the teachers. They say, ‘Good morning,’ to you
first; here they won’t say it, even if you’re standing at the door.”
Various professionals in the recertification program shared similar observations. An
administrator in the program shared,

For some [IETs], it’s a hard lesson, because in their home countries, they walk in, everyone
would stand, they talk, and would expect everyone to be quiet. No teacher here can do it.
It’s a different relationship from what many of our IETs have experienced in the past.

Similarly, a program coordinator described a typical difficulty faced by IETs in the

Canadian classroom:

[IETs] have difficulties operating in the local school culture. They have trouble sometimes
adjusting to the casual manner of BC classrooms. . .the social part of school is often a
challenge, and the casual way that students interact with their teachers, the dress style,
the ubiquitous use of a phone. . .these things do trouble them somewhat because they are
usually not used to dealing with it.

In these examples, we see some of the different discourses on the “good teacher.”
In Asian countries, teachers are first and foremost expected to be the “competent
craftsperson” (Moore, 2004), and their competence positions them in a more
authoritative role in comparison to the students (both in knowledge and in the
modeling of proper behaviour). In BC, by contrast, teachers are also expected to be
“reflective practitioners” (Moore, 2004) and, hence, engaged in constant feedback
and dialogue with colleagues, students, and parents. Furthermore, in the partici-
pants’ home countries, the school system was highly competitive and the academic
demands on students were high; hence, teachers were expected to use their time
for teaching without interruptions. As Nehlia shared, “In the classroom it’s down to
business.” This is not to say that academic achievements do not drive the education
system in Canada (Chiose, 2017), but rather that competition is less overt and is
contained in a wider understanding of the role of teachers (BC Ministry of
Education, 2011, 2015).

Pedagogy and assessment

Pedagogy and assessment take place in all school systems around the world, but they
can differ drastically depending on context. While the IET participants came from school
 ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF TEACHER EDUCATION 175

systems that prioritized teacher-centred pedagogies, the BC school system promotes

student-centred pedagogies (BC Ministry of Education, 2015). As Dina shared,

In my home country, it’s more about the academic [knowledge]. In Canada it is more
student-centred, it is more hands-on. Teachers are more like facilitators; they will not do
everything for students. [In my home county] it was more teacher-centred. The main
difference is in the approach. Like, for me, to get used to the hands-on activities was
hard. You have to make sure that everything is hands-on and students do most of the work,
and you are just facilitating the process.

Similarly, Nehlia shared,

In Canada, teaching should be fun; you need to find ways to keep the learning interesting,
like icebreakers, games. . .If you did that back home, people would think, “This teacher is
having too much fun; she’s not working.”. . . It is very competitive and even the children
wouldn’t be willing to have games at school, like they do here.

In the above examples, the participants shared some of the pedagogical differences
between Eastern and Western education systems. Similar observations were made by
professionals in the program. For example, an administrator in the program argued,

[Most] IETs come from a community that is mostly lecture-based and they are frustrated
when their lecture approach doesn’t work because the students are too restless. . .The
majority of them [IETs] are used to a presentation style, lecture-based style, where there
is material to be gotten through. . .and the teacher just stands and delivers the material. The
parents are happy with that, and the officials are happy with that.

One of the practicum coordinators shared, “In certain cultures – Asia is probably the
most prominent, India perhaps as well – there is more of a traditional approach. . .more
of a stand and deliver from the front of the class, more rigid control, and they’re coming
to the Canadian culture which is ‘looser.’” The second practicum coordinator shared a
similar impression:

It’s the stand and deliver approach in which they [IETs] stand and give information, which
they’re used to, and in the Canadian culture, it can be used at times, but if it is the
predominant approach, it’s a problem. You need to be engaging your students in a variety
of ways. You would hope that there would be differentiated learning, personalized learning
[etc.]. Sometimes IETs don’t have that understanding.

The differences in pedagogy were inherently connected to different approaches to

assessment. In the participant IETs’ home countries, traditional, test-oriented assessment
methods were commonly used, whereas in BC, more formative and diverse assessment
methods were expected. Nehlia recalled,

It is day and night in comparison to Canada. In [my home country] it is very competitive. You
have to work really hard to get access to the best schools. We have the ranking system, and all
the children want to succeed, they want to get good grades to get access to the best schools.

Similarly, Peter reflected,

In my home country, we have ranking, we have grading. All the students know where they
stand. After the test you tell them, “You’re number one,” or “You’re the last in the class,” so
they know they have to work harder if they want to go up. . . Here they care about their
students’ feelings too much. I don’t want to say things that may hurt you, so we coach
176 L. MAROM

them, “Very nice. Nice job.” In my home country, if the student is not preforming, it is clear
he needs to work harder or he fails.

In these examples, Peter and Nehlia shared that in their home countries assessment was
used as a way to rank students in a competitive education system. Hence, the main
focus was on students’ final scores and not on supporting students’ learning process. In
BC, on the other hand, assessment is used in multifaceted ways, as Dina shared:

To be a good teacher here. . . you’re not only responsible for teaching reading and writing,
you need to focus on the whole child, the social-emotional learning, the social skills and all
these things. In Canada. . .teachers. . .help the child grow in all respects.

A similar understanding is captured in the syllabus of the assessment course taught at

the UBC teacher education program, which states, “This course takes the view that
teaching, learning, assessment, and curriculum are deeply intertwined. As such, it stands
in contrast to ‘assessment as testing’ or ‘assessment happens at the end of the teaching’
views” (Teacher Education Office, 2017b, para. 1).
The differences in assessment styles are connected to wider discourses on the “good
teacher.” While helping students to achieve academic success is a central demand from
teachers in most school systems in an era of global competition, in Canada, there is also
an expectation for teachers to support their students’ well-being and individual growth
(BC Ministry of Education, 2015). In the first case, teachers are seen as “competent-
craftspersons” subjected to what Ball (2003) calls “performativity.” Hence, students’ test
scores (as well as school ranking) are the main indications of what constitutes a “good
teacher.” In the second case, teachers are seen as “reflective practitioners,” aiming to
provide more holistic and individualized support for students.
To conclude, in the above sections, both IETs and professionals identified pedagogi-
cal and assessment differences, as well as differences in the status of teachers between
Asian countries and Canada. These differences support the need for IETs’ recertification;
yet, as I demonstrate next, while IETs contextualized these differences, and identified
strengths and shortcomings in both systems, professionals in the program tended to
position differences within a hierarchy.

The construction of difference as deficiency

The recertification trajectory of IETs can be understood as a way of gaining local
professional knowledge, a necessary learning process for re-entering the teaching
profession in a different place. Indeed, the participants were appreciative of the oppor-
tunity to become more familiar with the new context of their teaching. Peter shared,

I believe humility is a virtue everyone has to cultivate; nobody can be up there all the time.
If you want to learn something, you have to be humble. I don’t have Canadian experience;
all my 20 years of experience are East Asian experiences, and my SA has 10 years of
Canadian experience, so I have much to learn. Age doesn’t matter, it’s the experience.

Similarly, Nehlia thought that the program was helpful “because you learn to teach in
the Canadian way. . .. how do you start the class, the icebreakers. I did not know about
these things.” Hence, the recertification process triggered a learning process that is
 ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF TEACHER EDUCATION 177

important if teaching is to be understood as a reflective, context-related profession

(Britzman, 2003; Hargreaves & Fullan, 2012).
However, while both IET and professional participants identified differences between
teaching in Asian counties and in Canada, they differed in their conceptualization of
these differences. IETs tended to have a more complex understanding of good teaching
as contextualized, while professionals often shared essentialist views of teachers who
came from non-Western countries (particularly from Asian counties of origin). By essen-
tialism I mean assuming that people from similar cultural/ethnic/racial groups have
similar collective characteristics. For instance, during an information session, an admin-
istrator at the TRB shared the following view:

Some of you will be asked to complete a familiarization program. In BC, it [the system] is very
student-centred; in other countries it is not like this. Like in China, you stand in front and the
students follow your orders. . . In China, there is no class management, none; they just listen.

Similarly, the former TRB Director of Certification shared,

If we take Japanese teachers, for example, and they arrive in Canada and they apply to us, if
we issue them a license, and they enter a Canadian classroom, they would fail miserably,
because they wouldn’t be prepared for what’s going to be in front of them.

These examples reveal essentialist assumptions that all classes in China or Japan are
taught in the same way. Yet identifying differences between diverse educational systems
is not the same as assuming that all teachers from a particular educational background
are similar. The overall picture that emerges from interviews with professionals con-
structed IETs in an almost unified way as authoritative teachers, holding teacher-centred
pedagogies. This prevalent conception of IETs did not recognize or emphasize cultural
variations or individual agency.
Unlike the essentialist assumptions made by professionals about IETs, the IET
participants held more complex conception of teaching that were not dependent
solely on their countries of origin or cultural affiliations. For instance, Peter recalled,
“I interacted quite well with the students [in his Asian home country] because I think
the one-sided way is very boring. . .and students can learn better when you are closer
to them and they are not afraid of you.”
Similarly, Nehlia described her pedagogical approach:

I’m really a very adaptable person. I’m very flexible and I’m a keen learner, because teaching
is learning. Teachers are learning all the time, so you need to be modest; you try, and if it
doesn’t work, you try something else.

As these examples demonstrate, IETs had a more nuanced perception of their teaching
that was often missing when looked at from the outside. The problem lies in that since
the recertification process was designed mostly by people who hold an outsider posi-
tion, these nuances could easily go overlooked. When good teaching is constructed
through essentialist categories, “teachers who favour (or have experience of) teacher-
centred pedagogies maybe judged ‘poor quality’ and have difficulty with qualification
recognition” (Reid et al., 2014, p. 14).
The second point of difference between IETs and professionals was in regard to the
level of reciprocity within the recertification process. The common view among
178 L. MAROM

professionals was that the purpose of recertification was to familiarize IETs with teaching
in Canada. As such, the focus was on what IETs needed to learn. One of the practicum
coordinators referred to this point:

When there are problems, one of the most common kinds of statements that [IETs] make
is that there is an under-appreciation of their culture here, that we are imposing a kind of
cookie cutter approach to how you teach in Canada, and I’ve always found it a bit
disappointing. . . Sometimes I feel like this is the main argument – that we’re not appre-
ciating them and there should be an almost seamless kind of thing. . .. and sometimes I
think that people [IETs] fail to put themselves in another person’s shoes as to why these
policies might be in place. . . I feel like this seen as our fault; that the burden is placed in
our hands more than it should be.

The underlying assumption in this example is that IETs are the ones who need to adjust to
the Canadian system, and if IETs showed resistance, it was considered not only disruptive
but also “unfair” to the institutions that were trying to help them. Furthermore, such views
conveyed the assumption “that successful integration in the host society is solely the
responsibility of the individual immigrant” (Schmidt, 2010, p. 237).
When the recertification process is constructed as one-sided, it overlooks the enrich-
ment potential of a more reciprocal process. This potential is due to IETs’ being
experienced teachers with diverse knowledge that could be particularly relevant in the
highly diverse school system of BC. Moreover, as immigrants, IETs have experience in
two (and often more) school systems; they could identify the culture of teaching in their
home countries and in BC and articulate the advantages and disadvantages of both. For
example, Peter shared his viewpoint:

When I see students not doing their work in my home country I can go and tell them, “Do
your work.” Here, I cannot. I need to ask, “Do you have a problem?” You need to be very
gentle with the students. . . You cannot talk to them like a strict father would talk to a child;
here they are more like customers – you have to treat them like a businessman would treat
a client. . .We cannot pressure the students here, so we do what we can and the rest is up to
you. But in my home country, we do pressure you. We call the parents, we send you to the
headmaster, we send you to counseling if you’re not preforming. . .So maybe there is
something positive [about the way it is here]; students are not so fearful, they can loosen
up. Certainly, this is something that I have to learn, to loosen up myself . . .[One] just has to
blend the two systems.

While the IET participants were open to embrace new pedagogies, and could see their
value, they could also reflect on the efficacy of some aspects of the pedagogies used in
their home countries. For instance, Nehlia reflected, “I like the system [back home] in the
sense that the pupils back home are more disciplined; here, I think that the teachers
spend more time in classroom management than in actually teaching.”
It seems that by being exposed to multiple discourses and by identifying both their
advantages and shortcomings, IETs gain a more nuanced understanding of good teach-
ing. Perhaps the immigration experience that puts one in a hybrid position between two
countries and often two cultures triggers a more reflexive awareness (Williams, 2007). As
such, “facing challenges in the professional acculturation process can generate a trans-
formed self – one that has been described as hybrid . . .composed of both who [you]
were and who [you] are becoming” (Janusch, 2015, p. 16).
 ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF TEACHER EDUCATION 179

Meanwhile, the lack of reciprocity in the recertification process limited the potential
of IETs to enrich it, as Dina shared:

I felt like I was doing it for the first time, I had to start from scratch. I felt that all my experiences,
and my ethics and everything, were good for nothing, and now I needed to build a new set of
skills. I didn’t feel that I had anything valuable, although I know that being a mother of three
children, and being a teacher for so long in my home country – it could be a great advantage.
But I never felt it. I always felt that I had nothing to offer, although I had lots to offer.

As this example demonstrates, the lack of reciprocity affected Dina in deep, personal
ways, because the underlying assumption was that although she was an experienced
teacher, she had nothing valuable to share. Furthermore, the lack of reciprocity is
contradictory to the logic of the recertification process, because if IETs were expected
to adjust to a professional model in which the “good teacher” is conceptualized as a
“reflective practitioner” who employs child-centred pedagogies, why then was the
recertification process constructed as a one-sided competence training?

Concluding thoughts
Despite the prevalent discourse of diversity in the Canadian education system, the
participants did not have the opportunity to share their previous knowledge and
experiences, but rather, were primarily expected to adjust to the Canadian teaching
mold. This is problematic since, as Pratt (2002) warns us,

Across North America and increasingly the world, there is a move within education to adopt
a constructivist view of learning and teaching. In part, the argument for this move is a
reaction against teacher-centred instruction that has dominated much of education, parti-
cularly adult and higher education, for the past fifty years or more. While I do not argue with
the basic tenets of constructivism, I do resist the rush to adopt any single, dominant view of
learning or teaching. Unless we are cautious, I fear we are about to replace one orthodoxy
with yet another and promote a “one size fits all” notion of good teaching. (p. 5)

Whereas core ideas are needed in any profession, an exchange of ideas is also important if
the “good teacher” is to be understood as a “reflective practitioner” (Moore, 2004). The
integration of IETs into the teaching profession is essential for promoting a deeper under-
standing of diversity and multicultural education, particularly in the Greater Vancouver Area,
where many students are immigrants who come from the same background as IETs.
No one would deny that there are differences between the school system in BC and
other school systems throughout the world; thus, some adaptations are always neces-
sary when teaching in a new context. Yet, in the recertification process, differences in
teaching style were constructed as a deficit (Cummins, 2003), instead of used as an
opportunity to promote a more nuanced understanding of diverse modes of teaching
and open pedagogical possibilities for highly diverse educational systems such as BC’s.

Note
1. The “charismatic teacher” discourse is not at the centre of my analysis, yet it captures a
popular image of the “good teacher” that is commonly seen in the media.
180 L. MAROM

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Funding
This work was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

Notes on contributor
Lilach Marom is a teacher educator and a graduate of the department of Education Studies at
UBC. Lilach’s research is focused on questions of diversity and social justice in teacher education.

ORCID
Lilach Marom http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3534-5212

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