Policy as a Context for Quality Teaching in China: Diversity, Teacher Adaptation, and Chinese Migrant Children

Abstract

As increasing numbers of rural migrants are enrolling in urban public schools, how effectively are urban schools in China adapting to a diversifying student population? To the extent that rural migrant children have different educational needs than their urban peers, examining teacher adaptations provides a critical lens to understand whether urban schools provide “quality” teaching to rural migrant youth. This chapter investigates the lack of English teacher adaptations towards the most academically-vulnerable, rural migrant youth: those who don’t know their “ABCs.” According to Shanghai public school teachers, for migrant youth to receive “quality” teaching requires reforming the broader organizational and municipal policy context. Municipal policies currently constrain teachers from adapting instruction to migrant youth’s needs. Importantly, this chapter enriches and broadens policy discussions of “quality” teaching for Chinese migrant youth beyond the teacher, to focus on policy as a critical teaching context. The chapter also advances understanding on how policymakers, schools and teachers can more effectively respond to increasing student diversity in East Asia. Data originates from rare ethnographic access to two public middle schools in Shanghai.