Cultural impact on teacher professionalism – a comparative document analysis of Chinese language teachers in China and Australia

This article explored Chinese as an additional language (CAL) teachers’ professionalism in China and Australia. Through a comparative study, it examined how culturally different educational systems position and stipulate what CAL teachers should be, know and do to fulfil their professional obligations. The data sources were two CAL Teacher Standards documents developed by authorised educational organisations in each country. Hofstede’s (2011) cultural dimensions theory was taken as the conceptual lens for the data analysis. Findings reveal that whilst there were some commonalities in the prescribed Standards for CAL teachers’ professionalism, the two countries appear to value different notions of professionalism – as evident by the mandated expectations for teachers’ subject knowledge, language pedagogy, professional development and ethical conduct for teaching. The data reveal that the Chinese document largely emphasises teachers’ culturally embedded extensive subject knowledge, which is regarded as the core for CAL professionals. Comparatively, the Australian document provides more balanced specifications among all the aspects of teacher professionalism. The distinctions identified particularly reflect the difference in uncertainty avoidance, power distance and individualism or collectivism between the two countries’ educational cultures.