At this private, international school in Shanghai, China, grade level teams are arranged in professional learning communities (PLCs) comprised of teachers of different nationalities and who have different cultural backgrounds, educational and teaching experiences, and experiences speaking English. Collaboration between teachers is essential for an effective professional learning community. These international and intercultural PLCs are expected to collaborate in the same ways as teams do at schools where the staff are of predominantly one nationality or culture.
Research Questions
The purpose of this study is to address the following research questions.
1. What experiences do these teachers have collaborating in an intercultural professional learning community at this school?
2. What are the successes of collaboration in this context? 3. What are the challenges to collaboration in this context? 4. How do these teachers address the challenges to collaboration? 5. What factors support or hinder collaboration in this context?
Research Design
I used a qualitative collective case study research design consisting of purposely-selected participants in order to study the issue of collaboration in the context of an intercultural PLC comprised of teachers of different nationalities and having different cultural backgrounds, educational and teaching experiences, and English proficiency at a private, international school
in China. A review of the literature indicated that no studies have yet been undertaken to examine the unique context of intercultural PLCs with such diverse backgrounds.
The use of qualitative research is ideal when the goal is to understand the experiences of participants and the actions they are involved with or engage in, or to understand the particular context within which the participants act and the influence that this context has on their actions (Maxwell, 2012). Qualitative research should be used when an issue needs to be explored, when we need a complex (emphasis by author), detailed understanding of the issue, when we want to empower individuals to share their stories and hear their voices, and when we want to understand the context participants address the issue (Creswell, 2007). Multiple sources of qualitative data were used to answer the research questions by illuminating how teachers are collaborating, the successes achieved, the challenges teachers face when collaborating on an intercultural team, and what supports or hinders collaboration in this context. Using qualitative collection methods allows participants the freedom to formulate their own words (Patton, 2002), and these responses could reveal complexities in the research data by opening up emergent themes not initially considered (Lujan & Day, 2010).
The primary goal of a case study is to develop an adequate description (Creswell, 2007; Glatthorn & Joyner, 2005), interpretation, and explanation of the case (Maxwell, 2012) by gathering comprehensive, systematic, and in-depth information (Patton, 2002). Case studies may be layered or nested with a single program being a case study, however, within that single- program case, one may do studies of several participants (Patton, 2002). This collective case study collected data about and from four purposely-selected participants in order to show different perspectives (Creswell, 2007) and describe what it is like to collaborate on an international and intercultural PLC at this school.
This case study follows the process for constructing a case study as outlined by Patton (2002). Step 1: Assemble the raw case data consisting of all the information collected about the person, program, organization, or setting for the case. Step 2: Construct a case record by
organizing, classifying, and editing the raw case data into a manageable and accessible file. Step 3: Write a final case study narrative that is a readable, descriptive picture or story about the people so the reader can understand the case in all of its uniqueness. This case study is being presented thematically with any context necessary for understanding the case in-depth (Patton, 2002).
The structure of this case study followed the general structure as outlined by Creswell (Creswell, 2007) who adapted the work of Stake (1995): (1) entry vignette, (2) introduction including the questions, data collection, analysis, and outcomes, (3) description of the cases in their context, (4) development of issues, (5) detail about selected issues, (6) assertions, and (7) closing vignette.
Research Site and Participants
The international school chosen for the research site consisted of three separate schools, the Early Years School, the Primary School, and the Secondary School located together on one campus. Research participants were chosen from the Early Years School (see Figure 1). Each class used a co-teacher model where a Chinese national and an expatriate teacher shared
instructional responsibilities for the class. The nursery team had two classes, the pre-kindergarten team had three classes, and the kindergarten team had four classes. In the Early Years School, each grade level followed the model of an intercultural PLC. As five of the 18 homeroom teachers working in the Early Years School were new to the school that year, each team was
learning to collaborate in this new composition. As all homeroom teachers in the Early Years School are on intercultural PLC teams, each were invited to participate in the research.
Only teachers, and not assistants, were selected as their role in a PLC aligns more closely with PLC research. Assistants do work with students but do not have major input into decisions regarding curriculum, assessment, and how to support struggling students - areas that are specifically indicated in a PLC as requiring collaboration.
Figure 1-Early Years School Homeroom Teachers Nursery (3-4 Year-Olds) Class A Co-Teachers Teacher (USA) Teacher (Chinese) Class B Co-Teachers Teacher (UK) Teacher (Chinese) Pre- Kindergarten (4-5 Year Olds) Class A Co-Teachers Teacher (Canadian) Teacher (Chinese) Class B Co-Teachers Teacher (USA) Teacher (Chinese) Class C Co-Teachers Teacher (Canadian) Teacher (Chinese) Kindergarten (5-6 Year Olds) Class A Co-Teachers Teacher (UK) Teacher (Chinese) Class B Co-Teachers Teacher (Irish) Teacher (Chinese) Class C Co-Teachers Teacher (UK) Teacher (Chinese) Class D Co-Teachers Teacher (UK) Teacher (Chinese)
Methods of Data Collection
The study employed a six-step process for data collection (see Figure 2). A combination of documents, anonymous surveys, focus group interviews, pre-observation interviews,
observations, and post-observation interviews were used (see Figure 3). Though collective case study research designs usually include multiple sources of information to include documents, interviews and observations (Creswell, 2007; Patton, 2002), the data collection methods of an anonymous survey and focus group interviews were included in this research design, as the topic of intercultural PLCs is new to the literature. When interviewing and observing the four case study participants, there might have been areas in which the four case study participants are either uncomfortable with sharing or unaware the existence of which are crucial for deeply understanding the context of the case and for describing collaboration on an intercultural PLC entails that an anonymous survey and focus group interviews might have been able to elude to the existence of. These two additional data collection methods provided an opportunity to further triangulate patterns in the data since collaboration within intercultural PLCs has little support in the literature for comparison, therefore providing a better opportunity for providing the most in- depth understanding and description of the context possible.
Prior to participating in the study, participants needed to give consent. To participate in the anonymous survey, participants were instructed that consent was provided by submitting the survey as described in the email requesting participation in the survey (see Appendix A). A reminder about the survey was sent a week later (see Appendix B). To participate in the focus group or as a case study participant, participants needed to read and agree to the Consent Form (see Appendix C). Emails requesting participation in the anonymous survey, and the Consent
Form for participation in the focus group interview or as a case study participant explained how confidentiality would be ensured.