Local Bilingual Teachers and International Teachers in China: Disparities in Employability and Work Experience

Abstract

“Despite the division of work in subjects, wages vary dramatically for local and foreign teachers. Foreign teachers are generally paid more than double the amount of the local bilingual teacher’s wage” (School Headmaster, personal communication, August 10, 2020). With practical evidence of disparities and unequal treatment between international and local bilingual teachers, there is urgent need to address this issue because discrimination against local bilingual teachers and other unfair treatment violates teachers’ rights, since any inequalities based on race, ethnicity, or opportunities tend to challenge people’s sense of fulfillment and self-worth (The United Nations, 2017). Additionally, Kohli’s (2014) study provides evidence that learners existing in an environment where disparities are in place might observe them and become negatively impacted in the future. If these students go on to become teachers, internalized inequalities could influence their teaching, and thus inequalities are reproduced and inherited in educational settings, jeopardizing social progress and justice. With the prevalence of international schools and Chinese-English bilingual programs over the last two decades, a huge body of bilingual teachers across China are victimized, demanding for a scrutiny of the status quo (Gao & Wang, 2017). Unfortunately, current academic discourse is paying insufficient attention to the issue, focusing mainly on bilingual education typologies, the development of Chinese-English bilingual education, and teacher collaboration between Chinese and international faculty, albeit the issue’s importance and urgency. The purposes of this study lie greatly in the absence of relevant discussion of the problem. I aim to strengthen the knowledge base in the academic literature about Chinese-English bilingual education and to arise people’s awareness of racial and linguistic equities by revealing possible disparities between teachers and promoting justice for employees in Chinese-English high school level bilingual programs. To serve the above purposes, this study investigates the differences in recruitment processes and daily work experience between international and local bilingual teachers based on Phillipson’s (1992) concept of linguistic imperialism.