luong-phan, n.-h., \u0026 mcmahon, m. (2014). supporting asian teachers: an exploratory study from...

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Supporting Asian teachers: An exploratory study from the perspectives of two educational leaders

Nhu-Hien Luong-Phan and Mary McMahon The University of Queensland, Australia

AbstractThis article reports research that examined the support needs of Asian teachers from the perspectives of two educational leaders of an institution specialising in language teaching in Australia. Informed by grounded theory, the results indicate that in this Australian multicultural educational setting, all language teachers, regardless of their cultural backgrounds, need support, including cultural and professional support. Compared to language teachers from other cultural backgrounds, results suggest that Asian teachers need more professional support regarding teaching methodology, teaching resources and teacher-student classroom practices. In addition, the study offers insight into how educational leaders support Asian teachers. The article has implications related to multicultural recognition and professional practice for not only current but also prospective educational leaders and Asian teachers working in Australian multicultural educational settings.

Keywords: Asian teachers; language teachers; educational leaders; teacher support needs; cultural support needs; professional support needs; multicultural educational setting

IntroductionIn an era of globalisation, Asian countries have become more central to the future of Australia economically, politically, socially, strategically and culturally (White, 2011). Indeed, the former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has posited that “This is the Asian Century” (White, 2011, para. 1). The growing political and economic importance of the Asian region and Australia’s increasing involvement with it has promoted the need for proficiency in Asian languages and cultures (Cahill, 2001; Griffith Asia Institute, 2009). Regardless of the dominant role of the English language in the era of globalisation, in reality, there is a critical need in Australian society to build proficiency in using and understanding Asian languages as well as cultures (Gil, 2010). Thus, there has been consideration of learning and teaching Asian languages (e.g., Mandarin, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean) in Australian educational settings (Commonwealth of Australia, 2010; Griffith Asia Institute, 2009) in order to enhance Australia’s national global intelligence (Commonwealth of Australia, 2008) and to gain a competitive advantage in the era of globalisation and internationalisation (Gil, 2010). This trend has been reflected in such policies and reports as the National Asian Languages and Studies in School Programs (see Commonwealth of Australia, 2010, 2012), the Australia 2020 Summit Final Report (Commonwealth of Australia, 2008), the report Building an Asia-Literate Australia: An Australian Strategy for Asian Language Proficiency (Griffith Asia Institute, 2009) and recent Australia-Asia BRIDGE (Building Relationships through Intercultural Dialogue and Growing Engagement) projects (Asia Education Foundation, 2013).

In line with the Australian educational orientation towards Asia Literacy, there is a need to build an adequate supply of world-class teachers of Asian languages and resources (Gil, 2010; Griffith Asia Institute, 2009). Increasing the number of Asian language teachers in the Australian teaching workforce has been recommended (Australian Federation of Modern Language Teachers Association, 2012). Consequently, there has been an increase in the number of overseas-born and educated non-native speakers of English, including Asian teachers, to meet the demand for teachers of Languages Other than English (LOTE; Santoro, Kamler, & Reid, 2001), especially Asian languages. According to the Teacher Asia Literacy Survey (Halse et al., 2013),

57NHU-HIEN LUONG-PHAN AND MARY MCMAHON

Asia Literacy teaching workforce is composed of both Asian-born and Australian-born teachers. In this study, the term ‘Asian teachers’ specifically refers to Asian-born teachers teaching Asian languages at an investigated Australian educational setting.

Research has shown that Asian teachers face a variety of challenges when teaching in Australian multicultural educational settings (see Commonwealth of Australia, 2010; McCluskey, Sim, & Johnson, 2011; Nakahara & Black, 2007). While there has been a significant increase in the number of educated non-native speakers of English employed in the Australian education system (Santoro, Reid, & Kamler, 2001), little is known about the institutional support these teachers need and are provided. This reality calls for more research on the support needs of Asian teachers teaching in Australian educational settings. This article reports a small scale pilot study that examined the support needs of Asian teachers from the perspectives of two educational leaders of an institution specialising in language teaching in Australia. The article first considers educational leadership in the era of multicultural education and in the context of Australia’s Asia Literacy. Challenges faced by language teachers are then presented, followed by the significant role of teacher support in the Australian educational context. The subsequent sections describe the purpose, research method and results of the study. The article concludes with a discussion of the results.

Leadership in the era of multicultural educationIn the paradigm of multicultural education, the main education aims are acknowledgement and respect of cultural diversity (Portera, 2011). Cross-cultural differences in team behaviours, as posited by Nahavandi (2006), are factors creating considerable challenges for leaders in culturally diverse settings. A leadership style that is commonly promoted in multicultural education settings is culturally responsive leadership which is argued to help leaders and teachers make learning more relevant to students’ culture and language diversity, promote student engagement, model culturally responsive behaviours, reduce student discipline problems and improve student achievement (Madhlangobe & Gordon, 2012).

Madhlangobe (2009) and Madhlangobe and Gordon (2012) identified six components of culturally responsive leadership:

1. caring for others (e.g., support and nurturance, sharing information); 2. building relationships; 3. persistence and persuasiveness; 4. being present and communicating; 5. modelling cultural responsiveness (e.g., culturally responsive teaching and instructional

programmes); and 6. fostering cultural responsiveness (e.g., providing professional development, conducting culturally

responsive teaching workshops). Within this framework, cultural responsiveness refers to a construct used to shape how teachers are prepared to meet the multiple needs of diverse backgrounds of language and culture of students, “regardless of teachers’ cultural linguistic origin” (Madhlangobe & Gordon, 2012, p. 200). In addition, culturally responsive teaching involves teachers’ being comprehensive (e.g., teaching the whole person, encouraging students to function as one group), validating (e.g., teaching students to accept and praise their own and other students’ cultural heritage), transformative (e.g., integrating cultures and experiences of ethnic groups into the instructional process), empowering (e.g., instilling in students the confidence and courage to act on their behalf and on the behalf of others), emancipatory (e.g., allowing students from minority groups to view knowledge from their own contexts) and multidimensional (e.g., cultural socialisation teaching practices) (Gay, 2000; Ladson-Billings, 1992; Madhlangobe, 2009). These teaching practices aim at facilitating students’ intellectual, emotional, social and political learning and development by integrating their cultural backgrounds to impart their skills, knowledge

58 Supporting Asian teachers

and attitudes (Gay, 2000; Ladson-Billings, 1992; Madhlangobe, 2009). Educational leaders may support teachers with cultural knowledge and professional practices to support ethnically diverse students, especially those from minority cultural backgrounds, to feel comfortable and included in multicultural educational settings and, thus, make their learning more effective (Madhlangobe, 2009). These culturally responsive practices have not yet been targeted at meeting the diverse support needs of teachers working in multicultural educational settings, which is the focus of the present study.

Asia Literacy education in Australia: Challenges faced by educational leadersIn the context of Australian education, second language education has been increasingly considered, reflecting a widespread perception that bilingual skills among young Australians serve cultural, economic and intellectual needs (Bianco, 2009). However, there are several debates regarding the development of second language education (e.g., student dropout rate, low student interest in the languages), which, in turn, result in challenges for educational leaders (Bianco, 2009) including reducing student attrition rates, motivating students with sufficiently challenging courses, reforming language teaching, a lack of qualified teachers and no certainty of continuing students and programmes (Asia Education Foundation, 2008; Bianco, 2009). Consequently, not only educational leaders but also Asian teachers face challenges in Australia’s endeavour to become Asia-literate in the 21st century.

Challenges faced by Asian teachersThere are a variety of challenges for Asian or other non-native English speaking teachers teaching in Australia, including discrimination, racism, prejudice, marginality, language barriers and inadequate assistance for demanding and multiple transitions (Collins & Reid, 2012; Kamler, Reid, & Santoro, 1999; Kostogriz & Peeler, 2004; Santoro, Reid, & Kamler, 2001). Significantly, ‘lack of support’ has recently been identified as a difficulty faced by immigrant teachers in Australia, including immigrant teachers from Asian countries (see Collins & Reid, 2012).

Research has identified issues that Asian teachers find confronting. Asian teachers struggle to adapt to Australian school culture, are unfamiliar with the Australian ‘culture of learning’, find it difficult to engage students and to teach their first language (e.g., Chinese) in their second language (i.e., English) (Asia Education Foundation, 2010; Scrimgeour, 2010). Important to note, each Asian language has different sets of problems; Asian teachers of all Asian languages need to be supported by students’ parents, communities, educational leaders and related governmental educational organisations (see Asia Education Foundation, 2012).

The role of teacher support in the Australian educational contextOrganisational and administrator support contributes to improvement in teachers’ work performance as well as teacher satisfaction and teacher retention (see Bogler & Nir, 2012; Dolar, 2008; Soucier, 2008). Furthermore, teachers’ perceived organisational support, including emotional support (e.g., trust, listening, considering teachers’ ideas), appraisal support (e.g., frequent and constructive feedback), instrumental support (e.g., providing necessary time, materials, space and resources) and informational support (e.g., professional development, practical information and suggestions to improve teaching practices) in educational settings (Dolar, 2008), has particular impact on teacher’s intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and thus, on job satisfaction and job performance (Bogler & Nir, 2012). In addition, good administrator support leads to more positive teacher satisfaction and thus, has a significant influence on teachers’ intentions to remain teaching (Soucier, 2008).

Leadership practices may have significant impacts on not only teacher performance but also student learning outcomes (Robinson, Lloyd, & Rowe, 2008; Ross & Gray, 2006). Leaders can influence student learning indirectly by their impact on teachers’ practices through the fostering of collaboration as well as communication around instructions (Supovitz, Sirinides, & May, 2010). Indeed, leadership support is argued to make a difference


in teachers’ ability to work effectively with students (Elfers et al., 2009). Leadership practices that maintain supportive environments (e.g., safe, comfortable, caring educational settings) and enhance supportive conditions for teaching and learning can promote improved student achievements (see Ontario Ministry of Education, 2010). In language educational settings, a system of support can create conditions that enable and motivate language teachers’ best work in guiding the learning of language students (Elfers et al., 2009). The significant role of educational leaders in the era of ‘Australia in the Asian Century’ has been reinforced in the recent Asia Literacy and the Australian Teaching Workforce – Summary Report (Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership, 2013) which emphasises that a key feature of the Asia Literacy educational leader is “to provide inspirational leadership that supports staff to improve outcomes in the languages and studies of Asia” (p. 7).

Teacher support from educational leaders or administrators in the Australian educational context is crucial. A lack of administrator support is a reason for teachers in Australian educational institutions to leave teaching, especially within the first five years of a teaching career (Milburn, 2011). It is estimated that the cost of replacing employees is three times their annual salary and that high early-career attrition in teaching is costing Australia billions of dollars in wasted talent, training and money (see Milburn, 2011). This suggests the significant role educational leaders in Australia may play in supporting teachers, especially Asian teachers.

Supporting Asian teachersAs previously mentioned, culturally responsive leadership refers to the skills demonstrated by educational leaders to influence others about responding to the educational needs of culturally diverse students to increase their satisfaction and achievement in multicultural school settings (see Madhlangobe, 2009). There has not, as yet, been research investigating culturally responsive leadership of multicultural background teachers, particularly Asian teachers who deal with multiple challenges when teaching in Australian educational settings. Furthermore, most recent research has focused on the nature of LOTE teachers (e.g., Santoro, Kamler, et al., 2001) and of Asian-born teachers (e.g., McCluskey et al., 2011; Nakahara & Black, 2007) in Australian school settings rather than in Australian language institutions. Little is known about institutional support for such teachers.

The aims of this small-scale pilot study were to investigate, firstly, the support needs of Asian teachers from the perspective of educational leaders and, secondly, how these educational leaders support Asian teachers. The setting was an Australian language institution specialising in the teaching of foreign languages other than English (e.g., Mandarin, Japanese). Nearly half of the onsite teaching staff at this institution are Asian teachers.

MethodThe study was conducted in the light of the social constructionist epistemology and the theoretical perspective of symbolic interactionism which recognise that, through social interaction, both educational leaders and Asian teachers construct their knowledge about cultural issues, professional practices and share meanings of knowledge as well as their perceptions about teacher support needs. In this regard, a grounded theory approach was employed incorporating the use of semi-structured interviews.

ParticipantsThe study participants were a female educational leader (Ammie) and a male educational leader (Johnny) from the investigated institution. Pseudonyms have been used to protect the anonymity of the participants. Both leaders have had many years of experience in working in multicultural educational settings in Australia and overseas, including experience as educational leaders. At the time of the study, Ammie had been a language institution director for thirteen years. Johnny had experiences as a language teacher in Australia as well as overseas for thirty years and had been a director of studies for over three years.


ProcedureSubsequent to obtaining Ethical Clearance, gatekeeper approval from the institution and participant consent were obtained. Semi-structured interviews lasting approximately one hour were conducted and audio-recorded and later transcribed. The interviews started with questions related to the nature of the institution and the background of the leaders. Interview questions primarily sought the participants’ perceptions about the support needs of Asian teachers employed in the setting, and the participants’ practical support of Asian teachers in their educational leadership roles. In addition, questions about challenges in supporting Asian teachers were also addressed.

Data collection and data analysis were conducted using a grounded theory approach (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). Consistent with grounded theory, analysis was conducted immediately after each interview which helped the researcher to understand what additional data should be collected next for efficient analysis (Creswell, 2008).

Data analysisIn the process of analysing the interview transcripts, the text was coded by dividing the text data into segments. The researcher then labelled the segments with codes (e.g., professional development programmes), examined codes for overlap or redundancy and collapsed these codes into broad categories or themes (e.g., professional support). The themes and sub-themes were merged, layered, refined and interconnected from multiple perspectives during the data analysis procedure.

ResultsThree broad themes emerged from the perspectives of the educational leaders:

• support needs of teachers from diverse cultural backgrounds;• leadership practices related to supporting Asian teachers; and • expectations of leaders of Asian teachers.

The results of the study are now presented according to the broad themes and supported where appropriate with representative statements of the participants.

Support needs of teachers from diverse cultural backgroundsThe data revealed that the investigated multicultural educational setting functions as an assemblage of multicultural learning among staff. Ammie noted that “an advantage of all staff is understanding better other cultures […] and earning experiences by understanding each other’s culture”. In spite of the fact that “this is a very inclusive community” and the institutional staff are “fairly well-attuned to cultural differences”, Johnny also recounted that

I suppose multiculturalism comes from multi-interpretability. Sometimes, people can read the signals and the codes incorrectly from each other […]. Everybody who wants to teach here may need some support.

Figure 1 presents the themes and sub-themes related to the support needs of the teachers from diverse cultural backgrounds, including Asian teachers. The results indicate that from the perspectives of the two educational leaders, the support needs of teachers from diverse cultural backgrounds include:

1. cultural recognition related to: (a) teacher-teacher practices; and (b) teacher-student classroom practices; and

2. professional support related to: (a) professional development programmes; (b) teaching methodology; and (c) teaching resources.

Among these teacher support needs, Asian teachers have greater needs regarding teaching methodology, teaching resources and teacher-student classroom practices.


a. Teacher-Teacher Practices1. Cultural Recognition Support Needs

b. Teacher-Student Classroom Practices

a. Professional Development Programmes

2. Professional Support Needs b. Teaching Methodology

c. Teaching Resources

Figure 1. Support needs of Asian teachers and teachers from diverse cultural backgrounds

1. Cultural recognition support needsa. Teacher-teacher practices. The leaders perceived that there is a need to support teachers from diverse

cultural backgrounds in general, and Asian teachers in particular, about recognising cultural diversity in teacher-teacher practices which, in this study, refers to daily communication and profession-related activities. For example, Ammie explained that:

At the photocopiers, [….] different cultures have different ways of doing it. In some cultures, people are used to queuing while others have no queuing in their cultures and sometimes we have to intervene and to help people to understand each other and to communicate better.

Concern about collegiality is a reason for enhancing cultural understanding among multicultural background teaching staff. Johnny regarded collegiality as “very important”. Indeed, collegiality is one of the key factors of sustainability across organisational levels (Fullan, 2005).

b. Teacher-student classroom practices. An interesting finding in this study is that both Ammie and Johnny posited that the cultural difference of teachers and students is not an issue of concern because “… They [students] come here because they want to learn about the culture as well as the language” (Ammie). Additionally, Ammie said “This [Australia] is a really cultural diverse country … I think the students understand. They want to know and learn about the culture; so, they understand about the cultural difference”.

However, as reflected by the two educational leaders, it is necessary to enhance mutual understanding between teachers from diverse cultural backgrounds, especially Asian teachers and students about classroom practices. Typically, these concerns relate to students’ homework habits and teachers’ expectations, and the concept of ‘respect’ in interactions between teaching staff and students.

2. Professional support needsa. Professional development programmes. In a broad sense, professional development (PD) programmes

refer to workshops, seminars, and online LOTE PD courses in learning. An interesting finding is that PD programmes at the investigated institution are based on the suggestions and constant feedback of teaching staff and students. For instance, Ammie recounted that “we have survey forms and the Director of Studies analyses that and then he designs professional development programmes

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around the feedback”. Through previous PD sessions, the institution recognised that it takes longer for native English speakers to learn Asian languages such as Cantonese, Korean and Japanese and, thus, PD was aimed at strengthening the teaching practices of Asian language teachers. Further, the institution has also organised workshops on cultural understandings or cross-cultural communication for the institution staff.

The participants revealed that professional support is needed for all teaching staff, regardless of their backgrounds. However, regarding professional support for Asian teachers in particular, Ammie thought that they have “different support needs”. Both participants were concerned about providing teaching methodology support for the teaching staff, especially Asian teachers.

b. Teaching methodology. Language teaching methodology is largely based on individual theoretical insights and is applicable in different contexts (Adamson, 2004). At the investigated institution, the communicative approach is the mainstream teaching methodology. Ammie explained that: “Some of the countries they [teachers] come from have more traditional methods … They [Asian teachers] come from different backgrounds with more formal approach, lesson-activity based approach while European teachers tend to have been quite familiar with communicative approach”.

However, Johnny believed that “age rather than cultural difference separates those who need professional development on the communicative approach teaching methodologies from those who don’t”. He explained that

Some of the older or recently arrived language teaching staff need extra training in the concept of Communicative Language Teaching. […] Having said that, it must be added that a lot of younger teachers and those who did their degrees in the past ten years and have done part of their studies here in Australia are very much in touch with the Communicative Approach.

Another concern proposed by Johnny was that some language teachers may have years of experience living in a country speaking its language; nevertheless, those teachers may lack professional training or a full appreciation of the difficulty and processes of learning that language for second language learners. Therefore, support related to teaching methodology is crucial for such teachers and “it is always going to take time and you [these teachers] are going to need help” (Johnny).

c. Teaching resources. Availability of good teaching resources is another professional support need. As reflected by the participants, teaching resources for some languages (e.g., Thai, Vietnamese) are harder to find than resources for other languages (e.g., French, Spanish). Consequently, the educational leaders suggest and collect textbooks with good models of the communicative approach so that “the textbook provides professional development” (Ammie) and “make sure that people who teach here get the resources that they feel happy with” (Johnny).

This section described the support needs of teachers from diverse backgrounds, including Asian teachers, from the perspectives of the two educational leaders. The next section will present the leaders’ perceptions about their practices of supporting Asian teachers.

Supporting Asian teachers: Leadership practice perceptionsThe results revealed evidence of an in-depth recognition of cultural diversity and rich supportive approaches towards Asian teachers in the perceptions of the two educational leaders. In this regard, the themes and sub-themes related to their leadership practices that support Asian teachers are depicted in Figure 2. The study indicates that, from the perspectives of the two educational leaders, educational leaders support Asian teachers by constructive culturally responsive leadership, prompt onsite support and training courses.


1. Constructive culturally responsive leadership. Culturally responsive leadership was illustrated in the perceptions of the participants about their leadership practices. For example, in the case of misunderstandings among teachers, Johnny commented:

I think that, as a leader, I should try to get those people involved to come to understanding each other without having to listen to me first. So, that’s why I normally ask: “Have you spoken to the other party?” If there are any reasons they have not, I am going to try to facilitate communication, but I won’t say “You, go and do such and such”.

The two sub-themes identified within the theme ‘Constructive Culturally Responsive Leadership’ will now be described and offer a nuanced understanding of the theme.a. Respect for cultural diversity. Respect for cultural diversity was illustrated through both verbal

and non-verbal language. For example, Ammie believed that greeting staff in their native language serves as a link between leaders and staff, “we’ve got thirty languages, not 100% but I can greet in native languages of most of the staff I meet”. Furthermore, as reflected by Johnny, gestures used in different cultures should also be taken into consideration in conversations between educational leaders and Asian teaching staff.

b. Consideration of staff meeting arrangements. Within the sub-theme ‘Consideration of Staff Meeting Arrangements’, the type of food provided for staff was identified as important. For instance, the institution provides staff with different kinds of food (e.g., sushi, couscous) and beverages (e.g., green tea and black tea) and plans differently for meetings with European-background teaching staff and meetings with Asian teaching staff.

2. Prompt onsite support. The theme ‘Prompt Onsite Support’ primarily refers to prompt responses to teachers’ professional needs. For instance, Johnny explained that

[…] through plain open discussion of “what do you need?” and “what can we provide to make sure that it actually happens?” – and that we do provide. At least twice or three times a year, I ask my staff “what would you like support for?”

Apart from professional onsite support, cultural onsite support was also taken into consideration at the investigated institution. Ammie recounted that if there are any concerns in teacher-teacher practices due to teaching staff’s different cultural backgrounds, leaders and the staff in charge recognise the problem and assist the staff promptly. For example, “She [the library assistant] is often with them [teaching staff] and tries to prevent that [problem] from happening or assist when there come some misunderstandings”.

a. Respect for Cultural Diversity1. Constructive Culturally Responsive Leadership

2. Prompt Onsite Support

b. Consideration of Staff Meeting Arrangements

a. Professional Onsite Support

b. Cultural Onsite Support3. Training Courses

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Figure 2. How educational leaders support Asian teachers


3. Training courses. The theme ‘Training Courses’ refers to cross-cultural communication training courses provided for leaders working in multicultural educational settings. According to Ammie, cross-cultural communication training is provided by the Community Council for Australia. Interestingly, the degree to which the two leader participants appreciated the role of cross-cultural communication training for leaders was different. While Ammie thought that these courses are “really important”, Johnny believed that the experience of coming from another country may outweigh formal training and explained that “so, I think as you go on, you build up a huge repertoire of what are proper and effective ways, what is the correct way when interacting with people”. The educational leaders cautioned about stereotyping. Ammie posited that “… I think it probably helps a little bit in understanding some common cultures that we are dealing with; but we are careful about stereotyping”.

Expectations of leaders of Asian teachersFrom the perspectives of the educational leader participants, experiences of Australian cultures and English language proficiency are pre-requisites for recruitment as teachers. As explained by Johnny:

If people are brand new to this country and their English is really insufficient, we probably won’t appoint them. Effective communication skills are essential to teaching, so we would probably suggest they come back after they gain more experiences. You need to have understandings … of both languages to be an effective teacher of languages.

Ammie noted that the institution expects staff members to have understanding of cultural diversity on the teaching site. The institution respects the diverse cultural backgrounds of teaching staff; however, the institution also expects feedback from teaching staff, especially those from highly respectful cultures (e.g., Asian teaching staff) who do not feel comfortable providing feedback to leaders.

DiscussionThe present study provides insights into the support needs of Asian teachers teaching in Australia from the perspective of educational leaders. First, while previous research (e.g., Collins & Reid, 2012; Santoro, Kamler, et al., 2001) highlighted concerns facing overseas born and educated Asian or non-native English speaking teachers teaching in Australia including racism due to physical features (McCluskey et al., 2011) or cultural and professional isolation due to prejudices or marginality (Kostogriz & Peeler, 2004; Nakahara & Black, 2007), this phenomenon was not evident in the perceptions of the educational leaders. By contrast, the language and diverse backgrounds of teachers, including Asian teachers, are highly valued from the perspectives of both educational leaders. It may be that the perceptions of educational leaders regarding their multicultural educational setting as an assemblage of multicultural learning potentially lessen challenges faced by Asian teachers.

Second, contrary to the common belief that leaders may ignore the diverse cultural features of staff and shape their organisational cultures according to their own beliefs and preferences (Connerley & Pedersen, 2005), both participants acknowledged their leadership roles in a multicultural educational setting involved respect for cultural diversity, facilitating cross-cultural communication, and taking teacher support needs into account thoughtfully. Noticeably, the educational leaders vividly illustrated their willingness to listen to the voices of the teaching staff rather than imposing their leadership power, particularly in designing professional development programmes. The participants’ leadership practices which encourage teachers’ engagement in language professional development have been shown to be effective in enhancing teaching quality and student achievement (see Theoharis & O’Toole, 2011). As argued by Hardy (2012), the relationship between educators and the conditions in which teachers work plays a significant role in promoting productive teacher professional


development practices. In addition, the way misunderstandings or conflicts among staff were addressed in the study reflected what Connerley and Pedersen (2005) have called constructive conflict management – the first priority of leaders in the 21st century, especially when conflict is between culturally different people.

Third, a significant leadership practice recommended by the participants is that educational leaders in multicultural educational settings should not stereotype. This perception is in line with trends of leadership training in the 21st century which discard stereotypes in favour of shared meanings and mutual understandings (Connerley & Pedersen, 2005). In addition, Connerley and Pedersen (2005) suggest that training’s objective cannot and should not be only skills mastery, but rather should develop multicultural awareness, knowledge and skills for leaders of multicultural setting organisations.

Fourth, although overseas born and educated Asian teachers may commonly need to deal with challenges such as language barriers or cultural adjustments when teaching in Australian educational settings (e.g., Kato, 1998; Nakahara & Black, 2007), such challenges were not identified as issues of concern at the investigated institution. The educational leaders, in fact, simultaneously respect the teachers’ own cultures and also have high expectations of Asian teachers regarding their understanding of Australian cultures and English language proficiency as teaching recruitment pre-requisites. In the context of multicultural education, not only Asian teachers but also Australian language teachers are expected to be bilingual in order to promote language teaching quality and language learning acquisition (see Asia Education Foundation, 2014a, 2014b; Ellis, 2003). Indeed, global changes in the 21st-century labour market call for more skilled and knowledgeable employees as well as employees with deeper understandings of languages and cultures (Chinnammai, 2005).

Finally, the leaders perceived that, compared to language teachers from non-Asian cultures, Asian teachers need more and different types of professional support regarding teaching methodology. The comments of the participants that communicative language teaching approach is a challenge for Asian teachers are consistent with previous research which discussed that one of the challenges faced by Asian teachers is the mismatch between Western teaching methods and those of Asian countries (Spooner-Lane, Tangen, & Campbell, 2009) and that these teachers often struggle to adapt to contemporary Australian teaching approaches (Asia Education Foundation, 2010). Noticeably, communicative language teaching is also a challenge for Asian teachers trained in Australian teacher education programmes (see Liao & Zhao, 2012). In addition, the study indicates that supporting Asian teachers with appropriate teaching resources should be taken into consideration. Teaching materials play a crucial role in the language teaching-learning process, learning motivation and outcomes (Araya, 2007).

Methodologically, the findings of the pilot study lend support to Kempster and Parry’s (2011) suggestion on the value of adopting a grounded theory approach for exploring and seeking to explain process and social relationships such as leadership phenomenon. The purpose of the grounded theory approach is to suggest a theory which has connections with the data (Birks & Mills, 2011). From the present study, two key findings that could inform theory development are that:

• all language teachers, regardless of their cultural backgrounds, need teacher support, including cultural and professional support; and that

• compared to teachers from other cultural backgrounds, Asian language teachers may need different types of, and more, professional support regarding teaching resources, teacher-student classroom practices and teaching methodology.

This study provides a new perspective on the support needs of Asian teachers and the nature of cultural and professional support provided by educational leaders for teachers from diverse cultural backgrounds. Given the increasing movements of Asian teachers from the Asian region to Australia, the study fills a timely gap regarding the leadership of Asian teachers working in language educational settings. With their rich Asian cultural knowledge and native language proficiency, Asian teachers make an important contribution to boosting Asia Literacy when their support needs are promptly considered.


The study suggests that the concept of ‘culturally responsive leadership’ could be expanded towards diverse background teachers in multicultural educational settings. Leadership practices of the participants reflect several features of culturally responsive leadership such as caring for others, being present and communicating and fostering cultural responsiveness. Thus, the study suggests that educational leaders in multicultural educational settings could apply culturally responsive leadership to both the needs of diverse background students and the support needs of diverse background teachers. Most contemporary research on culturally responsive leadership has focused more on the diverse cultural backgrounds of students (see Madhlangobe, 2009) rather than on the cultural and professional support needs of teachers from diverse cultural backgrounds, particularly Asian teachers who face multiple challenges when teaching in Australian educational settings (e.g., Nakahara & Black, 2007). The focus on Asian teachers is a contribution of this study.

As with any research, there are limitations in the present study. The study was conducted at a single site and involved a small sample of educational leaders. The results may not be generalised to other leaders or other multicultural educational settings. To add greater depth of knowledge about the investigated phenomenon and to further test the two key findings that could inform theory development, future research could investigate larger samples of educational leaders. In addition, as the findings of the study were drawn from the perspectives of educational leaders, it is not certain if the Asian teachers themselves hold similar perspectives. Future research could also investigate the perspectives of Asian teachers from different language institutions about their support needs.

ConclusionPrevious research has investigated difficulties faced by Asian teachers when teaching in Australia; however, little is known about the perceptions of educational leaders about leadership practices in providing cultural and professional support for Asian teachers. The study has implications related to multicultural recognition and professional practice for not only current but also prospective educational leaders and Asian teachers working in Australian multicultural educational settings. At a theoretical level, this article contributes to the literature regarding the support needs of Asian teachers in the context of language education.

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AuthorsNhu-Hien Luong-Phan has a Master of Arts – TESOL Studies and a Master of Educational Studies from The University of Queensland. Her research focuses upon educational leadership and language teachers in the context of foreign language teaching and multicultural educational settings.Email: [email protected]

Dr Mary McMahon is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Education at The University of Queensland. She researches and publishes in the areas of career development, narrative career counselling and qualitative career assessment. Email: [email protected]

luong-phan, n.-h., \u0026 mcmahon, m. (2014). supporting asian teachers: an exploratory study from...

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