Our story of innovation: reforming the traditional approach to ELT in China’s hinterlands

ABSTRACT

This paper investigates four teachers’ efforts to innovate during a semester of English language teaching at a university in China. At the end of a mentor-facilitated action research cycle, the teachers wrote their ‘Story of Innovation’ in order to construct deeper understandings of their experiences. These stories were examined for themes and are retold here as a collective story in order to show what ‘innovation’ means to the four teachers and the benefits gained from innovating. Although the teachers’ understandings of innovation converged with government policies and other top-down expectations, the individual emphasis of each suggests that different teachers view innovation from the perspective of their particular context. Moreover, although each of the four saw benefits for self and their students, what emerged from their stories was how they grew from the innovation process which may best be described as gradual restructuring.

KEYWORDS:

• Innovation
• China
• professional development
• traditional teaching

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Melissa K. Smith

Melissa K. Smith has worked in China for more than 20 years. She is an Associate Professor in the School of Foreign Languages and Cultures at Ningxia University where she teaches a TESOL methods course and facilitates a mentoring program for teachers. She enjoys exploring TESOL teacher mentoring and intersections between values, culture, and teaching. One of her recent books, Supporting the Professional Development of English Language Teachers: Facilitative Mentoring, was published by Routledge in 2018.

Yongqiang Wu

Yongqiang Wu has been working for more than 20 years in the School of Foreign Languages and Cultures at Ningxia University where he is an Associate Professor. He teaches English and IELTS courses to non-English majors and also advises students on their senior theses. His research interests include second language acquisition, teaching methodology, and cross-cultural communication. He enjoys teaching English, constantly exploring different ways to motivate students to enhance their language proficiency both in and beyond the classroom.

Yiwen Wang

Yiwen Wang is an Associate Professor in the School of Foreign Languages and Cultures at Ningxia University. She has worked there for 25 years and has taught the following courses: comprehensive English, English reading, English phonetics, legal English, advanced audio-visual-oral English, and practical English writing. She loves teaching and is devoted to reforming her courses as she aims to enhance students' learning ability.

Rong Wu

Rong Wu has worked for Ningxia University for 24 years. She is a Professor in the School of Foreign Languages and Cultures where she teaches English reading, English teaching methodology, and applied linguistics to English majors. Her research interests are English teaching methods and foreign language teacher professional development. She enjoys exploring how to cultivate students' critical thinking ability and how student teachers develop their professional competence.

Yan Wang

Yan Wang has worked for Ningxia University for 21 years. She is an Associate Professor in the School of Foreign Languages and Cultures where she teaches English to English-majors. Her interests focus on exploring English teaching methods. For many years, she has been involved in researching the teaching of foreign language writing, critical thinking skills, and moral lessons. She enjoys learning new ideas in order to improve her teaching in ways that help and inspire her students.