Co-teaching practice of expatriate English and local Chinese teachers in Hong Kong: A case study of an international preschool

To increase Hong Kong’s competitiveness in the international arena and to enhance her role in fostering exchange and stronger ties with Mainland China, Hong Kong students are expected to be biliterate and trilingual in Chinese (Cantonese and Putonghua) and English. Even though the government has actively provided language education support in the formal school system, many parents want to give their children a head start as early as possible and demand bi-/trilingual education in preschools. International preschools which offer an immersive dual-language (English and Chinese) environment are particularly popular among middle-class families. Nonetheless, research on early education in Hong Kong focuses predominantly on local preschools, few have even attempted to understand how teaching and learning are planned and conducted in international preschools.
This study is an empirical inquiry that explores the teaching practice of one of the longest-standing and most sort-after international preschool in Hong Kong. The preschool is known for adopting a one-teacher-one-language co-teaching approach, where expatriate English and local Chinese teachers work as a team to provide a total immersive language environment for children. In-depth interviews were conducted with its administrators, curriculum leaders, frontline expatriate English and local Chinese teachers, and classes and documents were observed and analyzed. Results reveal various challenges and opportunities in the teaching practice, especially in areas such as cultural ideologies in early education. A whole-school approach was utilized to reconcile the differences and improve coordination and collaboration among teachers. Implications for teaching and learning are discussed.