台籍教師於金門中等學校之適應情形探討

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(1)Cultural Adjustment of High School Teachers from Taiwan in Kinmen. by Hsin-Lan Wu. A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Major: International Human Resource Development. Advisor:. Wei-Wen Chang, Ph. D. National Taiwan Normal University Taipei, Taiwan June, 2012.

(2) ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I am truly blessed by God to have many knowledgeable, patient, and kind professors guide me during my time in IHRD this lovely and warm institute. My heartfelt thanks first go to my thesis instructor Dr. Wei-Wen Vera Chang. She is the model of how an outstanding teacher can be. Being a junior high school teacher myself, I always take her passion for pursuing knowledge and her sincere care for students as great a example to follow. Also, without help and instruction from my thesis committee members, Dr. Chih-Chien Steven Lai and Dr. Pai-Po Lee, I could hardly make further improvement on this research. Besides being highly knowledgeable, their personal qualities are excellent as they are very empathetic, caring and approachable. For my family, I donate my greatest gratitude to my mother who constantly reminded me to finish this study and provided as much assistance as she could. Sometimes I think of the parenting styles raised by Baumrind in 1966, and I thank God for giving me a pair of good parents adopting the “authoritative style” she mentioned. When my dad and mom discipline me, their attitude is firm, but they are still responsive to my needs without being indulgent. Two years ago, my brother received his master degree while being at work. Thanks him for encouraging me to write thesis even with work on weekdays. And thanks for the joyful company of my dogs, Miam-Miam and Hsiao-Guai, the most beloved babies in my family, though Miam-Miam was called to the heaven this March. I hope Miam-Miam now sees his sister has made another progress in her life. He will be engraved and cherished in my heart no matter where I am. To my partners Kelly, Maria, Jessie, Roy, and Darren who all have already graduated, I show my appreciation for all the advice they gave me. They are friends forever and ever to me. Besides, I really thank Alan a lot for being such an ardent helper. When I could not leave Kinmen, he aided me very much to solve emergent conditions about my paper in Taiwan. Finally, I give my profound thank to my husband, Eric Hong. He took care of almost all.

(3) the house chores to let me concentrate on my study. His understanding and consideration was the key to my graduation. Thank you all, my lord Jesus, my dear families, teachers, and friends..

(4) ABSTRACT The mobility of workforce is common. In Taiwan, people qualified as being teachers are hard to become formal ones due to intense competition of teachers’ entrance exams. Thus many of them choose remote islands of Republic of China to take teachers’ entrance exams. This research studied formal teachers from Taiwan now in Kinmen as they have experienced some cultural adjustments. Although a large number of literatures explore expatriate adjustment, none of the previous literature aims at exploring the adjustment issues of teachers from Taiwan in Kinmen. The purpose of this study is to examine the working adjustment, psychological adjustment, and general adjustment experiences that teachers from Taiwan have. It is hoped to provide useful information for incumbent teachers, administrators, or for people considering teaching in Kinmen. This study presents findings from the qualitative approach of the adjustment journey of 13 teachers who have spent 2 to 6 years in Kinmen. It involved methods of interviews, participant observation, and document analysis more than an academic year. There are some particular things that teachers from Taiwan need to adapt to. It was found that Kinmen natives elder teachers can enjoy more privileges in many ways, and no position rotation system in schools. Natives tend to use people relations to solve problems, and there are many other challenges that teachers from Taiwan discovered. A piece of advice for schools in Kinmen is to build fairer environment in schools so to increase teachers’ coherence therefore being able to create brighter future for the education in Kinmen.. Key words: Kinmen, cultural adjustment, teacher adjustment. I.

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(6) TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract .................................................................................................................I Table of Contents ...................................................................................................III List of Tables .........................................................................................................V List of Figures........................................................................................................VII. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ........................................................1. Background of the Study ................................................................................1 Need for the Study..........................................................................................6 Research Purpose ...........................................................................................8 Research Questions ........................................................................................8 Delimitations of the Study ..............................................................................9 Definition of Terms ........................................................................................9. CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE.......................................11. Cultural Distance............................................................................................11 Cultural Shock................................................................................................12 U-Curve Theory .............................................................................................12 Acculturation Strategies..................................................................................14 Importance of Adjustment ..............................................................................14 Dimensions of Adjustment .............................................................................15 Determinants of Adjustment ...........................................................................16. CHAPTER III. RESEARCH METHODS ...........................................19. Research Approach.........................................................................................19 Data Collection...............................................................................................20 Credibility of the Study ..................................................................................28 Data Analysis .................................................................................................28 Framework of Research Findings ...................................................................31 III.

(7) CHAPTER IV FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS..............................33 Findings .........................................................................................................33 Theme One: Working Adjustment...................................................................33 Theme Two: Psychological Adjustment ..........................................................41 Theme Three: General Adjustment .................................................................46 Discussions ....................................................................................................57. CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS ....................59 Conclusions....................................................................................................59 Suggestions ....................................................................................................64. REFERENCES .....................................................................................67 APPENDIX A: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS (ENGLISH).................... 71 APPENDIX B: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS (CHINESE).................... 73. IV.

(8) LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1 Profile of Participants .............................................................................. 28 Table 3.2 Data Analysis Structure of Adjustment..................................................... 31. V.

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(10) LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1 U-Curve Model ...................................................................................... 14 Figure 2.2 Dimensions of Expatriate Adjustment..................................................... 17 Figure 3.1 The First Example of the Coding Process ............................................... 32 Figure 3.2 The Second Example of the Coding Process ........................................... 32 Figure 3.3 Research Findings Framework ............................................................... 33. VII.

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(12) CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION. The study elaborates the background of doing this research in great details. The scope looks from the broad issue of workforce mobility whether in international or local field, to the focus of teachers’ workforce mobility between Taiwan and Kinmen. The fact that more and more teachers in Kinmen are from Taiwan leads to the importance of exploring these teachers’ experience and their adjustment, in order to understand their needs or satisfaction influenced by the culture of Kinmen.. Background of the Study International Mobility Nowadays the growth of globalization or international trade is accompanied by the international mobility of individuals who transfer knowledge, technologies, ideas, and other capabilities, and the international mobility is regarded as a kind of movement of capital (Solimano, 2006). In business field, some companies are successful but some face defeat. A few people regard that business strategy is the key factors and some believe it is due to organizational structure problem. Black and Gregersen (1999) concluded that in fact, having abundant human capital is the most important factor in creating and maintaining competitive advantages. Many organizations acknowledge this fact and so the international mobility of workers has increased, which is analogous to the capital mobility (Barro & Sala-i-Martin, 2003). Appointing overseas assignments or choosing suitable people as expatriates have become crucial and increasing amount of decisions for companies (Anderson, Charmaz, Josselson, McMullen, & Wertz, 2011). The factors determining international mobility derive from a combination of push and pull factors. While sending countries wish to decrease the supply pressure (push factors), receiving countries hope to fill significant labor shortages (pull factors) (Bobeva & Garson, 2004). At world level, international mobility can generate positive benefits as knowledge 1.

(13) flows intensify and the match between supply and demand for skills improves (Jolly, 2003).. Local Mobility While the global circulation of workers, especially highly-skilled workers across frontiers is intensifying, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD] (2003) stated that structural unemployment could also be lowered by encouraging greater labor mobility within one country. The United States and Canada both own stretched-out geography, but the differences in regional unemployment rates are larger and stickier in Canada. Coulombe and Day (1999) provided the finding that the mobility problem of Canada is concentrated among the less skilled workers. The youth Canadians with bachelor or graduate degree can migrate to another province more easily (Coulombe, 2000). It suggested that human capital is a strong determinant of migration. Whether it is about cross-border mobility or regional mobility in one country, for both sending and receiving sides, there are potential gains derived from the relocation of labor from regions with a surplus of workers to regions with labor shortages (Fassmann, Haller, & Lane, 2009).. Cross-cultural Adjustment As people relocate from the place they used to live to another meaning they also relocate from one culture to another. Every culture has its particular values which are widely shared by a specific group of people. When individuals are under to a new cultural context, they will find that some of their previous values and beliefs become useless. To adapt well to a new culture, the individuals have to understand the new culture’s underlying values and how these values lead to appropriate behaviors. The changes they make can be regarded as cross-cultural adjustment. Often cross-cultural adjustment is not an easy job for people whether their new working or living place is abroad or still within their own country, because any adjustment may disorder people’s routines and that generally followed by situations that challenge an individual’s self-esteem (Barker & Willis, 2008). 2.

(14) Mobility of Teachers from Taiwan to Kinmen In Taiwan, the working mobility is also common. Many people have the experience of doing different jobs at different places in Taiwan. Every year, from May to August, the news of prospective teachers’ busy running about registering and taking teacher entrance exams around many places is already well-known to citizens. Regarding the present situation in Taiwan, more and more people intending to be teachers come from Taiwan to Kinmen to take teacher entrance exams to give themselves the opportunity to teach. The background that more and more people from Taiwan try to obtain positions in schools in Kinmen is as below. Since 2004, the quantity of people who are qualified as being teachers have been more than the numbers of job vacancies in public school in Taiwan (Huang, 2006). The situation of excess supply of teachers has not changed yet. Under this condition, society is aware of the fairness of teachers’ exams and criticizes schools that do not join teachers’ joint entrance exams thus secure some people’s advantages through clandestine exams. In order to avoid people’s suspicion, many public schools join teachers’ joint entrance exams held by governments of different cities or counties including schools in Kinmen. The Kinmen Education Bureau has held teachers’ joint entrance exams since 2005, consequently, not only Kinmen natives have the opportunity to teach in Kinmen, people from Taiwan or other islands also have open access to teach there. That is to say, there exists the combination of push and pull factors between Taiwan and Kinmen. Many people qualified as being teachers are hard to find jobs at schools due to less and less job vacancies in Taiwan. While in Kinmen, the open information of recruiting teachers of schools and the teachers’ joint entrance exams making people be assured of the fairness issue thus increasing people’s willingness to go far to Kinmen registering and taking the exam. On the part of Taiwan, the supply pressure of too many qualified teachers can be relieved to some degree. On the other part, Kinmen can own the wilder talent pool which is favorable for schools in Kinmen for selecting suitable teachers. 3.

(15) Differences between Kinmen and Taiwan Culture The culture of Kinmen is unique. Its greatest difference from Taiwan is that Taiwan is a place with a lot of immigrants while Kinmen natives tend to move to other places for schooling opportunities or career development (Lu, 2011). So people in Taiwan, especially in cities of Taiwan, have learned to interact with others from different backgrounds, while the elder or middle-aged Kinmen natives who stay in Kinmen for most of their lifetime are less exposed to multicultural environment (Fang, 2005). Besides, During the Kaomintang’s retreat to Taiwan between 1949 and the 1980s, Kinmen suffered from great tension being the front line of Nationalist-Communist conflict. People’s activities in Kinmen were restricted by curfew and only limited interaction with outside world was permitted. Not only the geographic and historical reasons play big parts in shaping Kinmen’s culture, its main economic activity, tourism, also makes Kinmen an extraordinarily exuberant green place without industrial pollution or traffic jams (Crook, 2011). A quarter of the whole Kinmen area belongs to Kinmen National Park which is not allowed to be open to development. Apart from fishing, small-scale agriculture, tourism business is the pillar of Kinmen’s economies. Owing to the more peaceful relations of ROC (Republic of China) and PRC (People’s Republic of China) now, it is possible to travel directly between ROC and PRC. Last year over two million citizens of PRC went to Kinmen to visit or transfer to Taiwan (Yang, 2011). Anthropologists believe that culture is shaped by many different objective conditions: spatial, social, economic, and organizational (Nanda & Warms, 2010). As noted above, with such special background consisting of historic, geographic, economic factors, the culture of Kinmen is very particular compared to that of Taiwan.. Cross-Cultural Adjustment of Teachers from Taiwan Now that more and more teachers from Taiwan work in Kinmen, is there any spark when teachers from Taiwan clash against native Kinmen residents, teachers, students, or the 4.

(16) parents? Usually, shared nature of culture enables people to predict—within broad limits—the behavior of others in the society. Conversely, people become disoriented when attempting to interact in a culturally different society because they do not share the same behavioral expectations as members of the society (Andreatta & Ferraro, 2009). Plus, the move to a new environment is cited as one of the most unforgettable events in a person’s life as for most sojourners some degree of culture shock is inevitable (Bochner, Furnham, & Ward, 2001). Thus it is important to have research on cross-cultural adjustment issues of the teachers from Taiwan. They work and reside in Kinmen, a place its culture other than that of their upbringing residence. It is constructive for both teachers from Taiwan and the schools in Kinmen if the teachers can well adapt to the culture of Kinmen. To a certain degree, there is uniformity in schools, but when people get down and work with others, the most profound things should be paid attention to are the differences. The differences may appear slight, but the nuances can be enormously important. And the nuances are the embodiment of cultural difference. Andreatta and Ferraro (2009) gave a general definition that culture is everything that people have, think, and do as members of a society. Through interacting with Kinmen natives, teachers from Taiwan develop ways to adapt to Kinmen culture. Noticing the process of acquiring Kinmen culture of these teachers inspired the researcher’s interest in understanding the way they go through enculturation. The researcher has found that teachers from Taiwan and teachers growing up in Kinmen are two different groups in schools. In a working context, colleagues can work in harmony, but when it goes to private life, there is a clear distinction between teachers from Taiwan and those who originally live in Kinmen. People usually spend their leisure time and discuss personal things with their own group members. The situation let the researcher even wonder the reasons behind resulting in this phenomenon. 5.

(17) Need for the Study Realizing the Importance of Cultural Adjustment of Teachers from Taiwan Capital is in forms of tangible and intangible. Human capital belongs to the later one, but it is also important for yielding useful outputs over periods of time. In schools, excellent equipment at schools is a good capital in a sense, but every school needs teachers to carry teaching jobs or implement school policies. Only with good teachers or administrators can it be possible for schools to operate well. Better adjusting to Kinmen culture helps teachers from Taiwan conduct their work contentedly thus creating the possibility to lead the schools they serve to prosperous prospects. This study hopes to have the schools or Kinmen Education Bureau be aware of the importance of teachers’ adjustment issues which may affect the operation of schools. As difficulties, confrontations, or conflicts are unavoidable experienced by newcomers (Selmer, 2005), the teachers from Taiwan face challenges more or less related to cultural differences. If teachers can adapt to the culture in Kinmen, they may have fewer problems in working or living there. The drive of staying in Kinmen is demonstrated by teachers who keep adapting themselves to the new environment despite challenges they face in Kinmen.. Having Teachers from Taiwan in Kinmen Becomes a Current Trend As mentioned above, in decades ago, positions in schools of Kinmen were historically dominated by the natives of Kinmen. The information about recruiting teachers was not necessarily announced on line so the information was mainly known by people in Kinmen. Another reason is that competition for being a formal teacher was not that intense before, and fewer people would consider teaching in Kinmen. But now the situation has changed, vacancies for teachers in Taiwan are much less than before and the information of teacher vacancies is open to public in every county in ROC. Also, the process of selecting teachers is fairer than before. The chief judge grading the 6.

(18) competitors is a professor from Taiwan, not natives in Kinmen; and the problem of favoring Kinmen natives is no longer a big concern. Therefore, the proportion of teachers from Taiwan to Kinmen is getting increased. Accordingly, with open access to the information about teacher vacancies, and with less and less teacher vacancies in Taiwan, it is inevitable that teachers will continue coming from Taiwan to serve in Kinmen. Cross-cultural adaptation is a significant challenge that derails newcomers’ success (Pitts, 2009). It is necessary to conduct study for shedding light on the area of adaptation of the teachers from Taiwan in Kinmen since teachers from Taiwan are still on the increase and may even become the main proportion of the total amount of teachers in the future. Accordingly, the researcher finds the importance of looking into this unique teacher group whose number is still on the rise.. Pioneering on Having Attention on this Specific Field Although there are empirical studies that have been done with regard to the issues of expatriates from companies, and few concerning the adjustment problems of transnational marriage in Kinmen, yet none has been found according to the settings of teachers from Taiwan to Kinmen. Therefore, this domain now stands in need of research for understanding the problems that teachers from Taiwan may face and the process of their cultural adjustment. Since much less attention is being devoted to this area, it would appear that this study is the forerunner to pose an important issue in understanding the particular group—teachers from Taiwan working and living in Kinmen. Questions concerning adjustment condition of those teachers remained unanswered. This study is as well valuable to people who consider teaching in Kinmen helping them be prepared for the cross-cultural adjustment in the new environment. The result of this study is thus significant in order to add to the body of knowledge in the field of cross-cultural studies among teachers on distant islands. Besides, it can create 7.

(19) awareness on issues of cross-cultural challenges and adjustments, not only to the teachers from Taiwan to Kinmen, but also to Kinmen natives in general in order to build a more productive workforce in years to come.. Research Purpose Cultural clashes between foreign and local values are inevitable in which sojourners experience challenges (Phinney, 2003).The purpose of this study is to examine the challenges resulting from cultural differences faced by teachers from Taiwan in Kinmen and the adjustment made to cope with these challenges. The study is conducted to provide useful information to persons working in schools or Kinmen Education Bureau and persons considering teaching in Kinmen. Additionally, it is hoped that knowledge of the sources of challenges of adjustment to Kinmen culture will be useful for schools in Kinmen to considerate if any actions can be taken to help teachers adapt well in Kinmen. So it should also be the goal of this study to provide guidelines for deans or notable persons in education field in Kinmen hoping to ensure success of both teachers from Taiwan and the schools.. Research Questions The problem of this research is to study the challenges concerning cultural differences that teachers from Taiwan encounter and to examine whether they are able or not to overcome difficulties. Finally the school administrators in Kinmen can understand wheather the environment in schools is friendly to all the teachers. 1. What are the working adjustment experiences that teachers from Taiwan have in Kinmen? 2. What are the psychological adjustment experiences that teachers from Taiwan have in Kinmen? 3. What are the general adjustment experiences that teachers from Taiwan have in Kinmen?. 8.

(20) Delimitations of the Study This study is limited to teachers from Taiwan now in four junior high schools and two senior high schools in Kinmen; teachers serving in the junior high school on Lesser Kinmen are not included. The use of a purposeful sample limits the inferences available. The study only includes teachers from Taiwan now in Kinmen. Caution has to be taken when drawing conclusions about people working in any government institutions in other remote places. Findings from the study may be representative of teachers from Taiwan to Kinmen, but may not accurately represent the perspectives of teachers in other places of ROC. Representativeness of the sample population is by teachers from four junior high schools and the senior high schools of Kinmen. The nonrandom sampling is preferable in the situation of this study because only a small group of people will be observed and interviewed. According to Durrheim (2008), a small nonrandom sample consists of a few information-rich cases helps the researcher to understand the particular in depth and other contexts or groups similar to those studied.. Definition of Terms Cultural Adjustment Cultural adjustment can be seen as a process as individuals who were brought up in one cultural context move into a new cultural context, they tend to change their behaviors or mindset in order to adapt to the new environment. It is associated with individuals’ emotional states, cognitive perceptions, and personal traits thus referring to individual’s subjective well-being or satisfaction in their new cultural environments. (Kennedy & Ward, 1996; Apud, Johnson, & Lenartowicz, 2006). So adjustment represents the fit between individuals and the mainstream cultural context, which is the culture of Kinmen in this study.. 9.

(21) Homeroom Teacher A homeroom teacher is considered to serve as a pastoral role for their students, as well as an educational one since the homeroom teacher still has to teach a specific subject for several classes. A homeroom teacher in schools of Kinmen has to be with the students beginning from at least 7:00 in the morning to read with them, have tests for them, or supervise students’ sweeping work. Then from 11:45 to 13:15, the homeroom teachers have lunch with their students, direct them doing cleaning work, and take a nap with them. Aside from these routine daily works, there are many other unexpected events causing from their students that a homeroom teacher has to handle. For example, settling fights or quarrels between students, responding suggestions or even complaints from parents, correcting students from any misbehavior such as breaking public property of schools, cheating on tests, being rude at teachers or classmates, encouraging and soothing students from bad mood, and leading class activities like relay race, etc.. Subject Teacher In contrast to homeroom teacher, a subject teacher less bothers to handle students’ behavior problems or lead any class activity. What subject teachers need to focus is teaching a particular subject for students. Their time is free before 8:00am and from 11:45am to 13:30pm. No official responsibility is on them if students have problems outside the subject teacher’s class. There are still some subject teachers in schools in Kinmen are willing to spend time in consulting or disciplining students, but these are not obligated.. 10.

(22) CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE. The geographic and historical reasons make culture of Kinmen different from that of Taiwan. Unlike people in Taiwan, especially in cities of Taiwan, residents whose family-of-origin are in Kinmen have direct or indirect relationships since Kinmen is an island of just 153 km² and was isolated from outer world due to being a military reserve before mid-1990s causing residents on Kinmen hold strong connection with each other. Besides, middle-aged and elder residents of Kinmen have been deeply influenced by battles between Republic of China and People’s Republic of China which lasted until 1978; Yang (2001) stated those residents stress conformity, discipline, and group honor, and these values are not that emphasized by young people growing up in Taiwan. Hence, the teachers from Taiwan live and work in Kinmen, a new culture environment. Selmer (1995) pointed that differences in culture create most of the issues that cause adjustment difficulties for sojourners. In order to reinforce the willingness to stay in Kinmen of teachers from Taiwan, and to reduce the turnover in schools, it’s crucial for teachers from Taiwan become comfortable with or acculturated to the culture in Kinmen.. Cultural Distance Although Kinmen is administered by ROC, its unique position and historical background makes its culture different from Taiwan. When teachers from Taiwan perceive models of dissimilarity between people’s interaction in Taiwan and Kinmen, psychologically they feel the cultural distance. Cultural distance refers to the differences in norms, values, and working methods between the parties (Woodside, 2010). For teachers from Taiwan, the culture of Kinmen is the host culture. The amount of difference between native and host culture will be proportionally related to the amount of stress that teachers from Taiwan experience. Clearly, the higher the differences in social structure, life style, values, and etc, the greater an individual perceive the cultural distance. It 11.

(23) is conceivable that to be exposed to unfamiliar cultural influences is stressful. The literature even argues that where there is cultural distance, there is culture shock (Bochner, Furnham, & Ward, 2001).. Culture Shock Oberg (1960, cited in Bochner & Furnham, 1986) coined the original meaning of the term culture shock as a negative, passive reaction to some unfamiliar and noxious circumstances. Nowadays, the proposition of culture shock is more positive; it does not emphasize only the depressing part of culture shock, but appreciates people’s responses to new cultural challenges as a necessary and active process (Marx, 2001). That is to say, after confronting culture shock which stands for some reactions such as confusion, anxiety, frustration, inappropriate social behavior, or feeling isolated, etc, people who are in a new culture can benefit from the process of adaptation. Not everyone feels the same degree of culture shock. Research suggests that the degree of difficulty experienced by sojourners is directly related to cultural distance between their own culture and host culture (Lee, Ng, & Soutar, 2007). Due to their finding, it is worthwhile to investigate if the teachers, especially from prosperous cities of Taiwan, face much shock since their original value systems and behavioral norms may create problems in this new culture environment.. U-Curve Theory The theory related to culture shock and concerned to cross-cultural adjustment is the U-Curve Theory (UCT) as figure 2.1, which explains the adjustment process. Descriptions of UCT generally include four stages though the names of stages are slightly different in literatures. In the first stage (honeymoon stage), individuals are excited about the new culture and show interest in some fresh scenes. Following the first stage comes the culture shock stage. Individuals feel disillusionment and frustration when they must seriously cope with living in 12.

(24) the new culture on a day-to-day basis. Then the adjustment stage depicts that individuals gradually learn how to behave appropriately. Finally, the mastery stage describes individuals have well equipped for functioning effectively in the new culture (Black & Mendenhall, 1991).. Figure2.1. U-Curve model. Adapted from “The U-Curve Adjustment Hypothesis Revised: A Review and Theoretical Framework,” by J. S. Black & M. Mendenhall, 1991, Journal of International Business Studies, 22(2), 227. Copyright 1991 by the Jounal of International Business Studies Issues.. In this study, after probing into the mind of several teachers from Taiwan, we can see if U-curve pattern emerges. The causes of adjustment at all stages may not be the same. The theory suggests that the use of time since living in a new culture is a key factor. The proper way to examine UCT is to study a sample of teachers from Taiwan at several times over a course of their assignments in Kinmen. But due to the lack of a longitudinal approach in this study, it is too hasty in accepting or rejecting the UCT pattern for this study. However, the 13.

(25) pattern could still provide a logical grounding for discussing the cross-cultural adjustment process of the teachers from Taiwan.. Acculturation Strategies Spielberger (2004) organized the four acculturation strategies: integration, separation, assimilation and marginalization. A brief explanation is that individuals who maintain their in-group identity and, at the same time, maintain relationships with members of other groups are considered to have integration strategy. People who postulate an exclusive value on the maintenance of their own culture distinctiveness and do not cherish intra-groups relations are assumed to adopt a separation strategy. Those who are less concerned with the maintenance of their in-group identity but value intra-groups relations are thought to adopt an assimilation strategy. For individuals who matter neither their in-group identity nor relationships with members of other groups are thought to be marginalized (Berry, 2005). Other research has shown that the way people relate to their social groups of reference as well as other relevant social groups in society has important impact on their psychological well-being and personal satisfaction (Fave, 2006). Now teachers from Taiwan have formed a close group and often do leisure activities together after work or on weekends, but the natives and teachers from Taiwan do not show hostility against each other.. Importance of Adjustment For people who progress along the stages of being in a new environment, inevitably, the phase of adjustment occurs. In this phase, the literature put much emphasis on expatriates, who need to learn and understand the culture and logistics of the new country (Harrison, Shaffer, & Gilley, 1999). Before discussing the particular relevance of expatriates of companies between teachers from Taiwan to Kinmen, it is perhaps useful to briefly introduce the main idea of expatriates. 14.

(26) The basic criterion of being an expatriate is that the individual is employed on behalf of a foreign resident employer for a limited period of time working in a host country. Though teachers from Taiwan are citizens of ROC as people born in Kinmen are, they still have to deal with problems resulting from the particular culture of Kinmen. Besides, teachers from Taiwan all had signed at least a four-year contract about serving in schools of Kinmen, which is similar to expatriates who cannot serve in the host country without time limitation due to the contract with their company. So in a sense, teachers from Taiwan are similar to expatriates who are not citizens of a specific place of which they work in and plus have to overcome problems about cultural adjustment. In the literature, we can see the reasons for expatriate failure (returning home country or ending the assignment before the assignment in a host country is completed) are highly influenced by not overcoming the consequences of culture shock (Christensen & Harzing, 2004). Those reasons for expatriate failure have been summarized by Briscoe and Schuler (2004) such as dissatisfaction with quality of life in foreign location, dissatisfaction with compensation and benefits, and lack of cultural and language preparation, etc. Cross cultural adjustment has proven to be related with the turnover, early returns, absenteeism, and work performance of expatriates (Inkson & Parker, 1999). As the link between effective performance of expatriates and the process of cultural adjustment is strong (D’Annunzio-Green, 2004), the researcher assumes it is logical to link the problems of teachers from Taiwan and those teachers’ acculturation states. If teachers from Taiwan cannot adjust themselves well, they may be like expatriates desiring for premature return which is damage to both the teachers and the schools.. Dimensions of Adjustment Black and Stephens (1989) proposed three dimensions of expatriate adjustment: (1)work adjustment, (2)interaction adjustment, and (3)general adjustment. Work adjustment measures 15.

(27) the degree to which the expatriate feels psychologically comfortable in his or her overseas work role. Interaction measures the degree to which the expatriate feels comfortable interacting with host country nationals. General adjustment measures the degree to which the expatriate feels comfortable in the new living environment, including adjustment to housing, food, shopping, etc. The researcher outlined what the two scholars proposed as in figure 2.2.. Figure2.2. Dimensions of expatriate adjustment. Adapted from “The Influence of the Spouse on American Expatriate Adjustment and Intent to Stay in Pacific Rim Overseas Assignments,” by J. S. Black ＆ G. K. Stephens, 1989, Journal of Management, 15(4), p538. Copyright 1989 by the Journal of Management Issues.. The three-dimensional view of expatriate adjustment provides a theoretical framework for this research. In later research, it will be necessary to examine whether the Kinmen local friendships can help the teachers from Taiwan overcome culture shock and any feelings of loneliness or isolation and also to examine if their stress coping to work and living in Kinmen is heavy.. Determinants of Adjustment After Black and Stephens (1989) proposed a model of determinants of adjustment to international assignments, Harrison, Gilley and Shaffer (1999) expanded and tested the model by examining two additional individual factors and three positional factors as moderators of adjustment determinants: 16.

(28) 1. Job factors Job factors refer to a set of tasks and duties performed by a given individual and they are measured using questions about autonomy in job, role clarity, role discretion, role conflict and role novelty, etc. 2. Organizational factors There are three perspectives of organizational factors, supervisor support, coworker support ,and logistical support. 3. Non-work factors There are mainly two kinds of non-work factors according to Black and Stephens (1989), culture novelty and spouse/ family adjustment. Culture novelty refers to the perceived distance between host and parent country cultures, and has been found to hinder non-work adjustment (Harrison et al., 1999). 4. Individual Factors Factors include achievement, relational and perceptual skills, previous assignments and language fluency. The scale measuring achievement focuses on goal attainment, and social self-efficacy focuses on the development of interpersonal relationships. 5. Positional Factors Positional factors have something to do with the nature of the work and stress at varying hierarchical levels and functional positions. There are three factors to this category, hierarchical level, functional area and assignment vector. The three-dimensional view of adjustment and the model of determinants of adjustment provide a theoretical framework. They give some clues to the interview questions for this study and also suggest the researcher to observe the participants from those aspects. The non-work factor of cultural distance will receive special attention to in this study.. 17.

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(30) CHAPTER III. RESEARCH METHODS. This chapter introduced the research approach and procedure, data collection, and data analyses; these would be described separately as below.. Research Approach Reasons for Doing Qualitative Approach The purpose of this study is to explore the challenges that teachers from Taiwan to Kinmen face and how they adjust themselves. The phenomena studied in this research cannot be deduced but require empirical observation or interaction. The researcher wishes to capture the lived experience from the perspectives of those who live it and create meaning from it. Generating big narratives and theories does not go with this study. What this study desires to understand is the milieus, subcultures, lifestyles, and ways of thoughts of the teachers from Taiwan and all of that requires situational narratives. As recommended by Brinkmann and Kvale (2009), the ways in which participants view their worlds and create meaning from diverse life experience are myriad and can be best be explored by qualitative approach. Qualitative research seeks to understand the world as seen by those who live in it (Hatch, 2002). It produces knowledge that is contextual, linguistic, narrative, and pragmatic (Brinkmann & Kvale, 2009). This study adopts qualitative approach enables the researcher share in the understandings and perceptions of the participants and to explore how they structure and give meaning to their daily lives.. Phenomenological Qualitative Approach One major genre of qualitative research is phenomenological approach. It seeks to explore, describe, and analyze the meaning of individuals’ lived experience (Marshall & Rossman, 2010). This study applies a phenomenological qualitative approach, in which the 19.

(31) researcher attempts to explore the lived experiences in terms of challenges and adjustments of teachers from Taiwan to Kinmen in the context of cross cultural setting. According to Lichtman (2009) the focus of phenomenological approach is on the rich description of the essential structures of the experience. In phenomenology approach, conducting in-depth interviews is a common method for gaining access to individuals' worlds. As a scientific undertaking, phenomenological researchers often search for commonalities across individuals, meaning to seek general knowledge on the basis of evidence (Anderson et al., 2011). So in this study, the researcher tries to search for the commonalities of participants’ experiences rather than only focusing on what is unique to a single participant.. Data Collection Methods Since there are strengths and weakness to any single data collection strategy, using more than one data collection method can allow the researcher to combine strengths and also correct deficiencies of any source of data. This study thus has the methodological triangulation, which is the use of multiple methods to study a single problem (Anderson, Lofland, Lofland, & Snow, 2005). For this study adopts qualitative approach, the instrument of data collection method includes observation, interviewing, and document analysis. These are used for exploratory purposes as the researcher take interest in; they are for generating new information, not for testing hypotheses.. Observation According to Gold (1958), Lofland & Lofland (1994), & Mulhall (2003), there are four types of participant observer roles. 1. The complete participant: The researcher becomes member of group being studied but does not tell members 20.

(32) they are studied. Since the group members do not know they are involved in a research, some people may question the use of this approach on ethical grounds. 2. The participant as observer: The researcher spends long time with the group as an insider and lets members know they are studied. Similar to the complete observer, the participant is also an insider of the group, however, tells other people he or she is conducting a research. In this study, the researcher takes on this kind of role for the participants who are teachers of Jincheng School, as the researcher is also a Jincheng School teacher. Although the participants are aware that they are being observed, they still can behave naturally as they trust the researcher and as they feel easy about the researcher’s presence (Lofland et al., 2005). That is what the researcher expects during the observation on the Jincheng teachers from Taiwan. 3. The observer as participant: The researcher spends only a limited amount of time observing group members and informs them they are being studied. In this study, the researcher takes on this kind of role concerning the group members are not teachers of Jincheng School. Because the researcher in this study is a teacher of Jincheng School, the chance she interacts with teachers from other schools is during time of after-work and weekends. She is more like an observer than participant toward teachers in others schools. 4. The complete observer: The researcher takes on the roll of a totally outside observer. And people being studied do not know they are being observed. As DeJong, Monette, & Sullivan (2010) pointed out, the most commonly and also the most useful styles are the participant as observer and the observer of participant because the participants are voluntarily involved in the study. Besides, the researcher can 21.

(33) take both insider’s and outsider’s role, which avoids the risks of losing objectivity or not understanding the participants. The researcher in this study thus took these two kinds of roles as stated above.. Interview In-depth interviewing According to Bogdan and Biklen (2006), interviews may be the dominant strategy for data collection. Interviews are used to collect descriptive data in the other person’s own words in order for the researcher to develop insights on how subjects interpret some piece of the world. Hesse-Biber and Leavy (2010) offered the advice that participants or interviewees must be selected for conducting an in-depth interview. Selecting the pool of informants, or sample, is a matter of figuring out what portion of the population the researcher seek to study and then locating individuals who are members of the group. In this study, data are gathered involving face-to-face in-depth interviews and the participants were specifically chosen to be teachers (administrative staff in schools is not included). Teachers deal with matters such as student behaviors, communication with parents, and collaborative working with other teachers, but administrative staff do not need to bother. Thus it is more appropriate to specify only teachers to be the participants for this study. This reflects a purposeful sample based on the teachers from Taiwan to Kinmen who are available and willing to be interviewed in person. The researcher asks several open-ended questions to each participant during the in-depth interviews. The open-ended interview style enables the interviewees to express their attitudes and feelings. The interviews are also shaped by probing questions the researcher raises seeking further details and actual examples. Semi-structured interview The open-ended interview style stated above is different from structured interview which stresses the uniformity of questions and responses. A semi-structured interview is 22.

(34) based on open questions and has much flexibility in responding. Open-ended questions as compared to close-ended questions help the researcher better probe into the issues he or she is interested in (Hesse-Biber & Leavy, 2010). Active listening An important tip for conducting in-depth interviews successfully is for the researcher/ interviewer to be an active listener helping respondents feel free to share their story, pass on their knowledge, and provide their own perspective (Wengraf, 2001). Active listening is the interviewer’s willingness and ability to hear and understand. The interviewer must listen with a completion and attentiveness that is not rigorous and in tune with nuance (Hoppe, 2007). The researcher practices active listening during interviews aims at motivating the interviewees to provide more descriptions and explanations concerning their process of cultural adjustment. Singh (2009) pointed out some techniques remark active listening such as being interviewee focused, non-interruptive, non-judgmental, and acceptive of difference. So during the interviews for this study, the researcher needs to give the participants enough time to think out their responses and reserve judgment about the attitudes, values, or lifestyle of the respondents.. Document Analysis Rapley (2007) reported that qualitative document analysis emphasizes on uncovering the richness of meanings and interpretation embedded within the text of some personal documents. Those documents are not prepared specifically for a request from the researcher. The researcher for this study carries out an examination of texts or daily posts on the participants’ blogs or their social network profiles like Facebook. The texts can provide insights into the participants’ beliefs, identities and relationships that help the research have more authentic sources of information. In addition, some schools’ regulations about students’ 23.

(35) proper behavior on time of reading in the early morning, sweeping work, and noon time should be useful for this study.. Sample Selection of schools in Kinmen There are a lot of elementary schools in Kinmen. Some has less than 100 students. In high school stage, there are four junior high schools in Greater Kinmen, and one in Lesser Kinmen. Each township owns a junior high school. After graduating from a junior high school, a student goes to either National Kinmen Senior High or National Kinmen Agricultural & Industrial Vocational Senior High School. Higher level of educational system includes National Kinmen University whose former name was Kinmen Technology Institute. Kinmen also has branch campuses of Ming-Chuan University and National University of Kaohsiung. The reason why the researcher explored experiences of only teachers in high school stage is as follows. The mentality and status of maturation differ a lot for students in different ages, so the researcher chose participants teaching in only high school stage in order to avoid the possibility that the challenges coming from handling nursing work as elementary school teachers may do, or pressure from writing or directing papers of university professors. Students’ behaviors and things which have to be taken care of have more in common in high schools, so the difficulties teachers may face do not vary due to highly different job content. Among the five junior high schools, Jincheng has the most students, about 1,400 students and with 33 classes for this school year. Kinmen Senior High School has more students than Kinmen Vocational High School, because lots of students in the vocational high school drop school themselves or being flunked out of the school for their constant bad behaviors or grades. Therefore, teachers have more number in Jincheng junior high school and National Kinmen Senior High School than other high schools in Kinmen. So a large 24.

(36) proportion of participants are chosen from these two schools in this study to fit the principal of proportionality. Selection of participants The sample size is set for 13 teachers. Basic criteria for selecting interview participants would be two in this study. First, the teachers’ hometowns have to be places in Taiwan, not Kinmen. Second, the participants need to have spent more than two years in schools in Kinmen, and the longer the better. Criterion based on the length of time working in Kinmen is helpful for the participants to recall the various challenges they have ever dealt with. New comers from Taiwan may not face as many events as those who have stayed at least two years and 10 months in Kinmen. Teachers start working on August from the year they obtain the job position. So teachers who start working in August, 2010 and 2011 are excluded from selection criterion for this study. Another reason for putting the length of time as a criterion is that it is more favorable for the researcher to understand the mental changes the participants have been through in all their years in Kinmen. Information of the research participants Through observation, interviewing, and document analysis, the researcher studied teaching and living experience experienced by 13 teachers from Taiwan currently working in Kinmen (11female / 2 male). The participants work in Jincheng, Jinning, Jinhu, and Jinsha junior high schools, and some work in National Kinmen Senior High School and one in Kinmen Vocational High School. As mentioned before that the participants were sampling is supported by Merriam (1998) that it based on the assumption that the investigator wants to discover, understand, and gain insight and therefore select a sample from which most can be learned. Since gaining rapport with the interviewee is important for doing qualitative interviews 25.

(37) making the respondents feel safe, comfortable, and valued so that they can generate meaningful and useful data (Lichtman, 2006), all the participants in this study are personally acquainted with the researcher. The small sample size of this study generated perspectives aimed at stimulating thinking and identifying useful avenues for new research and not findings for generalization.. 26.

(38) Table 3.1 Profile of Participants Name. Current position. School. Place of. Duration of stay in. origin. Kinmen. Lily. director/ teacher. Jincheng junior high school. Taipei. 4 years and 10 months. Claudia. homeroom teacher. Jincheng junior high school. Taipei. 2 years and 10 months. Francis. homeroom teacher. Jincheng junior high school. Taichung. 3 years and 10 months. Yvonne. homeroom teacher. Jincheng junior high school. Tainan. 6 years and 10 months. Lydia. homeroom teacher. Jinning junior high school. Kaohsiung. 2 years and 10 months. Henry. homeroom teacher. Jinning junior high school. Tainan. 3 years and 10 months. Gina. homeroom teacher. Jinhu junior high school. Tainan. 3 years and 10 months. Amy. homeroom teacher. Jingsha junior high school. New. 2 years and 10 months. Taipei City Jenny. director/ teacher. Kinmen Senior High School. Tainan. 3 years and 10 months. Sunny. director/ teacher. Kinmen Senior High School. Kaohsiung. 4 years and 10 months. Peggy. homeroom teacher. Kinmen Senior High School. Taipei. 4 years and 10 months. Alice. homeroom teacher. Kinmen Senior High School. Taoyuan. 2 years and 10 months. Brian. homeroom teacher. Kinmen Vocational High. Taipei. 2 years and 10 months. School. 27.

(39) Credibility of the Study The multiple methods of data collection are to enhance the internal validity (credibility) of the qualitative research. The model of determinants of adjustment proposed by Black et al. (1991) as written in the section of literature review help with the designing of the interview questions in this study. After interviewing the first two participants, the researcher added the final question to have further understanding of the participants’ desire in staying in Kinmen. The willingness of staying in Kinmen is also one of the indicators of their adjustment status. Since the researcher is took the role of “participant as observer” in Jincheng School, the researcher could easily observe some participants’ work condition for a long time thus helped identify the real work situation of these participants. In this study, triangulation method also includes reviewing existing document of schools and remarks made by participants on line to make sure the credibility of this research.. Data Analysis Each interview was digital audio recorded and transcribed by the researcher. After the interview had been conducted and observation had begun, data analysis involving coding field was carried out. The researcher listened to the interviews repeatedly and read the transcripts many times until themes or categories emerged. The researcher identifies them in the data and reinforced them with actual instances from the transcripts. Interpretations related to cross-cultural challenges and adjustments were made based on the emerged themes. Figure 3.1 presents the example of coding process. The recurring similar concepts of data provided by different interviewees were captured and coded. Any particular comment of a single interviewee was eliminated according to the phenomenological approach this study refers to.. 28.

(40) Q7: Have you ever met any difficulties in facing Kinmen natives? Please provide some practical examples. Code of the Original Data. Coding. interviewee Every time I attended social occasions, the natives Drinking kaoliang especially the elderly always used ways from liquor is a must. B. persuasion, urging, to forcing us to drink kaoliang liquor and I really don’t like it at all. Kaoliang High frequency of liquor tastes good but it is too strong for me. The meals for socializing meals for socializing are a lot here. Those natives did the same thing to guests as well. But guests only have to stand it once, and we need to drink the alcohol more than we can bear many times. Figure 3.1.The first example of the coding process. Q10: How long do you desire to stay in Kinmen? In your opinion, will there any factors that can prolong or shorten the time you just mentioned? Code of the Original Data. Coding. interviewee D. I still take teachers’ joint entrance exams in Taiwan Couples are every year. So once I am admitted to a school in geographically there, I will leave here. Actually it really depends separated on whether my boyfriend can come to work in Kinmen or not. If he can come here to stay with me, (Insights for the I don’t think it’s necessary to leave here in the near section of discussions) future, but if he cannot, I think I will continue taking the exams to give myself the chance to go back. Figure 3.2.The second example of the coding process. 29.

(41) The following Table 3.2 presents the categorizing result of the study Table 3.2. Data Analysis Structure of Adjustment NO.. CODE. NO.. CATEGORY. NO.. THEME. 1.1.1. Leadership in school. 1.1. Organizational behavior. 1. Working. 1.1.2 1.2.1. Intern communication Working hours. 1.2.2 1.2.3 2.1.1. Job content and teacher’s specialty Rules in school Privacy issue. 2.1.2. High frequency and no deep conversation. 2.1.3. Having courtesy to the elder. 2.2.1. Not frequently but with deep. adjustment 1.2. Organizational management. 2.1. Interaction with Kinmen natives. 2.2. conversation. adjustment. from/ in Taiwan. Problem of friends’ or family’s. 2.3. stereotype Social support. 2.3. Social support. 3.1.1. Good landlord and safety. 3.1. Living. 3.1.2. High price and not much furniture. 3.2.1 3.2.2. Price of goods is higher than Taiwan Doing shopping on-line. 3.2. Shopping. 3.3.1. Couples are geographically separated. 3.3. Relational issue. 3.3.2. The outer pressure of getting married. 3.4.1. High frequency of meals for socializing. 3.4. Meals for socializing. 3.4.1. Drinking Kinmen kaoliang liquor is a must. 3.5.1. Tight relations among natives. 3.5. Relation overrides rules. 3.5.2 3.5.3. The elder teachers can have more rights Planning is not favored. 3.6. Natives’ close relationship with. 3.6. Natives’ close. 3. General adjustment. Mainland China. Finding healthy leisure activities to. Psychological. Interaction with people. 2.2.2. 3.7. 2. relationship with Mainland China 3.7. engage in. Finding healthy leisure activities to engage in. 30.

(42) Framework of Research Findings The resulting structure of categories and themes was then used to for the framework of the study. It is too arbitrary to judge whether a person adapts well to the culture in Kinmen. However, it is reasonable to say if a participant is personally willing to continually stay in Kinmen, not forced by any pressure, then the participant enjoys working and living in Kinmen and adapts well to the life there. People do not desire for staying in one place unless they like there or have practical reasons for staying there, and that is the reason why the researcher removes the latter factor to understand if participants are fond of Kinmen itself. As mentioned in chapter two in this study, Black et al. (1991) proposed a theoretical framework of dimensions of adjustment which are adjustment to the job, adjustment to interacting with host country nationals, and adjustment to the non-work environment. From coding some interview data, the researcher found some participants also formed a new problem of interaction with people from or in Taiwan. Taking dimensions proposed by Black et al. (1991) as reference, the researcher adapted the framework for the study including three kinds of adjustment: working, psychological, and general adjustment as figure 3.2. in the next page.. 31.

(43) Working Adjustment ●Organizational behavior ●Organizational. management. Psychological Adjustment ●Interaction. with Kinmen. natives ●Interaction with people. Adjustment. from/ in Taiwan ●Social support General Adjustment ●Living ●Shopping ●Relational. issue. ●Meals. for socializing ●Relation overrides rules ●Natives’ close. relationship. with Mainland China ●Finding. healthy leisure. activities to engage in. Figure 3.3. Research findings framework. Adapted from “The influence of the Spouse on American Expatriate Adjustment and Intent to Stay in Pacific Rim Overseas Assignments,” by J. S. Black, ＆ G. K. Stephens, 1989, Journal of Management, 15(4), p538. Copyright 1989 by the Journal of Management Issues.. 32.

(44) CHAPTER IV. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS. The findings and the extended discussion issues are placed in chapter four. The study tries to understand if the participants have any incidents of cultural adjustment in different schools or life in Kinmen. The research findings are introduced according to the three themes of the analysis of interview data. From the following presentation, it can be seen that the participants face more serious challenges of working adjustment. In working adjustment domain, the participants expressed their difficulties with tone of dissatisfaction and powerlessness. The way to interact with Kinmen natives or understanding how the natives handling things is another part that the participants are trying to learn. Positive experiences such as having nice landlords or living under safe public security were also truthfully presented. The researcher gave enough description by the participants to have readers understand the participants’ genuine feeling and ideas. The part of discussions identified several critical issues in findings. The issues include glass ceiling effect in Kinmen schools and homesickness. Glass ceiling effect may in fact result in young teachers’ dissatisfaction and influence teachers’ desire of staying in Kinmen. And separation with one’s boyfriend/ girlfriend can deepen the homesick of teachers from Taiwan.. Findings Theme One: Working Adjustment The difficulties which the teachers pointed out were hard to be solved because they are mostly related to something rooted in schools— Deans or principals are hard to challenge, time schedule will not be changed in short time, and specific demands for students are things that teachers need to cooperate schools to execution. Organizational behavior Organizational behavior investigates the impact that individuals or groups and have on 33.

(45) behavior within an organization. It is an interdisciplinary field that includes sociology, psychology, and communication (Robbins, 2004). The participants found elder teachers possess more substantial leadership and schools are lack of upward communication. Leadership in school Every public high school no matter in Taiwan or Kinmen, has a basic personnel framework consisting of a principal, homeroom teachers, teachers who also have administrative duty, subject teachers, and also few civil servants. A school is not like a for-profit organization in which employees’ payment or benefit is mainly decided by the company they belong to. Instead, public school teachers’ payment, year-end bonuses and other welfare are regulated and secured by national rules but not by principals, besides, a principal also holds teaching position meaning who is still a homeroom teacher or subject teacher in the case he/ she does not be a principal yet has not retired. Under such circumstances, within an organization, public school teachers should have more equal rights than usual employees in companies. In meetings, teachers should have rights to speak and offer their suggestions as well as the principal or deans can do. In Kinmen, principals and deans are all elder natives. However, different from the ideal state, one participant called her principal as “the emperor.” And another participant described her experience of having meetings in school: Whenever in a meeting, it’s always the principal having the final say, and teachers’ opinions are really just for references, and that’s why our meeting time is usually quick, because we tend not to raise ideas; we only have to sit there, listen, and finish the snacks or meals prepared for us.. Another participant said how detailed her principal can interfere with: When we were teaching, the principal sometimes suddenly opened windows of the classrooms and directly blamed students for not letting the air circulated. Or he even stepped into the classroom and picked up some little litter. To me, and I know some other Taiwan colleagues; do 34.

(46) not appreciate the principal’s “enthusiasm.” I think he can tell teachers that he prefers windows to be open, or he can softly speak to the teachers to let us ask students pick trash up.. When the researcher discusses the above instances with another participant, she said, “My principal and the academic dean have done similar things to my class, too. They would immediately demand what they want for the class despite the teacher was still in the process of teaching.” The participants referred to their feeling as “not being respected” or even described the principals or deans’ such behavior as “rude.” They expressed the instances with voice of shock and unbelief, as if they have never be treated like this before, or as if they do not believe such class interruption should happen. From their description, it is obvious that the principals and deans may not know the fact that teachers expect more authority during class time. A participant mentioned, “Well, I guess maybe it’s because they grew up in a world of military control, so they feel no wrong with the management way of centralization.” A participant shared her experience about teaching in Taiwan. She said, In the two different schools I stayed as an intern teacher and a substitute teacher, people [staff in schools] fully respect teachers’ interaction with students in class and do not interfere in teachers’ classroom management unless the teacher does something unacceptable. The schools gave us more discretion than the school now I am working for.. Intern communication Influenced by the climate that principals and deans have the greatest power in school, downward and lateral flows of communication are more common than upward communication. That means communication that flows from the principal/ deans to teachers and flows between teachers happen more often in schools. A participant talked about the actual situation during meetings lack of upward communications in her school. It’s actually useless to speak out our opinions in meetings. Although they [deans or principal] 35.

(47) always ask, “Anybody has other questions or ideas?” but rarely there are teachers raising more words. At the beginning I felt it’s odd. But later I understood why. Teachers from Taiwan in fact are deemed to have no status to ‘challenge’ those heads as they are elders, so any new ideas different from the way people did would just be seen crazy, and no heads value those crazy ideas proposed by a young teacher from Taiwan. And why don’t other senior native teachers speak much? (…) from my observation, they tend to solve problems under the table, meetings are just routines, and that becomes a tacit understanding among teachers here. It’s a waste of time to me when meetings are only meaningless forms.. A participant shared similar story, too, about the common of lateral communication but rare upward one. The following contains the context and her reason. We only complain about some unfair things with each other [other co-workers], because we know there’s nothing we can do about those things like no system of rotation between homeroom teachers and subject teachers. It’s not fair to make some teachers be homeroom teachers forever, while some can always be subject teachers. Schools in Taiwan, rotation has been done for years. But how dare we question this unreasonable phenomenon? Senior natives are like kings and queens; their status is unshakable in school. It’s actually the privilege the school reserve for them. So how can we say and change anything?. Upward communication is necessary when it concerns offering suggestions or opinions of changes. However, teachers from Taiwan have noticed some special organizational climate such as giving senior natives the best treatment is a must, or senior natives have the real power by schools’ allowance, so they have learned to talked some grievance only in private, and feel powerless to give chiefs some advice. A participant said, “one can be onto the blacklist if he/she has ever proposed any ‘rebellious’ suggestion in public. Organizational Management About teachers’ working hours in Kinmen, the participants said they have to begin daily 36.

(48) working early, have no time for resting during noon time, and need to attend many research-and-study programs for teachers on weekends. For schools’ positions, no match between job and its required specialty happens, which caused the participants who are responsible for things beyond their specialty a lot of pressure. The participants talked about the need to stress uniformity among students and schools prescribe right manners in many details. Working hours In Kinmen, senior high schools begin their early-reading activity at 7:00a.m., and junior high schools begin theirs at 7:15a.m. Homeroom teachers have to come to school by or before that time. There is no breaking time for junior high school homeroom teachers at noon, but senior high school ones can take a rest during noon time. Here is the statement of a participant from a junior high school. I come to school around 6:45a.m to watch my students doing cleaning work of outside area. Sometimes the road is full of leaves and litters, it’s impossible to clean our responsible area well if students don’t start working early, which means I have to be here early too. Without teacher’s watching, students may get lazy. Sometimes at thinking of my ex-colleagues in Taiwan don’t have to be in class until 7:30, I feel more homesick and also a little frustrated. I can’t imagine I have to wake up this early every day until their graduation. (…) but I guess after this grader’s graduation, I will still be a homeroom teacher.. After watching students cleaning outside area, homeroom teachers need to stay with their students during early-reading period to 7:45am, and then from 8:00am, the first period begins. Having taught for the morning time, homeroom teachers in the junior high schools still can’t take a rest during noon time (teachers in the senior high schools can), and the reason is described as below. The most unbearable thing for my work I think is the everyday tiring noon time. Having lunch 37.

(49) is supposed to be a relaxing moment, but I have to supervise students’ lunch manners, from lining up nicely, wearing hats and masks for persons scooping dishes, starting eating together, eating quietly, to wiping plates and other hygiene problems. School has different teacher every day rank every class’ lunch behavior to have competition. Truly I can’t eat well under with all these work. The more tiring thing is that I need to supervise students cleaning classroom area after they finish their meals. Why don’t the schools arrange a particular period of time for cleaning as schools in Taiwan do? Watching outside cleaning area in the early morning and classroom cleaning area at noon time is really a great burden for homeroom teachers.. Another participant expressed her stress about noon time, too. It’s such a hurry to finish so many things before 12:30pm. Every noon is like a battle to me. I am busy with keeping students’ order and hygienic manners, urging them to finish cleaning works after lunch. As soon as the bell rings at 12:30pm, all the classes should quickly turn from a busy status to a silent status— sleeping. The school requires everyone to sleep with their eyes closed! And homeroom teachers have to make sure they do it. It’s another battle to me to make all of them fall into sleep or pretend sleeping.. Some participants grumble about research-and-study programs often occupy their weekends, especially for small schools with few teachers. A participant said, “The Kinmen compulsory education advisory group holds lots of learning programs for us, and many of the courses are on weekends, I feel no rest on the following weekday if I go to the courses on weekend.” Another participant from a rather small-sized school said, In big schools, a teachers takes shifts of having courses, maybe once in couple months, but for teachers in small schools like me, we have to take courses designed for teacher at least once a month, and often more than once a month. Because the Kinmen compulsory education advisory group asks each school to have certain number of teachers join the programs, and there are only few teachers on the rotation list for my school, so it’s soon to take another turn of having 38.