More Embedded Than Explicit: Promoting Reflection on an MA TESOL Programme in China

This chapter considers the critical roles played by reflection on a long-standing MA TESOL programme for experienced state system English teachers, most of whom continue to do some classroom teaching while studying on the programme. The programme takes place wholly in China and is jointly taught and assessed by UK and Chinese university staff. Successful graduates obtain a UK degree. While the development of reflection is not a stated aim of the programme, opportunities for in-service teachers to explore and reflect on their classrooms are embedded from the first module, where they are introduced to a framework for analyzing their own professional and cultural contexts. Throughout the remainder of the programme, they are called upon to demonstrate their ability to use their developing contextual understanding to critically evaluate and explore the extent to which ideas and practices introduced are relevant to and appropriate for enabling Chinese English learners to meet national curriculum aims. The chapter provides detailed examples of opportunities for reflection and exploration that are provided through both in-module activities and assignments and evidence of how in-service teachers have perceived and responded to these. It also outlines some challenges to maintaining a reflective orientation on a programme that works at a distance and across cultures and indicates ways in which the programme adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic. It concludes with some suggestions as to how the influence that reflection has on the programme might be explored further.