Adaptations of Malaysian Private School Teachers in Brunei Darussalam: A Bourdieusian Framework
Main Article Content
Abstract
The number of teachers teaching overseas is on the rise. Globally, it is estimated that there will be 800,000 expatriate teachers in 2026. Teaching overseas offers an opportunity for self and professional development. Yet, expatriate teachers are confronted with several challenges in the new host country, leading to employer turnover. Previous studies have assumed that expatriate teachers who moved from the Eastern to Western countries or vice versa faced greater cultural shock and thus, needed to take more actions to adapt to the new teaching environment. The adaptation of teachers who teach within the ASEAN countries is under research. Using Bourdieu’s theoretical framework, this study investigated the differences experienced by Malaysian private school teachers teaching in Brunei Darussalam, their adaptation strategies and the types of resources that facilitated their adaptation process. This research involved 10 Malaysian teachers teaching at private schools in Brunei Darussalam. Data was collected through interviews, coded and categorised into themes based on the key concepts – field, habitus, and capital, in Bourdieu’s theory. The results showed that there were differences in teaching between the two countries in terms of the education system, school culture, and facilities. The teachers underwent intercultural, psychological, instructional, and language adaptations. Transitions into a new teaching environment could be facilitated by social and cultural capital. This study highlights the need to understand the challenges expatriate teachers experience during the transition period in the new host country and provide adequate support for a smooth adaptation process.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
References
Baruah, P., & Gogoi, M. (2016). Adjustment of secondary school teachers of Dibrugarh District, Assam. International Journal for Research in Education, 5(4), 11–23.
Bassett, R. (2018). Intercultural adjustment for teachers abroad. [Master's thesis, St. Cloud State University]. Retrieved from https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/engl_etds/150
Bhat, S. A., & Beri, A. (2016). Social adjustment and job performance of college teachers: An analytical study. Indian Journal of Positive Psychology, 7(2), 206–208.
Bourdieu, P. (1977). Outline of a theory of practice (Vol. 16). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511812507
Bourdieu, P. (1984). Distinction (Trans. R. Nice). Polity. (Original work published 1979).
Bourdieu, P. (1986). The forms of capital. In Cultural theory: An anthology. Wiley-Blackwell.
Bunnell, T. (2017). Teachers in international schools: A neglected “middling actor” in expatriation. Journal of Global Mobility, 5(2), 194–202. https://doi.org/10.1108/JGM-07-2016-0033
Çakmak, E., Lie, R., Selwyn, T., & Leeuwis, C. (2021). Like a fish in water: Habitus adaptation mechanisms of informal tourism entrepreneurs in Thailand. Annals of Tourism Research, 90, 103262. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2021.103262
Chen, H. C. (2016). In-service teachers’ intelligibility and pronunciation adjustment strategies in English language classrooms. English Language Teaching, 9(4), 30–53. http://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v9n4p30
Creswell, J. W. (2008). Collecting quantitative data. In J. W. Creswell (Ed.), Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating qualitative and quantitative research (pp. 150–181). Pearson Prentice Hall.
Davies, D. (2001). Working and living in Korea: Facilitating adjustment [Paper presentation]. Proceedings of the 9th Korea TESOL International Conference, Seoul, 13–14 October.
Ducheva, Z. (2010). Adjustment of the teacher to pedagogical community. Trakia Journal of Sciences, 8(Suppl. 3), 342–347.
Ebil, S., & Shahrill, M. (2023). Overview of education in Brunei Darussalam. In L. P. Symaco, & M. Hayden (Eds.), International handbook on education in Southeast Asia (pp. 29–49). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-8136-3_46-1
Hart, C. S. (2019). Education, inequality and social justice: A critical analysis applying the Sen-Bourdieu analytical framework. Policy Futures in Education, 17(5), 582–598. https://doi.org/10.1177/1478210318809758
Hanson, E. C. (2003). “To know the system and know the culture is difficult”: Understanding the cultural adjustment process of teachers from China working in U.S. K-12 schools [Master’s thesis, University of Minnesota].
Ivemark, B. & Ambrose, A. (2021). Habitus adaptation and first-generation university student’s adjustment to higher education: A life course perspective. Sociology of Education, 94(4), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1177/00380407211017060
Jeannin, L. (2018). The adaptation process of international lecturers in a South African university: The centrality of agency and collegiality. Journal of Research in International Education. 16(3), 236–247. https://doi.org/10.1177/147524091774603
Johnston, B. (1999). The expatriate teacher as Postmodern Paladin. Research in the Teaching of English, 34(2), 55–280. https://doi.org/10.58680/rte19991690
Kim, T. (2017). Academic mobility, transnational identity capital, and stratification under conditions of academic capitalism. Higher Education, 73(6), 981–997. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-017-0118-0
Koh, S. Y. (2015). State-led talent return migration programme and the doubly neglected ‘Malaysian diaspora’: Whose diaspora, what citizenship, whose development? Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography, 36, 183–200. https://doi.org/10.1111/sjtg.12107
Lane, J. F. (2011). Bourdieu’s politics: Problems and possibilities. Routledge.
Martyn, E. (1988). The adjustment of North American teachers in China: A case study. University of Manitoba.
Ministry of Education Brunei Darussalam. (2013). SPN21 2013. https://www.moe.gov.bn/spn21dl/SPN21%20ENG%20(2013)%20COMPLETE.pdf
Neely-Prado, A., Navarrete, G., & Huepe, D. (2019). Socio-affective and cognitive predictors of social adaptation in vulnerable contexts. PLoS ONE, 14(6), e0218236. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0218236
Omar Ali, A., Abdullah, N.A. (2023). Basic Education in Brunei Darussalam. In L. P. Symaco, & M. Hayden (Eds.), International handbook on education in Southeast Asia (pp. 67–90). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-8136-3_53-1
Parsons, S. A., Vaughn, M., Scales, R. Q., Gallagher, M. A., Parsons, A. W., Davis, S. G., Pierczynski, M., & Allen, M. (2018). Teachers’ instructional adaptations: A research synthesis. Review of Educational Research, 88(2), 205–242. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654317743198
Power, E. (1999). An introduction to Pierre Bordieu’s key theoretical concepts. Journal of the Study of Food and Society, 3(1), 48–52. https://doi.org/10.2752/152897999786690753
Radogna, M. -R. (2019). The concept of habitus in migration studies: A literature review. Journal of Comparative Research in Anthropology and Sociology, 10(2), 59–68. https://doi.org/10.33788//sr.20.1.5
Remennick, L. (2001). Survival of the fittest: Russian immigrant teachers speak about their professional adjustment in Israel. International Migration, 40(1), 99–121. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2435.00187
Shen, W., Xu, X., & Wang, X. (2022). Reconceptualising international academic mobility in the global knowledge system: towards a new research agenda. Higher Education, 84, 1317–1342. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-022-00931-8
Soong, L. H., & Daly, A. (2010). Adjustment experiences of international pre-service teachers through community service engagement [Paper presentation]. The 21st ISANA International Education Conference, Melbourne, Victoria, 30 November–4 December.
Ullah, A. K. M. A., & Kumpoh, A. A. -Z. A. (2018). Diaspora community in Brunei: Culture, ethnicity and integration. Diaspora Studies, 11(3), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/09739572.2018.1538686
United Nations. (2020). International Migrant Stock 2020. https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/content/international-migrant-stock
Vermote, B., Vansteenkiste, M., Aelterman, N., Kaap-Deeder, J. v. d., & Beyers, W. (2022). Teachers’ psychological needs link social pressure with personal adjustment and motivating teaching style. The Journal of Experimental Education, 91(4), 696–717. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220973.2022.2039584
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Harvard University Press.
Wang, X. (2002). Expatriate adjustment from a social network perspective: Theoretical examination and a conceptual model. International Journal of Cross-Cultural Management, 2(3), 321–337. https://doi.org/10.1177/14705958022300
Yang, X., Feng, Y., Meng, Y., & Qiu, Y. (2019). Career adaptability, work engagement, and employee well-being among Chinese employees: The role of Guanxi. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 01029. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01029
Ye, L. & Dong, X. -Y. (2021). The impact of cross-cultural adaptation on the psychology and entrepreneurial intention of venture entrepreneurs. Frontier in Psychology, 7(12), 705075. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.705075
Zhai, X., Li, M., & Guo, Y. (2018). Teachers’ use of learning progression-based formative assessment to inform teachers’ instructional adjustment: A case study of two physics teachers’ instruction. International Journal of Science Education, 40(15), 1832–1856. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2018.1512772