Foreign English language teachers in China

In the wake of China's Reform and Opening-up, the surge of the nation's involvement in the globalised economy precipitated an influx of foreign English language teachers (ELTs) into the booming private English language education sector and expanding international schools. Foreign ELTs became an important part of China's changing sociopolitical environment for migrants and the national education landscape in the past decade. Foreign ELTs were prioritised in China's education sectors by policymakers who saw them as a part of China's modernisation. However, the recent dynamics of foreign teacher migration have shifted, significantly influenced by China's immigration law reforms in 2013 and various educational policies, such as the “double deduction” policy, which demonstrate a new and ambivalent relationship between policymakers and foreign ELTs. This chapter uses data gathered across multiple geographical regions in China from 2016 to 2022 to delineate the evolving migration experiences and strategies of foreign teachers of different backgrounds navigating this changing policy environment.