Examining (Re)Constructive History through the Experiences of Asian American Teachers

This article summarizes a case study of three Asian American teachers and their experiences in integrating Asian American perspectives into their social studies teaching. Through examining these teachers’ experiences, the importance of teacher dispositions, teacher knowledge of Asian American histories, and access to ongoing professional learning opportunities that centered equity emerged as critical to integrating Asian American perspectives into the curriculum.

Detrimental Effects of Color-Blind Racial Attitudes in Preparing a Culturally Responsive Teaching Workforce for Immigrants

Demands on the teacher workforce are changing as one quarter of children in U.S. schools live in immigrant families and about half of students are racial/ethnic minorities. Simultaneously, diminishing teacher support and teacher shortages cause reliance on alternative certification programs (e.g., Teach for America). In response, we studied the links between color-blind racial attitudes and culturally responsive teaching self-efficacy and outcome expectations with immigrant students among 323 teachers completing an alternative program. Results from a moderated mediation model based on social cognitive career theory demonstrated that color-blind racial attitudes were significantly negatively associated with teaching outcome expectations with immigrants. In addition, the link between color-blind attitudes and self-efficacy was positive and significant only for Asian/Asian American teachers, and the link between self-efficacy and outcome expectations was significant for Latinx and Asian/Asian American teachers, and White teachers. We discuss implications for supporting teachers’ career development in schools serving immigrants of color.

Faith and Pedagogy: Intersections of Asian American Teachers’ Identities and Practice

This article explores the role that teachers’ religious identities play in the classroom, particularly as they relate to understandings of race and equity. Employing an intersectional framework, I use interview data to examine how two Asian American teachers, who emphasize how important their Christian identities are to their lives and to their classroom practice, enact identity and pedagogy. Findings suggest that Christian teachers see teaching as an act of Christian service, that both faith and racial identities play roles in shaping culturally relevant pedagogy, and that teachers’ faith identities are integral to how they view themselves as individuals and as teachers.

Narratives of Asian/American Educators

Asian/American educators are often reified as the model minority and are regarded as smart, quiet, and reserved, and willing to conform to the dominant discourse and culture (Fairclough, 2001; Ramanathan, 2006). When they do not mold to this ascribed role, they can be avoided, found peculiar, and isolated (Delgado & Stefancic, 2001). This chapter examines the narratives of three Asian/American teachers in the Midwestern United States. These narratives are instructive in individual and collective racial identity development, as well as the cultural formation of emerging definitions of what it means to be an Asian/American professional in U.S. public schools.