conceptions of teaching by five vietnamese american preservice teachers
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This article was downloaded by: [University of California Davis]On: 21 November 2014, At: 23:58Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH,UK
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Conceptions of Teaching byFive Vietnamese AmericanPreservice TeachersHuong Tran Nguyen aa California State University , Long Beach, USAPublished online: 02 May 2008.
To cite this article: Huong Tran Nguyen (2008) Conceptions of Teaching by FiveVietnamese American Preservice Teachers, Journal of Language, Identity & Education,7:2, 113-136, DOI: 10.1080/15348450801970654
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Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, 7: 113–136, 2008Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLCISSN 1534-8458 print / 1532-7701 onlineDOI: 10.1080/15348450801970654
Conceptions of Teaching by FiveVietnamese AmericanPreservice Teachers
Huong Tran NguyenCalifornia State University, Long Beach
This article argues that Vietnamese Americans face unique challenges in becomingU.S. educators. To understand the experiences of five preservice VietnameseAmerican teachers, it examines the similarities and within-group differences inperspectives on teaching and in adaptation strategies of their practicum activities ata California university. The study shows that these individuals operated frequentlyfrom their Vietnamese cultural frame of understanding, and therefore had difficultywith socializing into U.S. teaching. In particular, they perceived teaching asfundamentally a moral enterprise, and teachers as moral agents, able—by virtueof their role—to command authority in the classroom and reverential respect fromtheir students and parents. These assumptions about teachers’ roles were oftenincongruent with those inherent in the teaching and learning contexts in whichthey worked.
Key words: Asian American teacher development, Vietnamese American teacherdevelopment, preservice teacher education
California enrolled 6.4 million students in 2002–2003, 32% of whom wereCaucasian and 68% ethnic minority in comparison to 74.2% Caucasian and25.8% ethnic minority teachers (California State Department of Education, 2001).The aforementioned data indicated not only a disproportion in teacher–studentdemographics, but also pointed to a difference between the heritage background
Correspondence should be sent to Huong Tran Nguyen, California State University, Long Beach.E-mail: [email protected]
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and socioeconomic status of teachers and students (Darling-Hammond, 1999;Goodlad, 1990; Holmes Group, 1986).
National and state data on “Asian” teachers were not aggregated by nation-ality, so the number of Vietnamese Americans entering teaching could notbe quantified. Nevertheless, with a total of 4.4% Asian American teachers inCalifornia, one could reasonably infer that there would be a modest numberof Vietnamese Americans, probably fewer than those of other Asian Americanethnicities (Goodwin, Genishi, Asher, & Woo, 1997; Gordon, 1994, 2000; Rong& Preissle, 1997; Su, 1996). More discussion on why few enter teaching will beaddressed in the literature review section of this article.
Given that the majority of teachers are Caucasian, a considerable amountof research on this group exists, documenting (among other topics) their entryexperiences and challenges, namely role transitioning and authority establishingin the classroom (Cattani, 2002; Dollase, 1992; Guyton & McIntyre, 1990;Lemlech & Hertzog-Foliart, 1993; Lortie, 1975). In addition to the aforemen-tioned challenges, ethnic minority candidates have reported to have faced morebarriers, ranging from financial hardship, difficulty in passing college entranceand teacher competency examinations, less positive schooling experiences, tokeen awareness of covert and overt discrimination in public institutions andin society (Banks & Banks, 2005; Boyer & Baptiste, 1996; Gordon, 1994;Su, 1996).
Asian American teachers had to cope with yet another challenge: intenseparental pressure against teaching. Ironically, these Asian American parentshad generally held reverence for their own teachers in their ancestral countries(Gordon, 1994, 2000). According to Su (1996), deeply rooted cultural valuesand social structure of U.S. society did not necessarily bestow on teachers theirdeserved status, comparable respect, and financial rewards. A Confucian teachermodel was expected to have answers to all questions and to transmit culture,knowledge, wisdom, and familial/communal norms and values both inside andoutside of the school setting. Whereas an American teacher was viewed as alife-long learner who honed his or her skill while teaching and continued todevelop during a career, reverential respect for a teacher in the Confucian contextsignified structure, order, discipline, and reverence (Gordon, 1994, 2000; Rong &Preissle, 1997); respect in the U.S. sense took on a more or less generic senseof a teacher having authority over her students (Lortie, 1975).
Despite these challenges, some Vietnamese Americans chose teaching, avocation that demands, in addition to the more widely experienced challengesof new teachers, significant linguistic competence and socialization into U.S.society. What accounts for their career choices? What do we as a society need todo to ensure their success? This article, based on an earlier study, addressed thesequestions by examining the experiences of five Vietnamese American teachercandidates that brought them to this career juncture.
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CONCEPTIONS OF TEACHING 115
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Lortie (1975) found that teachers entered teaching for altruistic reasons, had fewopportunities for self-expression and originality (Waller, 1961), and tended toapproach issues intuitively rather than rationally or critically when questionedabout their taken-for-granted pedagogy (Jackson, 1990). Given that it takesabout 5 years for beginning teachers to learn their trade (Berliner, 1994), theywould understandably lack a clear grasp of the larger context of school vis-á-vis society, related responsibilities, and professional discourse (Goodlad, 1990)but would gradually adopt a more student-centered approach with an increasedunderstanding that their pedagogical practice would impact student learningoutcomes (Berliner, 1994).
Respect was not cited as critical in the aforementioned studies, which havealso noted no apparent remarkable or peculiar transformation that the teachinginstitution and its socialization process have gone through since its inception.These majority culture teachers have attended the same system of education andhave witnessed models of teaching they would likely implement in their ownpractice as adults.
Studies of ethnic minority teachers have disclosed barriers and tensions. ForAfrican American teachers, for example, their experiences with institutionalinequalities (Mitchell, 1998) led them to adopt a culturally responsive pedagogy(Ladson-Billings, 1994; Villegas, 1996) and uniquely qualified them as “dream-keepers” of African American children (Ladson-Billings, 1994, p. 17). Gainingrespect from students, however, was not cited as these teachers’ main concern.Hispanic teacher candidates in Martinez and O’Donnell’s study (1993) founda mentoring process of family or group support and caring professors in thecollege of education to be essential to their individual success and retention asfuture teachers as well as being respected as individuals.
I further explored studies of Asian American teachers because the concept ofreverential respect for teachers (and elders) plays a key role in their familial andsocietal milieus, impacting their professional lives. Gordon (1994, 2000), forexample, found the following deterrent factors to teaching: parental attitude, asense of personal inadequacy based on the Confucian teacher model of a teacher(as discussed previously), lack of respect, and linguistic difficulties. Becauseteaching was not an “ethnic-enclave” occupation (Rong & Preissle, 1997, p. 279),new teachers were vulnerable to discriminatory practices in the workplace andrisked feeling marginalized, invisible, and silent (Goodwin et al., 1997).
Guided by the existing literature, my study focused exclusively on a groupof individuals that has not been extensively studied on its own right. It thereforeadded to our understanding of a particular Asian American experience that mightinform the recruitment and retention of ethnic minority candidates. From thisstudy, I proposed how we might best support their development.
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THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Two related theories—the moral dimensions of teaching and the socialconstruction process of teaching (including the development of a teacher identityand a cultural identity)—provided lenses for examining how these participantsperceived teaching and their own development as teachers and helped to answertwo focus questions: (a) What shaped the development of these preserviceteachers? (b) How did these participants characterize their preservice experience?
Teachers or moral agents demonstrated power and authority over studentsby their pedagogical practice and curricular choices (Buzelli & Johnston, 2002)and in modifying their students’ behavior to achieve desired goals and orderin the classroom. In their interaction with one another over the course of theschool year, teachers and students created moral meanings (Buzelli & Johnston,2002). Hence, the decisions teachers made would inevitably shape the conductand moral development of their students (Goodlad, Soder, & Sirotnik, 1990;Goodman & Lesnick, 2004).
For Asian American teachers, being moral agents and commanding reverentialrespect went hand in hand (Gordon, 1994, 2000). It followed then that, byvirtue of their role, teachers determined which type of behavioral conduct wasacceptable, including what respect meant. Not only did teaching imbue moraldimensions, teachers and students influenced one another in their interaction.
How did teachers learn their socially constructed trade and come to knowthat their work was moral in nature? According to Lortie (1975), a “mini-apprenticeship” (p. 70) in the classroom offered novices an opportunity to learnhow their mentors presented themselves (including their attire), conducted theirwork, perceived students’ potential and performance and held expectations forthem, and defined what constituted participation in classroom discourse, all ofwhich carried value judgment and were moral in nature (Buzelli & Johnston, 2002).That socialization process has been colored by the quality of the relationshipsthese neophytes themselves have had as children and as adults and influencestheir chances later in life (Feiman-Nemser, 1983; Zeichner & Gore, 1990).To be accepted by their seasoned colleagues and a general public, beginningteachers often attempted to live up to the socially defined identity of an Americanteacher (Cattani, 2002; Lortie, 1975). For Asian Americans, this practicumfurther cemented their Confucian-ingrained reverence for teachers and heightenedthe level of expectation for how they should perform as educators (Gordon, 2000).
In terms of an American teacher identity, Cattani (2002) believed thatthe status of a young, female, White participant was not considered authori-tative, so she would start her career with a “deficit” (p. 29). For this youngteacher, striking an authority balance with her colleagues proved to be quitechallenging. In crafting her teacher “persona” (p. 31), she was expected to adoptan identity of being “in character” (p. 32). That is, she should at least look like a
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teacher in appearance: physical size, including weight; voice pitch, volume; title(Mrs., Miss, Ms.); and speech pattern. She and her teacher identity were underclose scrutiny by her colleagues and others (Cattani, 2002).
In addition to adopting a teacher identity, a teacher would also be devel-oping a cultural identity, the two being inextricably interconnected. Her formalschooling experience tended to influence who she later became. Empiricalresearch on identity (e.g., Gergen, 1991; Holland, Lachicotte, Skinner, & Cain,1998; Macclure, 1993; Sarup, 1993) suggested that a person tended to havemultiple identities—closely linked to his or her cultural heritage—which werein a fluid state and sometimes in conflict with the person’s individuality. Inan educational setting, students’ identities would be shaped by culturally influ-enced patterns of participation and representation. For example, McKay andWong (1996) found that Mandarin-speaking immigrant students in a Californiamiddle school were often invisible and left out of classroom participation becausetheir teachers presented them (and Asian Americans as a group) as “model”students: docile, quiet, easy to teach, and trouble free. Furthermore, a Euro-centricteaching approach would disallow the representation of ethnic minority studentsin curricular material as well as disaffirming their cultural identity (Buzelli &Johnston, 2002). Henceforth, the identities teachers assigned to their studentsmay or may not be the same ones that they themselves would have adopted. Inshort, students’ identities were constructed, challenged, reinforced, and negotiatedthrough the types of participation, representation, and classroom discourse,including others’ perceptions and expectations of them (Buzelli & Johnston, 2002).
To what extent was the individual identity of a person tied to the identity ofher minority group? Wagley and Harris (1964, as cited in Bankston & Zhou,1995) asserted that the two identities were mutually inclusive. They argued thatminority groups often received unequal treatment, were easily identifiable byphysical or cultural characteristics (e.g., Asian Americans), ascribed to theirgroup membership, and tended to feel a sense of peoplehood within their owngroup. In addition, their speech would inevitably be another visible and hardto camouflage marker of their cultural identity; if perceived as accented, itcould influence how others might view them and their potential for success(Lippi-Green, 1997).
With this theoretical base and with the questions I posed for my study,I conducted an in-depth case study of Vietnamese American teachers whosemoral understandings and socialization processes proved key to understandingtheir experiences preparing for teaching.
METHOD
Since the fall of 1998, I have been a faculty member of the College of Educationat a California state university ranked third in the nation by the Princeton Review
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in its 2007 book edition, America’s Best Value College. The California stateuniversity system is one the largest, most diverse and affordable systems inthe country, with 44,000 faculty and staff serving 400,000 students from 23campuses.
I have been teaching core courses, both in the Multiple Subject CredentialProgram (MSCP) and Single Subject Credential Program (SSCP), preparingelementary and secondary teacher candidates for teaching in urban classrooms.In addition to my teaching duties, I have also been supervising MSCP preserviceand “intern” teachers or formerly Emergency permit teachers (employed byschool districts while completing their Methods courses and practicum). Studentteaching is the culminating field experience for obtaining a California teachingcredential.
The cohort under my supervision (including the participants in this study) hadnot taken any other courses from me prior to their student teaching practicum.Candidates enrolled in the courses I have been teaching in the last 8 years were,for the most part, Caucasian; some were of ethnic minority origin, but few wereVietnamese American. I was perplexed by the underrepresentation of AsianAmericans in our program courses, but also by their rare presence in publicschools where I had been an elementary and later a secondary teacher for 2decades (prior to becoming a university faculty member), and in the classroomswhere I have been assigned as a practicum supervisor.
In the fall of 2001, the program director (PD) in charge of practicum placementapproached me about supervising a mixed cohort (five of whom were bilingualVietnamese Americans) for the following semester, spring of 2002. I acceptedher offer and expressed my research interest in exploring the entry perspectiveof Vietnamese Americans in the profession. The PD sought input from thesefive candidates regarding their possible participation in my study. Not only didthese women respond positively to her request, they were surprised that someonewas interested in their experience. In the spring of 2002, these five Vietnamese-born first-generation American women became student teachers and participantsin this study. They each self-selected their pseudonym: Daryl, Kayla, Kristy,Rose, and Quynh.
Table 1 illustrates their modes of U.S. arrival, types of exodus, and formaleducation both in Vietnam and in the United States, initial U.S. settlement, andimmigration status.
To address the research questions I posed, a qualitative case study approachseemed most appropriate (Yin, 1994). I looked for context-relevant within andcross-data connections (Johnson, 1992), and linked them to the social milieuwhere the participants worked and lived (Bogdan & Biklen, 2003). In order forme to capture the subtleties and richness of their experiences, the participantswere free to correspond in English, in Vietnamese, or both; their language(s)remained “as is,” including syntactical errors.
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TABLE 1Background of the Study Participants
NameMode of U.S.
ArrivalYear/Age of
ArrivalType ofExodus
Education inVietnam
Initial U.S.Education
Daryl By boat withoutfamily, butwith somevillagers
1982/Age 9 Unaccompaniedminor
2 years ofelementarygrades
5th grade
Kayla By boat witholder sister,also a minor
1982/Age 10 Unaccompaniedminor
2 years ofelementarygrades
5th grade
Kristy By airplanewith wholefamily
1991/Age 16 OrderlyDepartureProgram(dependent offormer officerreleased fromre-educationcamp)
K–10 4-yearuniversity
Rose By airplanewith wholefamily
1993/Age 16 OrderlyDepartureProgram(dependent offormer officerreleased fromre-educationcamp)
K–12 3 years ofhigh school;on to 2-yearcollege
Quynh By airplanewith somefamilymembers
1992/Age 21 OrderlyDepartureProgram(dependent offormer officerreleased fromre-educationcamp)
K–12 and oneyear ofcollege
2-yearcollege, onto 4-yearuniversity
In terms of ethical considerations for my dual supervisor–researcher roles,I made every effort to refrain from offering opinion or advice. Nevertheless, myrelationship with the participants may have influenced the types of responses theyprovided. To ensure accuracy in the participants’ intended message and in itstranslation from Vietnamese into English, I sought input from them; correctionsor clarifications were made accordingly. Insofar as validity, I consulted withthe participants about my interpretations of their experiences in an effort tominimize my subjectivity. The participants also helped to identify anecdotes thatbest represented their experiences and were most relevant to the arguments or
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points made in the study. In terms of gaining trust and confidence from theparticipants, I believed my background and teaching experience helped; theyseemed comfortable with disclosing their thoughts and feelings. Nonetheless,being a member of the Vietnamese culture did not warrant me liberty to maketaken-for-granted explanations of cultural beliefs or phenomena in the study. Ido, however, acknowledge that researcher subjectivity exists.
STUDY DESIGN
Student Teaching Assignments
The participants fulfilled their practicum at two separate schools (8 weeks each),as partial requirement for earning their California teaching credential. Kristywas hired as a teacher of record (on an Emergency permit) in Kindergartenprior to her practicum, so she student-taught in her own classroom for bothassignments. Of the five Vietnamese American participants, only Kristy andRose were seeking bilingual certification in addition to their basic credential,requiring an additional 45 hours. Because no public schools in their districtof assignment or neighboring districts offered a bilingual English–Vietnameseprogram at the time, two nonpublic settings were substituted for this purpose, Iconducted my fieldwork at those public schools on weekdays and at nonpublicsites on weekends for half a year.
School Site Contexts and Settings
Four local elementary schools and two districts served as sites for this study.The Accountability Report Cards (2001–2002) for these schools indicated thatthe majority of teachers were female and Caucasian, whereas their studentswere mostly ethnic minority. The faculty and staff at Kristy’s school were,however, relatively younger and demographically more diverse. The districtwhere Daryl, Kayla, Rose, and Quynh was assigned was once the subject ofa lawsuit resulting from the segregation of Mexican American children fromCaucasian children (Wollenberg, 1975). All four neighboring districts maintainedMexican and White schools where the two groups did not mix, although theseschools were only 120 yards apart. White children living in Mexican attendanceareas were allowed to transfer to White schools. However, the reverse was nottrue. All four districts permitted only a few token transfers of Mexicans andMexican Americans to White schools (Wollenberg, 1975).
It is important to note the segregation patterns of the aforementioned schooldistrict—which was the context within which Daryl, Kayla, Rose, and Quynhentered this community and these school grounds in 2002—to understand howthat climate weighed on their chance of success as teachers. Not surprisingly,these case study teachers encountered challenges they were unprepared to handle.
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DATA COLLECTION AND SOURCES
Overview
Varied and numerous data reflected the participants’ actions and those withwhom they interacted in a range of situations, including those of tension andconflict.
Weekly Classroom Observations
These observations were based on the six California Standards of the TeachingProfession (CSTP; California State Department of Education, 1997). At theconclusion of each lesson taught, the master teacher (MT), preservice teacheror student teacher (ST), and I participated in a three-way conference (timepermitting). The ST was afforded the opportunity to discuss the extent to whichshe believed she had met the six CSTP, supported by concrete examples fromthe teaching episode. At that point, the MT and I also offered feedback regardinglesson delivery effectiveness, engagement of student, and recommendations forareas of improvement. As participants gained knowledge of self, teaching, andteacher duties, the depth of these briefings became apparent; these ST were ableto step back from the technical aspect of their meticulously designed lessonplans and critically analyze the reciprocal relationship between their practice andstudent learning outcomes.
Weekly Written Reflections
In addition to weekly prompt-based journal entries, participants also built“annals” or “line schematics” of their lives by segmenting them into events orpassages they determined to be significant (Clandinin & Connelly, 1994, p. 420).This data source helped to shed light on their development and informed myinterview questions.
Interviews
Two audio-taped open-ended question interviews were conducted with each ofthe participants, one at the start and one at the end of their practicum. Questionsranged from “What did you learn about ‘collaboration’ with others and aboutyourself?” to “How did your background and belief system impact your work?”Both verbal and nonverbal cues (e.g., eyes rolling, quick smile, frown, pause,wrinkling of nose, head shake or nod) were significant to data analysis, for thesecues communicated emotions (e.g., signs of uncertainty, discomfort, sadness, orembarrassment).
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Mixed-Group Weekly Seminars
Audio-taped seminar discourse centered mainly on teaching and learning. Forexample, a session was devoted to critiquing a videotaped vignette of each of theparticipants’ teaching practice, whereas another was spent on their presentationof an interdisciplinary thematic unit.
Vietnamese Teachers Support Group (VTSG) Meetings
This VTSG forum was formed in response to the Vietnamese American partici-pants’ reservation about sharing their challenges in front of a mixed group anda desire to communicate in both languages. The participants feared that theirnon-Vietnamese peers might not have understood their immigrant experience orbeen empathetic to their struggles in finding their place in a U.S. school contextand in the profession. Therefore, they stated that these meetings afforded theman opportunity to articulate their thoughts and feelings in a safe, comforting, andvalidating environment.
DATA ANALYSIS
I found Bogdan and Biklen’s method (2003) particularly useful. Analysisinvolved dividing the data into manageable units consisting of chunks of textor conversation focused on one topic and bounded by topic shifts in differentcontexts. I developed categories or codes to capture the sense of these units ofdata. I then changed codes and recoded to fully capture cross-data themes tofind similarities across cases and to pinpoint individual differences among them.Two main themes emerged: (a) the impact the participants’ cultural and teacheridentities have on their development as teachers; and (b) teaching as a reciprocalmoral enterprise and coupled with the notion of reverential respect.
FINDINGS
Unlike the backgrounds of the Caucasian or other ethnic minority teachersfeatured in the research literature I had discussed earlier, the participants inthis study were products of the unpopular Vietnam War. They experiencedlife-changing events at a relatively young age. For instance, their fathers’ impris-onment (in the Communist re-education camps) posed a hardship for theirrespective families; they were unable to provide any financial support for theirfamilies’ daily subsistence or to make major decisions. The condition of theparticipants’ escape or departure from Vietnam and entry status in the UnitedStates as refugees and later as immigrants (as discussed earlier), influenced how
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they crafted their cultural and teacher identities as well as shaped their devel-opment as becoming teachers, and thus their chance for success as members ofU.S. society and of the teaching profession.
Models of Teaching and of Teachers
Rather than viewing teaching mainly as a technical act, the participantsconsidered themselves to be moral agents, an extension of who they were asteachers and as persons. Their upbringing and schooling experiences (both inVietnam and in the United States) have shaped their development as teachers (ormoral agents) and their conceptualization of teaching and teachers, including thepower and authority teachers tended to have in molding the conduct and moraldevelopment of their students (Goodlad et al., 1990; Goodman & Lesnick, 2004;Lortie, 1975).
For Asian American teachers, being moral agents and commanding rever-ential respect went hand in hand (Gordon, 1994, 2000). It followed thenthat, by virtue of their role, teachers determined which type of behavioralconduct was acceptable, including what respect meant. Not only did teachingimbue moral dimensions, teachers and students influenced one another in theirinteraction.
In terms of familial influence over career choice, the participants reportedthat their parents, like other Asian American parents (discussed in the review ofliterature section), initially steered them away from teaching, fearing that theymight not be able to command reverential respect from their “American” studentsto maintain order in the classroom. However, once the participants’ minds wereset on teaching, their parents eventually lent them support. For example, Kristywrote that her parents, former teachers in Vietnam (as well as Rose’s mother),echoed such a concern.
My parents supported my decision � � � and encouraged me to become a teacher,but they warned me that it will be really hard work and I may not have the typeof (reverential) respect teachers in Vietnam get. Respect is really important to me.
[3-6-02]
Like her peers, Kristy was influenced, not only by teaching models in Vietnam,but also by those in the United States. She observed colleagues at her school andfound their student-centered approach to teaching and to earning respect to berefreshing. Subsequently, she adopted this method. It appeared that Kristy wasnegotiating between earning respect and expecting unconditional respect fromher students. In her application to our teaching credential program, she stated:
School can be more exciting, fun, interesting, and applicable than what I wasexperiencing (as a child in Vietnam) � � � the classroom (should be) more alive,
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students interact freely with one another � � � have as much hands-on experience asthey can.
[9-2-01]
Daryl’s parents, however, did not play a supportive role in her schoolingexperience; she was left to fend for herself, both as a child and later as an adult.A journal entry revealed how she felt as a student in Vietnam. This lack offamilial guidance might have contributed to her shy and timid demeanor andpresence in the classroom.
I had no clue what I was learning. � � � I didn’t do well in school. My parents don’tcare � � � people in my village don’t care about education. � � � My parents neverpushed me. They didn’t help me about my homework. They didn’t show concernabout my education. I didn’t know how to start or where to go (when I graduatedfrom high school).
[4-17-02]
Because Daryl was mostly American-educated, her high school teachers werethe ones she looked to as models who stood in front of the class and taughtstudents “things.” This experience led her to believe—perhaps naively—thatteaching was “easy” (lecture followed by worksheets) and to say to herself thatshe “� � � could become a teacher some day and do what they did.”
Although Kayla had the support of her family, becoming a teacher hasbeen a bittersweet journey. Her experience as a fifth-grade student—the onlyVietnamese speaker sitting in the back of a classroom and understanding noEnglish—left an indelible memory. She wrote:
School was a tough English-only environment, but nevertheless, I managed tosurvive for a couple of months without comprehending a single word of English.Luckily the only subject I knew was mathematics! I could solve math problems; Icould do fraction problems faster than anyone in the class! Fortunately math wasthe only subject where I gained a little confidence for wanting to stay in school.
[2-6-02]
Feeling isolated, Kayla looked forward to going to the speech therapist in afaraway trailer, often for the entire day. She believed that her teacher of recorddid not notice her being out of the classroom, not only for a day, but probably forthe entire year. Then in her student teaching practicum, this sense of invisibilitycaught up with her once again, as she described,
I noticed some differences in attitudes and behaviors among the first grade staff. � � �They can walk into the room and never notice I was there.
[3-13-02]
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In terms of language competence, one might presume that Daryl and Kaylawould be more proficient in English than their other three peers. On the contrary,Kristy, Rose, and Quynh were not only as orally competent as Daryl and Kaylawere, but they were more introspective in their thinking process (both in Englishand in Vietnamese) and sophisticated in their professional conduct. WhereasDaryl and Kayla appeared more timid when dealing with parents in general,Rose seemed comfortable in her role, and Kristy even more so, probably becauseshe was the Kindergarten teacher of record from the first day of school. Quynh,by far, was the most literate in Vietnamese and demonstrated confidence whencommunicating with parents of ethnic minority students, including VietnameseAmericans. Becoming a teacher meant developing not only a teacher identitybut also a cultural identity.
Cultural Identity
The participants had not considered themselves to be a “minority” until theirstatus had changed from “Vietnamese citizens” to “refugees” when they set footon U.S. soil. This minority status manifested itself in ways that did not appearto have worked in their favor, either in the classroom or in society. The focalteachers used the term “Vietnamese American” to refer to themselves, stressingthat they were primarily Vietnamese, then American—rather than the hyphenated“Vietnamese-American” identification. In a reflection entry, Kristy explained:
Deep down inside I will always think of myself as a Vietnamese because of myappearance, customs, most of my ways of life, my ability to speak, read, and writein Vietnamese, my family background.
[5-15-02]
Rose, too, asserted a sense of pride in her heritage; she wrote:
I also identify myself as a Vietnamese American who can bring diversity anddifferent perspective to children in my classroom. I was born a Vietnamese, grewup in Vietnam. The blood inside my body is the Vietnamese blood. It will beashamed to refuse my origin as a Vietnamese.
[2-27-02]
But Kayla’s journal entry revealed some confusion in her dual identity.
I identify myself as a Vietnamese American because of my heritage background. Ifeel that that my character not only reflects qualities of a Vietnamese woman, butalso many qualities of how I became assimilated. � � � I often feel confused whenpeople ask me about Vietnamese customs. I often switch on a different thinkingmode.
[2-27-02]
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Insofar as her cultural identity, Quynh saw herself as a Vietnamese, not quitea Vietnamese American. (She was the only non-U.S. citizen cohort member,who could not legally cast a vote in any elections and felt had no voice in theelectoral process). She also recalled being made aware of her accented Englishby “Americans” (Caucasians), believing that her speech was a visible markerof difference, disqualifying her from being a true “American,” as evident in ajournal entry.
I identify myself as a Vietnamese teacher� � �My heritage background and languagein Vietnamese somehow hinder my work in the way that I don’t feel much easecommunicating or socializing with American teachers. I am afraid that I don’thave enough vocabulary or I don’t have good pronunciation to communicate� � �itis hard for minority teachers like me to be part of the teaching team. As anyeffective teacher can do, we take extra effort to modify and develop to overcomeour challenge, which to me, is language.
[2-27-02]
Furthermore, Quynh stated in a VTSG meeting that her minority membershipand socioeconomic status impeded her becoming a successful teacher, at leastin the eyes of Caucasians.
To me, I think that it is sure challenging to teach this group of students [Caucasian]because I just feel like I am not ready for them yet. I come from a minoritygroup and I am still learning English. They may have a better living than I do andtheir English may be better than mine. It is not unusual for some to look downupon me.
[4-26-02]
Quynh’s apprehension about her perceived accented-English and how it mightjeopardize her chance of becoming employed was validated by Rosie (her cooper-ating teacher) who said,
As much as I want to believe that accented English doesn’t make a difference Iknow that this isn’t true. Someone, I don’t know who, has set themselves up asthe judge of this and it makes me very angry. � � � She’s a marvelous teacher. � � �But I know that this accent could easily get in her way when she applies for a job,and it just makes me mad.
[6-15-02]
As discussed previously, in terms of the focal teachers’ cultural identity,having physical traits and characteristics of a minority group (Wagley & Harris,1964, as cited in Bankston & Zhou, 1995) as well as speaking accented speechwere significant barriers for them to overcome in becoming teachers (Lippi-Green, 1997). This finding was also reported by other foreign-born AsianAmerican teachers (Goodwin et al., 1997; Gordon, 1994, 2000; Rong & Preissle,1997; Su, 1996).
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Teacher Identity
The foregoing discussion helped to illustrate the inextricable linkage between aperson’s cultural/teacher identities and her heritage background (Gergen, 1991;Holland et al., 1998; and others) in that, who she was tended to impact howshe might conduct herself and her work, as well as how others might perceiveher and her potential. Quynh, for example, came across as reserved, humble,eager to please, and dignified in her new teacher role, whereas Daryl and Kaylawere timid, quiet, and less self-assured in theirs. The self-effacing personalitiesof Daryl and Kayla (and Quynh, to a limited extent) were evident in their lackof confidence in the presence of others and in their fledgling authority in theclassroom. Daryl’s and Kayla’s presentation of self seemed to be consistent withhow Asian Americans have been portrayed as docile, quiet, easy to teach, andtrouble free (McKay and Wong, 1996).
Although Quynh seemed a bit more assertive than both Daryl and Kayla, shetried hard to live up to the Confucian model of a teacher she had had in herlife. To that end, she was highly critical of her own performance as a teacher.In a three-way lesson conference with her and Rosie (her cooperating teacher),I asked:
Researcher: Quynh, so talk about your lesson today. What did you most likeabout it?
Quynh: Well, I carefully planned the lessons and activities to makelearning fun for the children but some of them did not seemengaged. I wonder what I did wrong � � �
Rosie: Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. � � � I know that sometimesyou are very critical of [yourself]. Don’t be very surprisedwhen the children are disrespectful � � � when [you] talk, childrendon’t automatically respect that and listen � � � it takes seriousclassroom management in order to get respect.
In response to Quynh’s self-critique of a teaching episode, Rosie explicatedthat (her) respect was contingent on one’s firm grip on classroom managementas opposed to (Quynh’s) reverential respect by virtue of the teacher title. Bythe look on Quynh’s face, she appeared to have experienced an apocalypticmoment.
Not only did the five participants have difficulty in applying their conceptionof teaching to an American context, their distinct cultural and physical charac-teristics did not fit those of a traditionally defined American teacher, at least notthose described in Cattani (2002). In addition, their perceived accented speechinfluenced how others perceived them as fitting the image of an “American”teacher. Sheryl (a cooperating teacher for both Daryl and another Vietnamese
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American preservice teacher, and an interview panelist for teacher applicants)believed that a person’s profile mattered. She stated:
I am certain there are challenges these women face of which I am not even aware.Neither woman was born in this country, and I know there are struggles andchallenges which they have had to overcome over the years. I believe both womenhave had to work very hard to get to where they are today. I realize that theEnglish language itself presents a hurdle. Despite great effort, each teacher doeshave difficulty with some verb tenses and pronunciation. There are times whenthe students have difficulty understanding, and there are adults on campus whohave difficulty understanding. My personal feeling about this, however, is thatsome adults may only hear the accent and assume that these teachers do not havea firm command of the English language. What a shame! A challenge that maybe overlooked is the matter of physical size. Both women are of small stature. Ibelieve it is more difficult to command respect when you are smaller than some ofyour students, especially in the upper grades.
[3-15-02]
If a young, White, female, native English speaking beginning teacher was notconsidered authoritative by her seasoned colleagues and by an American public(Cattani, 2002), how would a foreign-born, Vietnamese American, nonnativeEnglish speaker, and preservice teacher fare in a U.S. classroom and society? Inthis regard, Rose shed light on what it meant to be a minority group memberand a minority teacher:
Researcher: In one of our Vietnamese Teacher Support Group [VTSG]meetings, you said that it is hard to be a minority student teacherin an American school. Could you talk a bit more about that?
Rose: I do know that, being Vietnamese, I face challenges every day.The parents looked down on me. They did not care why I was intheir children’s class. They did not find the need to discuss withme about their children’s learning even though I was teachingthem (students) for 8 consecutive weeks. I did not even getthe greetings as those American para-educators got [lookingaway, glossy-eyed]. Only the children made no distinction intelling who the teacher was. They did share their happiness andsadness with me. So between me and their parents, I had noauthority.”
[6-16-02]
Rose’s attempt at finding her place in the teaching profession and in U.S. societyhad been characterized by a feeling of invisibility, as did Kayla’s. Wiping awayher tears, she explained the multidimensional challenges of coming to the United
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States as a refugee, becoming an immigrant, and inching her way into theprofession as an ethnic minority teacher:
Researcher: I appreciate your sharing this information. Why do you think anethnic minority student teacher like yourself would experiencesuch difficulty?
Rose: In my view, the education field usually dedicated to Caucasians.Being an Asian or a minority teacher already has difficulty.Being a Vietnamese is ten times more difficult and I will tellyou why. � � �Vietnam is not a big country. It is not famous forany aspect. � � � Most Americans probably know or recognizeVietnam only [Rose’s emphasis] through the Vietnam War.� � � Being Vietnamese in the U.S. is simply being invisible[Rose’s emphasis] � � � Being a Vietnamese refugee and beinga Vietnamese teacher are totally different from other refugees(like Cubans) and other minority.
[6-16-02]
In essence, the development of a person’s cultural identity and teacher identityis integral to the process of becoming a teacher, particularly for ethnic minorityteachers. As discussed, the participants’ frame of reference was culturally shapedby familial socialization patterns that tended to influence their interaction patternsin the professional milieu (Johnson, 1992) and posed challenges for them inovercoming preconceived notions of who might qualify as an “American”teacher, including cultural and physical characteristics.
Reverential Respect: Earned or Unconditional?
As moral agents, the five participants considered their role of soon-to-be-educators as an extension of who they were as persons and as professionals.The cultural norms of “reverential” respect were at the core of how teachingand teachers were conceptualized and the types of expectations that were placedon them. Given the context within which these teachers had grown up andhad been socialized in Vietnam, they later experienced tension and conflict inimplementing these norms in an American context.
Tien hoc le, hau hoc van(Learn to respect your teacher first, then study literature)
The preceding proverb graced the walls of nearly every classroom in Vietnam,including those of the participants. Respect for elders, hence teachers, served as afoundation for how parents raised their young (Caplan, Whitmore, & Choy, 1989)
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from the remote village to the Westernized metropolis. Vietnamese society placesvery high expectations on teachers not only to possess knowledge of subjectmatter, but also to be pillars of their community by upholding its traditionalnorms, values, beliefs, and attitudes (D. H. Nguyen, 1972). It follows then, thata teacher’s status is equal to—if not greater than—that of their parents, basedon the cultural norms of Confucian values resulting from China’s 1000-yeardominance of Vietnam (D. H. Nguyen, 1972; M. H. Nguyen, and Haines, 1996).This expectation “bought” teachers a special standing in society, as explainedby Kristy in a VTSG meeting:
Respect was so important that, if your teacher called your parents or wrote a notesaying that you were disrespectful to the teacher � � � even your friends don’t likeyou � � � your relatives or neighbors � � � oh � � � oh � � � they get so mad [rolling hereyes and gesturing with her index fingers] at you when your parents tell themthat. And that’s embarrassing to the family name! [laughter]. People say so-and-sodaughter � � � she has no respect for the teacher � � � no manners.
[1-22-02]
Reverential respect framed how the focal teachers perceived their U.S.experience, which was in sharp contrast to that in Vietnam. For instance, theyimplemented a common practice in Vietnam where students were expected tostand up when their teacher walked into the classroom, and to remain standinguntil after their teacher had been seated. Their American teachers and class-mates found their actions rather perplexing. Furthermore, these participants werebewildered by teachers’ casual attire, students calling their teachers by theirfirst names, moving around freely without permission, and responding to theirteachers in ways they themselves would not have fathomed.
From Quynh’s perspective, reverential respect served as an encompassingframe for all aspects of teaching. She attempted to instill it in her own classroom,but with only limited success. She explained her challenge.
Vietnamese culture has a separate definition of respect for teachers. It is not thesame as respecting any other adult. It is more than that because students treat theirteacher with the most respect, as equal as or next to after their parents. It is saidthat teachers are the students’ parents in the school setting. Having manners applyto students and of course, to parents and teachers, too.
[6-1-02]
Like Quynh, Rose shared a similar notion of reverential respect, which framedwho she was as a person and as a Vietnamese American teacher, as she wrotein a journal entry:
I don’t think I can face my students every day knowing that they are looking atme and not respecting me. I don’t think I can teach and inspire anybody if I amstill struggling on how to build up respect and to respect myself. Even though
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I am influenced by the Western culture, that Eastern proverb “Tien hoc le, hauhoc van” is imprinted in my head. I am proud of all that mixing between Eastand West because that the mix between Vietnamese and American is my trueidentity.
[6-13-02]
Daryl’s view of respect was influenced by her experience in Vietnam, althougha major part of her schooling was in the United States.
It would be a challenge if students and parents didn’t respect you. � � � When Iwas still going to school in Vietnam, students were very obedient to the teacher.I think it was the culture; I don’t remember my teachers ever having to remindus to behave in a certain way. It was naturally like that. There were no behaviorproblems in the classroom � � � The teacher is the authority. Students were notallowed to talk back or raise their voice at the teacher. We respected our teacherbut were not afraid of them.
[2-27-02]
When implementing her cultural understanding of respect in the classroom,Daryl reported having little difficulty with American-born Vietnamese students,but encountered resistance from Caucasian students, probably because theirconception of reverential respect and hers differed. She attributed this perceivedlack of respect partly to her small stature (but also her lack of confidence in theclassroom), stating that:
Students have to be reminded everyday to be respectful, nowadays � � � I havepositive experiences with Vietnamese students because the fact that I’m Vietnamese� � � . Most of them are quiet and follow directions. I have bad experiences withmainstream students, especially older students. They were disrespectful to mebecause of my height.
[2-27-02]
Operating from the cultural expectations and norms of “reverential” respectand its relationship to teaching and teachers, Daryl was apparently conflictedbetween the two sets of values. First, Daryl seemed to have assumed that herpresence and role in the classroom alone (despite her physical size) shouldautomatically have granted her authority and respect, failing to understand thatany (American) teacher would have had to earn respect from her students overa period of time. Second, it is doubtful that any teacher could have been tooprepared in terms of subject matter knowledge, usage of appropriate supportingmaterial and effective instructional strategies, all of which would contribute topositive student learning outcomes and classroom management. In this regard,Daryl had not anticipated the amount of time and effort it took in carrying outher daily duties in the classroom.
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The preceding examples illustrated the inner struggle with which the partic-ipants seemed to have been wrestling in negotiating the blurring boundariesbetween the two cultural frames of “respect” and in establishing themselves asteachers. In their interaction with others, the participants’ cultural identity andteacher identity frequently came into question, rendering their apprenticeshipchallenging at times and triggering some self-doubt. When dealing with suchconflict and tension, they often harkened back to their familial, communal, andsocietal upbringing in Vietnam and compared it to their socialization processin the U.S. The participants were particularly troubled by how little respect anAmerican public has for teachers, believing that those who can’t, teach (Jackson,1990; Lortie, 1975; Ryan & Cooper, 2004; Waller, 1961). Hence, their seeminglyincongruent culturally constructed understanding posed a challenge for them intheir student teaching practicum in very specific, unique ways, unlike those oftheir Caucasian and ethnic minority counterparts.
CONCLUSION
Not surprisingly, the participants’ personal histories, belief system, and schoolingexperiences colored the way they perceived respect in the context of schoolsin Vietnam as opposed to the United States, and helped to shape their devel-opment as teachers. Study findings have illuminated the inextricable linkagebetween the participants’ cultural/teacher identities and their cultural heritage,all of which have influenced the way they viewed themselves, conducted theirwork (including what respect meant), and were perceived by those with whomthey came into contact. In carrying out the socially defined daily duties of ateacher and in interacting with students, the participants helped to create moralmeanings, rendering teaching a moral enterprise.
Although Daryl and Kayla probably saw no other viable strategies exceptto demand respect from their students, Quynh attempted to earn it, albeit withmodest success. Kristy and Rose seemed more insightful about coming up withstrategies that transcended their own cultural assumptions regarding respect andhow it might play out in a U.S. context. With this ability, Kristy and Rose weremore successful with their approach than their peers. Respect, seen through theeyes of these preservice teachers, was qualitatively different from the respectdiscussed in the literature on mainstream and other ethnic minority teachers.For these participants, respect was a more culturally nuanced concept at theheart of teaching. It defined their existence and place in the classroom and insociety. Having respect would facilitate their gaining authority as teachers andcommanding obedience from their students in the classroom. But the burdenwould likely rest on their shoulders in gaining acceptance to the profession andto U.S. society.
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IMPLICATIONS OF THE STUDY
In becoming “American” teachers, the participants’ cultural identity was notonly questioned by the larger society, but their teacher identity was alsoclosely scrutinized. Two critical issues could be addressed in teacher preparationprograms and in K–12 public school institutions. First, as the United States hasbecome more demographically diverse; ethnic minority groups have begun toslowly gain ground and influence across occupational domains. Yet the faceof the teaching force has changed little. Time has come for all students to seemore ethnic minority members in teaching, leadership, and/or curricular-decisionmaking positions, both in K–12 and in higher education institutions. Second,preservice education curricula should be broadened in breadth and depth in facil-itating critical discourse to critically examine and question inclusive institutionalpractices as well as exclusive ones that might have contributed to the under-representation of ethnic minority teachers. Further research would be needed toexplore questions such as the following:
1. What expectations might K–12 and college students have of ethnic minorityteachers?
2. Would these expectations have been any different from those of mainstreamteachers, such as the ones they have had and grown to know?
3. Would these students have missed opportunities to have been challengedto see the world through different lenses and from perspectives other thanthose traditionally presented in the predominantly Euro-centric curriculum?
Furthermore, the cultural frames of reference teacher candidates brought tothe profession and how they conceptualized teaching should be integral toteacher preparation theory- and practice-driven discussions and applications. Forexample, a useful goal for teacher preparation programs would be to closelyexamine the interplay between a person’s cultural identity and teacher identityand how it might manifest itself in his or her development, including herpedagogical practice. Another outcome would be for university supervisorsto explore the nontraditional cultural frames of reference that their super-visees might bring to teaching and how these individuals might navigate anat-times treacherous terrain. In addition to a rich array of topics often presentin teacher preparation institutions (e.g., technical aspect of teaching, lessonplanning, essential elements of instruction), the issue of respect could no longerbe neglected, for it might impact a person’s chance for success as a teacher.
Although the preceding recommendations would, in no way be exhaustive,they offer some propositions to the important task of preparing prospectiveteachers, not only for subject matter knowledge and pedagogy, but more impor-tantly, for their complex role as professionals in the classroom and in the public
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eye. Hopefully more qualified, competent, and caring candidates from diverseheritages would be inspired to take part in a profession where their experiencesand perspectives mattered. With sustained institutional support, these individualsmight seize opportunities for influencing and guiding potential young leaders inenvisioning and shaping a gentler humanity.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This study was supported by a Fellowship Grant Award by the National Councilof Teachers of English (NCTE), New Voices Program, 2002–2004. I wishto thank Professors Melanie Sperling, Stephen Krashen, Linda Symcox, andWilliam Jeynes for their critical and gracious commentaries on an earlier versionof this article.
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alif
orni
a D
avis
] at
23:
58 2
1 N
ovem
ber
2014