Lacking Representing Asian American Teachers in K …



Lacking Representing Chinese American Teachers in K-12 Schools

Linda H. Chiang, Azusa Pacific University

Abstract

The population of Asian American students in public schools in the US is four percent. However, only one percent of the K-12 American teachers in the teaching force are Asians and the number of Chinese American public teachers is even smaller. Since Asian culture values teachers highly, this study examined the reasons why Chinese young people are not in the K-12 teaching force in Southern California. The study methods utilized for this study were literature review and interview with Chinese American parents and their college age children during 2006 to 2007. Sixteen parents and three of their children participated in this study. The reported data indicated that parents perceived the number one reason people want to be teachers was because “they want to secure stable work”. The parent group reported a need to recruit more Asian American teachers but the participated college students from this group think otherwise. They perceived the primary attractions toward teaching included “the compatible schedule”, “help future generations”, and “based on positive experiences with their own schooling”.

Lacking Representing Chinese American Teachers in K-12 Schools

I. Purpose of this study

Asian American is the fastest growing ethnic minority group in the United States. The “model minority” extols the success of Asian Americans which implies that Asian American students are “trouble free” and they are industrious, self-sufficient and compliant. Because of this assumption, many Asian American students did not receive the attention that they need to reach their potential or, get appropriate treatment for their well being. Cultural values place teachers in high regard in Asian societies. Traditionally, the teaching profession was the most sought after career. However, the statistics indicated that Asian Americans only consisted of one percent of the total teaching force in K-12 public schools.

This study sought to investigate the perceived judgments of the teaching profession by Chinese American parents and their college age children. Sixteen parents with five fathers and eleven mothers and three of their children were interviewed. This paper reports their perceptions about what attracts people to the teaching profession and their judgment about the need for recruiting Chinese American teachers.

II. Perspectives

According to Banks (2007), in the United States 86% of all elementary and secondary teachers are European-American, only 1% of teaching force is Asian/Pacific Islander. On the other hand, 64% of K-12 students are European-American, and 4% are Asian/Pacific Islander. There is a discrepancy between the ratio of Asian American students and Asian American teachers. Asian American teachers are evidently underrepresented across the nation. The National Center for Education Statistics showed that there are 27,510 Asian teachers employed in K-12 public schools, which is only one percent of the teaching force (1998). Almost ten years later, the Asian American teachers did not increase in its volume and many of these teachers served as bilingual teachers (Sheet & Chew, 2002).

Children of all ethnicities are better served by teachers who look like them, who share their cultures, language and who have been specifically prepared to teach them. However, little has been done to alleviate the problem. Scholars have noticed that the absence of non-white teachers deprive minority students of role models and creates a distorted social reality for all children (Witty, 1982).

Several studies raise great concerns about the lack of and its consequences minority teachers (DuBois, 1954; Epstein, 2005). There is a need to recruit and retain minority teachers. A paper written by Bracey (2001) listed the reasons why there are so few Asian American teachers. They are: 1) the intensity of parental pressure. They were pressured to choose high status and income jobs such as medical doctors and lawyers; 2) a sense of inadequacy. They feel teachers need to be near perfection; 3) the fear of working outside a comfort zone. This includes fear of having a bad effect on other people’s children; and, 4) a rejection of race-matched teaching. They think quality of pedagogy is more important than ethnic background.

To inquire about what motivates people to go into the teaching profession, Lortie’s (2001) five attractions of teaching were utilized as part of the structural interview. His study analyzed five themes as attractors for the teaching profession. They are 1) the interpersonal contact with young people; 2) the service theme; 3) the continuation theme; 4) the material benefit; and 5) the theme of time compatibility. In addition to the five attractions two other items that were considered common attractions among Asians were included by this writer, which were 1) to secure a stable work; and, 2) to bring good names to the family.

This writer is a teacher educator in Southern California. Among her students, there is a small portion of Asian Americans. Taking the academic year 2006 to 2007 as an example, in one of the classes she was teaching there were 10 Asian American students out of 98 (3 Filipino, 3 Korean, 3 Chinese, and 1 Japanese). Some of these students were teaching in the school districts with 67% (e.g. Temple City) and 65% (e. g. Acadia) Asian American student populations. The lack of cultural representation will result in the lack of understanding about cultural heritage and lost cultural identity. In this study, the subjects were Chinese American parents and their college graduated students.

III. Method

Participants in this study included sixteen Chinese Americans with five males and eleven females. Their age ranged from 60 to 50 years old. With respect to educational level, 9 have graduate degrees, 5 have Bachelor degrees and two have junior college diplomas. Every participant was a naturalized US citizen. A structural interview was conducted to collect data in the year of 2006 to 2007. The protocol of the interview consisted of three demographic items (gender, age and years they resided in the US.) Six questions regarding their involvement in their college age and graduate students’ career decision making to enter the teaching profession, Lortie’s (2001) five attractive factors of teaching, plus two items of cultural value of teachers were added by this writer. An item was used to ask for their judgment of the need to recruit Chinese American teachers.

IV. Findings

Among the sixteen parents, thirteen of them have lived in the US for more than twenty years and three of them have lived in the US for 10 to 19 years, none of their children were in K-12 teaching profession. Only three of them were involved in their children’s career decision making process. Six mothers responded that they would choose to be in teaching profession if they could make career changes. The reasons were “the schedule is compatible” (N=3) and “serving the young people” (N=3). Parents who responded that they did not want to be in the teaching profession due to “not capable”; “it’s not exciting”; and “have no patience”. One parent said “teaching is a meaningful job”.

When asked whether they would encourage their children to enter the teaching profession if they considered a career change? Six of the parents said “yes”. The reasons were “they can have the opportunity to share their knowledge and values”; “to educate the next generation” (N=3); “it’s a stable job” (N=2); and “she likes children”. The rest of the parents said “no” to this question because “my children make their own decision” (N=5); “I never thought of this’; and “not for boys, they need challenges”.

In response to the attractions to enter the teaching profession, “to secure a stable work” was considered the most attractive factor (N=9). Seven parents responded with “to serve young people” as the most attractive one. Three said “to bring good names to the family”, three reported “to enjoy summers off”. One said “there is nothing to do”, and one said “to seek for self respect.”

As for the question if there is a need to recruit more Chinese American K-12 teachers. Eight parents said “yes”. The reasons were “Chinese culture is getting more and more important with time” (N=2); “Bilingual education is important”; “Asian teachers work harder”; “There are many Chinese American immigrants in the US especially in the LA area”; “It will be easier for parents and students to communicate”; and “more Chinese teachers will be able to preserve and teach what is good and true about the Chinese stories by interacting and sharing with young people through personal experience and understanding of an important part of human universals”. Parents who considered there is no need to recruit more Chinese American teachers due to “my children have negative thoughts about it” (N=2); “The Chinese American teachers are not objective enough”; and “depends on the location and the need of local community”.

Interviews with three of the college graduate students from these parents found that they considered the attractions were “summers off”; “have good experience while they were in school”; and “help younger generations”. When asked whether they would make career changes into the teaching profession, one woman said “may be”, one woman said “no, I don’t have the patience”, and one man said “the pay is not attractive”.

V. Discussion and Conclusion

Teachers have been perceived as performing a special mission in our society. Teaching as a service is grounded in both sacred and secular aspects of American culture. Socrates, Jesus and Confucius are considered great teachers in human history. In Chinese history, teaching is an honored profession. This study found that both Chinese American parents and their college children did not have high regard for the teaching profession. If they would ever enter the teaching profession, it would be because of the convenience of the teachers’ schedule, especially for mothers and wives. Unlike the traditional high regard for teachers in Asian societies, these participants did not consider that the teaching profession would bring good names or honor to their families. Perhaps because they have lived in the US societies for a long time and they prefer for their children to seek higher paying job than teaching in K-12 schools. However, the parents did stress the need to recruit more Chinese American teachers. They think teachers can pass on important cultural values but they nevertheless did not encourage their children to be in the K-12 teaching profession. May be because they are practical about such decisions in a society in which material gain is important. The younger generation seemed to think the same way. It may be because they were born in the US. They do not have a strong need to pursue their racial identity. It is interesting to find that the attractions for the teaching profession in Lorti’s original study in the 1960s still hold true today.

This study provides data for Chinese Americans to look inside their community and reflect on their parenting. More research is needed to include more parents and their children who are in the K-12 teaching force to obtain different insight about their career choices.

References

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