The developing knowledge and identity of an Asian-American teacher: The influence of a China study abroad experience. (June 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Craig, Cheryl J.; Zou, Yali; Curtis, Gayle
• Is Part Of: Learning, culture and social interaction. Volume 17(2018)
• Page Start: 1
• Page End: 20
• Publication Date: 2018-06
• Subjects: Minority teachers -- Social interaction -- Teacher identity -- Teacher knowledge -- Travel study abroad -- Narrative inquiry; Learning -- Periodicals; Learning -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; Teaching -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; Social interaction -- Periodicals; 370.152305
• DOI: 10.1016/j.lcsi.2017.09.002
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2210-6561

Abstract

Abstract: This narrative inquiry examines the way learning, culture and context shape the knowledge, identity and social interactions of teacher, Shi Tan. Through using broadening, burrowing, storying-restorying and fictionalization, the work chronicles how Shi, a child of Chinese immigrants, forms her 'stories to live by' over time. Early tensions surface between her parents' traditional lifestyle and what she came to know in the American context. Weekends in Chinatown, Chinese Saturday School, and summers in Asia reinforced the plotlines Shi's parents carried with them from their homeland. Concurrently, Shi's American public school and university experiences instilled in her different modes of knowing and being. A pivotal change occurred when Shi participated in a China Study Abroad trip alongside mostly White educators. While visiting Chinese schools and universities and interacting with Chinese locals, Shi's understanding of herself deepened. She questioned why the trip became a liminal space where she storied and restoried her knowledge and identity differently. The significance of this research lies in its narrative rendering of identity; its unearthing of social complexities lived in cross-cultural communities; it's lifelike characterization of how minority teachers/students navigate familial, social and cultural situations; and its advancement of knowledge that increases learning. Highlights: Culture and context shape knowledge, identity and social interactions. Differences between being Chinese and Chinese American are excavated. Minority teachers navigate complex cultural and social situations on an ongoing basis. Minority teachers' identities are constantly in flux.