Abstract
This phenomenological study was designed to investigate the experience of Jamaican teachers recruited to serve in elementary and high schools in New York City. The study explored three broad questions: (1) What was teaching like for the participants before they assumed their assignments in the US? (2) What is teaching in the US like for them? and (3) What meanings/insights do they derive from their experience teaching in the US? The findings indicate that the immigrants’ experienced profound cultural dissonance in the classroom as their experiences in the US differed significantly from their previous experience in Jamaica. This dissonance was illustrated by four prominent themes that emerged from data collected through in-depth interviews: (1) lack of respect for teachers and other adults; (2) disregard for teacher authority; (3) lack of student appreciation for the teacher’s work; and (4) student apathy towards education. The cultural dissonance immigrants experienced made them more sensitive to the condition of African American and other minorities, disrupted their strong sense of nationalism, and engendered a growing allegiance to the black Diaspora.
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Notes
This figure varies depending on the source. There are also quotations of over 300 teachers migrating to the US for the year 2001.
It is reputed anecdotally that the population living abroad is approximately equal to that at home. Jamaica’s population is approximately 2.8 million.
An extensive search of the literature turned up no information on the social class of Jamaican teachers. Having worked as a teacher educator in the Jamaican education system for over 7 years, I am confident in the claim I make above regarding the social class of teachers.
“Before” and “during” the phenomenon are actual chronological points in time; however, the “after” period—reflection on the meaning participants make of the phenomenon is not. In this study the “after” phase begins at the point when participants reflect on the experience or phenomenon. The term “psychological points” therefore, is used to include all three phases/periods of the interview structure. Thus, all participants were still active teachers in the system at the time of the study.
I avoided using the term ‘code’ or ‘coding’ as I consider it language inappropriate as well as unnecessary for qualitative research. Apart from the fact that I think the term suggests secrecy, I agree with Ian Dey (1996) that its generic meaning imposes a mechanical sense on the complexity of qualitative data analysis. I used the term ‘labeling’ or ‘label’ which is a simpler, more appropriate language for the unstructured nature of the interview material in this study.
“Yuh nuh” is Creole for the English “You know” which tends to be a speech pattern of many Jamaicans.
Jamaican Creole lexicon to mean “those” or “these” in this usage.
The LAST/ATS-W (Liberal Arts and Sciences Test/Assessment of Teaching Skills-Written) the major teacher certification test in New York.
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Bailey, E.K. From Cultural Dissonance to Diasporic Affinity: The Experience of Jamaican Teachers in New York City Schools. Urban Rev 45, 232–249 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-012-0214-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-012-0214-5