Introduction

The effect of globalization in conjunction with the trend of teacher migration created a unique set of circumstances for studying minority teachers. With such a backdrop, this present chapter focuses on six Chinese minority teachers with the purpose of exploring their transnational and transitional experiences during their early years in the U.S. public elementary schools.

In an increasingly globalized world where the flow of information, capital, and people across national borders is without limits, exchanges across cultures are accelerated. One form of exchange is teacher migration around the world. Twenty-first century technological advancements have made it easier for national governments to seek teachers beyond the confines of the nation-state. Assisted by new technologies, school districts in the U.S. have begun to recruit overseas-trained educators for reasons of diversifying the teaching force and solving some teacher shortage problems.

Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, foreign teacher recruitment increased dramatically. During 2000–2010, more than 100,000 oversea-trained international teachers were sought by U.S. schools (Bartlett, 2014). These teachers are being hired to teach different content areas, usually serving the needs of foreign language education (Fee, 2011). The continued acceleration of teacher migration to the U.S. can be attributed to several “push and pull” factors. Within the U.S., growing teacher shortages in the public school system have become the primary factor that draws international teachers into the U.S. (American Federation of Teachers (AFT), 2009; Hutchison, 2005). Qualified international educators who can teach academic subjects in addition to foreign languages and with the potential to play roles as cultural ambassadors, seem destined to become ideal transnational teacher candidates. Other advantages, such as their strong work ethic and the opportunity to diversify the teaching force, contribute to the view of international teachers as an asset to U.S. schools (Cook, 2000). From the perspective of the teachers, those from relatively poor or less industrialized countries may seek opportunities to migrate to the U.S. in order to obtain higher salaries and better living conditions. Others may simply want to experience American culture or improve their English (Cook, 2000; Hutchison, 2005). Yet another contributing factor to this growing number of transnational teachers is the experience of value-added international teaching that will benefit those who return home.

Although the purported reason for international teachers to come to the U.S. is to teach, this paper is premised on the belief that, as they teach, they also acquire knowledge about education in the U.S. which may call their previously held pedagogical beliefs and practices into question. Based on this premise, this paper seeks to illustrate the challenges minority Chinese teachers encountered when teaching students in another socio-cultural context.

Literature Review and Research Objective

Teaching is a culturally constructed activity and involves complex mental and behavioral processes. Any alteration of circumstances in teaching can bring challenges to teachers or require them to change those processes. Given the fact that this study’s participants experienced major changes and adjustments in their teaching careers, a relevant review of literature that provides information related to challenges of teaching in different contexts is conducted.

So far, research that addresses the issues emerging in the transnational contexts of migration largely pertains to children or families (Moskal, 2015; Moskal & Sime, 2015; Suárez-Orozco & Suárez-Orozco, 2013). There is a general lack of empirical research on transnational teachers. However, four that particularly pertain to this study are: Bailey’s (2013) phenomenological study on eight Jamaican immigrant teachers in the New York City Schools; Dunn’s (2013) qualitative case study on four Indian teachers’ transnational teaching experiences (one in middle school and three in high schools); Finney et al.’s (2002) work on Spanish exchange teachers in South Carolina public schools; and Hutchinson’s (2005) book about international teachers at a private school in the South. Although some news reports and journal articles address issues about recruiting foreign teachers overseas, this is still “an under-explored territory” (Smith, 2009, p. 111). Furthermore, no study has selected newly recruited transnational teachers from China as subjects and examined their early teaching experiences in U.S. public elementary schools.

Challenges of Teaching in Transnational Contexts

Literature has shown that transnational teachers are likely to experience different practical challenges related to educational issues from culture shock to language barriers, which all increase the level of difficulty for them during their induction years. Within the classroom context, Huang (2009) illustrated three areas of culture shock that Chinese graduate students are likely to experience: different classroom teaching styles, different student-teacher relationships, and different teacher expectations. Although Huang did not focus on transnational teachers, her study of Chinese adults’ experiences in U.S. schools reveals some fundamental differences between Chinese and U.S. culture. These kinds of differences may also generate Chinese transnational teachers’ discomfort and disorientation when they bring such different educational perspectives to U.S. classrooms. The language barriers may become another source of frustration if it impedes transnational teachers from communicating clearly and effectively with school principals, American colleagues, parents and other stakeholders within the school community.

Finally, so-called “pedagogical shock” (Hutchison, 2005, p. 24) is usually the most direct challenge to their teaching careers in the United States. This means not being familiar with policies, expectations, operations and procedures concerning ordering supplies, school duties, paperwork, interaction with parents and students, classroom management strategies and discipline referral systems, academic standards and curriculum, teaching styles and methods, and assessment methods and grading systems (Cook, 2000; Dunn, 2011, 2013; Finney et al., 2002; Hutchison, 2005). Overall, the lack of preparation for U.S. schools that may contribute to transnational teachers’ struggles during their induction years and likely impedes their success in U.S. schools.

As evidenced from the literature reviewed above, teaching in a foreign culture is analogous to crossing a river without proper equipment or prior experience. Feeling your way across a river just using your feet is unnerving. Given the great differences between Chinese and American cultures and educational traditions, the American educational context presents challenges to minority teachers from China. Such challenges, especially those in conflict with their original professional norms, demand that the minority teachers observe and imitate what other American teachers do, explore and test the new norms in their classrooms, and wrestle with and possibly adjust their habitual pedagogy to better meet the foreign culture’s expectations. This article seeks to address the following question: What experiences did the six Chinese minority teachers have in their initial transition to the new life and career in the U.S.?

Context of Research

The present chapter is part of a larger study that was situated in a broader context of a rapid globalization of education and the rapid popularity of learning Mandarin in the United States. The “expansion boom” of Mandarin Chinese immersion programs in the U.S. began in 2007 due to the rising power of China. The growth rate of U.S. Mandarin immersion programs from 2007 to 2014 was 336% (Weise, 2014). An initiative announced by former President Obama in 2015, called “1 Million Strong” aimed to increase the total number of stateside learners of Mandarin Chinese from approximately 200,000–1 million by the year 2020 (Allen-Ebrahimian, 2015; Billings, 2015). This initiative was a compelling illustration of the relationship between U.S. global politics and the practices in foreign language education.

Although the Trump administration’s restriction on immigrant visas makes it harder for schools to hire and retain qualified international teachers, the popularity of learning Mandarin in many U.S. schools and the demand for native Chinese teachers are still evident. The current restrictions are exacerbating a predicament not only for schools but also for teachers who already face difficult transitional issues and now have to consider their long-term employment possibilities. This educational direction and socio-political attitude create an opportunity to better understand a myriad of challenges that the minority teachers face inside and outside school.

The original study took place in a southeastern state that has been experiencing rapid growth in its Chinese population and equally rapid growth in the number of Chinese Mandarin language programs. Consistent with state aims to produce globally competitive graduates, over 100 dual language immersion programs have been offered across the state (State Board of Education, 2016). Private agencies assist such schools in recruiting, training and assisting transnational teachers with placement-related activities, generally for fees ranging from $11,000–$12,500 per teacher. The provision of post-arrival orientation that addresses cultural, logistical, and teaching issues is also provided by recruitment agencies. In this chapter the focus is on six minority teachers who were raised and trained in China and were recruited to the U.S. on J-1 Visas to teach for up to 5 years. After 5 years, they were required to go back to their home country and stay for at least 2 years. They were employed across four public elementary schools (Table 7.1).

Table 7.1 The host schools demographic profiles of four elementary schools with Chinese immersion programs
Full size table

Miller Elementary School

Miller Elementary is the largest school in this study and is located in the smallest school district in this study. Its students come from a wealthy neighborhood that is close to (less than or equal to 5 miles) an urbanized area in the state and over half of them are white. In the fall of 2015–2016 school year, Miller Elementary launched a Chinese language immersion program in both kindergarten and first grade. It had two classes per grade level (4 Mandarin classes in total) and the school initially hired four Chinese teachers (1 Chinese teacher per class). Miller Elementary was the only school not to adopt the co-teaching model.Footnote 1 According to the program overview posted on the school website, the decision of launching this program seemed to be based on the benefits of language immersion education, which include “increase[ing] cognitive skills, higher achievement in other academic areas and higher standardized test scores”.

Arnold Elementary School

Arnold Elementary is half the size of Miller Elementary with the highest percentage of white students in this study. It is in the wealthiest school district in this study and also in a wealthy neighborhood that is close to (less than or equal to 5 miles) an urbanized area in the state. The Chinese immersion program began in 2012 with one kindergarten class. One grade level was added each year as the students matriculated. As of 2015–2016, there were four lead teachers and two co-teachers in the K-3rd grade Chinese immersion programs. One co-teacher supported instruction in the kindergarten and first grade classes; and the other co-teacher supported instruction in the second and third grade classes.

Central Elementary School

Central Elementary is about the same size as Arnold Elementary and is located in a rural area that is 5–25 miles from an urbanized area in the state. It is a Title I school (43% received free lunch) with 40% black students and 37% white students. Central Elementary is in a district that serves the largest military base in the world, so there are many military-connected students in this school. In the 2013–2014 school year, a Chinese language immersion program was launched at the kindergarten level. It had two classes initially and added one grade level each year. As of 2015–2016, there were six lead teachers and three co-teachers hired for the Chinese classes. Two co-teachers supported instruction in two kindergarten classes; one co-teacher supported instruction in two first grade classes; another co-teacher supported instruction in two second grade classes.

Thomas Elementary School

Thomas Elementary is a Title I school (54% received free lunch) in a large city in the state. It is also the most culturally diverse school with 31% white, 24% Hispanic, and 36% black students and is located in the poorest district in this study. In the 2014–2015 school year, a Chinese language immersion program began with one kindergarten class; the following year when that kindergarten class went up to first grade, an additional kindergarten class was added (for a total of two kindergarten classes and one first grade class). As of 2015–2016, there were three lead teachers and three co-teachers hired for the program. Two co-teachers supported instruction in the two kindergarten classes; one co-teacher supported instruction in the first-grade class.

Each of the four schoolsFootnote 2 had Mandarin immersion programs that began during the Kindergarten year and were, at the time of this study, at various stages of development: three of the four schools had 2 kindergarten Mandarin classrooms; all included 1st grade; two schools had 2nd grade classrooms; and only one school had a 3rd grade classroom.

Methodology

As part of a mixed method study investigating Chinese minority teachers’ experiences in the U.S. elementary schools, the present chapter uses the narratives of 6 kindergarten minority teachers to illuminate their transitional and transnational experience in the U.S. These participants’ stories were gathered from in-depth semi-structured interviews administered for supporting and specifying the results from a questionnaire. Interview data serves as rich source of information for understanding the shared experiences among the participants and the unique insights of each individual. The semi-structured interviews were conducted and analyzed in Chinese in order to capture rich narratives data and probe the meaning of discourse. For the publication purposes, the results were then translated into English.

Data Analysis

Data were analyzed using a thematic approach (Creswell & Poth, 2016). In the first phase of coding, I developed a list based on the literature as a guide and developed codes relevant to each category inductively while reading and coding the data. Once the data was saturated with base-level codes, I began the next phase of analytic process which was focused on categorizing base-level codes and the themes that hold across 6 minority teachers’ stories were extracted. As the data analysis process proceeded, sub-categories under each theme were added, refined and grouped until no revisions were needed. I then summarized themes and used the corresponding passages that emerged from the interview data to answer the research questions.

Participants

These six minority teachers shared some similarities while also reflected the diversity in terms of their teacher preparation, college major, teaching certification, and previous teaching experience in China. They were in their late twenties to early thirties and were all hired as lead teachers. One of the first year teachers, Zach, was a male teacher, and the rest of them were females. Two of the experienced teachers were married and lived with their spouses in the U.S. (Table 7.2).

Table 7.2 Six kindergarten teachers’ professional background
Full size table

Findings and Discussion

New Life in the U.S.

In spite of the fact that these 6 Chinese minority teachers resided in four different U.S. public elementary schools, they shared a number of common transition experiences with regard to domestic/neighborhood housing arrangements, personal lives, and collegial activities at work. Most of them teachers decided to find housing with access to local Chinese restaurants and supermarkets, although few of their neighbors were of Chinese descent. Most of them got together with their Chinese colleagues after work. Having access to the food and language from home in their respective places of residence seemed to offer these teachers a sense of cultural continuity. The fact that they spent most of their time after work with other Chinese colleagues hinted at their need for proximity to the Chinese communities. While these things provided a sense of familiarity and comfort, still many things remained problematic in the lives of newly arrived minority teachers. Some of them reported experiencing culture shock, communication difficulties and homesickness. Others reported some problems with racial discrimination and economic difficulties. These challenges outside the work environment were common to many international teachers, as noted in the literature. It seemed that the preliminary support and preparation for teachers were not enough for teachers to avoid experiencing these difficulties (Dunn, 2013).

Challenges Encountered at Schools

When these teachers began their professional careers in U.S. public schools, one common problematic area was their unfamiliarity with U.S. public schools, including the philosophy, structures, procedures, policies, rules, classroom setup, and assessment and grading systems. Some of them described facing major challenges of inadequate teaching materials, heavy teaching loads resulting in insufficient prep time, and lack of spare time.

In terms of the challenges related to teaching, the participants reported some difficulties in three broad areas: (1) how to work with individual students (rather than the whole class); (2) classroom management; and (3) pedagogical content knowledge. In the first area, the teachers reported having trouble interacting with and motivating American students, especially slow learners; determining learning levels of students; and paying attention to individual differences and addressing individual learning and behavioral problems. With regard to classroom management, the teachers expressed struggling with managing the whole class’s behavior. As for the pedagogical content knowledge, the teachers felt they had insufficient subject matter knowledge to plan lessons and encountered challenges using different teaching methods effectively and assessing student work.

Chaotic First Month

One of the kindergarten teachers—Zach—expressed no complaints about the challenges during his transition to the U.S. school. In fact, he described the experience as “a mix of chaos, novelty, and worrisome”. His female colleagues, however, were not so sanguine or satisfied. The five (female) kindergarten teachers were particularly open about their struggles during the first month in U.S. public schools. Not only was the transition challenging in a general sense, but three teachers vividly remembered their feelings of being left on their own during their first month in U.S. schools. A first-year teacher, Flora, quoted a Chinese saying, ‘crossing the river by feeling the stones’, to describe the risks and uncertainties of her acclimation process. An experienced teacher, Linda, noted that in her first year, the school did not give new transnational teachers any time to adjust. Instead, they were expected to be able to teach in their U.S. classroom upon arrival. Common coping strategies mentioned by all six of the kindergarten teachers (Zach included) were to ask a lot of questions of their American colleagues or an experienced Chinese minority teacher, or to simply imitate their practices, sometimes after peeking into other classrooms.

The specific early transition challenges were described at length by individuals. The same teachers who felt that they were ‘on their own’ also reiterated their unfamiliarity with the U.S. school system, noting that “no schedule was given for the first week,” “didn’t know hallway rules, where to drink or to have lunch, and dismissal procedure” (Flora); “no idea about open house, A-sub system, or how to take attendance” (Maya); and “didn’t know IEP, 504, and all kinds of special documents that need to be filled out” (Linda). In terms of classroom setup issues, Flora, Linda and one other (Sandy) kindergarten teacher said they were given an empty classroom upon arrival, with little assistance in setting up a culturally appropriate learning environment. Several teachers mentioned the lack of resources, and Flora was particularly troubled, as she noted, “[By the end of] the 1st month, I [still] had no computer, no security card, no salary.” She was also the only teacher who spoke candidly about resorting to using a limited array of teaching techniques due to insufficient preparation time.

As for the issues of insufficient subject matter knowledge, Linda admitted that she knew nothing about Common Core; Maya and Flora were also confused about the U.S. way of teaching math to young children. Flora was especially critical. “I can’t stand the way American teachers teach math, too complicated.” She thought she knew a much better way. “Why bother using a number line when you can give students a simpler way to do addition?” Another issue raised by several kindergarten teachers, when asked about early challenges, was that of lesson planning—especially given the program requirements of meeting students’ level and learning styles. Sandy and Wanda shared examples of their struggles: Sandy said that “besides knowing the basic second language teaching contents such as 1,2…,10, I did not know how broad a topic should be extended and how deep I should go.” Wanda not only “had no idea how to do projects or hands-on activities.” She also defended her lack of knowledge because she “did not have relevant experience in China.”

We Do Things Differently in China

When talking about experiences in the U.S., six teachers constantly used their Chinese teaching and learning experiences as a reference. Many of them were aware of some or major differences with regards to the two cultures’ elementary school operating systems, educational philosophies, definitions of good students, interpretations of good teaching, methods of assessing student learning, and class management (See Table 7.3). They also pointed out differences in teacher workloads and attitudes toward low-performing students.

Table 7.3 Six Chinese minority teachers’ elaborations on differences in educational contexts between China and the U.S.
Full size table

With regard to Chinese ways, the six teachers’ descriptions were like different pieces of a puzzle, and by putting them together, they actually reveal a contour of a Chinese cultural model. For example, every teacher except Sandy described “imparting knowledge” as a primary responsibility of Chinese teachers. Four of these teachers (Linda, Wanda, Flora and Zach) described rote instruction as a habitual approach of teaching in China because of its power for promoting test scores. Sandy and Flora added nuance to this description of teaching, pointing out that the act of teaching in China has been contextually bounded by the lengthy historical background of the testing system. Furthermore, a “good Chinese teacher,” in Sandy and Zach’s views, knows how to break up whole group instruction into chunks and can differentiate assignments by students’ learning outcomes. As for a ‘good student’—within the Chinese cultural-educational context, as noted by Wanda, Maya and Zach, the qualities of good students include being obedient, earning good grades, and exhibiting a serious attitude toward studying.

Compared to these teachers’ overall consensus about the Chinese ways of teaching, their personal interpretations of good students and effective teaching in U.S. kindergartens reflected more subjective opinions about various and multiple parts, making it difficult to construct a complete picture of U.S. elementary education. This is not surprising given their limited experience in the U.S. Of the six teachers, only Linda and Maya noted that good students in the U.S. were expected to display the characteristics of thinking independently and having unique ideas. In terms of their perceptions of what is considered good teaching in the US, Linda, Sandy and Zach (separately) shared their observations that U.S. teachers used a variety of pedagogical strategies. Zach also added that U.S. teachers emphasized comprehension and implemented more guided and exploratory learning. Wanda regarded student-centered teaching and cooperative learning as highly valued by U.S. teachers.

Conclusions and Implications

Like other novice American teachers teaching in new school contexts, the participants reported feeling unfamiliar with school operations and stressed about learning new rules, procedures, and school cultures in a short period of time. None of the participants were formally assigned a mentor, although they all worked with American colleagues to learn how to develop lesson plans in alignment with the state and local curriculum standards. Based on reports of minimal peer observations, it appears that study participants had limited access to American teachers’ expertise. Given the importance of “guided participation” and “participant observations” as ways in which novices learn within cultural context, the teachers’ lack of such interactions with more knowledgeable colleagues actually constrained their learning of particular U.S. values and practices (Rogoff, 2003, pp. 10, 284).

Adding to the difficulties experienced in Chinese minority teachers’ personal and professional transitions, including language barriers and homesickness, the “pedagogical shock” resulting from their growing recognition of differences between the U.S. and Chinese cultural models of teaching further compounded their adjustment to the U.S. (Hutchison, 2005, p. 24). Given the great number of challenges discussed above, it is no wonder that Linda recalled her first month of teaching at Arnold Elementary as “simply trying to survive.”

This chapter suggests the need for better preparation for host school communities. They can reach out to the newcomers before their arrival to solicit their questions and invite them to share their cultural model of teaching and learning. Such school-centered professional development could allow American administrators and teachers to anticipate differences, to identify ways in which the newcomers could contribute to as well as learn from the larger school community, and to foresee where they might need support.

The participants of this study had additional recommendations, including the need to arrive early enough (e.g. at least 3 weeks before the school year begins) to become familiar with their working contexts, have time to set up their classrooms, and meet and develop collegial relationships with their new colleagues. Given the demands and pace once the school year begins, it is better to have a team of experienced American teachers who can offer help and guidance to the new minority teachers beforehand.

Advanced preparations and increased time for the transition into a new culture can only do so much. Even when school begins, the minority teachers’ needs for both pedagogical and non-pedagogical support remain. The findings suggest the need for multiple and diverse opportunities for minority teachers to build relationships and work closely with other educators. Possible ways to achieve that goal include (1) formally assigning mentors or pairing one new and one experienced Chinese teacher with one or two experienced American teachers and allowing regular consultation time so that Chinese teachers might be able to help American teachers understand some of the early cultural confusion and conflicts; (2) offering more frequent peer observations, e.g. Lesson studies (Dudley, 2015) followed by meetings focused on peer feedback, self-reflection, and improvement plans; (3) providing ongoing professional development on illustrating aspects of the U.S. cultural models of teaching, e.g. why and how to implement differentiated instruction based on student needs, and the potential of the Chinese cultural model of teaching, e.g. how to teach math; and (4) providing a variety of collaborative opportunities between Chinese and American teachers.

Given the current and projected shortage of foreign language teachers in the United States, the need for more teachers from other countries seems self-evident. However, a lack of empirical research on minority teachers in U.S. school settings has created what Dunn (2013) referred to as an “erroneous assumption…that there are no or few differences between teaching abroad and teaching in U.S. urban schools…if there are differences, the assumption is made that they are not enough to merit specialized discussion and preparation for working in a new environment” (p. 36). The findings reported in this chapter support this concern by highlighting many challenges faced by newly arrived minority teachers. Thus, in order to help the minority teachers have smooth initial transitions into U.S. schools, as well as to ensure that the school communities are culturally responsive to the newcomers, improved preparation and ongoing support need to be provided. The challenges include the unfamiliarity with U.S. public schools, inadequate teaching materials, a heavy teaching load, and other teaching-related issues. This chapter has not only contributed to increased understanding regarding minority teachers from China and their experiences in the U.S. educational context, but has also revealed some implications for the study of teacher development and culturally responsive in-service minority teacher education.

In light of the rapid increase of teacher migration to the U.S. and the promotion of a diverse teaching force in U.S. schools, the findings of this chapter highlight challenges faced by newly arrived minority teachers. Thus, in order to help minority teachers have smooth initial transitions into U.S. schools, as well as to ensure that the school communities are supportive to the newcomers, additional investigation is needed into the differences and challenges associated with teaching in a new cultural context and in-service teacher education that emphasizes extensive, culturally appropriate and inclusive professional development content.