International Association of Educators   |  ISSN: 2834-7919   |  e-ISSN: 1554-5210
International Journal of Progressive Education
International Association of Educators

Original article | International Journal of Progressive Education 2012, Vol. 8(2) 25-48

Experiences of Faculty of Color Teaching in a Predominantly White University: Fostering Interracial Relationships Among Faculty of Color and White Preservice Teachers

Keonghee Tao Han

pp. 25 - 48   |  Manu. Number: ijpe.2012.052

Published online: June 15, 2012  |   Number of Views: 110  |  Number of Download: 405

Save PDF

Abstract

In this study, I recount my experiences teaching elementary literacy methods courses and interacting with my racial Others—my White preservice teachers/students, senior faculty, and administrators at a predominantly White university in the rural Mountain West. Using an ethnographic approach (Emerson, Fretz, & Shaw, 1995), I analyzed students‘ course evaluations, anonymous in-class notes, and administrators‘ annual evaluations for six semesters. The findings show that my White undergraduate students ―policed‖ my English language use and racial characteristics, and resisted authority and expertise. Administration participated in preserving mainstream values and superior White group positions over mine by blaming my cultural values when student complaints surfaced. However, once relationships were established between my students and me, drastically different interactions and teaching/learning occurred. This study breaks new ground in expanding our understanding that: 1) cultural mismatch and racial tensions are still some of the most divisive issues in education; 2) building sensitivity toward and mutual respect among racial Others is the precursor to creating hope and possibility for working with racial Others; and 3) creating racial harmony may not result from changing individual attitudes alone. The responsibility for change in valuing and understanding Others rests critically on university policies and practices.

Keywords:

How to Cite this Article?

APA 6th edition
Han, K.T. (2012). Experiences of Faculty of Color Teaching in a Predominantly White University: Fostering Interracial Relationships Among Faculty of Color and White Preservice Teachers . International Journal of Progressive Education, 8(2), 25-48.

Harvard
Han, K. (2012). Experiences of Faculty of Color Teaching in a Predominantly White University: Fostering Interracial Relationships Among Faculty of Color and White Preservice Teachers . International Journal of Progressive Education, 8(2), pp. 25-48.

Chicago 16th edition
Han, Keonghee Tao (2012). "Experiences of Faculty of Color Teaching in a Predominantly White University: Fostering Interracial Relationships Among Faculty of Color and White Preservice Teachers ". International Journal of Progressive Education 8 (2):25-48.

References
  1. Aguinis, H. & Roth, H. A. (2005). Teaching in China: Culture-based challenges. In I. Alon & J. R. McIntyre (Eds.), Business and management education in China: Transition, pedagogy, and training, (pp. 141-164). Hakensack, NJ: World Scientific Publishing Co. Ltd. [Google Scholar]
  2. Aguirre, A. (2000). Women and minority faculty in the academic workplace:Recruitment, retention, and academic culture. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA. [Google Scholar]
  3. Antonio (2002). Faculty of color reconsidered: Reassessing contributions to scholarship. The Journal of Higher Education, 73(5), 582-602. [Google Scholar]
  4. Ball, A. F. (2006). Multicultural strategies for education and social change: Carriers of the torch in the United States and South Africa. New York: Teacher College Press. [Google Scholar]
  5. Berger, J. & Fisek, M. H. (2006). Diffuse status characteristics and the spread  of status   value: A formal theory. AJS Journal, 111(4), 1038-79. [Google Scholar]
  6. Berger, J. Fisek, M. H. and Norman, R. Z. (1977) Status Characteristics and Social Interaction: An Expectation State Approach. N. Y.: Elsevier. [Google Scholar]
  7. Bogdan, R. C. Biklen, S. K. (2007). Qualitative research for education: An introduction to theory and methods. Boston: Allyn & Bacon. [Google Scholar]
  8. Braddock, J. H. (1985). School desegregation and Black assimilation. Journal of Social Issues, 1(3), 9-22. [Google Scholar]
  9. Castaneda, C. R. (2004). Teaching and learning in diverse classrooms. New York: Routledge. [Google Scholar]
  10. Chang, M. J. (1996). Racial diversity in higher education: Does a racially mixed student population affect educational outcomes? Unpublished doctoral dissertation. University of California, Los Angeles. [Google Scholar]
  11. Chang, M. J. (1999). Does racial diversity matter? The educational impact of  a racially diverse undergraduate population. Journal of College Student Development, 40, 377-394. [Google Scholar]
  12. Cohen, E. G. (1982). Expectation states and interaction in school settings. Annual Reviewof Sociology, 8, 209-235. [Google Scholar]
  13. Cole, S. & Barber, E. (2003). Increasing faculty diversity: The occupational choices  of high achieving minority students. Harvard University Press. Cambridge, MA. [Google Scholar]
  14. Collins, P. H. (2000). Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment. New York: Routledge. [Google Scholar]
  15. Cresswell, J. W. (2007). Qualitative inquiry & research design: Choosing among five approaches.Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, Inc. [Google Scholar]
  16. Deck, A. A. (1990). ―Autoethnography: Zora Neale Hurston, Noni, Jabavu, and Cross-Disciplinary Discourse,‖ Black American Literature Forum, 24(2), 237- 256. [Google Scholar]
  17. Denzin, N. (1989). Interpretive biography. Newbury Park, CAss: Sage publications. Emerson, R. M., Fretz, R. I., & Shaw, L. L. (1995). Writing ethnographic field  notes. [Google Scholar]
  18. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. [Google Scholar]
  19. Fong, M. (2007). The permeable and impermeable wall of expectations. In K. G. Hendrix (Ed.), Neither White nor male: Female faculty of color (pp. 35-45). Jossey-Bass: Wiley Periodicals, Inc.s [Google Scholar]
  20. Gee, J. P. (2002). Discourse analysis. London: Routledge. [Google Scholar]
  21. Gee, J. P. (2004). Social linguistics and literacies. New York: RoutledgeFalmer. [Google Scholar]
  22. Green, D. O. & Kim, E. (2005). Experiences of Korean female doctoral students in academe: Raising voice against gender and racial stereotypes. Project Muse,66(5),    487-500. [Google Scholar]
  23. Gurin, P., Deay, E. L., Hurtado, S. & Gurin, G. (2002). Diversity in higher education: Theory and impact on educational outcomes. Harvard Educational Review, 72(3), 330-366. [Google Scholar]
  24. Han, K. T. (2011a). Teaching on the edge: The life story of an Asian American woman literacy professor in a rural, predominantly White university. In X. L. Rong & R. Endo (Eds.), Asian American education—Identities, racial issues, and languages (pp. 131-158). Charlotte, N. Carolina: Information Age Publishing, Inc. [Google Scholar]
  25. Han, K. T. (2011b). Seeing through the eyes of others: Films, anime, and manga in teacher education programs. Journal of Educational Practices for Social Justice, 11-21. [Google Scholar]
  26. Harlow, R. (2003). ―Race doesn‘t matter, but…‖: The effect of race on professors‘ experiences and emotion management in the undergraduate classroom. Social Psychology Quarterly, 66(4), 348-363. [Google Scholar]
  27. Hendrix, K. G. (2007). Neither White nor male: Female Faculty of color. Jossey- Bass: Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [Google Scholar]
  28. Housee, S. (2001). Insiders and/or outsiders: Black female voices from the academy. In P. Anderson & J. Williams (Eds.), Identity and difference in higher education:‘Outsiders within‘ (pp. 109-124). New York: Peter Lang. [Google Scholar]
  29. Hune, S. (1997). Higher education as gendered space: Asian American women and everyday inequities. Everyday sexism in the third millennium (pp. 191-196). New York: Routledge. [Google Scholar]
  30. Hune, S. (1998). Asian Pacific American women in higher education: Claiming visibility and voice. Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges and Universities. [Google Scholar]
  31. Hune, S. (2006). Asian Pacific American women and men in higher education. In G. Li and G. H. Beckett (Eds.), Strangers of the academy: Asian women scholars in higher education (pp. 15-36). Stylus Publishing, LLC. [Google Scholar]
  32. Hurtado, S., Milem, J., Clayton-Pedersen, A. & Allen, W. (1999). Enacting diverse learning environments: Improving the climate for racial/ethnic diversity in higher education, the George Washington University, Washington, DC. [Google Scholar]
  33. Jayakumar, U. M. (2008). Can higher education meet the needs of an increasingly diverse and global society?: Campus diversity and cross-cultural workforce competences. Harvard Educational Review, 78(4), 615-651. [Google Scholar]
  34. Kambutu, J., Rios, F., & Castaneda, R. C. (2009). Stories deep within: Narratives of U.S.teachers of color from Diasporic settings. Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education, 3 (2), 96-109. [Google Scholar]
  35. Kim, K. H. (2009). Cultural influence on creativity: The relationship between Asian culture (Confucianism) and creativity among Korean educators. The Journal  of Creative Behavior, 43(2), 73-93. [Google Scholar]
  36. Kim, K. H. (2005). Learning from each other: Creativity in East Asian and American education. Creativity Research Journal, 17(4), 337-347. [Google Scholar]
  37. Koo. H. S. & Nahm, A. C. (2007). An introduction to Korean culture. Seoul: Hollym. [Google Scholar]
  38. Li , G. & Beckett, G. (Eds.). (2006). ―Strangers‖ of the academy: Asian women scholoars in higher education. Sterling, VA: Stylus. [Google Scholar]
  39. Litrell, R. L. (2005). Teaching student from Confucian cultures. In I. Alon & J. R. McIntyre (Eds.), Business and management education in China: Transition, pedagogy, and training, (pp. 141-164). Hakensack, NJ: World Scientific Publishing Co. Ltd. [Google Scholar]
  40. Liu, N. F. & Littlewood, W. (1997). Why do many students appear reluctant to participate in classroom learning discourse? System, 25(3), 371-384. [Google Scholar]
  41. Luthra, R. (2002). Negotiating the minefield: Practing transformative pedagogy as a teach of color in a classroom climate of suspicion. In L. Vargas, (Ed.), Women faculty of color in the White classroom (pp. 79-92). New York: Peter Lang. [Google Scholar]
  42. Ma, W. (2008). Participatory dialogue and participatory learning in a discussion- based graduate seminar. Journal of Literacy Research, 40(2), 220-249. [Google Scholar]
  43. McLean, C. A. (2007). Establishing credibility in the multicultural classroom: When t he instructor speaks with an accent. In K. G. Hendrix (Ed.), Neither White nor male: Female faculty of color (pp. 15-24). Jossey-Bass: Wiley Periodicals,  Inc. [Google Scholar]
  44. Marx, S. (2006). Revealing the invisible: Confronting passive racism in teacher education. New York: Routledge. [Google Scholar]
  45. Muhtaseb, A. (2007). From behind the veil: Students‘ resistance from different directions. In K. G. Hendrix (Ed.), Neither White nor male: Female faculty of color (pp. 25-34). Jossey-Bass: Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [Google Scholar]
  46. Perry, G., Moore, H., Edwards, C., Acosta, K., & Frey, C. (2009). Maintaining credibility and authority as an instructor of color in diversity-education classrooms: A qualitative inquiry. The Journal of Higher Education, 80(1), 80- 105. [Google Scholar]
  47. Reed-Danahay, D. E. (Ed.). (1997). Auto/Ethnography: Rewriting the self and the social. Oxford: Berg. [Google Scholar]
  48. Stanley, C. A. (2006). Coloring the academic landscape: Faculty of color breaking the silence in predominantly White colleges and universities. American Educational Research Journal, 43(4), 701-736. [Google Scholar]
  49. Ture, K. & Hamilton, C. V. (1992). Black power: The politics of liberation in America. New York: Vintage Books. [Google Scholar]
  50. Turner, R. (2002). Women of color in academia:  Living with  multiple    marginality. The Journal of Higher Education, 73(1), 74-93. [Google Scholar]
  51. Umbach, P. D. (2006). The contribution of faculty of color to undergraduate education. Research in Higher Education, 47(3), 317-345. [Google Scholar]
  52. Tatum, B. D. (1999). ―Why are all the Black kids sitting together in the cafeteria?‖ And other conversations about race. New York: Basic Books. [Google Scholar]
  53. Vargas, L. (2002). Women faculty of color in the White classroom. New York: Peter Lang. [Google Scholar]
  54. Vargas, L. (1999). When the ―Other‖ is the teacher: Implications of teacher diversity in higher education. The Urban Review, 31(4), 359-383. [Google Scholar]
  55. Villalpando, O. (2002). The impact of diversity and multiculturalism on all students: Findings from a national study. NASPA Journal, 40(1), 124-144. [Google Scholar]
  56. Wei, F, F. (2007). Cross-cultural teaching apprehension: A coidentity approach  toward minority teachers. In K. G. Hendrix (Ed.), Neither White nor male: Female faculty of color (pp. 5-15). Jossey-Bass: Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [Google Scholar]
Download
Metric
History
Related

Volume 8 Issue 2

June 2012

All Articles

International Journal of Progressive Education

International Association of Educators.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License.
Privacy policy     |     Terms of Use     |     Use of Cookies
Creative Commons Lisansı
© 2012 - 2024 - THDSoft e-Journal Management System.