Immigrant Teachers: Lived Experiences of Immigration, Schooling, and Teaching

• In Event: Educating the World in Our Classrooms: Preparing Teachers for Immigrant Students

Abstract

Objectives
In response to the changing context in U.S. schools with students from many different cultures, languages, and countries of origin, scholarship on teaching and teacher education has long argued for a diverse teaching force to meet the needs of diverse students. Yet, little is known about diverse teachers, particularly those with immigrant backgrounds and transnational experiences (Kern et al., 2012). Who are immigrant teachers? How and why do immigrants become teachers? What can we learn from their experiences? Considering teaching as a deeply personal endeavor shaped by one’s funds of knowledge, studying the lives of immigrant teachers can help us understand their work and has implications for responsive pedagogy for immigrant students (Elbaz-Luwisch, 2007; Kelchtermans, 2017).

Theoretical Framework
Grounded in the funds of knowledge framework (Moll et al. 1992) and the construct of borderlands (Anzaldúa, 1987), this study aimed to understand the complexities and contradictions in the lives of immigrant teachers, meshed with their own immigration histories and schooling as newcomers and with their teaching of immigrant students.

Methods
Situated in New York City, known for its long history of diversity and immigration, this qualitative multi-case study of four immigrant teachers inquired into how their lived experiences shaped their teaching practices for their immigrant students. I used purposive sampling (Maxwell, 2013) to represent the diversity in immigrant teachers and framed each teacher as a separate case (Stake, 2000).

Data Sources
Drawing from a series of in-depth life history interviews, I analyzed the teachers’ narratives through multi-step processes by engaging with the data deductively and inductively, constantly returning to the theoretical frameworks. I then organized the patterns and categories into themes.

Findings
As diverse as their countries of origin (Vietnam, Dominican Republic, Guyana, and Argentina), the four teachers’ transitions to schooling in the new culture were uniquely different. Tuyet Nhi, who immigrated as a young child, described that school was a “scary” place with “no one helping her,” reflecting the prevalent exclusionary practice for immigrant students. Gianna and Vanessa as nontraditional adult immigrant students in graduate schools expressed the difficulty of navigating the new language and culture. Al’s story highlighted his compassion towards his parents’ vulnerability as newcomers and his new role as a “cultural broker.” Utilizing their funds of knowledge as resources for teaching, the teachers found school to be a place where they could make a difference, particularly for immigrant students. Seeing their immigration experiences reflected in the lives of their immigrant students, the teachers enacted activism for their immigrant students with the hope that education could help create a better future, despite the persistent social inequity and political unrest.

Significance
The stories of immigrant teachers enable a glimpse into the complexity within immigrant lives, entangled with their negotiation of identities and languages, family affairs, and their resilience to live meaningfully. Attention to the lives of immigrant teachers bears valuable insights into how schooling operates for and against immigrants, and makes visible the nuances in their experiences that other teachers may not comprehend in teaching immigrant students.

Author

• Seung Eun McDevitt, St. John's University