“From Counterstory to Counterspace: A Reflection in Founding NYC’s Inaugural Asian American Male Teaching Initiative”

• In Event: Asian American Pedagogies as Remedy: Resisting Systemic Erasure

Abstract

Purpose
The objective is for researchers to understand what it means to be an Asian American male teacher in the context of founding, leading, and participating in New York City’s inaugural Asian American male teacher retention and support program during the Stop Asian Hate movement.

Perspective
AsianCrit was the main theory underlying this counterstory. For AsianCrit, I employed Asianization, intersectionality, and story-as-praxis when thinking about my experience since these were the same tenets used to design the program. Intersectionality allowed for an analysis of enmeshed identities that were enacted in AATEND and for multi-partial facilitation as a response (Boszormenyi-Nagy, 1966; Wright, 2021). Story-as-Praxis was a core theory as we shared stories in the second half of every session to ground theory in embodied experiences.

Methods
This counterstory uses retrospective participatory analysis (Kubota & Catlett, 2008) to reflect on my personal experience as a Filipino American both designing, leading, and participating in the program. The guiding question for my inquiry was: What does it mean to be both Asian American and male in a feminist labor market that misrepresents or omits Asian Americans? (Takagi, 1992; Iftikar & Museus, 2018, p. 941-942).

Data sources
I center my respective story as a data source to embody the AsianCrit concept of “stories-as-praxis.” Centering one’s story also embodies the TribalCrit tradition where stories are “the guardians of cumulative knowledge that hold a place in the psyches of the group members, memories of tradition, and reflections on power” (Brayboy, 2005)

Findings
According to Yuan et. al (2023) there is a dearth of research about Asian Americans male teachers. Historically, Asian Americans are stereotyped as perpetual foreigners, model minorities, menaces to society, or some combination of the three. Being Asian American and building an Asian American male teacher program meant reclaiming a counter-space (Curammeng, 461) to combat this misrepresentation or direct omission. This counter-space enabled us to explore the Asian American male psyche, assess and build racial literacy, and foster intra-racial community. In reflecting on AATEND, I learned that the majority of participants in year one grew in their racial literacy skills and confidence in addressing instances of racism at their schools. I also learned through reflection and analyzing post-program surveys that leadership was a major interest of the majority of the participants, which counters the stereotype that we are not “leadership material” (Chen & Cheng-Cimini, 2024).

Significance
As anti-Asian violence continues to persist across the US, it is vital to provide psychologically safe spaces for Asian Americans to learn and heal in community and engage in self-reflection. This counter-story teaches school administrators and district leaders to understand the lives, identities, intersectionalities, and journeys of Asian Americans – and specifically for males. Beyond combating omission, this counter-story helps school administrators and district leaders abolish binary thinking when it comes to Asian Americans.

Author

• Tony DelaRosa, University of Wisconsin - Madison