Forging Connections through Linguistic and Cultural Practices: Asian American Student Teachers Leveraging Identity and Experience

• In Event: Reimagining Teacher Education: Equity, Technology, and Globalization in Preservice Preparation

Abstract

As calls for more teachers of color persist, it is imperative to learn more about their experiences in teacher education and beyond. This paper reports on the student teaching experiences of six Asian American participants/co-researchers. It focuses on how they leveraged aspects of their identities – specifically, their linguistic and cultural practices – to forge connections with students and families. As they felt deepening connections with students, they also reported the importance of having their own identities affirmed in their student teaching placements and by their mentor teachers. Just as students of color need humanizing classrooms where their identities are recognized and valued, teachers of color need this validation, too – something that often does not happen in K-12 classrooms or teacher education.

Authors

• Kathryn Struthers Ahmed, Hunter College - CUNY

• Sonia Begum, Hunter College

• Jia Yan Jiang, Hunter College – CUNY

• Oumwatie Sooklall, Hunter College - CUNY

• Jessie Song, Hunter College – CUNY

• Victoria Song, Hunter College – CUNY

• Samantha Wong, Hunter College – CUNY