Spatial Dynamics of the Model Minority Myth and Asianization With Asian American Teachers (Poster 5)

• In Event: Mapping the Field: The Role of Space in Educational Equity

Abstract

Overview
The historical racialization of Asians and Asian Americans as “yellow peril,” “forever foreigners,” and alien labor largely stems from spatial forms of injustice such as colonialism, imperialism, and xenophobia (Au, 2022; Tchen & Yeats, 2014). This project focuses on the spatial nature of the “model minority myth,” the dominant portrayal of Asian Americans which reinforces racial hierarchies and neoliberalism, contributing to educational inequities across racial lines (Au, 2022; Yi et al., 2020). Using participatory geographic information system (GIS) mapping, we answer the following question: What levels and mechanisms of space contribute to Asian American racialization in education, as experienced and resisted by mathematics teachers with a social justice orientation?

Theoretical Framework
The study design draws on AsianCrit, specifically the tenets of Asianization, transnational contexts, and strategic (anti)essentialism (Museus & Iftikar, 2013). The study also uses Critical Race Spatial Analysis (Morrison et al., 2017; Vélez & Solórzano, 2017) to apply Critical Race Theory’s analysis of race and racism to the “socio-spatial dialectic” (Soja, 2010), seeking to uncover the ways in which space constructs race and is implicated in other systems of oppression.

Methods
The study adapts the identity-mapping technique of education journey mapping (EJM) (Annamma, 2018) to create multimedia EJMs via KnightLab StoryMaps, a GIS software that allows users to combine video, images, and text tagged to geospatial locations to produce maps. Participants responded to the following prompt: "From your time as a student to your time, now, as a teacher, please indicate and detail important spaces that have had influence on you. Focus on how your racial identity evolved or changed through time, especially with respect to moments of interaction/contestation/acceptance with the Model Minority Myth, and how that leads to your work and commitments as a justice-oriented math teacher." Mapping took place across four sessions, in which participants engaged in collaborative analysis through grounded visualization (Knigge & Cope, 2006) to identify socio-spatial characteristics across their cartographic narratives.

Preliminary Findings
Preliminary findings reveal socio-spatial mechanisms at multiple levels of scale shaping how the teachers experienced and resisted Asianization throughout their educational journeys. Personal histories of transnational family immigration, combined with the racialized nature of U.S. society, lead some teachers to struggle with notions of cultural and ethnic authenticity. Racial segregation in childhood cities contributed to stereotypes and essentialist thinking, both externally imposed and inwardly accepted. Underrepresentation in the school curriculum encouraged feelings of isolation, while racial affinity groups either furthered these feelings or became sources of strength and solidarity. Family connections were sources of empowerment and self-definition, transcending physical separation. These socio-spatial patterns ultimately shaped their work as social justice-oriented mathematics teachers.

Significance
The study reinforces the importance of space for racial (in)justice and educational (in)equity by revealing how Asianization is both experienced and resisted by Asian Americans on multiple levels of scale: home, school, national, and transnational contexts. EJM constitutes a powerful methodological tool for future research collaborations with teachers to explore their spatially shaped education experiences, particularly regarding the racialized nature of schools.

Authors

• Lawrence Teng, University of Texas at Austin

• William Hanjin Bae, University of Texas at Austin

• Cathery Yeh, University of Texas at Austin