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

Year 2012, Volume: 8 Issue: 2, 25 - 48, 01.08.2012

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

References

  • 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. Aguirre, A. (2000). Women and minority faculty in the academic workplace:Recruitment, retention, and academic culture. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA.
  • Antonio (2002). Faculty of color reconsidered: Reassessing contributions to scholarship. The Journal of Higher Education, 73(5), 582-602.
  • 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.
  • Berger, J. & Fisek, M. H. (2006). Diffuse status characteristics and the spread of status value: A formal theory. AJS Journal, 111(4), 1038-79.
  • Berger, J. Fisek, M. H. and Norman, R. Z. (1977) Status Characteristics and Social Interaction: An Expectation State Approach. N. Y.: Elsevier.
  • Bogdan, R. C. Biklen, S. K. (2007). Qualitative research for education: An introduction to theory and methods. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
  • Braddock, J. H. (1985). School desegregation and Black assimilation. Journal of Social Issues, 1(3), 9-22.
  • Castaneda, C. R. (2004). Teaching and learning in diverse classrooms. New York: Routledge.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Cohen, E. G. (1982). Expectation states and interaction in school settings. Annual
  • Review of Sociology, 8, 209-235.
  • Cole, S. & Barber, E. (2003). Increasing faculty diversity: The occupational choices of high achieving minority students. Harvard University Press. Cambridge, MA.
  • Collins, P. H. (2000). Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment. New York: Routledge.
  • Cresswell, J. W. (2007). Qualitative inquiry & research design: Choosing among five approaches.Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, Inc.
  • Deck, A. A. (1990). ―Autoethnography: Zora Neale Hurston, Noni, Jabavu, and Cross-Disciplinary Discourse,‖ Black American Literature Forum, 24(2), 237- 256.
  • Denzin, N. (1989). Interpretive biography. Newbury Park, CAss: Sage publications.
  • Emerson, R. M., Fretz, R. I., & Shaw, L. L. (1995). Writing ethnographic field notes. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
  • 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
  • Gee, J. P. (2002). Discourse analysis. London: Routledge.
  • Gee, J. P. (2004). Social linguistics and literacies. New York: RoutledgeFalmer.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Hendrix, K. G. (2007). Neither White nor male: Female Faculty of color. Jossey- Bass: Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Hune, S. (1998). Asian Pacific American women in higher education: Claiming visibility and voice. Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges and Universities.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Kim, K. H. (2005). Learning from each other: Creativity in East Asian and American education. Creativity Research Journal, 17(4), 337-347.
  • Koo. H. S. & Nahm, A. C. (2007). An introduction to Korean culture. Seoul: Hollym.
  • Li , G. & Beckett, G. (Eds.). (2006). ―Strangers‖ of the academy: Asian women scholoars in higher education. Sterling, VA: Stylus.
  • 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.
  • Liu, N. F. & Littlewood, W. (1997). Why do many students appear reluctant to participate in classroom learning discourse? System, 25(3), 371-384.
  • 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.
  • Ma, W. (2008). Participatory dialogue and participatory learning in a discussion- based graduate seminar. Journal of Literacy Research, 40(2), 220-249.
  • 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.
  • Marx, S. (2006). Revealing the invisible: Confronting passive racism in teacher education. New York: Routledge.
  • 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.
  • Perry, G., Moore, H., Edwards, C., Acosta, K., & Frey, C. (2009). Maintaining credibility classrooms: A qualitative inquiry. The Journal of Higher Education, 80(1), 80- 105.
  • Reed-Danahay, D. E. (Ed.). (1997). Auto/Ethnography: Rewriting the self and the social. Oxford: Berg.
  • 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.
  • Ture, K. & Hamilton, C. V. (1992). Black power: The politics of liberation in America. New York: Vintage Books.
  • Turner, R. (2002). Women of color in academia: Living with multiple marginality. The Journal of Higher Education, 73(1), 74-93.
  • Umbach, P. D. (2006). The contribution of faculty of color to undergraduate education. Research in Higher Education, 47(3), 317-345.
  • Tatum, B. D. (1999). ―Why are all the Black kids sitting together in the cafeteria?‖ And other conversations about race. New York: Basic Books.
  • Vargas, L. (2002). Women faculty of color in the White classroom. New York: Peter Lang.
  • Vargas, L. (1999). When the ―Other‖ is the teacher: Implications of teacher diversity in higher education. The Urban Review, 31(4), 359-383.
  • Villalpando, O. (2002). The impact of diversity and multiculturalism on all students: Findings from a national study. NASPA Journal, 40(1), 124-144.
  • 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.
Year 2012, Volume: 8 Issue: 2, 25 - 48, 01.08.2012

Abstract

References

  • 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. Aguirre, A. (2000). Women and minority faculty in the academic workplace:Recruitment, retention, and academic culture. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA.
  • Antonio (2002). Faculty of color reconsidered: Reassessing contributions to scholarship. The Journal of Higher Education, 73(5), 582-602.
  • 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.
  • Berger, J. & Fisek, M. H. (2006). Diffuse status characteristics and the spread of status value: A formal theory. AJS Journal, 111(4), 1038-79.
  • Berger, J. Fisek, M. H. and Norman, R. Z. (1977) Status Characteristics and Social Interaction: An Expectation State Approach. N. Y.: Elsevier.
  • Bogdan, R. C. Biklen, S. K. (2007). Qualitative research for education: An introduction to theory and methods. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
  • Braddock, J. H. (1985). School desegregation and Black assimilation. Journal of Social Issues, 1(3), 9-22.
  • Castaneda, C. R. (2004). Teaching and learning in diverse classrooms. New York: Routledge.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Cohen, E. G. (1982). Expectation states and interaction in school settings. Annual
  • Review of Sociology, 8, 209-235.
  • Cole, S. & Barber, E. (2003). Increasing faculty diversity: The occupational choices of high achieving minority students. Harvard University Press. Cambridge, MA.
  • Collins, P. H. (2000). Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment. New York: Routledge.
  • Cresswell, J. W. (2007). Qualitative inquiry & research design: Choosing among five approaches.Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, Inc.
  • Deck, A. A. (1990). ―Autoethnography: Zora Neale Hurston, Noni, Jabavu, and Cross-Disciplinary Discourse,‖ Black American Literature Forum, 24(2), 237- 256.
  • Denzin, N. (1989). Interpretive biography. Newbury Park, CAss: Sage publications.
  • Emerson, R. M., Fretz, R. I., & Shaw, L. L. (1995). Writing ethnographic field notes. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
  • 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
  • Gee, J. P. (2002). Discourse analysis. London: Routledge.
  • Gee, J. P. (2004). Social linguistics and literacies. New York: RoutledgeFalmer.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Hendrix, K. G. (2007). Neither White nor male: Female Faculty of color. Jossey- Bass: Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Hune, S. (1998). Asian Pacific American women in higher education: Claiming visibility and voice. Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges and Universities.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Kim, K. H. (2005). Learning from each other: Creativity in East Asian and American education. Creativity Research Journal, 17(4), 337-347.
  • Koo. H. S. & Nahm, A. C. (2007). An introduction to Korean culture. Seoul: Hollym.
  • Li , G. & Beckett, G. (Eds.). (2006). ―Strangers‖ of the academy: Asian women scholoars in higher education. Sterling, VA: Stylus.
  • 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.
  • Liu, N. F. & Littlewood, W. (1997). Why do many students appear reluctant to participate in classroom learning discourse? System, 25(3), 371-384.
  • 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.
  • Ma, W. (2008). Participatory dialogue and participatory learning in a discussion- based graduate seminar. Journal of Literacy Research, 40(2), 220-249.
  • 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.
  • Marx, S. (2006). Revealing the invisible: Confronting passive racism in teacher education. New York: Routledge.
  • 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.
  • Perry, G., Moore, H., Edwards, C., Acosta, K., & Frey, C. (2009). Maintaining credibility classrooms: A qualitative inquiry. The Journal of Higher Education, 80(1), 80- 105.
  • Reed-Danahay, D. E. (Ed.). (1997). Auto/Ethnography: Rewriting the self and the social. Oxford: Berg.
  • 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.
  • Ture, K. & Hamilton, C. V. (1992). Black power: The politics of liberation in America. New York: Vintage Books.
  • Turner, R. (2002). Women of color in academia: Living with multiple marginality. The Journal of Higher Education, 73(1), 74-93.
  • Umbach, P. D. (2006). The contribution of faculty of color to undergraduate education. Research in Higher Education, 47(3), 317-345.
  • Tatum, B. D. (1999). ―Why are all the Black kids sitting together in the cafeteria?‖ And other conversations about race. New York: Basic Books.
  • Vargas, L. (2002). Women faculty of color in the White classroom. New York: Peter Lang.
  • Vargas, L. (1999). When the ―Other‖ is the teacher: Implications of teacher diversity in higher education. The Urban Review, 31(4), 359-383.
  • Villalpando, O. (2002). The impact of diversity and multiculturalism on all students: Findings from a national study. NASPA Journal, 40(1), 124-144.
  • 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.
There are 56 citations in total.

Details

Other ID JA49UJ63VZ
Journal Section Articles
Authors

Keonghee Tao Han This is me

Publication Date August 1, 2012
Published in Issue Year 2012 Volume: 8 Issue: 2

Cite

APA 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.