an ethnographic study

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Inside a beginning immigrant science teacher’s classroom: an ethnographic study a

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Anne L. Kern , Gillian Roehrig & Donald K. Wattam

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Department of Curriculum and Instruction, University of IdahoCoeur d’Alene, Coeur d’Alene, ID, USA b

Co-Director STEM Education Center, University of Minnesota, St Paul, MN, USA c

Department of Leadership and Counseling, University of IdahoCoeur d’Alene, Coeur d’Alene, ID, USA Available online: 15 Jun 2012

To cite this article: Anne L. Kern, Gillian Roehrig & Donald K. Wattam (2012): Inside a beginning immigrant science teacher’s classroom: an ethnographic study, Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, DOI:10.1080/13540602.2012.696047 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2012.696047

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Teachers and Teaching: theory and practice 2012, iFirst Article, 1–13

Inside a beginning immigrant science teacher’s classroom: an ethnographic study Anne L. Kerna*, Gillian Roehrigb and Donald K. Wattamc a Department of Curriculum and Instruction, University of Idaho-Coeur d’Alene, Coeur d’Alene, ID, USA; bCo-Director STEM Education Center, University of Minnesota, St Paul, MN, USA; cDepartment of Leadership and Counseling, University of Idaho-Coeur d’Alene, Coeur d’Alene, ID, USA


(Received 26 September 2010; final version received 3 June 2011) Teaching is a highly personal endeavor shaped by ‘funds of knowledge’ and beliefs about teaching, learning, and students. This case study examines how one Asian immigrant teacher’s personal expectations and beliefs influenced his expectations of students and the teaching and instructional strategies he employed. His expectations of students’ behavior and their failure to conform to his expectations influenced him to utilize more traditional, didactic instructional practices and responses to classroom management dilemmas. It is generally assumed that immigrant and minority students will benefit from exposure to teachers from similar backgrounds, and that ethnically diverse teachers can better prepare minority students for the multicultural workplace and global economy. This study focuses on the role a teacher’s background and experiences play in development of their beliefs about teaching and learning, their expectations of students, and the instructional decisions they make regarding teaching and learning. This study suggests that teachers draw on their personal histories and cultural understandings to create classroom practices which are molded by microcosms of personal ‘funds of knowledge’ and beliefs about teaching and learning. In contrast to conventional wisdom and unquestioned myths, this study emphasizes the importance of knowing that teachers’ cultural backgrounds do not necessarily qualify them to provide the most appropriate instructional environment for students from similar cultural backgrounds. This study suggests that all teachers need to learn to recognize and negotiate the unique social elements culturally diverse students bring to the classroom. Keywords: teacher practice; teacher beliefs; social bias; teacher development

The first thing that I tell my students is to not let people look down on you, just because you are an immigrant. Do not live on welfare or take handouts from the system. Don’t be a lazy immigrant. You can do anything you want so don’t let them stand in your way. Lok Voong, 4/06(a pseudonym)

Lok is a Vietnamese immigrant to the USA. He is also a beginning ninth grade physical science teacher at a suburban high school in the Midwest. His classes are composed of students from a wide range of cultural backgrounds, many of whom *Corresponding author. Email: [email protected] ISSN 1354-0602 print/ISSN 1470-1278 online Ó 2012 Taylor & Francis http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2012.696047 http://www.tandfonline.com


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are also immigrants, with varying degrees of English language ability. The first time that I entered Lok’s room I was struck by a sense of order and his students’ rapt attention to the screen displaying an overhead transparency with the lecture notes for the day. Lok informs his students that today would be a day filled with note taking, more than usual. The students complained but continued copying down the vocabulary words from the previous night’s reading assignment as displayed from the overhead. In discussions of his lessons after class, Lok expressed his opinion that building an understanding of the scientific vocabulary was essential to their success in learning scientific content, ‘I like to review the main vocabulary words before I start a chapter … I think if they know what something means this helps them to focus on what they are trying to learn.’ In other words, in order for his students to understand the science content, Lok believed they should learn the scientific vocabulary and in his teaching he would first present the list of scientific words, ask the students to copy the words, and then rewrite the definitions in their own words. There is perhaps a universal belief that immigrant teachers can help immigrant students adapt to a new culture. Many US educators have called for a more diverse teaching force to meet the needs of diverse learners (Banks et al., 2005). The literature also suggests that teachers from similar backgrounds better understand the experiences of students from diverse backgrounds. In addition, the literature indicates a diverse teaching force could help better prepare students to work in a multicultural workplace and global economy (Banks & Banks, 1989; Darling-Hammond & Bransford, 2005). Su (1996) suggests teachers from diverse cultural backgrounds are more likely to engage in culturally relevant pedagogies and embrace reform teaching strategies that focus on student interactions and sense making. Historically, teaching was viewed as a ‘process-product’ endeavor and teaching implementation was evaluated by adherence to the fidelity of a curriculum. Yet, Clandinin and Connelly (1992) argue teachers are more than simply ‘curriculum-users.’ They suggest teachers are in fact ‘curriculum-makers,’ they are ‘knowledgeable and knowing persons,’ who draw on experiences, knowledge about their subject matter, students, and classroom context. Researchers now consider a teacher’s practice as more complex than simply paraphrasing what one was trained to do (Atkin, 1992; Eisner, 2000; Feiman-Nemser, 2001). Teaching is a highly personal endeavor; how one teaches is a reflection of who one is, and is strongly shaped by beliefs, whether articulated or not, about teaching, learning, and students. Beliefs are personal constructs generated from personal experiences that can provide a lens for understanding a teacher’s instructional and classroom management decisions (Nespor, 1987; Pajares, 1992; Richardson, 1996). Nespor (1987) asserts beliefs are generated from previous episodes or events. She contends one’s teaching practices are strongly influenced by these detailed, episodic memories and experiences as a student. Peeler and Jane (2005, p. 325) state, ‘It is important to recognize that all new teachers, including immigrant teachers, bring unique histories that reflect their own understanding.’ As a result, it is logical to think one’s experiences as an immigrant and the beliefs developed from their previous experiences will strongly impact how immigrant teachers approach creating a classroom environment for all students, but especially for other immigrant students. While the literature argues for the need to recruit immigrant and minority teachers, there is little research pertaining to the experiences of immigrant teachers in US classrooms. This case study examines how one immigrant teacher draws on his beliefs and experiences as an immigrant to the USA in order to create the culture of his classroom for his immigrant students. We ask:

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How do Lok’s experiences as an immigrant (and minority) shape his beliefs about teaching, his expectations of his students, and his classroom practices?

Immigrants and education The term immigrant is used to designate a person born outside of their current country of residence. Often in the literature the terms minority and immigrant are confounded – one can be a minority but not an immigrant and visa versa. Educational research in the USA tends to focus on minority student issues, such as the achievement gap between white and minority (nonwhite) students. For example, routinely cited standardized test scores do not delineate between minority students who are US citizens and minority students who are immigrants (Lynch, 2000). Generally, students are grouped by ethnicity or English language learner (ELL) status regardless of immigration status – a recent immigrant student from East Africa would be included with African-American students. Currently, it is expected that the number of school aged immigrants students will increase from 12.3 million in 2005 to 17.9 million in 2020, accounting for a 45% increase in the number of ELL students entering US schools (Fry, 2008). Policy-makers tend to focus services for this population of students on their development as English speakers (Banks & Banks, 1989; Darling-Hammond & Bransford, 2005). However, numerous researchers suggest academic success of students who speak a language other than standard English as their first language may not be as simple as access to and mastery of language skills of the dominant culture (e.g. Delpit, 1988; Lee, 1994; Lynch, 2000; Moll, Amanti, Neff, & Gonzalez, 1992; Ogbu, 1991; Portes & Zhou, 1993; Valenzuela, 1999). Portes and Zhou (1993) propose a theory of ‘segmented assimilation,’ which accounts for the differences among immigrant groups’ adaptation to the US culture. They suggest different paths to acculturating into US society may be affected by a variety of individual factors – such as identity, value, beliefs, and group level factors – like social structure, economics, and political activity. Moll et al. (1992) refer to these historically accumulated and culturally developed bodies of knowledge and skills as ‘funds of knowledge.’ Funds of knowledge are shaped by an immigrant’s personal, social, historical, and cultural experiences. Each immigrant group’s unique fund of knowledge ultimately shapes their various paths to inserting themselves into a new culture. Moll et al. (1992) posit these funds of knowledge impact teachers’ beliefs about education, content, instructional strategies, and interactions with students in such a way as to frame their construct of what is worth knowing. Moll et al. (1992) suggests teachers should consider these specific funds of knowledge and strategically include them in their classroom practice in order to facilitate learning in ways that are relevant and interesting to students. Au and Blake (2003) posit teachers who reside in the community of their minority or immigrant students and have had similar experiences are better able to understand the realities of their students’ lives. These teachers may be more able to make connections between the academic content and students’ prior knowledge, thus making the learning more meaningful for these students. Conversely, Peeler and Jane (2005) suggest, in the case of an immigrant teacher, it may not be enough to acquire the knowledge needed to teach and instruct. Immigrant teachers may themselves need to learn how to negotiate the


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unique social elements of learning and teaching in the dominant cultural system of education and in their local context. Delpit (1988) asserts there is a ‘culture of power’ in education that teachers should attend to when teaching students from outside the dominant culture. She acknowledges these students must be explicitly taught the rules or codes of the culture that dictates the ways and behaviors in school. Teachers must take responsibility for teaching students the codes of the culture of power and helping them develop ‘cultural competence’ in their home culture as well as in the dominant culture. She suggests this is not a simple task of selecting a type of teaching approach (i.e. skills vs. process). Teachers must be able to put their ‘beliefs on hold’ (p. 297) and really listen to their students. The teachers must acknowledge the student as an expert in their own lives if they hope to encourage their students to participate and succeed in the culture of power. Asians have generally been accepted into the culture of power as ‘honorary whites’ (Tuan, 1998). Asian Americans have had such academic success in the US educational system that they have been referred to as the ‘model-minority’ (Lee, 2001). According to the model-minority stereotype, all Asian Americans are perceived as successful in school and this success is attributed to cultural beliefs that value hard work and education. Lee (2001) stresses there are many different Asian ethnic groups in the USA and that this ‘model minority’ stereotype is problematic for many of them. Lee asserts the model-minority stereotype, while superficially positive, is problematic because it promotes an implied belief about how minority groups should act. The idealization of these model-minority values may lead to cultural conflicts among diverse populations and within one’s own ethnic group. Research methods In the ethnographic tradition, it is important that we as researchers explore our own experiences, backgrounds, and beliefs. We, the first two authors and field observers, are both former high school science teachers having spent several years in the public schools. As such, our experiences and observations of teachers have led to our belief that teachers want to do the best for their students. We are both immigrants to the USA, from Canada and the UK. We have both been successful in negotiating the US education system while beginning our early schooling as an Asian-Canadian and Caucasian-European student. It is noteworthy, that Anne was raised between two cultures: the traditional culture of her Asian parents and the dominant culture of the Canadian and US community. We feel this lens gives us particular access to understanding our participant, Lok, and his classroom. In this study, we explore the ways in which an Asian immigrant science teacher drew on his ‘funds of knowledge’ as an immigrant and his experiences as an immigrant to create an environment for learning in his classroom. Specifically, we examine the ways in which his beliefs, experiences, understanding of his students, and school setting influenced his instructional decisions. Using an ethnographic approach, we draw on 12 weekly classroom observations, 2 in-depth, and 12 weekly post-observation interviews from which we frame our interpretations and conclusions.


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Context of study The data collection for this study took place over the course of one academic year. Johnson High School (a pseudonym) is located in a large midwestern city, close to a large land-grant research university. The course schedule at Johnson high school (HS) consists of two 18-week compacted blocks, where a ‘year’ long course occurs every day for 120 min over an 18-week period. The demographics of Johnson HS are diverse for a school in the Midwest: 1% American Indian, 8% Hispanic, 10% Asian, 18% black, and 63% white. Approximately, 20% of students qualify for a free and reduced lunch program. In addition, 10% of the students are identified as having limited English language proficiency. Critically, many of the Asian, mostly Hmong, Somali, and black students served by the school are members of the recent and growing immigrant groups. Observations of practice Lok had only one preparation, Physical Science, for the academic year and was observed 12 times during one semester (a full year of the course). The observations were scheduled up to a week in advance. Each observation was carried out for at least one full class period. Detailed notes were taken during the observations to provide a complete picture of the lesson. Immediately following each observation, Lok was engaged in a conversation about the activities that took place during the observation. During these conversations, Lok discussed the activities and strategies he used and what he intended for his students to learn from them. These interviews were audiotaped, transcribed, and analyzed using a constant comparative method to develop themes related to instructional choice and context. Teaching beliefs In addition to the post-observation interviews, Lok’s beliefs about teaching were collected using a semi-structured interview (Berg, 1998) at the beginning and end of the academic year. The interview protocol, the Teachers’ Beliefs Interview (TBI) (Luft & Roehrig, 2007), used questions designed to develop an understanding of how the teacher views both teaching and learning. The TBI interviews were audiotaped, transcribed, and analyzed by two of the researchers to develop an understanding of Lok’s beliefs about students, teaching, and learning. The seven interview questions were: (1) How ses? (2) How (3) How (4) How (5) How (6) How (7) How

do you decide what to teach and what not to teach in your science clasdo do do do do do

you decide when to move on in your classroom? you describe your role as a teacher? your students learn best? you know when your students understand? you know when learning is occurring in your classroom? you maximize student learning?

Credibility, authenticity, and trustworthiness To minimize the effects of interpretation and bias of our representations we employed strategies for credibility, authenticity, and trustworthiness. To ensure

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credibility and authenticity, we used the strategy of member checking all of our interviews and narrations (Creswell & Miller, 2000). In an effort to assure trustworthiness in our interpretations and analysis of the data, we employed a process of cross-checking discussions of our interpretations. Our case study participant: who is Lok Voong? Lok is a 26-year-old immigrant, twice over. Born in North Vietnam, his family immigrated to South Vietnam in the early 1980s when he was a baby. After several failed attempts, the family finally immigrated to the USA when Lok was 10 years old. Each failed attempt left his family destitute and at one point the family was imprisoned for a short period. However, they persevered, holding to the belief that the social freedom available in the USA was worth their suffering. Once in the USA, Lok became the main caretaker for his elderly parents while his five older siblings pursued advanced educational degrees and raised their own families. Lok’s family ethos is centered on the values of hard work and education. His parents have always maintained a sense of ethnic pride in working hard as a means to gain success. For his parents, success embodies autonomy and a sense of comfort in doing what one desires. Lok’s parents tried very hard to instill these qualities in their children. The other quality his parents held very close to their heart was the value of education. Although not formally educated themselves, they were insistent about their children’s education. Despite his parent’s humble-means, Lok’s two eldest brothers received a private Catholic education. Lok recalled on the same day that he started high school, he got a part-time job at the neighborhood dry cleaner and took his father to the hospital for a blood transfusion, all while transporting him on his bicycle. He is proud that in four years at his part-time job he was able to save enough money to pay for most of his college education. In college, Lok excelled, graduating at the top of his class with a baccalaureate degree in chemical engineering. Lok worked for several years as a chemical engineer before he decided to become a teacher. At which point he enrolled in a science education Masters program in a highly reputable teacher preparation program that would grant him initial licensure and an advanced degree. He says an other factor leading to his decision to teach was his desire to return to his old neighborhood to take care of his parents because of their diminishing health: his father lost his leg due to diabetes and his mother lost most of her sight. Teaching allowed him to live close to his parents and offered him the flexibility to take them to their many medical appointments. He added that besides the flexibility of the job, he decided to become a teacher because ‘I have always been interested in sharing my knowledge of science. I have spent a lot of time tutoring my nieces and nephews, teaching Sunday school, and volunteering.’ Lok’s experience in school When Lok recounted his early experiences as a young student in Vietnam, he described a school culture where structure and routine were the norms: There was a structured learning environment, everything was clearly laid out, the expectations were clear. All the activities and the routines for the classroom were very precise. Everyone knew what was expected and how to do what was expected.


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Lok was very successful in this structured learning environment. He credited his success to clear expectations and routines; at all times he knew what he was supposed to do. When asked about his experience in the USA as an immigrant student, Lok responded: My work ethic is my strongest trait. I am not the brightest person in the world, but if I put my head to something, I can usually get it. I am stubborn. I got through math and science as an ESL student in 7th grade by putting in hard work.


Although the learning environment in the USA was less structured and the expectations for him as an immigrant student were not as clear as they were in Vietnam, Lok attributes his success to his ability to work hard despite unfamiliar cultural norms and expectations.

Lok’s classroom teaching practices at Johnson high school Lok taught all of the special needs and ELL sections of ninth grade physical science at Johnson HS. The majority of Lok’s students were immigrants. Lok commented he was assigned these sections because of his status as a new teacher and because he was a minority. Lok embraced the opportunity to teach these students; he felt that he had a unique perspective about how to succeed in the USA, that he could impart this knowledge and drive to his students. I am a minority … I mean I think I know a lot about students not born in America, even more than you know, more than American people. I think I can relate better to students not born in America, better than people actually born in America.

Lok’s instructional practices demanded his students be attentive yet passive during instruction. Most of his class time instruction followed a fairly consistent pattern of students writing responses to a ‘question-of-the-day,’ presenting and displaying a PowerPoint lecture, and then having students individually practice the material on a worksheet or question set. For example, during one observation Lok engaged his students in a lesson about the periodic table with the following question of the day, ‘How are elements within one group alike and not alike? Mendeleev arranged his elements by increasing_?’ This allowed him to provide his students a preview of what would be important to pay attention to during the presentation. Upon completion of the lecture, he engaged the students in a card sorting activity categorizing music groups into some logical sequence, hoping to mimic the process used by scientists to organize the elements in the periodic table. The class ended with a worksheet of questions about the organization and structure of the periodic table, focusing on the correct use of scientific vocabulary. Overall, Lok’s students appeared to follow his instruction and work quietly, but there were a number of instances where students would lay their heads on their desk, interrupt his lectures, or speak out of turn. Lok viewed these incidences as ‘off-task’ behaviors that his students could change as long as he was clear and reminded them about what he expected and his classroom rules. When observing Lok respond to a group of students displaying ‘off-task’ behavior, Lok said to the offending students:

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A.L. Kern et al. Guys please keep your head up, I know that it is late in the day and you are tired, you aren’t use to sitting quietly for hours and hours, you got out of the habit during the summer, but it’s disrespectful to me and disruptive.


At some point during the semester Lok was encouraged by his mentor to try some alternative teaching strategies to engage students in constructing their own understanding rather than just sitting passively listening to lectures. Lok tried some of the alternative teaching strategies but reported, ‘they were not successful.’ For example, Lok tried to engage students in collaborative group work by changing the physical environment of his classroom. Instead of ordered rows of single student desks, he arranged the desks into groups of four. He tried this configuration for a few days but abandoned the attempt when students appeared to engage more with each other and less on the lesson. He said about the experience: The cooperative groupings aren’t working for me – I need to have control in classroom management. I need to have students on task as much as possible and with group activities there is too much opportunity for them to be off task.

Whenever he was asked to talk about his teaching practice, Lok focused on classroom management and discipline. As a beginning teacher he believed, student discipline was essential to a productive learning environment. He expressed a preference to focus on student motivation and student understanding rather than issues of student discipline, but he believed classroom management must come first. Lok was constantly frustrated by the lack of on-task behavior of his students during lecture. Tensions would often arise between Lok and his students. During one observation, he engaged one of his immigrant students in a heated discussion. The student had stopped taking notes, put his head down on his desk, and acted as if he was taking a nap. Lok publicly pointed out to the student he had a failing grade and that if he continued to sleep during class, he could expect nothing more out of life in the USA than to become a janitor. Lok’s beliefs about teaching Lok’s explanations for his classroom practices and his responses to the TBI revealed his more traditional instructional beliefs underlying many of his classroom decisions. For example, his response to the question, ‘How do you describe your role as a teacher?’ is indicative of his traditional beliefs: [I’m] not really just a guide to learning – as an immigrant as well as a teacher I can transfer skills and knowledge to students. Simple things like study skills, review sessions for a test – teaching them how to eliminate answers, where to study in the book etc. Lok’s beliefs suggest that he views himself as the holder of knowledge, the authority.

Repetition and organization are central to Lok’s beliefs about the learning environment. He indicated that as an Asian immigrant, he understood his students’ need for clear expectations and structure. When asked, ‘How do your students learn science best?’ he responded: I think [the students] need a structured environment, a laid out routine, and clear expectations. From my personal point of view, students need structure. [Johnson HS] is pretty diverse, so I think structure will help these students.



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Lok’s beliefs about immigrant students Lok believes the US educational system provides a mechanism for his immigrant students to learn to be successful and independent. He defines success, as ‘one’s ability to have all one’s physical needs met, to achieve set goals, and to be recognized as being successful by others.’ Holding true to his family ethic of hard work, Lok suggested his students needed to figure out how to adjust to the US school system and to participate in all the features the school has to offer, including extracurricular activities. As Lok stated, ‘through education an individual can forge a path for future success, a comfortable life, and contribute to society.’ For example, Lok suggested it was very important for his immigrant students to participate in school during both the regular school hours and, if possible, after school. Lok promoted and recruited many of his immigrant students to join the school’s Asian Student Club, a social, service, and cultural awareness organization, an organization he had helped to form when he was a high school student at the school. He was the faculty advisor of this after-school extracurricular club, a position he took over when he joined the faculty. He described the club as a student-run service organization open to all students, not just Asian students. When asked to elaborate about his role in the club, he stated: I am the faculty advisor, I am the one who supervises and gives the students a place [his classroom] to organize their activities and meetings after school. I figure I am always here, so why not? This year is a record year for members and fundraising. We have raised more money for our charities than any other club in the school. I would say we are a lot like the National Honor Society without the grade focus.

Overall, Lok felt the purpose for education was to promote citizenship and productivity in student’s lives. I think the purpose of education is to prepare young people to become active and productive citizens in the future. Not everyone if going to be an engineer or scientist, but we want them to be able to read and write in science, have a general understanding so they can vote or hold a daily conversation. I think the things young people learn in high school are essential in teaching them to value life, be aware of the environment, to be able to be making good choices in life.

When it came to teaching science, Lok viewed the subject as a vehicle to encourage students to become a model US citizen. He viewed it as his responsibility to encourage and develop a sense of awe and respect for his immigrant students’ adopted country. When explaining to his students why they should care about learning in science, he stated: Science teaches you to be a citizen of the US and the world. I want to teach you something that will make you a better citizen. I think the point is to give back more than what you take. I want to instill in you a sense of respect for science. By respecting science, you would gain a respect of nature, and ultimately a respect for yourselves and others. I want you to feel a sense of paying back to society and preservation for the environment.

As a teacher of immigrant students, Lok was concerned about his students’ attitude toward school. Talking about issues related to students’ behavior, he stated:

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A.L. Kern et al. I think I am way too nice … because there are too many students off task and many discipline problems. I don’t believe that these kids don’t want to be here. They hang out in my class before [school], during passing periods, [during] lunch, and after school. I don’t think that they disrespect or don’t like me; I just think that they don’t respect education and what it will provide them.


Another issue for Lok involved the expectations he held for his immigrant students. Lok believed all immigrant students should share the same beliefs about the value of education regardless of country of origin. According to him, ‘they all immigrated here to make a better life.’ He suggested the only distinction among immigrant students is in their ability to negotiate the ‘rules of the U.S. social system.’ While he acknowledged his students come from diverse backgrounds, he did not distinguish between the students’ unique cultures. When speaking about some of his immigrant students, he said: I’m disappointed with my [East] African students. I think they are not trying to fit into this culture. They somehow feel empowered to behave as if they are owed. Perhaps this is because they are a refugee or a cultural thing, but they have no respect.

He is disappointed that some of his students and their families do not appear to value education, they do not appear to hold the same regard for education as Lok and his family did as new immigrants. He suggested that support for students is a key factor for their success in school. When asked about family support and how it influences student learning, he said: I think respect is important. My students, they should respect me. I am the teacher, regardless of their age or family situation. There is a hierarchy that they should respect. They aren’t get[ting] much support at home, as their parents immigrated here and did not attend school here, but then they should learn and respect those who know the school culture and learn the ways.

Discussion As an immigrant to the USA, Lok was able to successfully acculturate into the US educational system and find success. He believes his success was due to learning and following the rules of the system, but primarily he attributes his success to hard work. Lok’s adherence to such a meritocratic system (Young, 1958) dominates his classroom decisions and his firm belief in an equal opportunity for all to succeed through hard work and desire. For Lok, working hard academically means mastering what is expected, learning the vocabulary, completing all the work, and depending on drill and practice to learn the facts, terms, and equations. He experienced a teacher-centered, didactic classroom both as a student in Vietnam and as an ELL student in the USA. He works hard to establish similar routines and expectations for his students. Lok’s experiences have led him to recreate the academic environment that allowed him to be successful as a student – he believes this will also allow his students to find academic success in the USA. As an immigrant, Lok recognized himself as an outsider and also as an assimilator to education in the USA, and the ‘culture of power.’ He believed that order and participation were keys to finding success in the dominant culture; and that he needed to work hard and focus on learning correct scientific terminology and standard English. Now, he believes students must learn the correct linguistic and



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vocabulary terms to be successful students of science. As a result, he has resorted to didactic, teacher-centered instructional strategies – his teaching involves a predominance of lecture to disseminate information and instruction practices that focus on speech patterns and vocabulary. Lok implicitly recognized the predominant ‘culture of power’ in the US education system (Delpit, 1988) and worked to model the rules needed for his immigrant students to be successful. Perhaps, Lok’s problems with his immigrant students stem from the fact that he models what he thinks are the expectations of the ‘culture of power’ but he has neither explicitly informed his students about those rules – nor has he informed his students that he is trying to teach them the rules they need to be successful in the ‘culture of power.’ The reality of Lok’s classroom did not match with his meritocratic ideals. In general, the attitudes and behaviors that made Lok successful do not resonate with his immigrant students. Lok is concerned his students’ apathetic attitude and what appears to him to be their poor support structure is standing in the way of their chances for success. Lok’s clashes with some of his immigrant students may be a product of their different cultures; he does not view his students in light of their unique cultures but through his lens as an Asian immigrant. Ultimately, Lok believed hard work would lead to positive citizenship and educational success. Clearly, being an immigrant himself was not enough for Lok to understand his immigrant students. His beliefs and experiences caused him to view his immigrant students through a single lens and inhibited his ability to create a classroom that recognized students’ individuality. Conclusion When dealing with immigrant minority populations, schools cannot simply pair teachers’ and students’ ethnicities and expect academic success; the interrelationships between teachers and students and the subtle nuances of culture are infinitely more complex than what a simple cultural matching exercise can remedy. This study found that immigrant teachers must be learners, too, and they must recognize and negotiate the unique social understandings students from other cultures bring to the classroom (Peeler & Jane, 2005). The notion that immigrant teachers can relate to all immigrant students because they were once immigrant students themselves is not supported by the data in this study. This study suggests the teacher (Lok) is thoughtful about his practice and that he believes he knows what is best for immigrant students. His beliefs stem from his personal experiences as an immigrant student and this helps him shape how he teaches. This is evident in his role as a ‘curriculum-maker.’ Lok arrived in the USA with no English language skills and was dropped into the US school system with a ‘sink or swim’ attitude. He was able to ‘swim.’ Lok expects his students to work as hard as he did, and he provides them with the same highly structured learning environment that worked for him, both in Vietnam and in the USA. He focuses mainly on learning vocabulary and teaching essential facts and skills. He believes if his students meet his high expectations they will become active and productive citizens. As an Asian immigrant student, Lok fits the model minority stereotype. He thinks all his immigrant students should act as he did when he was learning in US schools. He knows there are different ethnic cultures but does not acknowledge cultural differences as confounding variables that can affect a student’s ability to adapt to the US educational system. Lok was motivated to succeed and learned how to

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negotiate the ‘culture of power.’ He knows he is an immigrant and he relates to his immigrant students’ struggles with a single mindset. He seems to lack the insider knowledge that would allow him to help his students work hard and succeed. Lok’s story serves as a call to all educators to be aware of and sensitive to the needs of all students. He was a very good student who worked hard and learned how to be successful in the dominant culture. However, his experiences do not resonate with his immigrant students. Educators, like Lok, can help their students to succeed by providing some basic guidelines and integrating inclusive and culturally safe learning environments into their classrooms (e.g. Hondo, Gardiner, & Sapien, 2008; Howard, 2006; Nieto & Bode, 2008). These include: • Listening to students, getting to know them, and identifying their interests. • Inviting families into the classroom to share their cultural treasures. • Participating in professional development activities that focus on anti-racism and culturally proficient instruction. • Striving for educational opportunities to teach and learn with other teachers about diverse classrooms. • Forming professional learning communities to discuss and reflect on cultural issues in the classroom. This study further extends the ideas listed above and contributes to the literature an awareness of and a concern for false assumptions, like ‘a chemist should teach chemistry,’ or ‘an African American should teach African American students,’ or ‘an Immigrant should teach Immigrant students.’ The message is clear, we need to encourage and prepare all educators to attend to and embrace the diverse cultural landscape that our profession has come to know and defend. Acknowledgments This study was made possible by NSF grant 0353357. The results herein represent the findings of the authors and do not necessarily represent the view of personnel affiliated with the National Science Foundation.

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