Understanding Identity and Practice of Asian American Educators in Urban Schools

There has been a call for teachers of Color to meet the growing diversity of the student population in the United States. Research on teachers of Color, their identities, experiences, and the ways they leverage their identities in the work they do to support students of Color has largely omitted the perspectives of Asian American teachers. Through a sociocultural lens of identity and Asian Critical Race perspective, this study investigates the ways a group of Asian American teachers articulate their identities and the ways their identities shape and emerge in their practice with diverse students. Findings reveal Asian American teachers articulate their identity in oppositional ways to their ideas of “the other.” With respect to teaching, identities emerge in their practice in the ways they actively engage in conversations with students to dispel stereotypes, share their Asian American culture, and navigate a racial in-between space in having broader discussion around race. Implications from this study suggest a need for dedicated spaces for Asian American teachers to unpack and reflect on the range of identities and experiences they bring to teaching, as well as the ways identity and practice mutually shape each other.