The research presented in this paper, based on ethnographic interviews with 19 female and 6 male Canadian teachers of Chinese ancestry, is part of a larger study examining perceptions of careers in teaching by secondary school and university students as well as practising teachers, all of minority Chinese or Punjabi Sikh ancestry (Beynon, Toohey & Kishor, 1992; Beynon & Toohey, 1995; Beynon & Toohey, 1998; Hirji & Beynon, 2000). Drawing on Britzman's (1992) theoretical distinction between teachers' roles and identities, the thesis of our research is that "role", which Britzman describes as impermeable and prescribed by normative institutional practices and ideologies, is, rather, potentially porous. We see that teachers of minority ancestry infuse their roles with new dimensions that draw on their identities. Hall's (1996) materialist theorizing helps us to see how identity, multifaceted and fluid, can be a source for negotiating roles. We recommend changes in teacher education and schools that would help to authorize transformation so that these settings which presently privilege the values, practices and discourses of the dominant Anglo-European Canadian society can become more inclusive of the identities and experiences of minority teachers.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Beynon et al. (2001) studied this question.