Leveraging Community Assets and Carving Out the Anti-Racist Futures: Asian American Teachers’ Pedagogies and Praxis in Urban Schools

Asian and Asian American Teachers’ Pedagogies and Praxis

Over the last two decades, there has been growing interest in the pedagogies and praxis of Asian and Asian American teachers in the United States. These studies have demonstrated that many Asian and Asian American teachers enact culturally relevant and sustaining (e.g., Ladson-Billings, 2014; Paris & Alim, 2017) and anti-racist teaching (e.g., Delgado & Stefancic, 2023; Yosso, 2002) that draws upon their biographies, lived experiences, and backgrounds (e.g., Choi, 2018; Chow, 2021; Curammeng, 2020; Kim & An, 2023a; Kim & Hsieh, 2023; J. Kim, 2022; Y. Kim, 2022; Y. Kim, 2023; Kwon & Kim, 2023a; Rodríguez, 2018, 2019). For example, Choi (2018) focused on Korean American teachers in multicultural, urban public high schools and found that their distinctive experiences of being racial minority teachers and encountering racial stereotypes not only shaped the way they taught about racism and social justice issues but also the way they chose to pursue their careers. Similarly, Chow (2021) examined the teaching practices of Asian American teachers and showed how their racial/ethnic identities influenced such practices. Some of the teachers in her study made an effort to confront and dispel stereotypes in Asian communities in an effort to support Asian American students’ racial and ethnic identities and provide inclusive learning environments for students from all backgrounds.

Asian and Asian American teachers’ culturally relevant and sustaining anti-racist teachings have been also confirmed at the elementary school level. For instance, Rodríguez (2019) examined Asian American elementary teachers and provided examples of how they teach Asian American history. These teachers concentrated their instruction on Asian American history by developing their own social studies units and making use of media, picture books, primary sources, and other materials. They taught not only past histories such as Japanese American incarceration but also other contemporary events related to anti-Asian racism in pursuit of “presenting discrimination and racism as enduring struggles, rather than issues that have been overcome and resolved” (p. 223). More recently, Kim and An (2023a) focused on Asian American and migrant elementary teachers and explored their life experiences and teaching following the COVID-19 pandemic. According to their research, the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes, and the teachers’ own racialized experiences as Asians during the pandemic had an impact on their dedication to anti-racist education.

In sum, the existing studies show that many Asian and Asian American teachers enact culturally relevant and sustaining anti-racist education and that their identities and lived experiences play a significant role in their teaching. In this regard, Kim and Cooc (2020), through the research synthesis on Asian American and Pacific Islander teachers, asserted that Asian and Asian American teachers have contributed not only to the linguistic and cultural diversity of classrooms but also to racial equity and justice and white counter-hegemony in K–12 schools. Building on this growing empirical interest in Asian and Asian American teachers’ pedagogies and praxis, the current study will examine why and in what ways Asian American elementary teachers in NYC implement community-responsive pedagogy in light of the pandemic.

Community-Responsive Pedagogy

In exploring Asian American elementary teachers’ pedagogies and practices, the current study adopts community-responsive pedagogy as a theoretical underpinning. According to ethnic studies scholars Tintiangco-Cubales and Duncan-Andrade (2021), community-responsive pedagogy is a pedagogical outgrowth of the ethnic studies movement with a goal to promote the wellness of students “by providing them an education where they feel valued, cared for, and humanized” (p. 6). In a broader sense, community-responsive pedagogy centers the “community” in teaching and instruction, which refers to the “cultural, political, social, and economic spaces and places that shape student and family realities” (p. 6). By doing so, community-responsive pedagogy aims to develop students and their ancestral, cultural, linguistic, and ethnic identities, respond to needs in their ethnic communities outside of classrooms, and foster students’ critical consciousness in “racial and social justice in their personal lives, families, communities, and our world” (p. 7).

The three main domains of community-responsive pedagogy are relationships, relevance, and responsibility (Tintiangco-Cubales & Duncan-Andrade, 2021). First, the relationships domain highlights building trusting and caring relationships with students and their families (Camangian, 2010; Duncan-Andrade, 2009; Tintiangco-Cubales & Duncan-Andrade, 2021). This relationship is crucial and significant because it helps support students’ active learning while also having a positive impact on their sense of self-worth and wellness. Through meaningful student-teacher relationships, students can deescalate tension and vulnerability brought by structural injustices and “heal their woundedness” (Tintiangco-Cubales & Duncan-Andrade, 2021, p. 9). Second, the relevance domain commits to developing curriculum and teaching that uplift students, their families, their community, and their racial, ethnic, cultural, and linguistic histories (Buenavista et al., 2019; Camangian, 2010; Tintiangco-Cubales & Curammeng, 2018; Tintiangco-Cubales & Duncan-Andrade, 2021). Rather than positioning students’ identities as a deficit, this domain emphasizes viewing students and their families and community's stories and identities as ancestral and community cultural wealth (Yosso, 2005) that provides “cultural wisdom and… pathways to freedom and justice” (Tintiangco-Cubales & Duncan-Andrade, 2021, p. 12). Finally, the responsibility domain highlights teachers’ dedication to care for and improve communities by recognizing that students’ well-being cannot be separated from the wellness of the community (Tintiangco-Cubales & Duncan-Andrade, 2021).

Taken together, establishing relationships, committing to relevance, and promoting critical consciousness are central to community-responsive pedagogy. This community-responsive pedagogy advances the work of culturally relevant and sustaining pedagogy (e.g., Ladson-Billings, 2014; Paris & Alim, 2017) and anti-racist teaching (e.g., Delgado & Stefancic, 2023; Yosso, 2002) as it centralizes students’ communities in the education. It includes and extends culturally relevant and sustaining pedagogy and anti-racist teaching by not only affirming and leveraging students’ and their families and communities’ racial, ethnic, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds, experiences, and histories but also addressing racial and social injustices and other forms of oppressions that shape the realities of their own personal lives, families, and communities (Tintiangco-Cubales et al., 2015; Tintiangco-Cubales & Duncan-Andrade, 2021). Accordingly, new empirical literature has emphasized the importance of community-responsive pedagogy-informed teaching. For example, an emerging body of studies has focused on community-responsive pedagogy in ethnic studies classrooms and demonstrated its impact on cultivating students’ positive sense of identity and their critical consciousness of inequality in their own communities (e.g., Curammeng et al., 2016; Ybarra, 2020). Joining the scholarly efforts to advance community-responsive pedagogy and building on previous research on Asian and Asian American teachers, this paper focuses on Asian American elementary teachers in NYC and explores their motivation and commitment to create a community-responsive classroom in the context of heightened anti-Asian hate amid the pandemic.

Focal Participants ³

Ms. Huang is a female teacher in her mid-20s who identifies as an Asian American teacher. Born to and raised by Chinese parents who migrated to the United States, Ms. Huang speaks Mandarin, Cantonese, and English. After obtaining a BA in elementary education, Ms. Huang was pursuing an MA in TESOL at the time of the second phase of data collection. She was also in her third year of working as an elementary teacher at Creekedge School. Located in a highly Chinese-populated neighborhood in a NYC area, as a public school, more than 60% of students at Creekedge School were of Asian, mostly Chinese, descent. Chinese American students made up the great majority of Ms. Huang's fifth grade class, thus reflecting the demographics of both the neighborhood and the school.

Ms. Ngo is a Chinese American female teacher in her mid-20s. Her parents were Cambodian-born Chinese who migrated to the United States, and Ms. Ngo speaks multiple languages including Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien, Khmer, and English. With a BA in elementary education and an MA in TESOL, Ms. Ngo had 3 years of teaching experience at Grandview School. Grandview School is a public elementary school located in a NYC area that has one of the largest Chinese communities. At Grandview School, 98% of students were from racially minoritized backgrounds, and approximately 88% of the student population were of Asian descent. Ms. Ngo was teaching second graders, and the vast majority of her class were Chinese American students.

Ms. Chong is a female teacher who identifies as a Chinese American. Her parents were Myanmar-born Chinese and Ms. Chong speaks Mandarin, Cantonese, Burmese, and English. After obtaining a BA in elementary education and an MA in the TESOL program, Ms. Chong worked as an afterschool teacher for 2 years. In particular, at the time of the second phase of data collection, Ms. Chong was working with first to fifth graders at Marble Hills Elementary School, which consists of 97% Asian and Asian American students.

Finally, Ms. Dai identifies as a female Chinese American who speaks Mandarin, Cantonese, and English. After majoring in elementary education and Chinese language and literature at her college, she began her profession as an afterschool teacher. She had 2 years of working experience as an afterschool teacher as a part of a program providing afterschool classes for Chinese American and migrant students from low-income communities at public elementary schools across NYC areas.

Despite some differences in cultural, linguistic, and educational backgrounds, all participants identified as Asian American teachers and worked with elementary students of Asian and Chinese descent in a large “urban intensive” (Milner, 2012) public school district (New York City). They also demonstrated great interest in and passion for incorporating racially and ethnically specific and rich community resources in NYC into their teaching with young students.

Data Collection and Analysis

Interviews and follow-up conversations conducted in 2023 and documents and artifacts collected in 2023 were the main sources of data used in this study. Specifically, we conducted three semi-structured individual interviews with multimodal interview activities (Kwon & Kim, 2023b) via Zoom with each participant during the spring semester of 2023. Interview questions covered a wide range of topics, including the participants’ personal, cultural, linguistic, and ethnic backgrounds; why they wanted to become a teacher; their thoughts on being an Asian American; and their pedagogical practices and beliefs as a teacher. Due to the semi-structured nature of the interviews, conversations regarding their teaching practices and approaches related to the city's community resources also frequently occurred. Each interview lasted about 60 minutes, and informal follow-up conversations were conducted with each participant following three individual interviews to ask clarifying questions and gain more understanding of their experiences. Furthermore, each participant's documents and artifacts, including their lesson plans, teaching and learning materials, and lesson ideas, served as part of the data. Together with the interview data, these documents and artifacts help provide an understanding of why and how the participants use community resources in NYC in their teaching.

Data analysis was conducted using initial, focused, and theoretical coding approaches (Saldaña, 2016). First, we individually read the interview transcripts and reviewed the documents and artifacts. Then, we highlighted some participants’ remarks that we felt were significant and wrote analytical memos in the margins of the transcripts. These highlighted portions and notes served as initial codes that helped us to “reflect deeply on the contents and nuances of [our] data and to begin taking ownership of them” (Saldaña, 2016, p. 115). A few examples of initial codes include “Asian-hated after the COVID-19,” “racism and violence in Chinatown,” “increase in students’ fear,” “affirming students’ ethnic, cultural, and linguistic identity,” “strengthening communal sense of belonging,” “validating students’ connections to ethnic communities,” and “teaching about Chinatowns.” We then collaborated in both focused and theoretical coding processes based on the initial coding that was individually coded. We compared, rearranged, and clustered our initial codes together to identify “the most frequent or significant codes to develop the most salient categories in the data” (Saldaña, 2016, p. 240). For instance, the initial codes “Asian-hated after the COVID-19,” “racism and violence in Chinatown,” and “increase in students’ fear” were consolidated into a single category as they describe teachers’ choices to prioritize the community in light of a rise in Asian hate crimes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, initial codes including “affirming students’ ethnic, cultural, and linguistic identity,” “strengthening communal sense of belonging,” “validating students’ connections to ethnic communities,” and “teaching about Chinatowns” were categorized together as they demonstrate how teachers utilize community resources that are culturally and ethnically rooted to restore and reclaim students’ identities. Finally, we discussed how the current study collaborates with and builds on the theoretical frameworks of community-responsive pedagogy through the use of theoretical coding, which “specifies the possible relationship between categories and moves the analytic story in a theoretical direction” (Saldaña, 2016, p. 251). In the following section, we describe the salient themes across four Asian American elementary teachers’ pedagogical efforts to enact community-responsive pedagogy in responding to students’ needs in the midst of anti-Asian hate in the community.

Centering the Community in the Face of an Increase in Asian Hate Crime

One of the most significant themes was the teachers’ incorporation of community in their teaching to discuss racist incidents occurring in their students’ communities in NYC during the COVID-19 pandemic. During their interviews, teachers frequently described how, after the pandemic, NYC—which they had previously seen as “diverse,” “safe,” and “welcoming”—became “an epicenter of anti-Asian hate crimes” (Kim & An, 2023a, p. 7.). Teachers reported that NYC is now an “unsafe,” “tough,” “terrifying,” “dangerous,” and “crazy” place because of the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes and hatred following the pandemic. For example, Ms. Huang discussed how a series of “physical violence” incidents targeting Asian and Asian communities such as stabbing Asians or intentionally pushing Asians onto the subway tracks made her terrified. In a similar vein, Ms. Ngo, who spent the majority of her school years in NYC's Chinatown, expressed her and the Chinese ethnic community's fright about the rise of Asian bigotry and racism in NYC. She said, “I have called Chinatown my home for a long time, like many other Chinese people, and all of a sudden, terrible things were happening every day and people were leaving Chinatown in fear (Kim & An, 2023a, p. 9).”

In response to an upsurge in Asian hate crimes in NYC during COVID-19, teachers began to highlight their and their students’ own ethnic communities in their teaching. During interviews, teachers frequently mentioned that they initially brought ethnic communities into their teaching to help young children make sense of, discuss, and process their feelings and experiences related to hostility and violence occurring in their ethnic communities during COVID-19. Ms. Ngo, for instance, commented that:

If students encounter anyone on the street that says “China virus” or their family is moving out of Chinatown because of [COVID-19 related issues], I have to have an open discussion about these things with them. I have to help them understand what's going on in their communities.

Ms. Huang, who was teaching fifth grade at Creekedge School in a highly Chinese-populated neighborhood also spoke about the need to teach young children about their own ethnic communities, specifically Chinatown, and their racialized experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Ms. Huang, the juxtaposition of students’ long-standing and close connections to Chinatowns and their recent feelings of insecurity and fear in Chinatown since the pandemic made her begin to center her students’ ethnic communities and enclaves in her teaching. She said:

Many Chinese people [in NYC] including myself and my students grow up in China towns. We eat food there; we do some shopping in there. We get our clothes tailored on Main Street. We drop off and pick up mail there. It's just where everything's at for the Chinese people. Then the COVID swept and destroyed the Chinatown and Chinese people in there. Students hear so many negative things [about Chinatowns] and they feel terrified because of things that happen there. Students really need to learn about healthy ways to face their issues in their communities and how can they maintain relationships with their communities. That is the kind of thing that really attracted me to talk about the Chinatown in my classroom.

In sum, COVID-19-related concerns, discrimination, and hatred were a major driving force behind teachers’ initial motivation to prioritize ethnic communities in their teaching. In the face of the spike in anti-Asian hate crimes in NYC during the pandemic, teachers decided to discuss racism and hate crimes against Asian people occurring in their students’ own ethnic communities in NYC that shape the realities of the students, their families, and their communities.

Restoring and Reclaiming Students’ Identities Through the Use of Culturally and Ethnically Rooted Community Resources

While teachers were initially inspired to talk about COVID-19-related racism and issues in students’ own ethnic communities, they chose to continuously seek out and use a wide range of resources, activities, and materials in the ethnic communities to teach young children about their communities. The teachers’ main reason to do so was to restore and enhance students’ feeling of affirmation and belonging in their ethnic communities. Indeed, many students of Asian descent in the teachers’ classrooms exhibited confusion, shame, or estrangement from their ethnic communities and their heritage, which seemed largely related to the dominant discourse that dehumanized, stigmatized, and criminalized Asians and Asian Americans as carriers of the “China virus” following the pandemic. As a result, teachers felt that it was significant and imperative to affirm, validate, and celebrate young children's ethnic, cultural, linguistic, and ancestry backgrounds as well as the rich community cultural wealth (Yosso, 2005) that exists in their own ethnic communities through the use of culturally and ethnically rooted community resources from the students’ own surroundings.

In this regard, Ms. Huang—who often spoke about the importance of Chinatown in her teaching—discussed how teaching about students’ ethnic communities through the use of community resources can help restore and foster Asian and Asian American children's “sense of home” in their ethnic communities that were hijacked during the pandemic. She said:

I think [Chinatowns] just felt very homey and comfortable [before COVID-19] and I want my students to have those feelings back, feel connected to Chinatown again. I want them to feel proud of themselves not being ashamed of no matter what other people might say.

Recognizing the significance of supporting students in restoring and reclaiming their identities, ancestral backgrounds, and sense of belonging to their ethnic communities, teachers expanded their teaching to incorporate locally accessible and culturally and ethnically rich resources in addition to discussing racism and issues related to COVID-19. The community resources that teachers used include, but were not limited to, culturally and ethnically rooted arts and exhibitions, festivals, restaurants, local businesses, and open-market places. For example, Ms. Ngo, who was teaching mostly Asian and Asian American second graders at Grandview School, shared her lesson on various ethnic restaurants in Chinatown, including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Filipino restaurants. Through the use of Asian American-authored children's books, pictures she took in Chinatowns, and students’ own storytelling and research, the focus of her lesson was placed on helping students explore diverse local ethnic foods in their own communities and those of their peers, as well to help them understand how features of those cuisines intersect with the ethnic communities’ sociocultures and histories and their home countries’ geographies and demographics. In doing so, she hoped her Asian American students would “feel happy and proud of their culture” and understand “the luxury of knowing both [Asian and American] spices” and her non-Asian students to be able to challenge “stereotypes about Asian food being odorous or unhygienic.”

In a similar vein, Ms. Huang frequently incorporated various pictures she took in Chinatowns in NYC, including restaurants, food-courts, street signs, street selling, and open marketplaces, into her instruction. One example of her use of these pictures of Chinatown was in teaching students about the diversity across and within Chinese languages, dialects, cuisines, traditions, histories, and identities that were present in Chinatowns. Ms. Huang talked about how this specific lesson can enhance students’ self-knowledge and self-affirmation by assisting them in comprehending their rich, diverse, and in-depth cultural heritages within their ethnic communities and ancestral land. She said:

Chinatown showcases all the different Chinese cultures. You can see street signs in Mandarin, Fujianese, Cantonese, Taishanese and spoken in Chinatown, and Dragon fruit, Lychee, mangosteens, and Jujube in the street market. Especially in the food court, you will see different cuisines in China…these things help students better understand who they are and where they are from and appreciate their identities and backgrounds. Although we may be labeled or categorized as Chinese by outside people, there's just so much variety and richness within China that students need to know. We speak different languages and different dialects, and many different provinces have a very distinctive traditions, cultures, and flavors that are relative to their province or their city. I think [students] benefit so much from learning about these things.

Likewise, Ms. Dai and Ms. Chong actively used culturally and ethnically rooted art exhibitions and museums found in the local community in their teaching in pursuit of reestablishing and strengthening students’ sense of identity of being of Asian descent as well as their sense of connection to their ethnic communities. Ms. Dai demonstrated her use of digital archives and exhibitions from the Museum of Chinese in America and photo collections of Chinese-inspired botanical gardens or festivals in NYC areas to discuss the rich histories and influence of Chinese communities in the city. Meanwhile, Ms. Chong frequently incorporated Asian and Asian American artists’ pop culture and arts from restaurants and street walls in Chinatowns into her lessons to talk about artists’ upbringing and childhood as people of Asian descent in NYC and the messages, meanings, and symbols inside their artworks. As a daughter of Myanmar-born Chinese parents, she also often taught young students about the strong presence of the Burmese community in NYC—such as the Burmese ethnic community, temples, centers, and festivals—which is often overlooked and undercounted. The statement from Ms. Chong below summarizes the beliefs of teachers about the significance of drawing on the city's ethnic community resources for cultivating students’ sense of acceptance and connection to their ethnic heritage, particularly in light of the pandemic and how people disparaged and devalued identities and cultures among many Asian and Asian Americans.

I feel like the kids I’ve been working with, they are like sponge, like if they are told that it is our fault to [have COVID-19] or that their cultures are bad or make you sick, they would believe in that… I want them to discover their true self. I want them to have knowledge of Chinese to keep their language and culture alive. I want them to understand that they have so much knowledge, culture, and insights to share that they should be proud of… I am using a lot of resources from students’ [ethnic community in this city] because these are like something that is so close to them, and they are living with every day.

Promoting Critical Consciousness Around Historical Racism Through the Use of Community Assets

As shown above, teachers foregrounded students’ own ethnic communities in their teaching to address COVID-19-specific racism and experiences as well as to affirm students’ sense of identity as being of Asian descent amidst a surge of hostility and hatred. Our analysis further demonstrated that developing students’ critical consciousness of racism and oppression was another common thread across teachers’ use of community resources. During their interviews, the teachers expressed how the pandemic compelled them to teach about racism, a topic that was previously thought to be too “sensitive,” “touchy,” “difficult,” and “complicated” for young students since racial injustice and violence against Asian and Asian American is now part of students’ daily life (Kim & An, 2023a). Teachers also talked about how they came to see the wealth of community resources in NYC as valuable tools and assets to help young students understand current anti-Asian racism within Asian and Asian Americans’ cultural, political, social, and economic histories. Ms. Dai said:

If you want to talk about [anti-Asian] hatred [during COVID-19], you have to talk about the whole history of Chinese Americans, like their struggles, challenges, and their stories. And then you see [the history] is represented in the local community. We have a large Chinese population [in the city], and we have Chinatowns, and we have MOCA [Museum of Chinese in America]. So, it's kind of interesting to help students to understand how this local community plays a big role in history of Chinese Americans and how Chinese have played a role there too.

As seen, teachers felt that the city's ethnically and culturally rooted community resources could help them take historical approaches to racism, a topic that gained prominence after COVID-19. Accordingly, teachers used various community resources such as Chinatowns and local Asian community-related museums, galleries, and organizations to teach young students about centuries of anti-Asian sentiment and the history of racism that Asians and Asian Americans have encountered. For example, Ms. Huang used old maps and images of Chinatowns to explain the history of Chinatown in NYC in relation to the broader sociopolitical landscape. She talked about how the growth of the city's Chinatowns has intersected with larger waves of Chinese immigration, anti-Asian legislation, and heightened racial discrimination, including the Chinese Exclusion Act and anti-Chinese riots. Ms. Huang discussed what she hoped young children would learn from this lesson.

Because we are in Chinatown, I thought it is realistic to talk about what's the history of Chinatown and what happened to our community like, why there were many Chinese immigrants here and how their life was like there and how Chinatown got so much bigger. Chinatown tells its own story of immigration, discrimination, racism in our community.

In a similar vein, Ms. Dai and Ms. Chong used a wide range of art exhibitions and digital archives in local museums to develop young students’ critical consciousness about histories of racism and inequities within Asian and Asian American communities in NYC. Ms. Dai used images, documents, and archival collections from the Museum of Chinese in America related to the 1982 Garment Workers Rally and Strike in Chinatown and the 1992 Campaign for Economic Justice at Foley Square to address hostile and discriminatory working conditions among Chinese workers in NYC, as well as the city's movements initiated by Asian and Asian American communities to combat racial and socioeconomic discrimination. Ms. Chong used ‘“I Still Believe in Our City,” which is a public art series created and installed by Asian American artist Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya in response to the growing racism during COVID-19. The artworks featured diverse portraits of Asian communities with messages such as “We are not silent” and “I am not your scapegoat” to increase awareness about discrimination and violence against Asian and Asian Americans as well as to highlight a sense of defiance and resilience among Asian and Asian American communities. After having students share their interpretation and appreciation of the public artworks, Ms. Chong introduced a few other examples of Asian communities’ continuous and collective resistance and resilience through arts in history. She explained:

There's like a lot of different movements of the Asian community trying to survive and thrive. And I think helping the students become aware of these movements is just as important as teaching them about the hardship the Asian community has faced like racism, stereotypes, and violence aspect. It is my job to expose them to all these different experiences that our communities have had, make them aware of our history…and help them be an advocate for our communities.

In conclusion, the teachers made an effort to use the city's ethnically and culturally diverse and rich community resources to develop students’ critical consciousness about racism and anti-Asian hate, situating them within the larger contexts of Asian immigration and anti-Asian legislation and discrimination. Through the use of Chinatowns, art exhibitions, and local museums, they facilitated discussion on racial injustice and socioeconomic discrimination among Asian and Asian Americans while highlighting Asian communities’ resistance, solidarity, and strength in combating such oppression and inequality.