Abstract
The aim of this reflective article is to investigate firstly, the preconception of professionalism in teaching; secondly, whether minority teacher’s identity influences their professionalism; and, thirdly, how minority teachers affect minority students, since minority teachers face real inequality in white societies. The issue of teacher professionalism has always been controversial due to the changing nature of the profession and society’s expectations of how the profession should be. There has not been an investigation regarding minority teachers in Austria. I wish to address this gap in the research by investigating the experience of a Laotian-American in a secondary school. The investigation reveals that in spite of the efforts that governments in Canada, the United States, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom have put into recruiting minority educators, minority teacher population does not keep pace with the minority student populations. Regrettably, Austrian government does not have such a recruiting scheme. This study has the potential to raise debates about minorities in the Austrian educational system and contribute to existing discussion about minority educators in white society.
Highlights
The aim of this reflective article is to investigate firstly, the preconception of professionalism in teaching; secondly, whether minority teacher’s identity influences their professionalism; and, thirdly, how minority teachers affect minority students, since minority teachers face real inequality in white societies
In her fifth year of teaching, the teacher population is still white, but the author no longer feels any barrier separating her from parents, students or colleagues. This experience has taught her that skin colour matters in the beginning, but with sincere effort from everyone, bias can be buried. The aim of this reflective article was to investigate the preconception of professionalism in teaching, whether minority teachers’ identity influences their professionalism, and how minority teachers affect minority students
There is abundance of research concerning “professionalism” and “teaching” that debate the meaning of professionalism and the validity of the teaching profession
Summary
The aim of this reflective article is to investigate firstly, the preconception of professionalism in teaching; secondly, whether minority teacher’s identity influences their professionalism; and, thirdly, how minority teachers affect minority students, since minority teachers face real inequality in white societies. This study has the potential to raise debates about minorities in the Austrian educational system and contribute to existing discussion about minority educators in white society. The author draws her recent experience of working in the Bundesrealgymnasium Dornbirn-Schoren (BORG Dornbirn-Schoren), a Gymnasium or grammar schools with over 800 pupils and almost one hundred teachers in Vorarlberg. Being a LaotianAmerican woman, the author encountered challenges from the first day that she entered the classroom Despite her Master’s degrees in Education and in the German language and literature, many questioned whether she understood the Austrian school system and whether her German was good enough.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have