From the High School Journal Editorial Board: Living in an Anti-globalization era: A Call for Promoting Critical Multiculturalism and Multicultural Education for Immigrant Teachers and Students in Secondary Education

Abstract

From the High School Journal Editorial Board:Living in an Anti-globalization era: A Call for Promoting Critical Multiculturalism and Multicultural Education for Immigrant Teachers and Students in Secondary Education Xinxin Wang and Linyu Yu Since the beginning of 2020, the outbreak of coronavirus disease has challenged fundamental ways of living, including the economy and social structures. The world has been experiencing economic recessions, job market losses, health and safety concerns, and school closures. In the United States (U.S.), most schools at all educational levels were forced to shut down or pivot to distance learning immediately in Spring 2020. Insecurity and fear arose among people due to the quick spread of the pandemic and have created discriminatory responses and social exclusion disproportionately against people of color and immigrants (Devakumar et al, 2020). This increasing racism and othering has disrupted the education system's commitment to social justice. Few studies as of yet have examined the impact of the pandemic and anti-globalism against immigrant teachers and students in secondary education. With the previous U.S. administration's stringent immigration policy, restricted international travels, and rising anti-Asian hate crimes worldwide, it is a critical time to re-examine the educational conditions that immigrant teachers and students, particularly Asian American and international students, are experiencing during the anti-globalization era. Globalization has indeed been a phenomenon that cannot be avoided or denied. Knight (1997) conceptualized globalization as "the flow of technology; economy, knowledge, people, values, ideas...across borders" (p.6). Economy, education, politics, culture and every aspect of family life, particularly in the U.S. (e.g., food, clothing, transportation, and social media), are impacted by globalization. The sentiments and actions of anti-globalization are in response to globalization as a contributor to a higher global mobility across borders with no barriers in that globalization might indirectly boost the spread of the coronavirus. The rise of anti-globalization and nationalism during the pandemic has manifested in many aspects of life from "the closure of borders and the difficulty of mobilizing support and solidarity across them, to the fear [of illness, financial distress, social instability that] many people experience...[T]he response appears to make nationalism more salient as people look to support their own communities" (Bieber, 2020b, p. 1). Nationalism is argued to be a predominating ideology and practice in the U.S. and the world that values membership in a nation and downplays the uniqueness of other cultures (Bieber, 2020a). The pandemic and the voices of anti-globalization and nationalism impact every community and school and its teachers and students. However, more attention needs to be on the intersectionality of (post)pandemic anti-globalization and nationalism and its consequences on [End Page 79] immigrant teachers and students who represent the movement of people and ideas across borders. Immigrants accounted for about 13.7% of the U.S. population in 2018 (Budiman, 2020). Immigrant teachers in this editorial are defined as those who are foreign-born and came to the U.S. after receiving a majority of K-12 education in their home countries (Ndukwe, 2019). These teachers came to the U.S. for a variety of reasons such as higher education, family, refugee status, and job opportunities; and they hold citizenship, permanent resident status or temporary work visas. States on the eastern and western coast along with Alaska and Hawaii see the higher percentage of immigrant teachers in their teaching workforce compared to the Midwest (Starz, 2017). With regard to subjects, immigrant teachers are teaching in high-need areas such as mathematics, science, and special education as well as foreign language, English to speakers of other languages (ESOL), and bilingual education. The rise of immigrant teachers is seen as a response to the increase of linguistically and culturally diverse students in the U.S. (Ross & Ahmed, 2016) as well as a critical shortage of new teachers in the teacher preparation pipeline (U.S. Department of Education, 2011). Many efforts have been made in the U.S. educational system to recruit immigrant teachers. For example, many states develop alternative routes to teaching careers and there has also been federal support for alternative teacher certification (Gross, 2018). Within school districts and...