Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

12-1996

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Education

Major Professor

Richard Wisniewski

Committee Members

Ralph Brockett, John Gaventa, Lynn Cagle

Abstract

Striking differences exist between the ethnic and racial diversity of the public school student population and the increasing homogeneity of the current and projected teaching force. Teachers in increasing numbers, many by necessity, some by accident and a few by choice, find themselves responsible for the education of children whose economic, cultural, racial and social world are different from their own. This study addresses the absence of the teacher's perspective in the literature on cross-cultural teaching. It describes the experiences of a group of White teachers involuntarily transferred from rural and suburban schools to inner-city schools which serve predominately African-American and poor students. The purpose of the study was to gain an understanding of how the teachers negotiated the cultural discontinuities inherent in their new work assignments. The study examined the attitudes, knowledge, skills, dispositions, cross-cultural barriers, and events which shaped and gave meaning to their teaching experiences. Teachers have historically been overlooked as knowledge producers; their perspectives have been deemed irrelevant. As a result, school reform often becomes a case of the outsiders telling the insiders (teachers) what to do. Within a qualitative/interpretive frame work, this study privileges the teachers' perspective. It assumes that teachers with cross-cultural teaching experiences have much to offer to an understanding of inner-city teaching. The study found that: (1) The move to the inner-city constituted a journey into a foreign culture. The experience can be generalized as a response to severe cultural shock. (2) The teachers' responses were complex and individualized due to varied backgrounds, personalities, prior experiences, and support received. (3) The move to the inner-city precipitated changes in all the teachers: changes in awareness, perspectives, behaviors and career paths. (4) The experiences of these teachers also indicate that teaching in the inner-city requires a set of skills, understandings and knowledge not found in traditional teacher education. The study explores the involuntary transfer forced on the teachers by a lottery process and their response to the process. It examines teaching in the inner-city which for the ten women in the study was a cross-cultural experience. Culture shock theory, adult development theory and teacher career cycle theory were used to better understand the experience of the teachers. The study concludes with a discussion of the value of studying individual experiences and the implications for teacher professional development, teacher preparation and educational policy development.

Download
Files over 3MB may be slow to open. For best results, right-click and select "save as..."

Share

COinS