Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy,
Issue #100, February 16, 2010.
EDUCATIONAL POLICY
AND INTERNATIONALLY EDUCATED TEACHERS
Guest Editor: Clea Schmidt, University of Manitoba
1. Introduction:
Moving from the Personal to the Political in IET Scholarship
Clea Schmidt, University of Manitoba
Katina Pollock, University of Western Ontario
This article considers the marginalization of internationally educated teachers (IETs) as occasional teachers. In particular, it explores the experiences of three IETs as they try to gain access to full-time teacher employment within the Ontario, English-speaking public school system. Data used in this article was generated from a qualitative study of occasional teachers who worked in the Ontario English-speaking public school system. Findings indicated that these teachers engaged in considerable amounts of unpaid work, participated in a great deal of informal and formal learning, and accepted all and any occasional work available – all practices associated with the cycle of marginalization.
3. “Qualifying” as Teacher:
Immigrant Teacher Candidates’ Counter-Stories
Christine L. Cho, York University and Trent University
Teachers in Canadian schools are over-representative of the dominant group: white, middle class, heterosexual, able-bodied, Christian and Canadian born (Bascia, 1996). Yet, Canada is a multi-ethnic, multi-racial, multi-faith and multi-linguistic country. In the last 5-7 years faculties of education have been accepting increasing numbers of immigrant teacher candidates (Association of Universities and Colleges Canada, 2007) with little attention to the issues and challenges those candidates confront in the face of community expectations of who 'qualifies' as teacher. The experiences and perspectives of what it means to be a teacher are stories that are predominantly told by the dominant group. Drawing on the work of Solórzano and Yosso (2002) I use narratives and stories told by those who have been “othered” or “counter-storytelling” to bring complexity and richness to the prevailing concept of who can be a teacher. This research builds on Bourdieu’s (1977) concept of cultural capital and draws from Yosso’s (2005) model of “community cultural wealth” to explore the specific tension of linguistic capital in relation to immigrant teacher candidates. Findings from a qualitative study explore the challenges immigrant teacher candidates experience as they move through a pre-service teacher education program.
4. Linguistic and Cultural Adaptation
of Internationally Educated Teacher Candidates
Farahnaz Faez, University of Western Ontario
This paper reports on findings of a qualitative study that explored the experiences, needs and challenges of internationally educated teacher candidates (IETCs) in a large metropolitan university in Canada. Interviews were conducted with IETCs as well as the teacher educator working with them. Findings revealed that IETCs required additional support in developing their oral and written communication skills and cultural knowledge for teaching in Canadian classrooms. The pedagogical implications of these findings for IETCs, for teacher educators and educational institutions are discussed.
Caroline Chassels, OISE, University of Toronto
This paper examines challenges and supports experienced by internationally educated immigrants who participated as adult students in an Initial Teacher Education Bachelor of Education degree program in Ontario as part of their strategy to begin new careers as teachers. The narrative of one participant, a Chinese-educated meteorologist and journalist is presented as a powerful illustration of the challenges, supports and common themes described by the study participants. Her story communicates challenges related to: time; language; the culture of the teaching profession in Ontario; intra-cultural racism; feelings of inadequacy, inferiority, isolation and invisibility related to ‘otherness’; and a competitive labour market that disadvantages immigrant teachers. Her story also describes support through: constructive mentoring, a course developed specifically for internationally educated student teachers; and, supportive peer colleagues.
6. A Historical Exploration of Internationally Educated Teachers:
Jamaican Teachers in 1960s Alberta
Jennifer Kelly and Dan Cui, University of Alberta
This paper examines the immigration and credentialing experiences of Jamaican teachers in Alberta during the 1960s. Using teacher narratives as well as archival research the paper aims to develop a historical understanding of issues related to internationally educated teachers and how this historical understanding can inform the contemporary theoretical and policy debates on credential recognition. Contrary to an understanding that locates teacher credentialing only in the present day and a one-sided critique of its bureaucratic nature, we argue that historical analysis reminds us that bureaucracy can be both constraining and enabling. An understanding of this duality is of crucial importance for policy makers to rethink the contemporary credentialing process for internationally educated teachers.
7. Internationally Educated Teachers and Student Teachers in Iceland:
Two Qualitative Studies
Hanna Ragnarsdóttir, University of Iceland
This article draws upon two qualitative studies with internationally educated teachers and teacher assistants in preschools in Iceland as well as ethnic minority student teachers at the Iceland University of Education. The common research question in both studies is whether the experiences of these teachers reveal barriers to integration within the Icelandic educational system. The theoretical framework draws on writings and research on equal rights in education, critical multiculturalism and multicultural education as a basis for school development and marginalization and discrimination within schools and universities. The findings of both studies reveal barriers to integration and marginalization.
Clea Schmidt and Lee Anne Block, University of Manitoba
Analyzing school division employment policies from six Winnipeg school divisions and the Manitoba K-12 Action Plan for Ethnocultural Equity (MECY, 2006), we discuss implications for the integration of internationally educated teachers in K-12 schools. Findings suggest that the policies exhibit several major limitations in advancing IET integration: lack of equity and IET-specific content in the case of most divisional policies and lack of stakeholder buy-in and implementation strategies in the case of the ethnocultural equity policy. Subsequent recommendations use the construct of interest convergence from critical race theory to advocate for educational policymaking and implementation that prioritize a more diverse teaching force.