Global Commodities or Culturally Relevant Educators?: The Recruitment of Foreign Teachers for U.S. Urban Schools Open Access

Abstract

Though foreign teachers have been present in U.S. schools for decades, the recruitment of
foreign teachers for multicultural, urban schools as a response to the supposed teacher
shortage is a relatively new phenomenon with little research to support it. Teachers
recruited in this era of globalization and neoliberalism may be viewed as commodities in
global markets. This study examined foreign teachers' recruitment, preparation, and
pedagogy in U.S. schools, and was guided by the theoretical lenses of culturally relevant
pedagogy and political spectacle.

Informed by in-depth interviews with four Indian teachers, school district administrators,
recruitment agency personnel, and union representatives, as well as multiple classroom
observations, this collective case study was guided by four research questions:
1. What are the similarities and differences between multicultural classrooms in the
United States and foreign teachers' reports of their classrooms in their home
country, and how do these influence foreign teachers' teaching practice and
relationships with their students?
2. How are foreign teachers prepared to work in U.S. classrooms and utilize culturally
relevant pedagogy with their multicultural students?
3. How well do foreign teachers achieve the stated goals of foreign teacher
recruitment programs?
4. What other purposes are served by this recruitment, and how do these purposes
either advance or undermine a progressive vision of U.S. urban education?

Findings revealed stark differences between U.S. and Indian classroom environments,
which led to teachers' difficulties. The teachers exhibited behaviors of culturally relevant
pedagogy that were consistent with effective teaching research; however, they were less
likely to implement characteristics of culturally relevant pedagogy that required
background knowledge of the cultures in which they were working. Further, the four
teachers only partially fulfilled the goals of acting as cultural ambassadors and alleviating
the teacher shortage because of programmatic constraints and school policies. Because
foreign teachers were hired by an outside agency and not the district, they were not
afforded the same rights as American teachers in the same schools. It was clear that other
purposes that undermined progressive educational reform, such as saving districts money,
were also being served.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1: THE CONTEXT OF FOREIGN TEACHER RECRUITMENT
1

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
5

PURPOSE
7

DEFINITION OF TERMS
8
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS
9

FOREIGN TEACHERS IN A LOCAL CONTEXT
13

PARTICIPANTS
16

ORGANIZATION OF THE DISSERTATION
21
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
23

EMPIRICAL RESEARCH
25

INTERNATIONAL TEACHERS IN THE MEDIA
28

THE BALTIMORE CASE
31

VISITING INTERNATIONAL FACULTY
33

LITERATURE SUMMARY
38
CHAPTER 3: APPLES TO ORANGES: CLASSROOMS IN THE UNITED
40
STATES AND ABROAD

PRIOR KNOWLEDGE OF AMERICAN SCHOOLS
45

SIMILARITIES BETWEEN HOME AND ABROAD
52


Same Age Students
53


Economic Disparities between Schools and Students
54

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN HOME AND ABROAD
56


Student Behavior
62


Resources
65


Pedagogical Strategies
67


Curriculum
71


Students' Lack of Cultural Awareness
74


Policies of School and State
76


Relations with Parents and Families
81

EFFECTS ON PRACTICE AND RELATIONSHIPS
81


American Allies
81


Foreign Teacher Community
83


Lingering Views of Academic Apathy
85


Shifts in Pedagogy and Management
85


Struggle between Hopelessness and Resilience
87
CHAPTER 4: CULTURALLY RELEVANT PEDAGOGY IN A COUNTRY
90
WHERE "RACE MATTERS"

MULTICULTURALISM IN INDIA
91


National Policies
92


Teacher Education in India
94


Teachers' Prior Multicultural Teaching Experiences
98

FOREIGN TEACHERS' CULTURALLY RELEVANT PEDAGOGY
101


Teachers showed passion for content
103


Teachers taught necessary skills
105

About this Dissertation

Rights statement

• Permission granted by the author to include this thesis or dissertation in this repository. All rights reserved by the author. Please contact the author for information regarding the reproduction and use of this thesis or dissertation.

School	Laney Graduate School
Department	Educational Studies
Degree	PhD
Submission	Dissertation
Language	English
Research Field	Education, Teacher Training
Keyword	urban education foreign teachers multicultural education
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Irvine, Jacqueline, Emory University Hahn, Carole L, Emory University
Committee Members	Jensen, Robert J, Emory University Cadray Jr., Joseph, Emory University

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