Chapter 5: Voices from the Margins: Asian American Teachers’ Experiences in the Profession¹

This chapter presents the findings of a two-part investigation of preservice and inservice Asian American teachers. The study examined and analyzed the perspectives of Asian American educators regarding their motives for entering the profession, assessment of teacher education curricula, and interactions with other preservice teachers, school colleagues, parents, and children. The study broadens current conversations around minority teacher shortages to include Asian Americans who are often excluded from recruitment and retention efforts. Asian American teachers are visibly absent from the nation’s classrooms and they need and deserve the attention of teacher education programs, schools, and policymakers, particularly given dramatic increases in the Asian school-age population.