Chun, Kaylee - Fieldwork Assignment

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School

Norco College *

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Course

001

Subject

Anthropology

Date

Oct 30, 2023

Type

pdf

Pages

Uploaded by kaylee80093

Chun 1 Kaylee Chun Professor Mgqoboka ANTH 001 28 July 2023 The Education Enigma: A Deeper Understanding on Hispanic Culture and Teaching When contemplating which topic I was interested in developing a deeper understanding, I had to consider that I had limited choices since I do not have my driver’s license yet. Therefore, I chose a topic closely related to one of my family members, specifically my oldest brother, a middle school teacher. I wanted to gain insight into the experience of a Hispanic English junior high school teacher from a middle-class family teaching in a relatively low-income area of San Bernardino. My brother will begin his second year of instruction on July 31st; therefore, I perceived this as an appropriate time to interview and observe his time within a classroom environment. To clarify, there was no fieldwork conducted when students were presented, and while my older brother described his experience, the privacy of his students remained intact as we did not discuss names, only general situations, challenges, and reflections he experienced during his first-year of teaching. I interviewed my older brother, Luis Chun, known in a classroom setting as "Mr. Chun." My older brother attended the University of California, Riverside, and graduated with a B.A. in English in 2021. In 2022, my brother continued his studies at UCR and pursued his Master's degree and teaching credentials to teach on a secondary level. During this year, he shadowed a high school English teacher who taught at a Moreno Valley school since it was required to obtain

Chun 2 his credential. In the summer of 2022, my brother graduated with his Master's and began applying for teaching jobs around the Inland Empire and Orange County regions, and the first school to call him back was in San Bernardino. Before taking this job, after the principal interviewed him, he understood the demographics that the school served in the area were predominantly Hispanic and Black; therefore, he felt a sense of connection despite being aware that San Bernardino districts were challenging for first-year teachers. Nonetheless, my brother began teaching at this middle school in August 2022. The interview was conducted at our parent's house, specifically in his room. The surroundings included his work desk, bed, and other things, making the setting comfortable for him, which allowed him to conduct himself in a relaxed, confident manner. The interview consisted of questions centered around the question: what is the experience of a Hispanic English junior high school teacher from a middle-class family teaching in a relatively low-income area of San Bernardino? The question offered an opportunity to reflect on how his upbringing translated into his classroom as a teacher; therefore, additional questions included how he handled challenging situations with students experiencing difficulties during a complicated time for their age group. I also asked him how, despite not having many teachers of color, what were the factors that influenced him to become a middle school teacher. When people reflect on their time at middle school, many consider these years the most difficult since everyone, including themselves, is experiencing mental, physical, and social developments. However, my older brother replied to these questions by describing his own experience in middle school, which came at a time when we moved from Orange County to Riverside. These changes proved difficult for him socially since he began middle school halfway through the semester when many

Chun 3 people already knew each other. He mentioned that because of this, he usually spent his free time with his teachers connecting with the latest technological developments and other subjects that piqued their interests. He vividly recalls wanting to become an English teacher in eighth grade because of his honors English teacher, who created a unique classroom environment with different technological approaches. The English teacher became a mentor for my brother when he was navigating uncharted territories since his teacher offered him college advice, something my parents needed to become more familiar with since they had only attended high school. Going back to the first question, my brother mentioned that he wanted to become a mentor figure for students experiencing difficulty and, like him, will become the first sibling or child to attend college. As the oldest sibling and child of immigrants, my brother wants to help students in similar positions. Hispanic culture sometimes limits a person's opportunity to attend college since parents may need to be more familiar with the application process or unable to afford it. Despite living in the same household, my brother's culture and experience differ from mine since I am the youngest child, and my parents stopped teaching me Hispanic traditions so that I could become more "Americanized." My oldest brother was taught Spanish first; however, he experienced discrimination and difficulty in school growing up. Consequently, my father did not want my other brother and me to face the same challenges because we did not speak English. As an outsider from the difficulties he experienced, we both agree that some families in Hispanic culture cannot send their children to college because of the unfamiliarity and cost. Nonetheless, some parents immigrate to the U.S. to pursue the American Dream, and they acknowledge education as the key to social mobility. Therefore, my brother is representative of the American Dream of Hispanic culture since it is the goal of immigrants to provide a better upbringing and

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Chun 4 future for their children. Furthermore, kinship within my brother's environment is essential because his students can become academically motivated when they see a person of color and of Hispanic background like themselves. The way I felt about my role as an observer and interviewer was that I needed to be conscious of what information I would discuss without accidentally obtaining certain information from his students. Because of this, questions that potentially expose such details were left out when writing my notes. Nonetheless, the information we discussed was about his experience. as a Hispanic English teacher; therefore, we could avoid that trouble. My presence did not have an effect since the person interviewing my brother was me. Moreover, I had some difficulty distinguishing objective facts from my impressions and interpretations since I am accustomed to certain mentalities from my parents and older brother; however, he would clarify specific misinterpretations as he described his experiences. The sorts of questions that derived from this exercise were how culture and language affected my older brother's upbringing, which were products of my parent's parenting style. These factors were ones that I inquired about since my brother chose a career in teaching English despite experiencing barriers that may have deterred him from pursuing that. Therefore, my experience with the fieldwork study can be similar to the course readings since I tried to observe and understand my brother's culture through a third-person perspective. However, I believe that there were other elements that I could incorporate, which would continue to help me learn more about this subject. Another segment that could help me is interviewing a different teacher from a different subject and how their background influenced them before and inside the classroom. As

Chun 5 a result, I would aim to investigate how childhood upbringing, and different cultures, specifically from Black and Asian communities, motivate them to become a teacher.