CHAPTER 3: Latino Teachers
- The Construction of a Latino History with American Schooling
The history of the Latino educational experience in the United States, although different from the African American, is one fraught with similar hostility, misunderstanding, and distrust (San Miguel and Valencia, 1998; Moore and Pachon, 1985). Basic to an understanding of educational opportunities for Latinos is the importance placed politically on bilingual education (Fernandez and Guskin, 1981). Although African Americans saw the main battle to be fought on the field of integration with the hope of increased resources, Latinos, particularly Mexican Americans, have sought improved educational access and success through bilingual education. The ironic result has been that, in tandem with residential discrimination, ‘bilingual education,’ as it has been traditionally administered rather than as it is imagined to operate, has tended to reinforce segregated schooling. Latino students are more segregated today than at any other time in the past (Orfield and Eaton, 1996).
- The Image of Teaching and Latino Teachers
Many of the Latino informants were convinced that respect for teachers would increase if teachers themselves honored the culture and traditions of their students. At times this appeared to go against the American concept of compulsory schooling as a right not a privilege. They claimed that if teachers understood that in many Latin countries education is reserved for the elite and that working-class youth are often expected to assist the family financially after a certain age, they would be less inclined to misinterpret students’ actions. If students left school early to work (dropped out) or took time off to take care of their family or return home for holidays or celebrations, this should not be seen as disrespectful of teachers but rather respectful of family needs and priorities.
- Why the Shortage of Latino Students in Teaching
According to the informants, the issue of Latino youth not entering teaching as a profession has less to do with resistance to the idea of becoming a teacher because of low status or meager income than it does with lack of success in moving through the academic pipeline. Latino teachers were overwhelmingly preoccupied with the poor academic achievement of Latino students and scoffed at the concern for more Latino teachers. Many of them lamented the low graduation rates from high school and the lack of rigor presented in coursework in many predominantly Latino schools.
- Negative experience in school
Only a few of the Latino teachers mentioned negative school experiences as a cause for student resistance to entering teaching. In contrast to this, research with Latino college students reflected a much stronger awareness of the many problematic relationships that Latino youth have experienced with the educational system. Their stories relate to misplacement in ESL/LED language classes, inability to use their primary language, ostracization by peers who do not see them as authentically Latino, and frustration with teachers who were unprepared to work with them
- Access to career options
As mentioned earlier, Latino teachers were less concerned about which career their students selected than they were about getting them through high school. The suggestion that perhaps increased access to more job opportunities might be one of the reasons Latino students are not considering teaching as a viable profession left some of the teachers laughing at the thought: ‘My students [Latino] don’t even think about becoming doctors and lawyers. Teaching would be the last profession that they would choose. They do not see themselves as professionals.’
- Accent discrimination and racism
Discrimination based on accent caused rancor among both Latino and Asian American informants. Some of the Latino teachers who came as immigrants to this country were professionals in their respective fields ‘back home.’ One teacher who holds several advanced degrees in science was a chemist in Honduras but has not been permitted to teach chemistry in America because of her accent.
- Lack of encouragement
Beyond the lack of information is the reality that many parents have limited formal schooling themselves. It became clear in the interviews, particularly in Long Beach, that many Mexican American and Southeast Asian immigrant students were sitting in classrooms for the first time in their lives.
- Low pay
Latino teachers did not see money as a consideration in attracting Latino youth into the teaching profession. Most of them believed that they were well paid and that the benefits that came with the job in terms of security, time off, ease of work load, etc. were bountiful.
- Concluding Remarks
In comparison to most of the African American teachers interviewed, most of those teachers who self-identified as Latino did not see their job as low status with low pay. It was amazing to see the pride in the profession and the numerous stories that reflected gratitude for a job with good income, security, benefits, and an opportunity to help others.
