NYC Men Teach: Listening to and Supporting Early-Career Asian American Male Teachers in English Teaching

Following the US Census (2018), we define an NYCMT Asian American as "a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent" However, we are critically aware that as inspired by the Black Power movement, the term "Asian American" was initially coined in 1968 with a political, activist purpose by UC Berkeley students Emma Gee and Yuji Ichioka as a way to unite Asian-descent Americans and fight for justice for all Asian communities (Zhou, 2021). [...]while using the term in our work, we acknowledge its inadequacy in conveying and distinguishing the varying status, histories, experiences, and stories possessed by the East and South Asian diaspora in the United States. Due to the scarcity of contemporary scholarship on Asian American male teachers in school settings, we have reviewed three related bodies of work-Asian American males in history, Asian American studies, and Asian American teacher studies-to gain a deeper understanding of the historical and contemporary contexts of Asian American male teachers. To fight for justice, a Chinese American male named Wong Kim Ark battled with the US Supreme Court for birthright citizenship. In cultivating an inclusive classroom, they not only helped affirm Asian Americanstudents' identities but also enacted critical literacy for other students to reflect on how to be non-stereotypical. [...]through teaching experiences, Asian American teachers who are stereotype resistors believe that students are empowered by fostering their critical consciousness and are affirmed in learning through positive cultural recognition of all People of Color, especially that of their teachers.