Narrative Inquiry of the Parenting Experiences of Chinese Immigrant Parents in the U.S
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Narrative Inquiry of the Parenting Experiences of Chinese Immigrant Parents in the U.S. Author: Xiaoxia Chen Persistent link: http://hdl.handle.net/2345/3229 This work is posted on eScholarship@BC, Boston College University Libraries. Boston College Electronic Thesis or Dissertation, 2013 Copyright is held by the author, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise noted. BOSTON COLLEGE Lynch School of Education Department of Teacher Education, Special Education, and Curriculum and Instruction Curriculum and Instruction: Language, Literacy, and Learning NARRATIVE INQUIRY OF THE PARENTING EXPERIENCES OF CHINESE IMMIGRANT PARENTS IN THE U.S. Dissertation by XIAOXIA CHEN submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy August 2013 © Copyright by Xiaoxia Chen 2013 Narrative Inquiry of the Parenting Experiences of Chinese Immigrant Parents in the U.S. By Xiaoxia Chen Dissertation Director: Dr. María Estela Brisk Abstract While traditional multicultural education has advanced school personnel‘s cultural awareness and the implementation of multicultural curricula, it can also perpetuate stereotypes of certain cultural groups by overstating the role of culture. The widely held stereotypes of Chinese immigrants as super-achievers and a ―model minority‖ may dangerously hide the problems that many Chinese immigrant families face upon immigrating. In this dissertation, I share findings generated from the narrative inquiry of sixteen Chinese immigrant parents. The study was to uncover multiple realities related to the parenting experiences constructed by Chinese immigrant parents in their given social, cultural, and personal circumstances. Guiding this inquiry is the bioecological model, which provides an overarching framework to address all the factors that possibly influence immigrants‘ parenting. With a focus on critical events, data collected from multiple open-ended interviews and documents were presented in two ways: case-focused narrative analysis and cross-case thematic analysis. The findings show that Chinese immigrants are a diverse group, with each individual‘s parental beliefs and practices influenced by multiple personal and contextual factors. All the factors interacted through complex processes occurring at various levels within the parents‘ ecological environments between the two cultures. In addition, several issues related to Chinese immigrant families were exposed from the parents‘ narratives that have not been well researched so far, including: subgroup differences, the influence of marital discord as a result of immigration on child development, the role of religion change on parenting, and grandparents as major childcare giver. At a theoretical level, notions of the continuum of common cultural values, and the continuum of enculturation and acculturation provide a fluid and dynamic theoretical lens to better understanding immigrants‘ in-between cultural values. I suggest that school personnel and social workers work towards eliminating pre- assumptions about any cultural group, attending to each child‘s unique identity without over-emphasizing the role of culture. Furthermore, schools need to take efforts to build effective and reciprocal relationships with immigrant families to better address the immigrant students‘ individual needs. Acknowledgements First and foremost, to all the parents who took part in the study: Thank you for kindly and generously sharing your time and stories. To my doctoral advisor, Dr. Richard Jackson: Thank you for your neverending trust, encouragement and support during my doctoral study. To my dissertation committee members, Drs. María Estela Brisk, Curt Dudley-Marling, Jacqueline Lerner, and Marcelle Haddix: Thank you for your patience, understanding and constructive feedback along with my writing journey. Dr. Brisk, you have been more than an advisor, a mentor and a role model for me; when the whole world gave up on me, you were always there to raise me up. To Dean Sparks and Tricia: Thank you for all your help! To Dr. Xingjia Cui and Xiaoke: It was not until the stage of writing my dissertation that I realized I have ADHD. Thank you for helping me to keep my distractions under control. To my friends: Wei, Yudan, Yun, Yan, Nari, Joan, Fang, Ying, Hongmei, Keyang, Muning, Xin, Hong & Yanzi (in China), Jessie, Lin, Lindy, Bob, Pastor Wei, Jing, Amy and all my friends: Thank you all to have kept me in company when my sky turned grey and when I was so weary. To Alyssa, my editor and proofreader: Thank you for all your hard work editing my writing and providing inspiring comments. When I crushed and almost gave up, you brought me back on track with your sweet and encouraging words. You are the BEST! To Dr. Green and Dr. Dolan: Thank you for your encouraging and constructive feedback. To Dr. Matthew and Mr. Perez: Thank you for your understanding and support. To Ann Marie, Ming, Sophie and Vivian: Thank you for all your invaluable feedback at the final stage. Vivian, thank you for your help with figures and inspiring ideas. To my two sons, Henry and Runox: You have been the biggest competitors with my thesis. I had to stop writing any moment and ―enjoyed‖ the luxury of jumping puddles in the rain while thinking about my deadline… To my husband, Lao Jiang: Thank you for years of support. To my parents, my older brothers and my aunt: Thank you for your forever trust and love. To God: Although my ADHD has been influencing my confidence in you, deep in my heart, I know you are always there. i I dedicate this dissertation to my mom: Without you, this would have never happened. It is finally finished because of your sacrifice, encouragement and unconditional love. ii Table of Contents List of Tables .........................................................................................................................vi List of Figures ........................................................................................................................vi List of Appendices .................................................................................................................vi Chapter 1: Introduction ......................................................................................................1 Rationale for the Research .....................................................................................................3 Importance of studying parents ..................................................................................3 Importance of studying immigrant parents ................................................................4 Importance of studying Chinese immigrant parents ..................................................7 Purpose of the Study ..............................................................................................................9 Statement of Research Questions...........................................................................................10 Significance of the Study .......................................................................................................10 Definition of Terms................................................................................................................11 Overview of the Dissertation .................................................................................................13 Chapter 2: Review of the Literature ..................................................................................15 Theoretical Framework ..........................................................................................................15 The bioecological model ............................................................................................15 Culture and acculturation ...........................................................................................17 Concept of culture ..........................................................................................18 Concept of acculturation and acculturation framework .................................19 Research on Chinese Immigrant Parents ...............................................................................22 Chinese cultural values ..............................................................................................23 Importance of education ................................................................................24 Human malleability ........................................................................................24 Family and filial piety ....................................................................................25 Historical context of Chinese immigrants in the U.S. ...............................................27 Chinese immigrants‘ parental beliefs and practices...................................................29 Intergenerational gap .....................................................................................30 Resilience types .............................................................................................30 Parental beliefs and practices .........................................................................31 Theoretical framework for research on Chinese parents ...............................33 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................35 Chapter 3 Research Methodology ......................................................................................39 Narrative Inquiry ....................................................................................................................39