Teachers' understandings of barriers to Indigenous children's academic success in Taiwan

Article


Nesterova, Yulia, Couch, Daniel and Nguyen, Hang Thi Thanh. 2024. "Teachers' understandings of barriers to Indigenous children's academic success in Taiwan." British Educational Research Journal. 50 (6), pp. 2937-2956. https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.4062
Article Title

Teachers' understandings of barriers to Indigenous children's academic success in Taiwan

ERA Journal ID20005
Article CategoryArticle
AuthorsNesterova, Yulia, Couch, Daniel and Nguyen, Hang Thi Thanh
Journal TitleBritish Educational Research Journal
Journal Citation50 (6), pp. 2937-2956
Number of Pages20
Year2024
PublisherJohn Wiley & Sons
Place of PublicationUnited Kingdom
ISSN0141-1926
1469-3518
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.4062
Web Address (URL)https://bera-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/berj.4062
Abstract

This paper explores how non-Indigenous teachers understand challenges and barriers to academic progress and success for Indigenous students in Taiwan. Drawing on data from a study with 17 teachers of Han Taiwanese and Hakka background who had worked closely with Indigenous students from elementary to high school across Taiwan, we utilise Expectancy-Value Theory to explore teacher participants’ views of the barriers and challenges to educational success for their Indigenous students. Previous research suggests a deficit view among majority background teachers, depicting them as biased against Indigenous peoples and lacking relevant knowledge that would allow them to teach Indigenous students and about Indigenous cultures and histories. In contrast with this previous research, the teachers we interviewed exhibited a good and nuanced understanding of the obstacles and challenges of Indigenous students, families and communities which prevent their success. The teachers in our study indicated that they lack agency and are limited by structural forces in effecting meaningful change. Far from holding deficit views, the teachers interviewed pointed to the importance of working together with Indigenous families and communities to support the learning of Indigenous students. In our conclusion we point to ways of capitalising on the non-deficit positive views captured here to effect long-term sustainable change to support teachers to, in turn, support the learning of Indigenous students.

Keywordsindigenous education; teachers; Taiwan; indigenous students
Contains Sensitive ContentDoes not contain sensitive content
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020390401. Comparative and cross-cultural education
Byline AffiliationsUniversity of Glasgow, United Kingdom
School of Education
University of Melbourne
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