Crossing International Borders

María, a 25-year-old graduate from a university in Barcelona with a teaching certificate in high school physics, was not able to find a classroom position in her native country of Spain. She read an article in a local education journal that the department of Human Resources for Chicago Public Schools was conducting interviews in order to recruit and hire teachers to fill positions at their high schools in math and science. One qualification was to be bilingual in both Spanish and English.

“I was quite excited to hear the possibility to live and work in the United States. It was like a dream come true. I gathered my documents and made an appointment with the recruiting advisors. My only concern was taking an English proficiency test. I studied English in Scotland during a six week summer program but wasn’t sure that would be enough as I heard American English was quite different, especially in the cities.”

Not only did María do well on the English proficiency test, but was met with a great deal of enthusiasm at the interview and was soon offered a position at a near south side Chicago high school. Work permits, visas, and housing arrangements were also provided for her in order to make for a smooth transition. The entire process went quite quickly for María and the other teaching candidates.

“We all met for the first time at the airport in Chicago and lived in group housing provided to us for the orientation. After that they were quite nice to help us find our own housing. I met two other teachers in the program and found a nice apartment about 5 miles from school. I was not expecting it, but I was assigned to a mentor who also taught physics at another high school. He did a great job showing me the curriculum and standards. My only concern was that his school was quite far from mine and could make communicating difficult.”

María’s classroom was fairly well equipped and up to date in order for her to teach physics. What took her by surprise was not only the large class sizes but the fact that most of the children did not speak English very well. Most came from Chinese homes where Mandarin was the first language, not Spanish, as she had expected. Soon on, she sensed a bit of prejudice not only coming from fellow teachers but also from some of the parents of her students. Whether real or perceived, María often heard comments from students and teachers that her “European” style of teaching was contrary to their expectations. Several people mentioned to her that this is “not the way we teach in America.”

“I wasn’t quite sure whom to turn to. My mentor seemed to always be too busy to get together to discuss these issues. He could only help me with curriculum matters, not the strained interactions with other people. The parents began to question my skills as a physics teacher and whether or not their children would be prepared for college entrance exams. I had a great deal of difficulty during parent/teacher conferences as neither I nor the parents spoke English as a first language. The only help I got about this matter from my mentor was when he gave me a one page list of phrases often used when meeting with parents that he said I could memorize ahead of time and thus sound like I really knew English well. It was rather insulting for me and only made matters worse.”

As the year progressed, other issues began to surface. Although classroom discipline was not a major factor, María sensed that her status as an immigrant was problematic for parents and students even though most of her students came from families also new to America. She finished the school year but returned to Spain in June with mixed emotions about her whole experience. During her exit interview she expressed thanks for having the opportunity to work and live in America but wasn’t sure what other kinds of preparation could have helped her to make her teaching experience run smoother.

Questions

1) Before one can answer the question, “What went wrong?” what are some of the factors that the recruiting team should ask, if not consider, before hiring teachers from another country?

2)  Would it have been better to match María up with another teacher in her building who may not have been a curriculum expert in physics, but would have at least known enough about the school culture and climate to help her out with multicultural issues?

3) Was her lack of American English skills the core of the problem?

4)  What are the unique issues of monitoring the progress of international teachers who are first time teachers in the United States?

Another Look

Teachers with María’s qualifications are in high demand in many public school systems, but many school systems do not hire teachers from other countries.  In 2000, however, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) recruited 44 teaching candidates from 22 different countries.  The candidates were required to pass a written and oral exam in English as well as engage in a series of interviews with CPS principals.  Those that passed the exams and had successful interviews entered a six week orientation dedicated to training these teachers for a position in a public school.  A temporary teaching certificate was issued by the Illinois State Board of Education for the first four years of teaching.  After four years, the teachers were responsible for completing requirements for a standard certificate.  Visas issued to these teachers were valid for six years, so all candidates had an opportunity to complete their standard certification.  CPS then had the option to sponsor candidates for permanent visas.  These special, H1-B visas were usually reserved for higher education and advanced technology jobs; this was the first time that public school teachers were offered the same opportunity.

The H1-B visa has specific stipulations.  Any applicant for the H1-B visa must “have specialized knowledge in a specialty occupation” as well as these other professional qualifications:

• The individual must have at least a bachelor’s degree in a specific field, but might be able to substitute three years in the field as the equivalent of one year of college.  Typically, professors or teachers will meet this requirement because it is already part of the required background for their employment.  

• If a teacher requires licensing to teach at a particular school, the teacher will need to show possession of a license or present documentation from the licensing board that the teacher has met all of the requirements for the license and the only thing holding up issuance of the license is possession of a visa or social security number.

Clearly these requirements for immigrant teachers match up with many states’ certification requirements for American citizens.  Unfortunately, biases still exist towards hiring teachers from abroad, but the simple fact is that school districts are struggling to hire highly qualified teachers.  Many school districts hire under-qualified, non-certified adults to teach courses.  Many states allow school districts to fill open positions with adults with substitute certification.  Often these substitute certificates are awarded to college graduates that lack teacher training.  Perhaps looking to international neighbors will yield highly qualified candidates that can greatly contribute to American schools, but school districts must be prepared to institute effective new teacher induction and mentorship programs that are specifically designed for these new teachers; otherwise, stories like María’s will become the norm as opposed to the exception.