Narrative Inquiry of the Parenting Experiences of Chinese Immigrant Parents in the US

206 Pages·2014·1.28 MB·English

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
iii
Research Design.....................................................................................................................41
Participants .................................................................................................................41
Role of the researcher ................................................................................................43
Interview development...............................................................................................45
Protection of human subjects .....................................................................................46
Data collection ...........................................................................................................48
Qualitative interviews ....................................................................................48
The researcher‘s journal .................................................................................51
Document review ...........................................................................................51
Data analysis ..............................................................................................................51
Critical events approach .................................................................................52
Case-focused narrative analysis .....................................................................52
Cross-case thematic analysis..........................................................................54
Issues of trustworthiness and rigor ............................................................................54

Chapter 4 Case-Focused Narrative Analysis .....................................................................59
Ms. Chiu .................................................................................................................................60
Ms. Kwan ...............................................................................................................................65
Ms. Wang ...............................................................................................................................71
Ms. Wei ..................................................................................................................................81
Summary ................................................................................................................................91

Chapter 5 Cross-Case Thematic Analysis .........................................................................93
Parental Beliefs and Practices ................................................................................................93
Traditional parenting - Focusing on academic achievements ....................................94
Democratic Parenting - Focusing on whole child ......................................................98
Christian Parenting – Serving God ............................................................................102
Acculturation Dynamics and Family System ........................................................................104
Immigration challenges ..............................................................................................106
Intergenerational gap .................................................................................................110
Marital discord and parenting ....................................................................................112
Interactions with Home and Host Cultures ............................................................................116
Grandparents ..............................................................................................................116
Fathers heading back to China ...................................................................................123
School Involvement ...............................................................................................................127
Concerns and frustrating involvement .......................................................................127
Active involvement ....................................................................................................129
iv
Summary ................................................................................................................................131

Chapter 6 Discussion, Conclusions, and Implications ......................................................134
Introduction ............................................................................................................................134
Discussion ..............................................................................................................................135
Determinants of Chinese immigrants‘ parenting: The bioecological model .............137
The person ......................................................................................................138
Personal growth history ...........................................................................138
Gender......................................................................................................140
Religion ....................................................................................................140
English competency .................................................................................141
The process and the context ...........................................................................142
The microsystem.......................................................................................142
The mesosystem ........................................................................................143
The exosystem ..........................................................................................145
The macrosystem ......................................................................................146
The time .........................................................................................................150
Interactions of multiple factors ......................................................................151
Chinese immigrants: A diverse group........................................................................154
Home of origin ...............................................................................................154
Individual differences ....................................................................................155
Continuum of Common Cultural Values, and Continuum of Enculturation and
Acculturation..............................................................................................................156
Conclusions ............................................................................................................................160
Implications............................................................................................................................163
Cultural awareness .....................................................................................................163
Individual awareness ..................................................................................................164
Establishing reciprocal partnerships between the school and the home ....................165
Empowering immigrant parents .................................................................................166
Implication for research on immigrants .....................................................................166
Recommendations for Future Research .................................................................................167
Limitations of the Research ...................................................................................................168

References .............................................................................................................................170

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