To Lose is to Win: The Effects of Student Evaluations in a Multicultural Education Class on a Japanese Faculty with a Non-native English Accent

Abstract

This study investigated how a a Japanese Faculty with a Non-native English Accent who teaches a multicultural education class at a predominantly white university struggled with student evaluation for her tenure and promotion using AsianCrit as a theoretical framework.  The analysis of student evaluation scores and comments and her personal narratives revealed that she was constantly framed in the model minority Asian stereotypes and her accented English stirred nativistic attitudes among the students, enforcing anti-American sentiments among some students.  The professor realized that without providing her students with an opportunity to achieve a sense of empowerment in her class, she would never be successful, and used a power-shift strategy to navigate the students’ resistance.  The study concludes with suggestions on how to dismantle model minority stereotypes.