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Exploring culturally relevant pedagogy in a Chinese immersion program: a gap analysis

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Exploring culturally relevant pedagogy in a Chinese immersion program: a gap analysis

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Exploring Culturally Relevant Pedagogy in a Chinese Immersion Program:
A Gap Analysis
by
Yuan Liu

Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
A dissertation submitted to the faculty
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Education

August 2022

© Copyright by Yuan Liu 2022
All Rights Reserved

The Committee for Yuan Liu certifies the approval of this Dissertation

Yuehua Zhang
Lawrence Picus
Darline Robles, Committee Chair

Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
2022

iv
Abstract
Dual-language immersion programs in international schools are growing rapidly. Current studies
agree that language immersion education aims to achieve high academic performance,
bilingualism, and biculturalism. However, limited research has addressed the development of
cultural competence through dual-language immersion education (Freire & Valdez, 2017).
Immersion educators work with diverse student populations in international schools. While
researchers propose that immersion programs investigate adopting culturally relevant pedagogy
to help students increase cultural competence and affirmation of their home cultures, few studies
exist to support immersion teachers with implementing culturally relevant pedagogy in their
classrooms. This study will adopt the Clark and Estes (2008) gap analysis model to identify the
knowledge, motivation and organization influences on the implementation of culturally relevant
pedagogy by Chinese immersion educators in the Chinese immersion program of an international
school. This study employed a qualitative design composed of semi-structured interviews,
observations of professional learning community meetings, and documentation analysis.
Findings from this study indicated 11 influences on the problem of practice in the areas of
factual, procedural, and metacognitive knowledge, value and self-efficacy, resources, cultural
model, and cultural setting. These influences were used to develop evidence-based
recommendations to address the knowledge, motivation and organization causes impeding the
enactment of culturally relevant pedagogy in the Chinese immersion program. This study
concluded with a training program developed using the new world Kirkpatrick model
(Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016) to implement the recommendations proposed through the
study.

v
Dedication
To my mother, I would have not achieved this without you.

vi
Acknowledgements
Words cannot express my gratitude to my chair of my committee for her invaluable
patience and feedback. I also could not have undertaken this journey without my defense
committee, who generously provided knowledge and expertise. Additionally, this endeavor
would not have been possible without the participants who agreed to contribute their insights to
my study.
I am also grateful to my cohort members, especially my study mates, for their moral
support. Thanks should also go to the professors who taught me every single course in this
program from the university, who impacted and inspired me for my course of research.
Lastly, I would be remiss in not mentioning my family, especially my parents, spouse, and
daughter. Their belief in me has kept my spirits and motivation high during this process. I am
particularly grateful for my mother who not only provided moral support to me continuously, but
also took care of my daughter since she was born. I would also like to thank my dog, Luffy, for
all the entertainment and emotional support.

vii
Table of Contents
Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... iv
Dedication ....................................................................................................................................... v
Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ vi
List of Tables .................................................................................................................................. x
List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ xi
Chapter One: Introduction .............................................................................................................. 1
Background of the Problem ................................................................................................ 1
Importance of Addressing the Problem .............................................................................. 3
Organizational Context and Mission .................................................................................. 4
Organizational Performance Status ..................................................................................... 6
Organizational Performance Goal ....................................................................................... 8
Description of Stakeholder Groups ..................................................................................... 9
Stakeholder Group for the Study ...................................................................................... 10
Purpose of the Project and Questions ............................................................................... 11
Conceptual and Methodological Framework .................................................................... 11
Definitions ......................................................................................................................... 12
Organization of the Project ............................................................................................... 13
Chapter Two: Review of the Literature ........................................................................................ 14
Overview of Dual-Language Immersion Programs .......................................................... 15
Cultural Learning in Dual-Language Immersion Programs ............................................. 20
Culturally Relevant Pedagogy in Dual-Language Immersion Programs .......................... 23
Culturally Responsive Leadership in Dual-Language Immersion Programs ................... 34
Conceptual Framework ..................................................................................................... 40
Stakeholder Knowledge, Motivation and Organizational Influences ............................... 43

viii
Chapter Three: Methodology ........................................................................................................ 55
Conceptual and Methodological Framework .................................................................... 55
Assessment of Performance Influences ............................................................................ 58
Participating Stakeholders and Sample Selection ............................................................. 64
Instrumentation ................................................................................................................. 65
Data Collection ................................................................................................................. 67
Data Analysis .................................................................................................................... 68
Trustworthiness of Data .................................................................................................... 69
Role of Investigator ........................................................................................................... 70
Limitations and Delimitations ........................................................................................... 71
Chapter Four: Results and Findings .............................................................................................. 72
Participating Stakeholders ................................................................................................ 74
Determination of Assets and Needs .................................................................................. 74
Results and Findings for Knowledge Causes .................................................................... 76
Results and Findings for Motivation Causes .................................................................... 88
Results and Findings for Organization Causes ................................................................. 92
Summary of Validated Influences .................................................................................. 102
Chapter Five: Recommendations and Evaluation ....................................................................... 105
Recommendations to Address Knowledge, Motivation, and Organization
Influences ........................................................................................................................ 105
Integrated Implementation and Evaluation Plan ............................................................. 118
Limitations and Delimitations ......................................................................................... 137
Recommendations for Future Research .......................................................................... 138
Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 138
References ................................................................................................................................... 140
Appendix A: Interview Protocol ................................................................................................. 153

ix
Setting the Stage ............................................................................................................. 154
Heart of the Interview ..................................................................................................... 154
Closing Question ............................................................................................................. 156
Closing Comments .......................................................................................................... 156
Appendix B: PLC Meeting Observation Checklist ..................................................................... 157
Appendix D: Informed Consent (For Interview) ........................................................................ 159
Appendix E: Interview Recruitment Letter ................................................................................. 161
Appendix F: Informed Consent (For Observation) ..................................................................... 163
Appendix G: Observation Recruitment Letter ............................................................................ 165
Appendix H: Exit Ticket ............................................................................................................. 167
Appendix I: Class Observation Checklist ................................................................................... 168
Appendix K: Connecting Four PLC Essential Questions to Cultural Responsiveness .............. 171

x
List of Tables
Table 1: Organizational Mission, Global Goal and Stakeholder Performance Goals 10
Table 2: Summary of Assumed Knowledge Influences on Stakeholder’s Ability to Achieve the
Performance Goal 47
Table 3: Summary of Assumed Motivation Influences on Stakeholder’s Ability to Achieve the
Performance Goal 50
Table 4: Summary of Assumed Organization Influences on Stakeholder’s Ability to Achieve the
Performance Goal 53
Table 5: Summary of Knowledge Influences and Method of Assessment 59
Table 6: Summary of Motivation Influences and Method of Assessment 61
Table 7: Summary of Organization Influences and Method of Assessment 63
Table 8: Knowledge Assets or Needs as Determined by the Data 103
Table 9: Motivation Assets or Needs as Determined by the Data 103
Table 10: Organization Assets or Needs as Determined by the Data 104
Table 11: Summary of Knowledge Influences and Recommendation 106
Table 12: Summary of Motivation Influences and Recommendation 112
Table 13: Summary of Organization Influences and Recommendation 115
Table 14: Outcomes, Metrics, and Methods for External and Internal Outcomes 122
Table 15: Critical Behaviors, Metrics, Methods, and Timing for Evaluation 126
Table 16: Required Drivers to Support Critical Behaviors 127
Table 17: Evaluation of the Components of Learning for the Program 132
Table 18: Components to Measure Reactions to the Program 134
Appendix C: Documentation Review 158
Appendix K: Connecting Four PLC Essential Questions to Cultural Responsiveness 171

xi
List of Figures
Figure 1: Transformational Dual Language Educational Framework 30
Figure 2: Leading Critical Self-Reflection With Teachers 37
Figure 3: Conceptual Framework 43
Figure 4: Clark and Estes’ Gap Analysis Process 57

1
Chapter One: Introduction
The number of language immersion programs in international schools has increased over
the last decade. Research around language immersion approaches indicated that language
immersion education aims to achieve high academic performance, bilingualism, and
biculturalism (Baker, 2006; Freire & Valdez, 2017). While pedagogical knowledge of promoting
second language acquisition through language immersion education has been well established
and consolidated since 1980 (Brown, 2014), there is limited research regarding the development
of cultural competence through language immersion education (Freire & Valdez, 2017).
Moreover, as immersion educators work with a diverse student population in the international
schools, fewer studies exist to support immersion teachers in implementing culturally relevant
pedagogy in their classrooms and promoting the biculturalism of the native and target languages.
Background of the Problem
In language immersion education, the goal of biculturalism is fluid depending on the
program structure and the composition of the student group. In language immersion programs,
where two distinct language groups are served in roughly equal numbers, the cultural goal for
language-majority students (English speakers) is often described in terms of building positive
intercultural group relations, increasing intercultural awareness (Baker, 2006), and developing
positive cross-cultural behaviors (Howard & Christian, 2002). According to Darder (2012),
biculturalism for language-minoritized students is a process of learning to navigate “two distinct
sociocultural environments: their primary culture, and that of the [powerfully] dominant
mainstream culture of the society in which they live” (p. 45). Additionally, superficial
considerations of the cultural goal fail to consider the ways these students “respond to cultural
conflicts and the daily struggle with racism and other forms of cultural invasion” (Darder, 2012,

2
p. 45). As biculturalism is paramount for language minoritized students, language immersion
scholars have questioned to what degree language immersion programs “embrace a truly
bicultural orientation” (Christian et al., 2000, p. 264).
Moreover, the literature suggests that teacher beliefs constitute a vital part of the
knowledge that shapes how teachers behave in the classroom (Johnson, 1992). Teachers enter
their classrooms influenced by personal theories about teaching and learning and their
interpretation of the instructional situation (Hermans et al., 2008; Kennedy, 1997). Teachers hold
outsider knowledge generated outside the K–12 teaching profession that, in some cases, is based
on research conclusions that are “torn out of their historical, narrative contexts” (Clandinin &
Connelly, 1995, p. 11). Flores (2001) found that many bilingual teachers’ beliefs were
preconceived before they started teaching and served to shape the strategies they used to help
bilingual children learn. Lynn et al. (1999) saw beliefs and practices as interrelated, thus holding
culturally relevant pedagogy beliefs as imperative for culturally relevant teachers. They argued
that teachers who hold culturally relevant beliefs about learning and teaching also apply these
beliefs to “social, political, and cultural issues as they pertain to education generally, schools in
particular, and the wider social context” (p. 44). In examining the practices of culturally relevant
teachers, Ladson-Billings (1995, 2006) found they have common social justice beliefs about
education, children, and their communities. Similarly, in research on effective teachers of Latino
and bilingual students, Huerta (2011) points out that “these effective teachers practiced what they
believed” (p. 50). The scholastic findings revealed that developing teachers’ beliefs about
culturally relevant pedagogy is a prerequisite for teachers’ enactment of culturally relevant
pedagogy in the classroom.

3
Importance of Addressing the Problem
Avent International School (AIS) is a leading international school in Asia with a diverse
student population. Due to its student body and natural location, AIS represents a diverse Asian
community. However, as the AIS curriculum reflects a normative U.S. standards-based
curriculum for the last century, White supremacy and the majoritarian ideology have been
perpetuated through the education provided by the school. It was not until recently that the
school started celebrating different holidays in addition to the traditional American holidays.
Partially, it was influenced by the Asian community where the school is situated. The students,
especially Asian students, started seeing their images and identities through the school events
and morning meeting discussions. The African and Hispanic students, although occupying a low
percentage of the student population, are still underrepresented in many ways, as the dominant
cultures around AIS are either the American-English culture or the host-country Asian-Chinese
culture.
International schools typically adopt English-centric curricula and define the success
criteria for students’ learning according to their English language proficiency due to the
dominant status of the English language in the global environment (Carder, 2007). Indeed, this
represents a more extensive international problem in education as the learning environments and
experiences provided to the students in international schools may not be socially just and
equitable. Students who are foreign to an American value system may encounter cultural
marginalization or deculturization as a dominant value system influences them. Therefore,
implementing culturally relevant pedagogy in international schools is imperative to ensure all
students are served equitably and responded to concerning their cultures and values.

4
Moreover, cultural competence is one of the learning inspirations in the AIS schools’
strategic plan. Hence, the organization’s institutional commitment has explicitly stated that the
curriculum and instructions should be culturally responsive and that tasks, assessments, and
resources should include diverse perspectives. This problem of practice unveiled the
organization’s theory-in-use, which contradicts its espoused values conveyed through its
strategic plan and institutional commitment. This problem also impacts the organization’s
mission as it aims to provide students with educational experiences from an international
perspective.
Finally, language immersion aims to amplify the learning of other cultures through
learning a foreign language. Ideally, it is considered a vehicle to develop the students’ global
competence that enables them to understand others from multiple perspectives, which will allow
them to address gross injustices, racial inequalities, poverty, and environmental concerns at a
global level (Palmieri, 2018). Implementing culturally relevant pedagogy in the AIS Chinese
immersion program should address the purpose and need of cultural competence development in
a language immersion educational setting.
Organizational Context and Mission
Avent International School (AIS, a pseudonym) is a non-profit independent international
school located in a Southeast Asian country. It provides American standard-based education to
over 4,000 students from various countries in preschool learning through the 12th grade. The
AIS student body comprises over 65 nationalities, with over half of the students being United
States citizens. The other students are citizens from India, China, South Korea, Japan, the United
Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and others. Singaporean student numbers are limited as Singapore
government regulations prevent most local students from attending international schools within

5
the country. The majority of the teachers come from the United States, and staff members from
twenty other countries also work at AIS. Most are hired overseas, and over 80% hold master’s
degrees.
The organization’s mission is to provide each student with an outstanding American
educational experience harboring an international perspective. The organization’s vision is to be
a world educational leader, cultivating exceptional thinkers, prepared for the future.”
As a leading international school in Asia, AIS established a Chinese immersion program
in the elementary school in 2017 to meet the trend of language immersion education. The
program has welcomed its increasing popularity from the current and prospective AIS parents
due to its explicit focus on promoting bilingualism and biliteracy in both English and Chinese.
However, at its inception in 2017, the program developed policies to deny access to non-native
English speakers to receive their language immersion education from kindergarten to the second
grade. The former AIS immersion program administrators expressed that it was easier for the
Chinese immersion teachers to teach students who are all at the same level in speaking, listening,
reading, and writing in Chinese and English (Anonymous school administrators, personal
communication, November 13, 2019). The rationale behind the policy implied an institutional
decision to eliminate the opportunities to enact culturally relevant pedagogy in the immersion
classrooms. Not until recently has the program issued a new policy that allows near-native
Chinese speakers or non-native English speakers to apply for the program from kindergarten, for
the number of students studying in the program has been decreasing dramatically over the years.
Open enrollment to more student populations has helped fill the classrooms despite the regular
withdrawal of the existing students yearly. This updated policy has seen the need to implement

6
culturally relevant pedagogy in the AIS Chinese immersion classrooms, as the student population
in this program has become more and more diverse.
In the most recent WASC self-study findings in 2020, one of the grade-level professional
learning communities reflected that the teaching and assessment of students’ cultural competence
are mostly implicit. As one of the desired student learning outcomes, cultural competence is not
an explicit focus in the AIS elementary school curriculum or instructions. The WASC report also
indicated that more work was needed in designing educational experiences that teach a full range
of cultural competence. The AIS elementary homeroom teachers also expressed that it is
challenging to teach and assess cultural competence and that they need to increase their cultural
competence to better guide and support their students’ learning in this area. As the current AIS
teaching member, I know that the AIS curriculum for the Chinese immersion program does not
include learning for the development of cultural competence. In the AIS Chinese immersion
program, it is mandated to use the mainstream curriculum adopted by the English program as a
promise made to the parent community associated with the Chinese immersion program. As the
Chinese immersion homeroom teacher, I plan, teach, and observe the students’ learning of the
curriculum designed for the native-English speakers but taught through a different instructional
medium. I hope to study how knowledge, motivation, and organization influences have promoted
or impeded the AIS Chinese immersion teachers from implementing culturally relevant
pedagogy in their immersion classrooms.
Organizational Performance Status
Based on the organizational performance, the 2020 WASC report provided
recommendations for further improvement after assessing the organization’s WASC self-study
and virtual classroom visits. In the most recent WASC report, it was recommended that the

7
organization continue to invest in ways to ensure that the diverse demographic groups at AIS
have access to communication in different languages and be more engaged in activities that
inform student learning design. AIS considered it necessary to align processes and language
concerning the student support services to meet the needs of a more diverse group of learners.
The organization established a set of learning aspirations as the main force to drive the
institutional strategic plan. Correspondently, the WASC visiting committee indicated that the
organization should strengthen a shared understanding and practice for teaching and more
explicitly assess learning aspirations with worked examples in a broad range of subject areas.
Among the seven indicators of learning aspirations, the committee specifically mentioned
cultural competence and discussed that the organization should prepare its educators with
professional learning for teaching and assessing cultural competence effectively. Regarding the
school culture and environment, AIS was evaluated with a need to honor more individual and
cultural differences through the lens of cultural competence, which should become an area of
focus for the organization. The WASC visiting committee has pointed out that additional work
can be contributed to support students in understanding and recognizing the realities of race
relations and inclusion issues in the world.
Within the scope of the AIS Elementary Chinese immersion program, since its inception
in 2017, the Chinese immersion program at AIS elementary division has adopted the curricula of
all learning subjects employed in the mainstream English monolingual classrooms. The literacy
curriculum adopts the Workshop Curriculum designed by the Teachers College Reading and
Writing Project for English literacy development. As a teaching member in this program, I
observed that teachers working in their professional learning community spend hours translating
and transferring the curriculum learning materials from the English language to the Chinese. The

8
Social Studies curriculum, directly adopted from the English curriculum, does not include units
of study that centers around the development of target cultural competence. In other words, the
AIS Chinese immersion program provides bilingual education yet to be considered bicultural.
Speaking of the adult learning at AIS, in 2019, with the start of a new superintendency,
the DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) work has gradually become a focus in the
organization’s professional development throughout the year. Culturally responsive teaching
(CRT) or culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) has yet to become an institutional focus in the
adult learning plan at AIS. In contrast, the AIS institutional commitments have stated that the
viable curriculum developed for classroom learning should be culturally responsive and relevant.
The problem at the root of this study is that the organization (AIS) lacks support for its
educators to provide explicit learning experiences to develop students’ cultural competence.
Meanwhile, the school culture and environment fall short of responding to its diverse student
body in a culturally relevant manner. Furthermore, the elementary Chinese immersion program
provides students with bilingual learning experiences in units of studies designed for English
speakers, neglecting the opportunities to study the target culture that an immersion language
program should provide fundamentally.
Organizational Performance Goal
The performance goal for the organization is that by June 2023, the AIS Chinese
immersion teachers will implement culturally relevant pedagogy in the program with a viable
curriculum that ensures bilingual and multicultural learning and is culturally responsive to its
diverse learners. The research process develops this goal. According to the AIS institutional
commitments, the curriculum developed for classroom learning needs to be culturally responsive
and relevant, in which learning engagement, evaluation, and materials are inclusive of diverse

9
perspectives. In addition, based on the 2020 WASC report and its recommended critical areas of
focus, AIS needs to enhance the cultural competence development of its students through explicit
teaching and learning and, after that, increase their understanding and awareness of race relations
and inclusion issues in the society. Therefore, this goal is aligned with the entire school’s
dedication to culturally responsive teaching. With appropriate and organizational support, AIS
Chinese immersion educators’ increased knowledge and motivation for enacting culturally
relevant pedagogy in curriculum development and teaching practices will directly benefit their
students’ cultural competence learning outcomes.
Description of Stakeholder Groups
Many stakeholders should be involved in this research project, considering their
contributions to the organizational performance status and achieving its performance goal. I
selected three main stakeholder groups to be involved in this study. They are the AIS Chinese
immersion students, the AIS Chinese immersion teachers, and the AIS Chinese immersion
administrators. The AIS Chinese immersion students are the Grade K–5 students currently
enrolled in the AIS Chinese immersion program. The AIS Chinese immersion teachers are the
Grade K–5 Chinese immersion teachers who are considered homeroom teachers for the
immersion classrooms. The AIS Chinese immersion administrators are in charge of
implementing the AIS Chinese immersion program. On the AIS Chinese immersion program
administration team are the AIS world languages director, the AIS elementary principal, and the
AIS elementary deputy principals for respective grade levels. The performance goals for each
three main stakeholder groups are listed in Table 1.

10
Table 1
Organizational Mission, Global Goal and Stakeholder Performance Goals
Organizational mission
The mission of the AIS is to provide each student an exemplary American educational
experience with an international perspective.
Organizational performance goal
By June 2023, the AIS Chinese immersion teachers will implement culturally relevant
pedagogy in the program with a viable curriculum that ensures bilingual and multicultural
learning and is culturally responsive to its diverse learners.
AIS Chinese immersion
students
AIS Chinese immersion
teachers
AIS Chinese immersion
administrators
By June 2023, 80% of the
AIS Chinese immersion
students will be able to
reflect on what they have
learned regarding cultural
competence in both
Chinese and English, as
demonstrated in their
reflective classroom
learning experience.
By June 2023, the AIS
Chinese immersion
teachers will implement
culturally relevant
pedagogy in the program
and revise their curriculum
to ensure bilingual and
multicultural learning for
the students, as evidenced
in teachers’ lesson plans
and the Chinese immersion
curricula.
By June 2023, the AIS Chinese
immersion administrators will
develop a professional
learning plan to support the
AIS immersion education for
implementing culturally
relevant pedagogy in the
program, as evidenced in
schoolwide professional
development plans and PLC
meeting agendas.

Stakeholder Group for the Study
The joint efforts of all stakeholders will contribute to the achievement of the overall
organizational goal of implementing culturally relevant pedagogy in the AIS Chinese immersion
program. However, it is essential to understand the barriers faced by the AIS Chinese teaching
members as they attempt to implement culturally relevant pedagogy for the students’
development of cultural competence as well as meeting the AIS institutional commitment to
providing a culturally responsive curriculum. Therefore, the stakeholders of focus for this study

11
will be the Chinese immersion homeroom teachers. The stakeholders’ goal, supported by the
Chinese immersion administration, is that the AIS Chinese immersion teachers will implement
culturally relevant pedagogy in the program with a viable curriculum that ensures bilingual and
multicultural learning and is culturally responsive to its diverse learners.
Purpose of the Project and Questions
The purpose of the project was to conduct a gap analysis to examine the knowledge,
motivation, and organizational influences that interfere with implementing culturally relevant
pedagogy in the AIS Chinese immersion program. The analysis began by generating a list of
possible or assumed interfering influences that would be examined systematically to focus on
actual or validated influences. While a complete gap analysis would focus on all stakeholders,
for practical purposes, the stakeholder to be focused on in this analysis is the AIS Chinese
immersion teachers.
As such, the questions that guide this study are the following:
1. What are the Chinese immersion teachers’ knowledge and motivational influences on
implementing culturally relevant pedagogy in their classes?
2. What organizational influences hinder and support the Chinese immersion teachers in
implementing culturally relevant pedagogy in their classes?
Conceptual and Methodological Framework
Clark and Estes’ (2008) gap analysis, a systematic, analytical method that helps clarify
organizational goals and identify the gap between the actual and preferred performance levels
within an organization, was implemented as the conceptual framework. The methodological
framework is a qualitative case study with descriptive statistics. Assumed knowledge,
motivation, and organizational influences that interfere with organizational goal achievement

12
were generated based on personal knowledge and related literature. These influences were
assessed using interviews, observations, document analysis, literature review, and content
analysis, and research-based solutions were recommended and evaluated comprehensively. A
complete gap analysis would focus on all stakeholders. However, for this study, I adapted Clark
and Este’s gap analysis model (2008) and focused only on one stakeholder group, the AIS
Chinese immersion teachers.
Definitions
WASC: an abbreviation form of The Western Association of Schools and Colleges. It is
an organization that accredits public and private universities, colleges, secondary, and
elementary schools in East Asia.
Cultural competence: the ability to understand and interact effectively with people from
other cultures.
Culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP): an approach to teaching and learning established by
Gloria Ladson-Billings (1995). CRP focuses on strengthening students’ cultural awareness in
order to help improve their academic achievement. This is also interchangeably termed culturally
responsive teaching.
Dual-language immersion: a technique used in bilingual language education in which
two languages are used for instruction in various topics, including math, science, or social
studies. The languages used for instruction are referred to as the L1 and the L2 for each student,
with L1 being the student’s native language and L2 being the second language to be acquired
through immersion programs and techniques.

13
Organization of the Project
Five chapters are used to organize this study. This chapter provided the reader with the
key concepts and terminology commonly found in discussing culturally relevant pedagogy in
language immersion or two-way bilingual programs. The organization’s mission, goals, and
stakeholders, as well as the initial concepts of gap analysis, were introduced. Chapter Two
reviewed the current literature surrounding the scope of the study. Topics of language immersion
education, culturally relevant pedagogy in language immersion education, language immersion
teachers’ beliefs in culturally relevant pedagogy, and adult learning with culturally relevant
pedagogy will be addressed. I used the conceptual framework of Clark and Estes’ gap analysis to
guide this study. Chapter Three detailed the assumed influences and methodology regarding
sampling participants, data collection, and analysis. In Chapter Four, the data and results were
assessed and analyzed. Chapter Five provided solutions, based on data and literature, for closing
the perceived gaps and recommendations for an implementation and evaluation plan for the
solutions.

14
Chapter Two: Review of the Literature
With English being considered the lingua franca in various global contexts, this language
has held the world’s most powerful state. As a result, many school leaders and educators in
international schools take for granted that English will be the language of the school curriculum,
and that all students will need to become fluent in this language so as to achieve success (Carder,
2007). Nonetheless, international schools de facto consist of more diverse student populations,
which has a natural tendency in need of culturally relevant practices. In reality, the English-
centered curricula at many international schools reflect a normative White-dominant standard-
based approach for the last century (Jong & Howard, 2009), White supremacy and the
majoritarian ideology have hence perpetuated through the education provided by the schools.
This represents a larger international problem in education as the learning environments and
experiences provided to the students in international schools may not be just or equitable socially
and academically due to a limited value and responsiveness placed on their minoritized cultural
values. Students who are foreign to an Anglo-Saxon value system may encounter cultural
marginalization or deculturalization as they are influenced by a dominant value system.
Dual-language immersion education, as a result, emerged to address the needs of
culturally and linguistically diverse students by responding to their cultural needs as well as l
helping them maintain their first language. In essence, immersion education aims to amplify the
learning of other cultures through the learning of a target language. Ideally, it is considered a
vehicle to develop the students’ cultural competence that enables them to understand each other
from multiple perspectives, which should allow them to address gross injustices and racial
inequalities in a global context (Palmieri, 2018). Research around dual-language immersion
approaches indicated that language immersion education aims to achieve high academic

15
performance, bilingualism, as well as biculturalism (Baker, 2006; Freire & Valdez, 2017). While
pedagogical knowledge of promoting second language acquisition through language immersion
education have been well established and consolidated since 1980 (Brown, 2014), limited
research has addressed the development of cultural competence through language immersion
education (Freire & Valdez, 2017) to accomplish the goal of biculturalism. Moreover, while
immersion educators work with a diverse student population in international schools globally,
fewer studies exist to support them to implement culturally relevant pedagogy in their
classrooms to apply a multicultural perspective in teaching and learning in addition to promoting
biculturalism through the development of students’ native and target languages.
In this chapter, I will first review the history and presence of dual-language immersion
programs in the United States and the international schools, the research about the cultural
learning and the implementation of culturally relevant pedagogy in dual-language immersion
programs, as well as the study around culturally responsive leadership for school organizations.
Next, I will review the role of AIS Chinese immersion teachers, followed by the explanation for
the lens of knowledge, motivation and organization influences used in this study. Lastly, I will
turn the attention to the AIS Chinese immersion teachers’ knowledge, motivation and
organizational influences and conclude the chapter by presenting the conceptual framework that
will guide this gap analysis study. The conceptual framework presented in this chapter is
influenced by and adapted from the Clark and Estes’ gap analysis conceptual framework
(2008).
Overview of Dual-Language Immersion Programs
While the increasing number of dual-language immersion programs have seen a
popularity in nurturing bilingual talents in the United States as well as globally, studies revealed

16
that dual-language immersion education was actually initiated as one effective way to educate
language-minority students so that they will become thriving members in one society (Kim et al.,
2015). According to scholars’ review of the history of bilingual education in the United States,
dual-language immersion education evolved from different forms of bilingual education that
aimed to increase the language-minority students’ dominant-language proficiency (English) in
order to close their achievement gap caused by the language barrier (Lindholm-Leary, 2001).
Through the evolution of bilingual education in the United States, the two-way immersion (TWI)
approach has gradually become the leading force for not only improving the linguistically-
minoritized students’ English proficiency and academic performance, but maintaining their first
language ability and affirming its home cultures. In addition to that, TWI programs are created to
include English-speaking students in classrooms for the purpose of helping them achieve the
proficiency in speaking, reading and writing another language as well as extra knowledge of the
target language’s culture (Kim et al., 2015; Palmer, 2008).
The TWI program model is historically termed in various ways. Dual-language
immersion education (DLI) is considered an alternative term to refer to the TWI programs (Kim
et al., 2015; Lindholm-Leary, 2001). According to the data collected by the Center for Applied
Linguistics, as of 2010 in the United States, there have been 372 DLI programs serving
language-minority and English-speaking students, offering at least 10 different languages paired
with English (Center for Applied Linguistics, n.d.). Ramirez (2016) then disclosed that the
number of DLI programs has soared to more than 2,000 after 2011 across the nation. Outside of
the United States, through the lens of international schools globally, multiple case studies reveal
that dual-language immersion programs were structured to fulfill various purposes that are
specific to a local context (Johnson & Swain, 1997).

17
History of Dual-Language Immersion Programs
The United States Context
Through decades of social and political evolution, bilingual education was once banned
in the U.S. public schools but reignited by those who used instructional approaches to
demonstrate the effectiveness and benefits of bilingual education for children (Kim et al., 2015).
In 1968, the enactment of Bilingual Education Act saw an amendment to the allocation of
educational funds which resulted in the establishment of bilingual programs for English language
learners (ELL) in the United States (Baker, 2006). The adoption of various bilingual approaches
witnessed a closing gap in academic results between ELLs and English-speaker students (Kim et
al., 2015; Ramirez et al., 1991). However, the “English Only Movement” gradually prevailed
over the U.S. educational systems after Title III of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was
passed in 2001. Through the following years, with researchers’ findings on the persistent
academic gaps between ELLs and native English-speakers, bilingual education once again
started gaining attention for its positive benefits for children. Thus, Dual-Language Immersion
programs (DLI) emerged (Kim et al., 2015). DLI is primarily defined as a program that places
language-minority and language-majority students together to experience academic learning in
two instructional languages and aims to achieve the common academic standards prepared for
non-DLI students (Johnson & Swain, 1997). With the first DLI program implemented in the
United States in 1965, the number of such programs have increased exponentially, especially
during the decade of 2001 to 2011(Ramirez, 2016). The increased population of immigrant
students in the United States contributed to the dramatic expansion of DLI programs. While DLI
programs have been in place across the United States, researchers’ findings disclosed that the
programs were more clustered in the neighborhoods, communities or the states where more

18
minority groups reside (Kim et al., 2015). Additionally, the increased number of programs also
catered to the need for more bilingual talents in the work-force. Moreover, accumulated studies
disclosed that dual-language programs also benefit English-speaking students largely. Hence,
more and more parents of English-speaking students chose to enroll their children in DLI
programs “in hopes of giving them an edge on competition for jobs” (Ramirez, 2016, p. 29).
The International Schools Context
While international schools implement their bilingual or dual-language immersion
programs for a variety of purposes, the initial reason for establishing bilingual programs in the
international schools was to respond to the needs from a diverse student population (Carder,
2007). Johnson and Swain (1997) discussed multiple case studies with a conclusion that the
purposes of implementing dual-language immersion education are varied to the local context
where an international school is situated. In addition, Carder (2007) found out that multilingual
educational programs were once created in an international context to meet the needs of a diverse
student body. However, with English being considered the world’s lingua franca that enjoyed the
world’s most powerful state, international school leaders and educators conjectured that English
should be the dominant language for school curricula, even though there are DLI programs
implemented within the organizations. Thus, international school students will need to become
fluent in English in order to succeed.
Academic Performance in Dual-Language Immersion Programs
Math Performance
Through case studies of a few DLI schools, researchers discovered that students who
study in DLI programs have strong academic performance in Math and their gains surpass their
counterparts who study in monolingual English programs (Watzinger-Tharp et al., 2016). The

19
case study of Utah’s DLI education drew a conclusion that DLI students on average improved
more in Math standardized testing results by the fourth-grade year than the non-DLI students
from the same state (Watzinger-Tharp et al., 2016). Ramirez (2016) also mentioned a similar
conclusion drawn from a case study in 2013 on DLI and non-DLI students in Texas elementary
schools. This case study revealed that the English speakers who were enrolled in DLI programs
performed better on state Math tests than those who studied in the schools without any DLI
programs. Furthermore, Fortune and Song (2016) reported the findings based on the data from
the elementary students in Minnesota, that the DLI students’ achievement in Mathematics were
better than those who were not in any DLI programs in the same district.
Biliteracy Development
Dual language approaches advance reading, writing, and speaking in both languages
(Kim et al., 2015; Ramirez, 2016). Researchers consistently pointed out through various studies
that immersion students not only become relatively bilingual, but also outperformed their
counterparts in certain academic areas, including English language arts (Lü, 2020; Kim et al.,
2015; Ramirez, 2016; Serafini et al., 2020; Steele et al., 2017). Some scholars studied 3-year-old
and 4-year-old preschoolers randomly assigned to a DLI program and an English monolingual
program and discovered that young language-minority students in DLI programs could
accomplish near-native proficiency in English while improving the proficiency of their first
language (Barnett et al., 2007). Steele and other researchers (2017) disclosed key findings
through their case study that students randomly assigned to DLI programs exceeded their peers
on state tests in English reading by 7 months of learning in the fifth grade and 9 months of
learning in the eighth grade. Regarding biliteracy development, Howard, Christian, and Genesee
(2004) conducted a 3-year longitudinal study from Grade 3 to Grade 5 across 11 DLI programs

20
in the United States by collecting the assessment data from writing, reading, and oral proficiency
tests in both English and Spanish languages. The scholars ascertained that both English-speaking
students and Spanish-speaking students improved over time in both languages and the gap in the
target language progress between the two groups of students closed by the end of Grade 5.
Similar findings were collectively brought to light through studies of the students in Chinese
immersion programs in the United States. The results of four different standardized Chinese
language assessments, adopted by most of the Chinese immersion programs in the United States,
have manifested that the students in Chinese DLI programs achieved high scores in listening and
speaking, followed by reading and writing in the target language (Burkhauser et al., 2016; Center
for Applied Second Language Studies, n.d.; Fortune & Ju, 2017; Watzinger-Tharp et al., 2018;
Xu et al., 2015).
Cultural Learning in Dual-Language Immersion Programs
On top of the benefits DLI programs have brought to students in their academic learning,
dual language education aims to promote cross-cultural understanding within its bilateral and
bicultural learning environment (Wesely, 2012). With a unique ability to help students develop
high levels of functional language proficiency, DLI programs set a goal to positively influence
attitudes and beliefs about language and culture learning, in addition to the cognitive benefits and
academic support brought to their students. Moreover, researchers also argued that the
effectiveness of DLI programs for their students likely hinges on the quality of the social climate
provided in the learning environment (Jong & Howard, 2009). According to the researchers, a
high quality of social climate refers to successful cultural and social integration as well as
collaboration across the diverse student groups in DLI programs (Jong & Howard, 2009).
The Development of Cross-Cultural Competence

21
Back in 1985, Gardner conceptualized language acquisition through the socio-educational
model, which was nobly considered as one of the first models that factor in the cultural and
social setting where learning occurs (Gardner, 1985). As a birthplace of the idea of cross-cultural
understanding, this theoretical model accentuated “integrativeness” as a key concept, which was
defined as an individual’s openness to taking on characteristics of another cultural or linguistic
group (Gardner, 2005). Wesely (2012) pointed out that learner’s integrativeness was influential
to their attitudes about the target culture as well as all other cultures, including the individual’s
own ethnicity.
Gardner’s research on cross-cultural understanding served a strong theoretical foundation
for the later studies around cross-cultural competence. Two other models emerged, providing a
specific lens on the process of developing cross-cultural competence, the Byram’s intercultural
competence and the ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages)
National Standards (Byram, 2021; The National Standards Collaborative Board, 2015; Wesely,
2012). Byram’s model (2021) proclaimed that intercultural competence included attitudes,
knowledge, skills of understanding and relating, skills of detection and interaction, as well as
critical cultural awareness. In 2015, ACTFL updated its national standards for the teaching of
foreign languages in the United States, specifically guiding language learners to develop
competence in using the target language to communicate and interact with cultural
understanding. Named as “the World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages”, the national
standards incorporate a unique lens “Cultures” as one of the goal areas to conceptualize language
study in the United States. ACTFL once provided its explicit definition of culture as
encompassing “the philosophical perspectives, the behavioral practices, and the products—both
tangible and intangible—of a society” (National Standards in Foreign Language Education

22
Project, 1999, p. 47). Grounded in these frameworks for cross-cultural competence development,
many DLI programs were able to establish and articulate their goals for bicultural education
(Wesely, 2012).
Cross-Cultural Competence Development in Immersion Programs
Language immersion aims to amplify the learning of other cultures through the learning
of a foreign language. According to Palmieri (2018), learning languages is considered effective
to increase one’s ability to interpret and relate to other cultures so that they will take a global
stance to understand the world. Ideally, learning languages through a cultural lens will broaden
students’ worldview that allows them to understand people from other cultures at a deeper level
(Palmieri, 2018). Other researchers also pointed out that DLI education adopted an integrative
model that aspires to develop bilingualism, biliteracy, subject-area achievement, as well as cross-
cultural competence for all students (Serafini et al., 2020). With a specific intention to develop
cross-cultural competence, DLI education yearns to develop learners’ additive perspectives,
which ultimately allows them to address issues of equity and justice at a global level (Jong &
Howard, 2009; Palmieri, 2018).
Although many immersion programs intended to foster cross-cultural understanding, as
well as appreciation and affirmation of diversity, researches have disclosed the contention that
increased cross-cultural competence is not a consistent outcome of the immersion education
(Jong & Howard, 2009; Lyster, 2007; Wesely, 2012). Wesley (2012) conducted research in five
U.S. immersion schools and found that the function of school activities did not necessarily
contribute to a successful development of cross-cultural competence in the immersion students.
In reality, according to Wesley’s mixed research findings, the students from various immersion
programs not only receive inconsistent messages about the target culture, but also interpret the

23
concept of culture in a variety of ways (Wesley, 2012). Additionally, Lyster (2007) discussed
that many immersion programs did not implement the teaching and learning for an organized
sequence of objectives that increased the knowledge of the target cultures (the cultures of people
who speak the immersion languages). Whereas language and culture status equalization is
always an intended outcome of well-implemented DLI programs, scholars asserted undoubtedly
that it was exceptionally challenging to accomplish such goals within an English-dominant
sociopolitical context (Jong & Howard, 2009). Norton (2000) revealed that students who had
English as their first language educated in an immersion program did not consider themselves as
bicultural, while students whose first languages are the immersion language studying in the same
program tended to consider themselves as bicultural. Biculturalism as a focus in DLI education,
according to Freire (2019), has been superficially applied to serve the dominant culture with
attachment to the immersion culture.
Based on the reality of immersion cultural learning, as well as Wesely’s research
findings, the scholar recommended that a knowledge of the “everyday life and social interaction”
aspects of culture is paramount to the development of cross-cultural competence in the
immersion students (Wesely, 2012, p. 207). While the current studies shed some light on the
cultural learning in DLI education, there are innumerable aspects to be studied regarding the
nature of cultural learning in DLI programs. Most of the current DLI research has placed an
emphasis on linguistic goals, the bicultural goal of such programs is gaining limited attention in
the literature, consequently providing limited guidance for DLI educators (Freire, 2019).
Culturally Relevant Pedagogy in Dual-Language Immersion Programs
As scholars commenced to evaluate the effectiveness of cultural learning in the DLI
programs, more and more recommendations have been provided based on the findings for

24
enhancing the outcomes of cross-cultural competence development. Wesley (2012) advised that
research should investigate other pedagogical approaches that allow immersion students to
reflect on their cultural knowledge and add insights into the intangible aspects of other cultures
(philosophies, values, etc.). Guided by this orientation, culturally relevant pedagogy started to be
considered implemented in DLI programs, with the increasing attention this pedagogy has gained
from the American K–12 educators. Since 1990, the pedagogical movement of culturally
relevant pedagogy has witnessed an increased acceptance of the teachers in the United States,
and subsequently made a significant impact on students’ learning outcomes with a justice-
oriented purpose (Lim et al., 2019). Numerous research divulged that culturally relevant
pedagogy continued to be implemented in grade schools as well as other educational programs in
the United States with the purpose of helping minoritized students to become academically
successful while receiving cultural affirmation (Lim et al., 2019). However, the enactment of
such pedagogy has yet been prevailingly accepted to teachers’ classroom practices in DLI
programs (Freire, 2019).
Overview of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy
Definition
Since 1995 when Ladson-Billings (1995) first termed culturally relevant pedagogy, it has
been identified as teaching practices that appreciate students’ assets and connecting teaching and
learning to the students and their relevant lives (families, communities and daily lives). The goal
of culturally relevant pedagogy, according to Ladson-Billings (2014), is “engaging critically in
the cultural landscapes of classrooms and teacher education programs” (p. 1). The pedagogy has
been variously referenced to different terms, such as culturally responsive teaching and culturally
responsive practices since 1995. Thereafter, Ladson-Billings established three premises

25
underpinning culturally relevant pedagogy, which is considered as its pedagogical tenets. They
are academic success, cultural competence, and sociopolitical consciousness (Ladson-Billings,
2014).
History of the Theory
While Ladson-Billings’ research on culturally relevant pedagogy has been largely cited
and become a common practice to approach teaching and learning, many other scholars have
extended the pedagogical notion through the lens of sociopolitical consciousness, with emphasis
that explicitly challenges entrenched inequities in a variety of contexts (Ladson-Billings, 2014).
The original goals of such pedagogical practice, according to Ladson-Billings (2014), were set to
“engage critically in the cultural landscapes of classrooms and teacher education programs (p.
74). Since 1990, the scholar embarked on a pedagogical transformation, aspiring to prepare the
next generation of educators who would incorporate an asset-based approach in their teaching
practices and be connected to the students, the students’ families and communities, and their
daily lives overall. (Ladson-Billings, 1995). To structure the pedagogical practices in a more
systematic manner, Ladson-Billings (2014) defined three domains to capture the characteristics
and core philosophies of culturally relevant pedagogy. Academic success refers to the
“intellectual growth” (p. 75) as students’ learning outcomes produced through classroom’s
teaching and learning. Cultural competence relates to the ability of recognizing and celebrating
their first cultures while becoming knowledgeable and proficient in at least one other culture.
Sociopolitical consciousness specifies the ability to transfer the learning outside of the classroom
and apply school knowledge and skills to address real-world problems.
The last decade has seen a prevailing implementation of culturally relevant pedagogy in
U.S. grade schools and other educational settings. Along with the empirical data collected from

26
the real-classroom settings, researchers continuously improve by adding more theoretical
ideas and focuses to the original pedagogical notion (Ladson-Billings, 2014). Some researchers
pointed out that ways to emphasize the political consciousness of students and teachers ought to
include gender topics so as to seek academic equity through the feminist perspectives (Dixson,
2002). As the theory evolves through accumulated and developed contemplation on culturally
relevant pedagogy, researchers and practitioners have posited new directions that underscored
the embrace of the “heterogeneity of cultural experience” (Ladson-Billings, 2014, p. 75). This
notion of fluidity in culture implied that the multicultural education ought to prepare students to
interpret culture as a compound of human experience, artifact, idea, belief and value system,
rather than a static conception of histories and traditions of a nation-state, ethnic or religious
group (Ladson-Billings, 2014). Scholarship, hence, was developed with an updated version of
culturally relevant pedagogy to meet dynamic cultural landscapes in this century’s classrooms.
Paris (2012) termed this newer concept as culturally sustaining pedagogy and urged educators to
transform and recreate teaching space centering minoritized students who ought to be part of the
normative propositions. As past studies casted historically marginalized students as deficient
learning participants, today’s scholars endeavored to point out that it is cardinal to investigate the
success among the students who were least successful as it would accentuate critical pedagogical
principles to the academic success of all students (Ladson-Billings, 2014).
In summary, while different terms have been created using culturally relevant pedagogy
as a ground to represent various orientations such pedagogy may focus on, the development of
this theory consistently ensures that historically minoritized students are repositioned into the
subjects in the process of teaching and learning, not simply objects. Predicated on this, culturally
relevant pedagogy requires an instructional space that concentrates on student learning academic

27
achievement rather than traditional school disciplines derived from the dominant ideology. Such
pedagogy also entails the development of cultural competence rather than cultural assimilation or
eradication, and the development of sociopolitical consciousness rather than school-based
assignments that are detached from real-world application.
Implementation of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy
Significance and Misuse of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy
With the inception of culturally relevant pedagogy being implemented in urban schools in
the United States, such pedagogy has become a common approach of teaching and learning
across PreK–Grade 12 classrooms in the United States, including some DLI programs (Freire,
2019; Ladson-Billings, 2014; Slapac & Kim, 2021). Through a pedagogical shift, from focusing
on cultural assimilation and school-based tasks that are disconnected from the real-world
happenings to the development of cultural competence and sociopolitical consciousness, students
were observed taking both responsibility and deep interest in their learning in an instructional
space where culturally relevant pedagogy is enacted (Ladson-Billings, 2014). According to the
founding scholar, Ladson-Billings asserted (2006) that culturally relevant pedagogy enables
students “to recognize and honor their own cultural beliefs and practices while acquiring access
to the wider culture” (p. 36); and to develop students’ critical perspectives by encouraging them
to challenge systemic inequities and using “the vicious skills they learn to better understand and
critique their social position and context” (p. 37). Through the academic lens, culturally relevant
pedagogy re-engages students’ participation by acknowledging their funds of knowledge and
renders them as sources and resources of knowledge and skills (Ladson-Billings, 2009), so as to
disrupt the vicious cycle causing academic death as unacceptable educational and societal
outcomes (Ladson-Billings, 2014). In addition, teachers who embrace and implement culturally

28
relevant pedagogy also believed more in the academic efficacy of their students and conceived
good intentions toward the students.
While scholarship regarding culturally relevant pedagogy established a strong foundation
to its implementation in educational settings, there are recognizable gaps between what literature
contends and how it appears in practice. According to Ladson-Billings (2014), there were ideas
merely about adding books about people of color, recognizing Kwanzaa celebration, singing
holiday songs that include all holidays, or posting images to amplify the element of diversity in
physical surroundings, which should be considered as a falsification of the essential ideas
promulgated in the literature. Practitioners who claimed to translate research to practice were
seen to conceive limited interpretations of culture and dulling the critical edge of culturally
relevant pedagogy by omitting or diminishing the sociopolitical dimensions of the work (Freire,
2019; Ladson-Billings, 2014; Paris, 2012). Albeit many educators embrace culturally relevant
pedagogy, they spent time finding and teaching prescribed curricula and rarely engaged students
to consider critical perspectives on sociopolitical practices that are directly connected to their
own lives and communities.
Culturally Relevant Pedagogy in Dual-Language Immersion Programs
Although current DLI studies have given little attention to the cross-cultural development
through DLI education, there are emerging scholarship that investigated on how culturally
relevant pedagogy could support the development of cross-cultural development as well as
raising sociopolitical consciousness in the DLI students, both language-majority and -minority
speakers. Freire conducted a series of studies to pursue a pedagogical framework that could
support DLI teachers to implement culturally relevant pedagogy in DLI programs (Freire, 2014;
Freire, 2019). In 2014, Freire posited the transformational dual language educational framework

29
(See Figure 1; Freire, 2014) that combined the tenets of culturally relevant pedagogy and the
pillars derived from the mission of DLI education (Wright, 2019). Freire’s framework
synthesized Ladson-Billings’ pedagogical tenets (1995) with DLI’s primary emphasis on
biliteracy and biculturalism and added sociopolitical consciousness as an additional goal to the
purpose of DLI education. According to Freire (2019), while academic achievement is consistent
with the perspective of culturally relevant pedagogy (Ladson-Billings, 1995), the framework
added bilingualism/biliteracy to the original tenets and integrated cultural competence with
biculturalism. The framework not only requires DLI programs to promote bilingualism and
biliteracy through an assets-based approach, but also intentionally develop biculturalism with an
emphasis on navigating various cultures and dimensions (Freire, 2019). The fourth goal of the
transformational framework is to establish and expand students’ capacity to respond and reflect
on societal inequities with a link to the bicultural goal. Ultimately, the framework aspires to
support language-minority students to overcome issues of inequities perpetuated in their lives
through DLI education, and equip majoritarian students with knowledge and skills in critiquing
the basis of their privilege and advantage (Freire, 2019; Ladson-Billings, 2014).

30
Figure 1
Transformational Dual Language Educational Framework

In addition to Freire’s work around the integration of culturally relevant pedagogy in DLI
education, multiple researchers also explored and discussed possible practices to incorporate a
culturally relevant pedagogical practice in DLI classrooms. Some scholars pointed out the
emphasis on students’ identities in the DLI instructional space (Feinauer & Howard, 2014;
Fránquiz et al., 2019; Mateus, 2016). Mateus’ study (2016) indicated that DLI teachers who
engaged their students in navigating minoritized students’ and their own identities through
critical multicultural materials (drama, and children’s picture books) were able to help students
establish deep understanding around social inequities. Other researchers also asserted that DLI
students thrive when their familial knowledge was valued and the learning prepared for them

31
incorporated culturally affirming identity texts (Fránquiz et al., 2019). Stolte (2017) conducted
comparative research on the cross-cultural learning outcomes affected by different degrees to
which teacher and student discourses were created on cultural, linguistic and socioeconomic
differences in the classrooms. The study concluded that a high-frequency of such discourses
promoted positive cross-cultural outcomes for students. In Thomas and Collier’s longitudinal
study of DLI learning outcomes (2002), the researchers discovered that there were various
approaches implemented by DLI teachers to develop students’ cultural competence, including
using multicultural literature, integrating bicultural knowledge into the curriculum, connecting
the curriculum to students’ funds of knowledge, and adopting critical pedagogy involving
students’ inquiry on curricular key concepts. Such findings were also documented in Freeman’s
research (1998) on a pioneered Spanish-English program in the United States. However,
scholarship regarding the implementation of culturally relevant pedagogy in Chinese dual-
language immersion programs are rarely present. Moreover, empirical studies are recommended
to focus on examining DLI educators’ instructional effectiveness to their students’ development
of sociopolitical consciousness, as current research found that teaching and learning for
biculturalism in DLI education still largely concentrated on the superficiality of culture (Freire,
2019).
Teachers Perspectives of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy
Teachers, considered being closest to learners in an educational space, are in a crucial
position to approach students’ learning in order to help them thrive and succeed. Nowadays, as
the global concept is being largely underscored in many educational organizations, it is vital to
understand teachers’ attitudes toward culturally relevant practice. Their perceptions on such

32
pedagogy could directly impact students’ success in a culturally diverse society (Phuntsog,
2001).
K–12 American Teachers’ Perspectives
In Phuntsog’s quantitative research (2001) on in-service teachers’ perceptions toward
culturally relevant pedagogy in elementary schools, the findings disclosed that more than 96%
educators valued the implementation of culturally relevant pedagogy in their classrooms. Various
scholars also investigated pre-service and novice teachers of color for K–12 U.S. public schools
in terms of their perspectives concerning culturally relevant pedagogy and their pedagogical
enactment. Studies indicated that pre-service and new teachers of color had a strong knowledge
foundation of culturally relevant pedagogy as they just graduated from the credential programs
with fresh learning stored in their working memory. Moreover, due to their unique life
experiences as people of color in the U.S. society, they naturally gravitate towards a higher level
of passion and commitment to culturally relevant pedagogy. As critical educators of color, they
view culturally relevant pedagogy as teaching for social justice which empowers their teaching
to provide space for students to develop and sustain cultural competence and critical
consciousness to challenge the systemic dominance in the real world (Borrero et al., 2016; Kohli,
2012). However, researchers discovered that, even with strong understanding and commitment to
the implementation of culturally relevant pedagogy, teachers were not fully confident in their
practical implementation in the classroom. Teachers voiced that there were challenges associated
with connecting the theoretical knowledge of culturally relevant pedagogy to their daily teaching
practices (Borrero et al., 2016). Scholars also identified that a dearth of empirical studies on
experiences of teachers’ transition from theoretical understanding to teaching application might
have influenced teachers’ self-efficacy in enacting culturally relevant pedagogy (Gay, 2018;

33
Ladson-Billings, 1995). Furthermore, as reported by teachers of color, systemic barriers at school
sites largely impeded their endeavors to implement culturally relevant pedagogy at a classroom
level. It was protruded through various research those systemic barriers occurred in the form of
administrators’ pseudo-understanding of culturally relevant pedagogy and thereafter their
pseudo-support for its implementation (Borrero et al., 2016). In addition, as teachers work with a
student body of which the majority is from a dominant culture, they reflected it was particularly
difficult to enact culturally relevant pedagogy unless the organization culture were transformed
to support the endeavors (Borrero et al., 2016).
Dual-Language Immersion Teachers’ Beliefs
Researchers concerned that culturally relevant pedagogy consistently gained limited
attention in the field of dual-language immersion education (Freire, 2019; Freire & Valdez,
2017). Although Freire (2014) commenced the work in conceptualizing the implementation of
culturally relevant pedagogy in dual language immersion education, to translate the theory into
practice in DLI classrooms, it is particularly essential to examine teachers’ input on their
experiences in enacting culturally relevant pedagogy (Freire & Valdez, 2017). The gap in the
literature on teachers’ voices and how they understand their work based on theoretical
interpretation persists since decades ago (Cochran-Smith, et al., 1990; Hermans et al., 2008;
Kennedy, 1997). Not until recently, Freire and Valdez (2017) started to capture DLI teachers’
voices and beliefs toward culturally relevant pedagogy in their teaching practices through a
qualitative study on eight elementary Spanish-English DLI teachers in the United States. In the
examination of these DLI teachers’ recognized beliefs about their ability to implement culturally
relevant pedagogy in the classrooms, the scholars discovered that there were four themes of
identified barriers hindering the teachers’ confidence and commitment to their pedagogical

34
practices. They are lack of time, lack of materials, lack of knowledge, and the DLI teachers’
notion that social justice is inappropriate to young students (Freire & Valdez, 2017; Freire,
2019). DLI teachers reported that they lacked time in enacting culturally relevant pedagogy
because the DLI program structure does not permit a long time for them to build relationships
and learn about their students, compared to the time with students in English-only programs. DLI
teachers also expressed the stress in translating culturally relevant materials distributed by
districts, for they were often only in English. In addition, the scholars found out that DLI
teachers considered culturally relevant pedagogy as “a special add-on to the curriculum rather
than a sustained effort that is integrated into daily lessons” (Freire & Valdez, 2017, p. 61).
Therefore, the constraint at times caused their actions in taking more of a superficial approach in
teaching cultural topics such as holidays, food, and activities as a token of their engagement with
culturally relevant pedagogy (Freire & Valdez, 2017; Writer, 2008). Regarding culturally
relevant materials, Freire and Valdez (2107) mentioned that DLI teachers perceived this as a lack
of endeavor at a systemic level, as the schools did not present ample resources and materials in
school libraries that are culturally relevant for teachers and students. Finally, the scholars also
investigated the nation of DLI teachers toward teaching for social justice. The findings revealed
that DLI teachers were concerned about the inappropriateness of such topics, because of their
cognitive inability, their emotional vulnerability to these topics, and limited instructional
strategies to implement culturally relevant pedagogy (Freire & Valdez, 2017).
Culturally Responsive Leadership in Dual-Language Immersion Programs
Along with the research findings on teachers’ perspectives and experiences regarding
their implementation of culturally relevant pedagogy, a key pattern has been identified that drew
the attention of critical scholars to another field of study: organizational effectiveness to the

35
implementation of culturally relevant pedagogy. With Muhammad Khalifa’s work (2018) to first
outline the principles and guidelines of culturally responsive leadership, culturally responsive
school leadership has become essential to culturally relevant education and pedagogical reform,
and social justice and equity education at a systemic level. Indeed, such organizational
transformation is yet to take in place consistently in the field of education. Moreover, the idea of
culturally responsive leadership is even less present in dual-language immersion programs with
limited research on leading the pedagogical reform at an institutional level as guidance.
Nevertheless, multiple researchers have led off the work concerning institutional leadership to
centering linguistically diverse students through the development of DLI teachers’ cultural
competence and sociopolitical consciousness (Freire, 2019; Hunt, 2011).
Culturally Responsive Leadership
Researchers have firmly established that school leadership is one of the most important
levers for positive change and reform in support of culturally relevant practices (Borrero et al.,
2016; Freire, 2019; Freire & Valdez, 2017; Hunt, 2011; Khalifa, 2018; Khalifa et al., 2016;
Phuntsog, 2001). Certainly, if teachers are urged and held accountable to implement culturally
relevant pedagogy to meet the needs of their students, especially those who are historically
marginalized, then school leadership ought to face a similar demand for increase of the
responsiveness of the entire organization (Gay, 2018; Khalifa et al., 2016). To support
educational leaders in establishing a culturally responsive climate for the organizations, Khalifa
(2018) specified four core approaches to implement culturally responsive school leadership: (a)
critical self-reflection; (b) curriculum and instruction; (c) school context and climate; (d) and
community engagement.
Institutionalized Critical Reflection

36
A number of researchers pointed out the importance of critical reflection in surfacing,
disrupting and addressing historically entrenched inequitable social orders (Brookfield, 2017;
Khalifa et al., 2016; Khalifa, 2018). More scholarship protruded the notion that school leaders
needed to constantly reflect on self-values and dispositions through a critical lens when serving a
diverse student population, especially those marginalized groups (Brown, 2004; Gooden, 2005;
Khalifa, 2018; McKenzie et al., 2008). When the school leadership delivers a critical
consciousness of culture and sociopolitical dynamics, it will indeed form a strong foundation for
members of the organization to undergird their teaching practices (Khalifa et al., 2016). While
critical reflection for leaders or other members is imperative, it is not sufficient until institutions
operate with structures and processes that allow opportunities for critical self-reflection
(Brookfield, 2017; Khalifa, 2018; Senge, 1990; Senge et al., 2012). It is paramount that school
leaders initiate processes of critical self- reflection for the entire organization in order to become
culturally responsive. Khalifa (2018) presented a framework to guide culturally responsive
leaders in their work of leading critical self-reflection with their teachers (See Figure 2). With the
guidance of leading critical dialogues from personal to institutional level, culturally responsive
school leadership should have the mandate to seek structural space where such institutionalized
critical dialogues could take place. Many schools featured with professional learning
communities certainly take the advantage to build this institutional capacity for the work of
culturally relevant practices (Khalifa, 2018).

37
Figure 2
Leading Critical Self-Reflection With Teachers

Culturally Responsive Professional Learning Communities
Khalifa (2018) discussed in his work that certain school features lead to positive
influence on teacher learning and performance, such as professional learning communities
(PLCs). With trust and respect developed in PLCs, teachers gravitate to work collaboratively
with a sense of responsibility toward student learning, which is considered crucial for
implementing culturally relevant practices at a systemic level. Therefore, the scholar urged
school leaders to create culturally responsive PLCs that “place equity and cultural responsiveness
at the center of student learning” (Khalifa, 2018, p. 142). To translate theoretical argument to

38
real-world application, Khalifa (2018) provided exemplars that support PLCs to transform into a
professional community with high responsiveness to students’ learning. He developed sample
subquestions that connect the common driving questions of PLCs to cultural responsiveness (See
Appendix K, Khalifa, 2018, p. 144). Not only does PLC work needs to center on the culturally
responsive inquiry, PLC discussions should also extend to the notion of communities where
students belong to outside of school (Khalifa, 2018).
Community-Based Epistemology
As critical scholars deepen their work on culturally relevant practices, they realized that
culturally responsive school leadership is key to sustain the practices within the classroom. What
teachers may not concentrate on in the process of implementing culturally relevant pedagogy is
to extend the responsiveness to community spaces. In this case, culturally responsive school
leadership should aim to create cultural responsiveness not only within classrooms but relevant
communities as well (Khalifa et al., 2016; Khalifa, 2018). While many educators express
frustration about not being able to adequately serve minoritized students, many parents and
students actually feel that they are not able to have them understood in communicating with
schools. This implicit gap needs to be addressed through school leaders who work to guide
teachers to bring student experiences and community-based understandings into their
classrooms. Although school leaders may not directly practice in a classroom domain, they
should yield considerable influence on pedagogical practices and curricular decisions. In the
process of leading instructional practices, leaders should consistently engage teachers in thinking
about and exploring connections they may find between students’ relevant communities and the
design of teaching and learning (Khalifa, 2018). Suggestions were provided in Khalifa’s work
(2018), such as establishing structures for educators to go into communities and learn from

39
community members, using community-based knowledge to build instructional space and
respond to student behaviors, and including both community members and community-based
knowledge in how curriculum is developed. Overall, as the critical scholar urged, parent
perceptions and community-based epistemologies are valid and should be prioritized over
traditional schoolcentric values (Khalifa, 2018).
Dual-Language Immersion Programs Leadership
Centering on Linguistically Diverse Students
While no specific literature has focused on culturally responsive leadership in dual-
language immersion programs, there is research that addresses leadership among diverse
populations, and specifically linguistically diverse students. It suggested that leadership in these
contexts must explicitly put diversity in the center of organization’s values (Hunt, 2011).
Researchers provided critical lens on the issue of power and privilege perpetuating in the DLI
education, which navigated the programs to only serve “foreign language curriculum providing
language majority students an opportunity to view live specimens of the second language”
(Petrovic, 2005, p. 406). Therefore, scholarship, regardless of the volume, called for the
prioritization of language minority and linguistically diverse students’ needs in the DLI programs
(Freire & Valdez, 2017). More researchers also asserted that instructional practices and
programmatic decision-making should equally benefit minority and majority language speakers,
as well as their parents and extended communities (Jong & Howard, 2009). With the same effort
of centering on linguistically diverse students in DLI programs, Hamman (2017) proposed to
prioritize the use of minority language and its speakers to even in a translanguage space, where
language use could be fluid with an intentional action of de-prioritizing the use of English
(language of majority).

40
Developing Teachers’ Sociopolitical Consciousness and Cultural Proficiency
Concerning DLI teachers’ preparation, scholarship pinpointed that educational leadership
should establish a priority list that plans out the professional learning sequence to foster
culturally relevant DLI teachers (Freire, 2019; Freire & Valdez, 2017). Incorporating
sociopolitical consciousness and cultural competence in daily dual-language teaching practices
entails pre-service and in-service teachers to understand historical and current societal inequities,
including the impact of oppression on communities of color. School leaders must consider this as
the first step in preparing culturally relevant DLI teachers before diving into curriculum
development and instructional practices (Freire, 2019).
Conceptual Framework
This dissertation follows a framework developed by Clark and Estes (2008) that seeks to
identify and address organizational performance gaps. The framework addresses performance
gaps by identifying the knowledge, motivation and organization influences that have been
catalysts for the gap and that can be remedied through targeted interventions (Clark & Estes,
2008). The next section of this dissertation will apply the Clark and Estes gap analysis
framework to the AIS organization and the implementation of culturally relevant pedagogy in its
Chinese immersion program. It will specify the types of knowledge that the AIS Chinese
immersion teachers need to know in order to implement culturally relevant pedagogy in their
immersion classrooms. It will also state the motivation influences that will need to be addressed
with this stakeholder group in order to improve their willingness to change their behavior.
Furthermore, the organization influences that support or impede the implementation of culturally
relevant pedagogy in the Chinese immersion program will be addressed through the Clark and
Estes gap analysis framework as well.

41
In order to diagnose an organization’s performance gap so as to close it, Clark and Estes
(2008) asserted that there are three critical factors that need to be examined in the process of gap
analysis. They are people’s knowledge and skills, their motivation to achieve the performance
goal, and the organizational barriers that impede the achievement. The AIS organization has
created a strategic plan that relies on three pillars to achieve its mission, vision and learning
aspirations: high impact instructional practices, standard-based approaches, and professional
learning communities (PLCs). The high impact instructional practices and standard-based
approaches are evaluated using institutional commitment, so that the curriculum and instructions
at the organization will be aligned with its strategic plan and hence help achieve the school’s
mission, vision and learning aspirations. While the institutional commitment stands as part of the
organizational espoused value, the strategic plan in action reflects the organization’s theory-in-
use. These theories-in-use have influenced individuals’ knowledge of practice and their beliefs in
certain instructional practices. The teachers’ funds of knowledge in and of their practices have
also determined their self-efficacy in implementing certain pedagogy, and therefore influence the
people’s motivation to enact.
The conceptual framework shown in Figure 3 drew connections between the
organizational context and the three critical causes of the performance gap in the AIS Chinese
immersion program. The large circle is focused on the influences of organization’s resources and
cultural setting on the primary stakeholders’ knowledge of culturally relevant pedagogy and their
motivation to enact the pedagogy. The inner circle is depicted as the core of the organization,
which symbolizes the cultural model that drives the organization’s cultural setting as well as the
primary stakeholders’ priority for learning the relevant knowledge and their motivation to
implement relevant practices. The double arrows indicate a mutual relationship between the

42
organization’s cultural model and the stakeholders’ knowledge and motivation for the
implementation of culturally relevant pedagogy. The organization’s orientation and values on
culturally relevant pedagogy will influence the teachers’ perceptions on this pedagogy and their
self-efficacy in implementing such pedagogy. These motivation influences will affect the
teachers’ knowledge level of culturally relevant pedagogy, as indicated by the double arrow
between the knowledge and motivation influence categories. The arrows and the overlapped
shapes describe the influences that are interconnected among the AIS Chinese immersion
teachers’ knowledge, motivation and the AIS cultural model, cultural setting and resources with
regard to the organization’s orientation of implementing culturally relevant pedagogy in the
Chinese immersion program. When these three influences become the organization’s assets and
perform interdependently, the AIS Chinese immersion teachers will successfully implement
culturally relevant pedagogy in their classrooms. Subsequently, the AIS Chinese immersion
program will serve their students in a culturally responsive manner, which will result in the
increased cultural competence and sociopolitical consciousness in the AIS dual-language
immersion students.

43
Figure 3
Conceptual Framework

Stakeholder Knowledge, Motivation and Organizational Influences
Knowledge and Skills
Rueda (2011) discussed multiple studies concerning the influences to achieving
established goals, of which knowledge influence plays a significant role to affect the outcomes of

44
learning and instructions. Knowledge as it sounds straightforward, the ideas of it becomes more
complex when it relates to specific knowing of something and how to do it in order to
accomplish the objectives. Anderson and Krathwohol (2001) synthesized the types of knowledge
with the theoretical basis from Bloom’s Taxonomy. They are factual knowledge, conceptual
knowledge, procedural knowledge, and metacognitive knowledge.
Declarative Factual Knowledge Influences
Declarative knowledge refers to the basic knowledge of specific subjects (Anderson &
Krathwohol, 2001). In the context of enacting culturally relevant pedagogy in the classroom, AIS
Chinese immersion teachers would need to know what we mean by culturally relevant pedagogy
(Freire & Valdez, 2017; Ladson-Billings, 1995). Freire and Valdez (2017) found that the
teachers’ factual knowledge of culturally relevant pedagogy was one of the greatest barriers to
the implementation of culturally relevant pedagogy in DLI programs. In order to connect their
understanding of the pedagogical theory to their classroom practices, AIS Chinese immersion
teachers should also know the theoretical tenets of culturally relevant pedagogy. Multiple
researchers discussed in their studies that teachers yearned to envision culturally relevant
pedagogy as a framework that they can employ to connect the theoretical tenets of culturally
relevant pedagogy with specific classroom practice (Borrero et al., 2016). In addition, Chase
(2019) pinpointed that teachers need knowledge, particularly the vocabulary to engage in a
robust reflective discussion about culturally relevant pedagogy. Building a strong foundation of
factual knowledge will entail the AIS Chinese immersion teachers to have high self-efficacy in
their participation of any reflective dialogues regarding their culturally relevant practices.
Procedural Knowledge Influences

45
Procedural knowledge relates to skills in doing certain things (Anderson & Krathwohol,
2001). AIS Chinese immersion teachers need to know how to integrate curriculum so that they
are reflective of diverse cultures and values. Multiple scholars underscored the importance of
developing cultural competence and sociopolitical consciousness undergirded by culturally
relevant pedagogy (Freire, 2014; Ladson-Billings, 1995). Curriculum and learning experiences
must establish connections between students and issues that lie in the community and society that
they live in every day. Moreover, to activate students’ critical learning through culturally
relevant pedagogy, curriculum should provide instructional space that allows students to
challenge and voice for social justice and equity concerns (Ladson-Billings, 1995). According to
Ladson-Billings (2009), for minoritized students to succeed, schools need to truly integrate
culturally relevant pedagogy into curriculum and teaching practices so that they are reflective of
students’ diverse cultures and values. To guide the work of integrating curriculum with culturally
relevant pedagogy, Agular-Valdez (2015) developed a rubric for culturally responsive lessons
and assignments with an explicit lens on the integration of cultural competence and sociopolitical
consciousness development in any subject-based curriculum. Freire (2019) asserted that
educators may begin meeting these goals for equitable dual-language education, when the
principles of biculturalism and sociopolitical consciousness are intentionally taught through
curriculum. Additionally, AIS Chinese immersion teachers should gain procedural knowledge of
how to develop a community of care and respect with culturally responsive classroom
management. Ample scholarship centering on the culturally responsive classroom management
asserted that educators whose daily interactions with students need to encourage, affirm, connect,
and celebrate all children regardless of their class, ethnicity, gender, religion, or race (De Silva et
al, 2018; Siwatu, 2007). Effective culturally relevant teachers should have ways to understand

46
their students, their families, their communities, their culture (De Silva et al, 2018; Khalifa,
2018). In DLI classrooms, as students’ diverse backgrounds naturally form a unique cross-
cultural learning space, scholars emphasized that it was critical to build a culturally responsive
classroom community for successful classroom management (Slapac & Kim, 2021). To guide the
practice of culturally responsive classroom management, Weinstein et al. (2004) developed five
essential components that supported the creation of a culturally responsive learning environment:
(a) recognition of one’s own ethnocentrism and biases; (b) knowledge of students’ cultural
backgrounds; (c) understanding of the broader social, economic, and political context of our
educational system; (d) ability and willingness to use culturally appropriate classroom
management strategies; and (e) commitment to building caring classroom communities.
Metacognitive Knowledge Influences
Metacognitive knowledge refers to the awareness of one’s own cognition and particular
cognitive processes. Metacognitive knowledge allows one to know when and why to do
something. It also influences one’s strategic behavior in solving problems (Anderson &
Krathwohol, 2001). AIS Chinese immersion teachers should know how to participate in critical
self-reflection on their teaching practices and see situations from varying perspectives so as to
better respond to students’ funds of knowledge and core values that influence their learning
behaviors. Researchers believed that knowledge must be recreated, recycled, and reflected by
teachers and viewed critically. They also underlined that successful teachers were willing and
able to extend new ideas from a critical perspective on their teaching practices (De Silva et al.,
2018). Tremendous scholarship discussed the importance of critical reflection teachers should
conduct in order to perceive their actions toward students’ learning (Brookfield, 2017; Khalifa,
2018; Khalifa et al., 2016). In fact, culturally relevant teachers ought to spend more time on self-

47
reflection through a critical lens on their positionality, identities and their approaches affecting
students, especially students of color. In addition, through critical self-reflection that centered
around community-based understandings, educators can find more effective ways to engage
minoritized students by responding to their cultures and values (Khalifa, 2018). Table 2
presented the summary of assumed knowledge influences on the primary stakeholder’s ability to
accomplish the performance goal.

Table 2
Summary of Assumed Knowledge Influences on Stakeholder’s Ability to Achieve the
Performance Goal
Assumed knowledge influences Research literature:
Author, year; author, year
Declarative factual
AIS Chinese immersion teachers should have the
factual knowledge of what culturally relevant
pedagogy is.
Anderson & Krathwohol, 2001
Freire & Valdez, 2017
AIS Chinese immersion teachers should know the
theoretical tenets of culturally relevant pedagogy.
Anderson & Krathwohol, 2001
Borrero et al., 2016
Chase, 2019
Procedural
AIS Chinese immersion teachers need to know how to
integrate curriculum so that they are reflective of
diverse cultures and values.
Anderson & Krathwohol, 2001
De Silva et al., 2018
Ladson-Billings, 1995
Ladson-Billings, 2009

AIS Chinese immersion teachers need to know how to
develop a community of care and respect with
culturally responsive classroom management.
Anderson & Krathwohol, 2001
De Silva et al., 2018
Slapac & Kim, 2021
Metacognitive
AIS Chinese immersion teachers should know how to
participate in critical self-reflection on their teaching
practices.
Anderson & Krathwohol, 2001
Brookfield, 2017
Khalifa, 2018
De Silva et al., 2018

48
Motivation
Value
Value in general indicates the importance an individual attaches to an activity (Rueda,
2011). To define one’s value on a task, they normally need to find out why it is important to
work on it or what is the purpose of doing this task. Eccles and Wigfield (2002) considered four
domains of value: attainment or importance value, intrinsic value, utility value, and cost value.
Attainment value is the importance one attaches to doing well on a task. Intrinsic value means
the enjoyment or intrinsic interest one experiences in a task. Utility value refers to how useful
one believes a task or activity is for achieving some future goal. Last, cost value indicates the
perceived cost of the activity in terms of time, effort, or other aspects. In order to achieve the
performance goal of implementing culturally relevant pedagogy in the AIS Chinese immersion
program, the AIS Chinese immersion teachers need to find the utility value of why it is important
to use culturally relevant pedagogy in the Chinese immersion classrooms. Ladson-Billings
(2009) indicated in one of her case studies that teachers who successfully implemented culturally
relevant pedagogy in their classrooms believed that all students had the ability to learn and
choose their success and recognized that marginalized students were historically focused on their
deficit areas at school. In another literature, the scholar also reflected on her pedagogical reforms
and asserted that culturally relevant pedagogy was not only implemented to support marginalized
students for academic success, but also to activate student’s sociopolitical awareness in order to
surface and challenge the inequitable social order perpetuated in the communities they live every
day (Ladson-Billings, 2014). Researchers examined dual-language immersion programs and
discovered that immersion teachers’ belief in the utilization of culturally relevant pedagogy
matters to the pedagogical enactment in their classrooms (Freire & Valdez, 2017). Furthermore,

49
this particular scholarship suggested that it is important to consider teachers’ values on culturally
relevant pedagogy when preparing professional learning programs to support their pedagogical
implementation.
Self-Efficacy
Self-efficacy refers to an individual’s belief in their capacity to execute behaviors
necessary to produce specific performance attainments (Bandura, 1986). AIS Chinese immersion
teachers need to have confidence in enacting culturally relevant pedagogy in the Chinese
immersion classrooms. Bandura (1986) first defined self-efficacy as one’s judgment of their
ability or confidence level of accomplishing certain matters they encounter. When individuals
have low self-efficacy, it is difficult for them to enact what they are not confident in doing well.
Freire and Valdez (2017) pointed out in their case study on eight dual-language immersion
teachers that one major barrier to implementation of culturally relevant pedagogy was a shortage
of confidence in DLI teachers when they were trying to practice this pedagogy in their
classrooms. Slapac and Kim (2021) were able to observe successful implementation of culturally
relevant practices in an early childhood language immersion program. They discovered that the
success was evident in how teachers feel about enacting these pedagogical practices. In addition
to practicing culturally relevant pedagogy, AIS Chinese immersion teachers also need to feel
comfortable with critical self-reflection on their teaching practices. A number of scholars
indicated that critical reflection was not as easy and accustomed to adults as they have lived in a
society where dominant ideology has persisted for many years (De Silva et al., 2018). Being
vulnerable and critical to one’s reflection is vital and useful for surfacing an individual’s own
implicit bias and assumptions. DLI teachers, in the effort of developing students’ biculturalism
and sociopolitical consciousness, were suggested to consistently reflect on their own identities,

50
positionalities and impact on minoritized students by critical scholars who actively engaged in
the integration of DLI education with culturally relevant pedagogy (Freire, 2019). Table 3
presented the summary of assumed motivation influences on the primary stakeholder’s ability to
accomplish the performance goal.

Table 3
Summary of Assumed Motivation Influences on Stakeholder’s Ability to Achieve the Performance
Goal
Assumed motivation influences Research literature:
Author, year; author, year.
Value
AIS Chinese immersion teachers should value culturally
relevant pedagogy with which linguistically diverse
and minoritized students will be recentered and
achieve academic excellence and cultural affirmation.
Rueda, 2011
Eccles & Wigfield, 2002
Ladson-Billings, 1995
Ladson-Billings, 2009
Ladson-Billings, 2014
Freire & Valdez, 2017
Self-efficacy
AIS Chinese immersion teachers need to have
confidence in enacting culturally relevant pedagogy in
the Chinese immersion classrooms.
Slapac & Kim, 2021
Freire & Valdez, 2017
AIS Chinese immersion teachers need to feel
comfortable with critical self-reflection on their
teaching practices.
Ladson-Billings, 2009
De Silva et al., 2018

51
Organization
Rueda (2011) discussed in his study that certain organizational features may impede
individuals or the organization itself from attaining performance goals. These organizational
features can contribute to student learning outcomes, as well as affecting how people behave and
think in its setting. Cultures, structures, policies, practices, and values of an organization are all
that can define its features, as well as being identified as the factors that influence the
achievement of performance goals. Schein (2004) pointed out that culture is often misused as a
group label of a certain race or ethnicity. In essence, culture should be described as people’s
regular interactions, group norms, espoused values, shared meanings and habits of mind.
Resources
In the context of implementing culturally relevant pedagogy in the Chinese immersion
program, AIS Chinese immersion teachers need professional learning of the declarative and
procedural knowledge around culturally relevant pedagogy. Slapac and Kim (2021)
recommended that the DLI school community should provide high-quality professional
development to enhance the teachers’ capacity in enacting culturally relevant pedagogy in
classrooms. Other scholars also indicated the demand of professional learning to narrow the
knowledge gap of teachers who are engaged in culturally relevant practices (Freire, 2019; Hunt,
2011; Khalifa, 2018).
Cultural Models
Gallimore and Goldenberg (2001) introduced the concept of cultural models as the shared
habits of thinking or common understandings of a worldview. Cultural models are fluid rather
than static, which is constantly shaped and reshaped through the cultural practices in certain
contexts. Cultural models are always considered what shape an organization’s values, which are

52
supposed to influence its structure, policies and practices. What most matters is how cultural
models can promote or impede the goals the organization seeks to achieve. Khalifa (2018)
described features of culturally responsive school leadership and asserted that schools who
aspired to be considered culturally responsive ought to transform their schoolcentric values into
community-based epistemology, through which schools and educators value community
knowledge to inform their instructions and design of learning environments. Freire (2019) also
pinpointed the importance of creating an organizational vision that could agglomerate the
commitment of the teachers to their implementation of culturally relevant pedagogy. Scholarship
further disclosed that the organization’s espoused values affect their educators’ beliefs about
culturally relevant pedagogy, which could impede their utility value in enacting culturally
relevant pedagogy (Freire & Valdez, 2017). Slapac and Kim (2021) demonstrated a successful
implementation of culturally relevant pedagogy in an early childhood immersion program where
educators and administrators were both actively involved in the implementation of culturally
relevant pedagogy, oriented by the school’s core values.
Cultural Setting
Gallimore and Goldenberg (2001) interpreted the notion of cultural setting as the
appearance of an organization’s context through its implementation of practices and policies.
Freire and Valdez (2017) asserted that teachers’ values on implementing culturally relevant
pedagogy were both dynamic and subject to change based on organizational influences. Khalifa
(2018) argued that certain organization features could positively impact students of performance
learning, such as professional learning communities. However, as the scholar further stressed,
professional learning communities needed to increase their responsiveness to students and their
communities in order to support their teachers for the enactment of culturally relevant pedagogy.

53
Organizations must institutionalize critical self-reflection through PLCs which can help surface,
deliberate, improve and transform an organization’s theory-in-use and then compare it to the
organization’s espoused values so as to identify the gap between the cultural models and the
cultural settings (Senge, 1992). Table 4 presented the summary of assumed organization
influences on the primary stakeholder’s ability to accomplish the performance goal.

Table 4
Summary of Assumed Organization Influences on Stakeholder’s Ability to Achieve the
Performance Goal
Assumed organization influences Research literature
Resources
AIS Chinese immersion teachers need professional
learning of the declarative and procedural knowledge
around culturally relevant pedagogy.
Slapac & Kim, 2021
Freire, 2019
Hunt, 2011
Khalifa, 2018
Culture models
AIS Chinese immersion teachers need to educate for a
school espoused value that promotes culturally
relevant pedagogy.
Schein, 2004
Gallimore & Goldenberg, 2001
Khalifa, 2018
Freire, 2019
Freire & Valdez, 2017
Slapac & Kim, 2021
Cultural settings
AIS Chinese immersion teachers need to practice self-
reflection regularly in their professional learning
community to ensure learning and instructions are
highly responsive to students’ cultures and values.
Gallimore & Goldenberg, 2001
Brookfield, 2018
Freire & Valdez, 2017
Khalifa, 2018
Senge, 1992
Slapac & Kim, 2021

54
The purpose of this study was to assess the knowledge, motivation and organization
influences that have contributed to the absence of culturally relevant pedagogy in the AIS
Chinese immersion program. In order to analyze the performance gap between the current
pedagogical practices that happen in the Chinese immersion classrooms and the AIS institutional
commitment held by faculty members, this research has chosen the AIS Chinese immersion
teachers as the primary stakeholder group to focus on. However, because the organization’s
cultural models and settings are highly influential to the AIS Chinese immersion teachers’
enactment of culturally relevant pedagogy, and thus critical to reducing this performance gap,
this chapter presented research addressing teachers’ knowledge and motivation around culturally
relevant pedagogy in dual-language immersion programs, as well as how organizations have
played an important role to support their teachers in implementation of the pedagogy.
As an introduction, this chapter discussed the general educational and organizational
research that reinforces the implementation of culturally relevant pedagogy in dual-language
immersion programs as well as culturally responsive leadership that supports teachers’ practices
in their classrooms. The chapter then looked into research that analyzed the knowledge,
motivation and organization influences to the performance problem of implementing culturally
relevant pedagogy in dual-language immersion classrooms, identifying possible solutions as they
were available. Chapter Three will present the methodological approach for this particular gap
analysis study and use the influences identified in this chapter as a foundation for data collection
and analysis.

55
Chapter Three: Methodology
The purpose of this project is to conduct a gap analysis to examine the root causes of the
organizational problem described above, absence of culturally relevant pedagogy in the AIS
Chinese immersion program. While a complete gap analysis would focus on all AIS
stakeholders, for practical purposes, the stakeholders to be focused on in this analysis are the
Chinese immersion homeroom teachers at AIS. The analysis focused on causes for this problem
due to gaps in the areas of educators’ knowledge and skill, motivation, and organizational
resources. The analysis began by generating a list of possible or assumed influences that were
examined systematically to focus on actual or validated causes.
The questions that guided this gap analysis are the following:
1. What are the Chinese immersion teachers’ knowledge and motivational influences to
implement culturally relevant pedagogy in their classes?
2. What are the organizational influences that hinder and/or support the Chinese
immersion teachers to implement culturally relevant pedagogy in their classes?
Conceptual and Methodological Framework
Clark and Estes’ (2008) gap analysis, a systematic, analytical method that helps to clarify
organizational goals and identify the gap between the actual performance level and the preferred
performance level within an organization, was implemented as the conceptual framework. The
methodological framework is a qualitative case study with descriptive statistics. Assumed
influences of knowledge, motivation and organization influences that interfere with
organizational goal achievement were generated based on personal knowledge and related
literature. These influences were assessed by using interviews, observations, document analysis,

56
literature review and content analysis. Research-based solutions were recommended and
evaluated in a comprehensive manner.
Clark and Estes’ framework (See Figure 4) aims to identify the barriers that impede the
stakeholders to reach a preferred performance target, which are commonly related to
stakeholders’ knowledge, motivation and the organization where they are situated. The scholars
indicated that a gap analysis process is initiated with an explicitly defined performance goal. The
next step is to study the data that reveals the current performance status. After comparing the
current performance status to the determined performance goal, the researchers suggested
investigating the influences and the impediments to the achievement gap in the lens of
knowledge, motivation and organizational barriers. Followed by the study of the knowledge,
motivation and organization influences, potential solutions should be considered and suggested
to be implemented by the stakeholders in order to achieve the performance goal. The Clark and
Estes’ gap analysis process concludes with an evaluation on the effectiveness of recommended
implementations. The evaluation helps measure whether the performance goal is achieved after
the knowledge, motivation and organization influences to the stakeholders are addressed.

57
Figure 4
Clark and Estes’ Gap Analysis Process

While Clark and Estes’ conceptual framework guides a gap analysis study on all
stakeholder groups that contribute to the achievement of a defined performance goal, this study
adapted Clark and Estes’ conceptual framework to investigate one primary stakeholder group,
the AIS Chinese immersion teachers. Undergirded by Clark and Estes’ gap analysis
methodology, this research utilized their framework to examine AIS Chinese immersion
teachers’ declarative factual knowledge, procedural knowledge, and metacognitive knowledge of
culturally relevant pedagogy. In addition, through this framework, the study investigated the
primary stakeholder group’s motivation toward the implementation of culturally relevant
pedagogy, as well as the support they received from the organization in order to achieve the
institutional performance goal.

58
Assessment of Performance Influences
The last chapter reviewed literature that addressed the knowledge, motivation and
organizational influences to the implementation of culturally relevant pedagogy in dual-language
immersion classrooms. The purpose of this project is to analyze the performance gap in enacting
culturally relevant pedagogy in the AIS Chinese immersion programs influenced by the
knowledge and motivation of the AIS Chinese immersion teachers and the organization they are
situated in and getting support from. This chapter describes the methodology this study adopted
and the relevant research instruments it used to assess the knowledge, motivation and
organizational influences to the primary stakeholder’s performance.
Anderson and Krathwohol (2001) synthesized the types of knowledge as factual
knowledge, conceptual knowledge, procedural knowledge, and metacognitive knowledge.
Declarative factual knowledge is defined as the basic knowledge of specific subjects (Anderson
& Krathwohol, 2001). Hence, to assess this type of knowledge, I used interview questions to find
out whether the target participants can describe their factual understanding of culturally relevant
pedagogy and the theoretical tenets within the pedagogy. Procedural knowledge refers to skills in
acting certain things (Anderson & Krathwohol, 2001). To assess this type of knowledge, I used
interview questions and examine curriculum and lesson planning documentation to investigate
how the study participants have designed the instructions and learning so that they are reflective
of diverse cultures and values. In addition, the interview questions further assessed whether the
participants had the knowledge of developing a community of care and respect with culturally
responsive classroom management. According to Anderson and Krathwohol, metacognitive
knowledge allows one to know when and why to do something (2001). Interview questions and
observations of professional learning community (PLC) meetings were adopted to evaluate

59
whether the research participants have the ability to reflect critically upon their teaching
practices on a regular basis and in their PLC meetings (See Table 5).

Table 5
Summary of Knowledge Influences and Method of Assessment
Assumed knowledge
influences
Interview items Observations Documentation
Factual
AIS Chinese
immersion
teachers should
have the factual
knowledge of
what culturally
relevant
pedagogy is.
If someone were to ask you
what culturally relevant
pedagogy is, what would
you say to them?
Tell me about when you
first learned about
culturally relevant
pedagogy.

AIS Chinese
immersion
teachers should
know the
theoretical
tenets of
culturally
relevant
pedagogy.
If someone were to ask you
the tenets of culturally
relevant pedagogy, what
would you say to them?

Procedural
AIS Chinese
immersion
teachers need to
know how to
integrate
curriculum so
that they are
reflective of
diverse cultures
and values.
Tell me about your
experience in designing
a curriculum that
reflected diverse cultures
and values of your
students, if any at all.

AIS Chinese
immersion
curricula in
Chinese
Language Arts,
Math, Social
Studies, and
Science
AIS Chinese
immersion
teachers’ lesson
plans

60
Assumed knowledge
influences
Interview items Observations Documentation
AIS Chinese
immersion
teachers need to
know how to
develop a
community of
care and respect
with culturally
responsive
classroom
management.
If I were in your
classroom, from your
classroom setup to your
teaching, what would I
have observed that
reflects culturally
relevant pedagogy?

Metacognitive
AIS Chinese
immersion
teachers should
know how to
participate in
critical self-
reflection on
their teaching
practices.
If someone were to ask you
one example that
demonstrates you
implemented culturally
relevant pedagogy well,
what would it be?
If someone were to ask you
what could be your area
of growth in terms of
including culturally
relevant pedagogy in
your teaching practice,
what would you say to
them?
AIS Chinese
immersion
teachers reflect
critically on
their teaching
practices
regularly in
their PLC
meetings.

Value in general indicates the importance an individual attaches to an activity (Rueda,
2011). To define one’s value on a task, they normally need to find out why it is important to
work on it or what is the purpose of doing this task. On that account, to assess the value the AIS
Chinese immersion teachers conceive toward the implementation of culturally relevant pedagogy
in their classrooms, I utilized interview questions to study the participants’ value that influences
their motivation of achieving the performance goal. Self-efficacy refers to an individual’s belief
in their capacity to execute behaviors necessary to produce specific performance attainments

61
(Bandura, 1986). To assess the self-efficacy of the study participants in the face of enacting
culturally relevant pedagogy, I used interview questions and observations in the PLC meetings to
collect data that indicate their levels of self-efficacy (See Table 6).

Table 6
Summary of Motivation Influences and Method of Assessment
Assumed motivation influences Interview items Observations
Value
AIS Chinese immersion teachers
should value culturally relevant
pedagogy with which
linguistically diverse and
minoritized students will be
recentered and achieve academic
excellence and cultural
affirmation.
What are the benefits of
culturally relevant
pedagogy, if any?

What are the limitations
of culturally relevant
pedagogy, if any?

Self-efficacy
AIS Chinese immersion teachers
need to have confidence in
enacting culturally relevant
pedagogy in the Chinese
immersion classrooms.
Tell me about a time
when you thought to
yourself “culturally
relevant pedagogy is
the right approach”, if
any at all.

Tell me about a time
when you didn’t
believe in the utility
of culturally relevant
pedagogy, if any at
all.

AIS Chinese immersion teachers
need to feel comfortable with
critical self-reflection on their
teaching practices.

AIS Chinese immersion
teachers are vocal to
share the critical
reflection on their
teaching practices in
their PLC meetings.

62
Rueda (2011) discussed in his study that certain organizational features may impede
individuals or the organization itself from attaining performance goals. These organizational
features can contribute to student learning outcomes, as well as affecting how people behave and
think in its setting. Cultures, structures, policies, practices, and values of an organization are all
that can define its features, as well as being identified as the factors that influence the
achievement of performance goals. Gallimore and Goldenberg (2001) introduced the concept of
cultural models as the shared habits of thinking or common understandings of a worldview.
Cultural models are always considered what shape an organization’s values. Gallimore and
Goldenberg (2001) interpreted the notion of cultural setting as the appearance of an
organization’s context through its implementation of practices and policies. Hence, to assess the
organization influences to the AIS Chinese immersion teachers’ goal of performance, I used
interview questions, observations of PLC meetings, and PLC agenda and schoolwide
professional development plan to investigate whether the organization has been supportive to the
primary focus stakeholders’ implementation of culturally relevant pedagogy (See Table 7).

63
Table 7
Summary of Organization Influences and Method of Assessment
Assumed organization
influences
Interview items Observations Documentation
Resources
AIS Chinese immersion
teachers need
professional learning
of the declarative and
procedural
knowledge around
culturally relevant
pedagogy.
What are the ways your
PLC supports you in
enacting culturally
relevant pedagogy?
What your lingering needs
are for implementing
culturally relevant
pedagogy?
What professional
learning experiences
have you received from
your school pertinent to
culturally relevant
pedagogy, if any?
AIS Chinese
immersion
PLCs
provide
professional
learning
about
culturally
relevant
pedagogy.
AIS professional
development
plan for the
year of 2020–
2022

Culture models
AIS Chinese immersion
teachers need to
educate for a school
espoused value that
promotes culturally
relevant pedagogy.

AIS vision and
mission
statements
AIS learning
aspirations
AIS institutional
commitment
Cultural settings
AIS Chinese immersion
teachers need to
practice self-
reflection regularly in
their professional
learning community
to ensure learning
and instructions are
highly responsive to
students’ cultures and
values.
What are the ways your
PLC supports you in
enacting culturally
relevant pedagogy?
What your lingering needs
are for implementing
culturally relevant
pedagogy?
What is your perspective
on the professional
learning experiences the
organization has
provided with regard to
culturally relevant
teaching practices?
AIS Chinese
immersion
teachers are
engaged in
reflective
conversations
in the PLC
meetings.
AIS Chinese
immersion
PLC agendas
in the year of
2020–2021
AIS in-service
day agendas in
the year of
2020–2022

64
Participating Stakeholders and Sample Selection
The stakeholder group of focus for this study were the AIS Chinese immersion teachers.
They are the 10 Chinese teaching members of the AIS Chinese immersion program. The target
participants are all Asian females, who were born and raised in different cultural systems.
Sampling
This research was conducted with an explicit purpose for analyzing the knowledge,
motivation and organization influences to the AIS elementary Chinese immersion teachers’
implementation of culturally relevant pedagogy in their classrooms. Thus, the sampling
strategies for this study was purposeful sampling, choosing all 10 Chinese immersion teachers
who are working in the AIS elementary Chinese immersion program as the research participants.
Due to the size of the program, currently there are only 10 Chinese immersion teachers who are
working in the program. All of them were the target participants for this research in order to
warrant the credibility and accountability of the study with a sufficient size of data collection.
The sampling of interviewees is the 10 AIS Chinese immersion teachers. The sampling of
observations are the professional learning communities (PLCs) the AIS Chinese immersion
teachers participate in. There are five PLCs within the AIS Chinese immersion program. Each
grade-level immersion PLC is composed of two Chinese immersion teaching members, two
Chinese instructional assistants, along with an English teaching fellow who teaches the English
session of the day in the immersion classrooms. Immersion program administrators may attend
the grade-level immersion PLC meetings. The grade-level immersion PLC is not scaled as a
normal PLC size, but an affiliated PLC to the entire grade-level PLC that normally consists of 20
to 25 teaching members. The members of entire grade-level are English homeroom teachers (in
the English monolingual program), Chinese immersion teachers, learning support specialists, and

65
grade-level counselor. This study planned to sample three out of five immersion grade-level
PLCs to observe their meetings and look for conversations and reflective dialogues occurring
around culturally relevant pedagogy.
In addition, for documentation analysis, I planned to sample five AIS Chinese immersion
teachers lesson plans and five grades’ immersion curricula in various subject areas. I also
sampled organization-level documents, for example, AIS professional development plan for the
year of 2020–2022, AIS vision and mission statements, AIS learning inspirations, AIS
institutional commitment, AIS Chinese immersion PLC agendas in the year of 2020–2021, and
AIS in-service day agendas in the year of 2020–2022.
Recruitment
For the purpose of this study, the interview sampling strategy sought out participants by
email. To access the organization documentation, I reached out to the school leadership via email
to seek a request to view the documents. To access teaching artifacts, such as curricula and
teaching plans, I reached out to the AIS Chinese immersion teachers with a request of viewing
these documents during the interviews. The observation sampling strategy sought out permission
through emails to the PLC leaders in the AIS immersion program.
Instrumentation
The instrumentation used for this study was a semi-structured interview protocol, a non-
participant observation checklist, and documentation review. Using multiple data collecting
methods can help me triangulate the data and hence increase the trustworthiness and credibility
of the research (Maxwell, 2013; Merriam & Tisdell, 2016).
Interview Protocol Design

66
Researchers stated that in a qualitative methodology, in-depth interviews are conducted in
order to understand the shared experiences of the participants (Lochmiller & Lester, 2016;
Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Semi-structured interview protocol is frequently adopted for the
purposes of generating in-depth understandings of a phenomenon of interest. Therefore, this
study used open-ended and semi-structured interviews as one method to collect the data. The
open-ended and semi structured questions helped me capture the understandings, both expected
and unexpected, of the participants pertaining to their knowledge and views of culturally relevant
pedagogy. It also helped me capture how they are currently supported by the organization in
terms of implementing culturally relevant pedagogy in their classes. A complete version of the
designed interview protocol is in Appendix A for further reference.
Observation Checklist Design
In addition to the interviews with the AIS Chinese immersion teachers, I planned to
conduct non-participant observations on the AIS Chinese immersion PLC meetings, specifically
looking for whether and how they reflect critically on their teaching practices of culturally
relevant pedagogy. A non-participant observation minimizes the researcher’s interaction with the
participants. This type of observation can allow me to focus on whether and how the participants
reflect on the implementation of culturally relevant pedagogy, eliminating the potential influence
caused by my engagement. I planned to observe three AIS Chinese immersion PLCs’ regular
meetings for five consecutive weeks. An observation checklist was utilized to record what were
observed around culturally relevant pedagogy in the PLC meetings. A complete version of the
observation checklist is in Appendix B for further reference.
Document Analysis Design

67
Moreover, in order to investigate the organization influence to the AIS Chinese
immersion teachers’ knowledge, motivation and enactment of culturally relevant pedagogy, I
also reviewed and analyzed a variety of organization’s documents and the AIS Chinese
immersion teachers’ teaching artifacts to further assess the knowledge and organization
influences. They are: AIS Chinese immersion curricula in Chinese Language Arts, Math, Social
Studies, and Science, AIS Chinese immersion teachers’ lesson plan, AIS professional
development plan for the year of 2020–2022, AIS vision and mission statements, AIS learning
inspirations, AIS institutional commitment, AIS Chinese immersion PLC agendas in the year of
2020–2021, and AIS in-service day agendas in the year of 2020–2022.
Data Collection
Interviews
Each interview with an AIS Chinese immersion teacher last about 60 minutes in person
or via Zoom. I followed the school’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols. All the interviews
were held on Zoom. Nine out of 10 target participants agreed to be the interview participants.
The nine interviews were recorded using the recording function on Zoom.
Observations
I joined the AIS Chinese immersion PLC meetings as scheduled. PLC meetings at AIS
regularly last for 45 to 60 minutes. I observed throughout each PLC meeting. Two Chinese
immersion PLCs agreed to participate in the PLC meeting observation. Due to changes occurred
in grade-level PLC meeting plans, some of the immersion small PLC meetings were cancelled or
replaced with a grade-level PLC meeting during a period of five consecutive weeks. Therefore,
five PLC meetings of two grade-level immersion PLCs were observed over five consecutive

68
weeks. I followed the school’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols while conducting the data
collection process. I conducted the observations by attending the PLC meetings in person.
Document Analysis
I analyzed organization documents and teaching artifacts. They are: AIS Chinese
immersion curricula in Chinese Language Arts, Math, Social Studies, and Science, AIS Chinese
immersion teachers’ lesson plan, AIS professional development plan for the year of 2020–2022,
AIS vision and mission statements, AIS learning inspirations, AIS institutional commitment, AIS
Chinese immersion PLC agendas in the year of 2020–2021, and AIS in-service day agendas in
the year of 2020–2022. To access the organization documentation, I reached out to the school
leadership via email to seek a request to view the documents. To access teaching artifacts, such
as curricula and teaching plans, I reached out to the AIS Chinese immersion teachers with a
request of viewing these documents during the interviews.
Data Analysis
For interviews, I coded each interview question to identify its affiliation with any
knowledge, motivation or organization influences. I used “K” to stand for knowledge influence,
“M” for motivation influence, and “O” for organization influence. I used keywords such as
factual, procedural, metacognitive, value, efficacy, resources, and setting to further identify what
the type of knowledge, motivation or organization influences the questions are connected to. I
pre-determined a series of criteria as guidelines for the data analysis.
For observations, I coded each item in the observation checklist to identify its affiliation
with any knowledge, motivation or organization influences. I used “K” to stand for knowledge
influence, “M” for motivation influence, and “O” for organization influence. I used keywords
such as metacognitive, efficacy, resources and setting to further identify what the type of

69
knowledge, motivation or organization influences the checklist items are connected to. I pre-
determined a series of criteria as guidelines for the data analysis.
For documents, I utilized direct quotes from the documentation to analyze whether the
organization artifacts demonstrate a cultural model that supports the implementation of culturally
relevant pedagogy in the AIS Chinese immersion program. I pre-determined a series of criteria
as guidelines for the document analysis.
Trustworthiness of Data
Merriam and Tisdell (2016) stated that it is problematic when researchers are not aware
of their positionality and bias in the process of their study. Researchers ought to be transparent
about their worldview that undergirds the research design. As I keep aware of how my
positionality may influence the findings in this study, I realized that their privileged educational
background may have driven and increased the subjectivity in interpreting the data collected
from observing the participants’ teaching practices using culturally relevant pedagogy. On the
other hand, the participants may have also responded to the observations by intentionally
preparing for a demonstration of how they enact culturally relevant pedagogy in their teaching
practices. This part of research design could limit my ability to have authentic findings while
examining the participants’ conceptual and procedural knowledge of culturally relevant
pedagogy. This can potentially impede the credibility and trustworthiness of my research.
To increase the credibility and trustworthiness of this study, I used “member checking”
(Maxwell, 2013) to help check their bias and manage their subjectivity in the research process. In
the design of this study, I chose multiple methods to collect the data, interviews, observation and
documentation. It was helpful to follow up with the data collected through the interviews in the
observations and document analysis. Meanwhile, the interview was a channel for me to collect

70
more narratives from the participants so their voices can be more represented in my research, as
opposed to letting my subjectivity drive the interpretation of the research data. Moreover, as
Merriam and Tisdell (2016) suggested, using multiple data collection methods could help
triangulate the data, and hence increase the credibility of the research findings. If the participants
intentionally prepare for what to observe and impact the authenticity of the data to be collected,
the interview method could help me triangulate the data in terms of the participants’ conceptual
and procedural knowledge of the culturally relevant pedagogy.
Role of Investigator
I am a teaching member of the AIS elementary Chinese immersion program. As a
Chinese immersion teacher in the AIS elementary immersion program, I have not been provided
with opportunities to develop their cultural proficiency in teaching and learning. It is my
understanding that within AIS, there are limited resources allocated for culturally relevant
pedagogy in the institutional professional learning plan. Rather, I have received orders from the
program administrators to avoid sharing personal opinions on the program and curriculum
design. Facing a class of predominantly White students, I struggle as a teacher to provide
exposure for their students to partake in an inclusive experience, where diverse values would
never be degraded or silenced.
I believe in sociocultural theory that learning is social and reciprocal in nature (Schunk,
2020). The truth one pursues in learning is never a set of facts but constantly transforming
through critical reflection of our daily interactions in a society where diverse value systems
coexist. Another part of learning is to constantly challenge the standards and laws determined by
the majoritarian through critical and racial reflection (Brookfield, 2017). It is one’s power to
counter the deculturalization and assimilation that is undertaken by the dominant power

71
(Solórzano & Yosso, 2002). I believe that learning needs to transform oneself and all lives in
order to challenge the dominant system, uproot the oppressive power, and ensure that people are
present and seek social justice and equity for the harmed groups. While I am conceiving these
worldviews, they may be influenced in their interpretation of those who hold positivistic
epistemology. My epistemology may also bring potential biases to this study, as they observe
and interpret different teachers’ practices in their Chinese immersion classrooms. Hence, I was
strictly wearing the hat of a researcher in the process of this study. I was aware of my bias and
the power dynamics it may exist in this research.
Limitations and Delimitations
The research findings may have been constrained with the interpretation of perspectives
from a certain group, i.e., the Chinese immersion teachers in the AIS elementary immersion
program, whereas the voice of others are mostly excluded. The excluded voice can be from the
students in the Chinese immersion classrooms, the administrators of the program, and the
instructional coaches that are involved in the program. Hence, the implication of the research is
narrowly applicable to the practice of a certain group. In addition, the data, findings, and analysis
are relevant to the unique context of the AIS elementary Chinese immersion program, and that a
replicated study in other AIS programs or institutions may not obtain similar results. Therefore, it
remains concerned that the generalizability of the study is only limited to the AIS elementary
Chinese immersion program (Lochmiller & Lester, 2016).

72
Chapter Four: Results and Findings
The last chapter described the methodology this study adopted and the relevant research
instruments it used to assess the knowledge, motivation and organization influences to the
primary stakeholder’s performance. In the last chapter, I delineated and categorized the assumed
causes under knowledge, motivation, and organization (KMO) influences.
The assumed knowledge influences include the AIS Chinese immersion teachers’ factual,
procedural, and metacognitive knowledge pertaining to culturally relevant pedagogy. The
assumed knowledge influence is that AIS Chinese immersion teachers should have the factual
knowledge of what culturally relevant pedagogy is and should know the theoretical tenets of
culturally relevant pedagogy. The assumed procedural knowledge influence is that AIS Chinese
immersion teachers need to know how to integrate curriculum so that they are reflective of
diverse cultures and values, as well as how to develop a community of care and respect with
culturally responsive classroom management. The assumed metacognitive knowledge influence
is that AIS Chinese immersion teachers should know how to participate in critical self-reflection
on their teaching practices.
The assumed motivation influences are AIS Chinese immersion teachers’ value and self-
efficacy toward culturally relevant pedagogy. AIS Chinese immersion teachers should value
culturally relevant pedagogy with which linguistically diverse and minoritized students will be
recentered and achieve academic excellence and cultural affirmation. In addition, AIS Chinese
immersion teachers should have confidence in enacting culturally relevant pedagogy in the
Chinese immersion classrooms and need to feel comfortable with critical self-reflection on their
teaching practices.

73
The assumed organization influences are categorized under resources, cultural models,
and cultural settings. In terms of organizational resources, AIS Chinese immersion teachers
should have professional learning to increase declarative and procedural knowledge around
culturally relevant pedagogy. The AIS cultural model should direct its Chinese immersion
teachers to educate for the organization’s espoused value that promotes culturally relevant
pedagogy. The AIS cultural setting should allow and promote its Chinese immersion teachers to
practice self-reflection regularly in their professional learning community to ensure learning and
instructions are highly responsive to students’ cultures and values.
The results and findings of interviews, observations and document analysis will be
organized by the categories of the assumed causes, which are knowledge, motivation and
organization causes.
The qualitative data were collected by interviews, observations, and the analysis of
documentation. The purpose of the data collected is to validate the assumed knowledge,
motivation, and organization influences to the AIS Chinese immersion teachers’ performance
goal. Specifically, interview, observation and artifact data were collected to understand the
influences to the Chinese immersion teachers’ knowledge and motivation of implementing
culturally relevant pedagogy in their classrooms, as well as the organization influence to its
Chinese immersion teachers in increasing their knowledge and motivation of implementing
culturally relevant pedagogy in the Chinese immersion program.
I first collected the qualitative data from the AIS Chinese immersion teachers via
individual interviews as the central source of determining needs and assets. Followed by
individual interviews, I collected the data from the observations of the Chinese immersion small
PLC meetings. Document analysis was followed to examine the organization’s cultural models,

74
and provided as further assessment, evidence, and validation of the needs and assets. Surveys
were not conducted for this research.
Participating Stakeholders
The stakeholder group of focus for this study are the AIS Chinese immersion teachers.
There are 10 Chinese immersion teachers in the AIS Chinese immersion program who are
considered homeroom teachers for the K–4 immersion classes. All of them are Asian females
who were born and raised in various cultural systems. The data were collected from nine Chinese
teaching members of the AIS Chinese immersion program. Currently, they are homeroom
teachers in the Kindergarten to Grade 4 immersion classes. Their years of working in immersion
programs have ranged from 2.5 years to 9 years. Nine Chinese immersion teachers agreed to
participate in the interview. Two grade-level Chinese immersion PLCs agreed to participate in
the PLC meeting observation. There were five immersion teaching members from the two
participating Chinese small immersion PLCs who agreed to participate in the observations, four
AIS Chinese immersion teachers, and one AIS English immersion teacher.
Determination of Assets and Needs
The data were collected through nine interviews, five consecutive Chinese small PLC
meetings, and document analysis. The data collected through interviews are considered the main
source. I conducted observations to verify the data provided by the interview participants, as well
as used the document analysis to further assess the assumed influences so as to determine the
influences as an asset or need.
For interviews, if seven out of nine participants directly demonstrate the factual,
procedural, and metacognitive knowledge of culturally relevant pedagogy, the knowledge
influences will be determined as an asset, otherwise a need. If seven out of nine participants

75
could directly speak to the benefits of culturally relevant pedagogy and did not indicate a lack of
confidence in implementing culturally relevant pedagogy, the motivation influences will be
determined as an asset, otherwise a need. If seven out of nine participants consider the
organization has ample resources and support the PLC members to conduct regular self-
reflection on culturally relevant pedagogy, the organization influence of resources and cultural
settings will be determined as an asset, otherwise a need.
For observations, if the AIS Chinese immersion teachers are observed to have
conversations around their critical reflections on practice of culturally relevant pedagogy in four
out of five PLC meetings, it indicates they have strong metacognitive knowledge to support them
in achieving the performance goal. It will help determine the metacognitive knowledge influence
and the organization influence of cultural settings as assets, otherwise needs. If the AIS Chinese
immersion teachers are observed confident to share the critical reflection on their teaching
practices in four out of five PLC meetings, it reveals their high self-efficacy in practicing and
reflecting on culturally relevant pedagogy practices in terms of achieving the performance goal.
This will help determine the motivation influence of self-efficacy as an asset, otherwise a need.
If it is observed in four of five PLC meetings that the professional learning about culturally
relevant pedagogy is provided to the AIS Chinese immersion teachers, it reveals that the AIS
Chinese immersion teachers are greatly supported by the organization to achieve the
performance goal. This will help determine the organization influence of resources and cultural
settings as assets, otherwise needs.
Document analysis looks for key terms that reflect on culturally relevant pedagogy and
its guiding tenets in the files. It will help support the determination of the organization influences
of resources, cultural models, and cultural settings.

76
Results and Findings for Knowledge Causes
The analysis of this study attends to three types of knowledge causes. They are factual
knowledge, procedural knowledge, and metacognitive knowledge. The assumed factual causes
are that the AIS Chinese immersion teachers should understand what culturally relevant
pedagogy is and the theoretical guiding principles (tenets) of culturally relevant pedagogy. One
assumed procedural cause is that the AIS Chinese immersion teachers should know how to
develop a curriculum that reflects diverse cultures and values of their students. The other
assumed procedural cause is that the AIS Chinese immersion teachers should know how to use
culturally responsive classroom management to develop a community of care and respect. The
assumed metacognitive knowledge is that the AIS Chinese immersion teachers are able to reflect
critically on themselves and their teaching practices.
Factual Knowledge
Culturally relevant pedagogy has been identified as teaching practices that appreciate
students’ assets and connecting teaching and learning to the students and their relevant lives
(families, communities and daily lives). The goal of culturally relevant pedagogy is to critically
engage in the cultural environment of classrooms. The pedagogical tenets include three domains,
which are academic success, cultural competence, and sociopolitical consciousness.
Influence 1
AIS Chinese immersion teachers should have the factual knowledge of what culturally
relevant pedagogy is.
Interview Findings. One participant was able to share a comprehensive definition of
culturally relevant pedagogy. Seven participants shared their understandings of culturally
relevant pedagogy which is indirectly or partially connected to the idea of culturally relevant

77
pedagogy. One participant did not directly speak to the idea of culturally relevant pedagogy, but
mentioned that “the definition of this pedagogy can be varied depending on who or which
academic institutions define it.” Out of the nine participants, two directly spoke that they did not
feel they understand culturally relevant pedagogy very well. PF stated, “culturally relevant or
responsive pedagogy is to really see the assets and the resources that your students and their
family can bring to the school, to the curriculum, to the program, to the community.” PF also
emphasized that educators need to “demonstrate critical reflections, to deeply reflect on their
own identities, and to carry themselves in a linguistically responsive way.” PA shared that
culturally relevant pedagogy is to “understand the different cultural backgrounds of our students”
and then adapt “teaching methods and examination system” for different students. PE shared as
an example that when “western children have different personalities and cultural backgrounds,
teaching methods, curricula and classroom activities will be adjusted accordingly.” PB and PD
shared similar understandings of culturally relevant pedagogy, which is “about letting others
know your culture, and then you need to understand the culture of others, in order to achieve
inclusiveness, where everyone needs to accept each other.” PC understood culturally relevant
pedagogy as teaching cultures through language classes by “blending some cultural lessons into
the teaching.” PG considered culturally relevant pedagogy as observing students’ interest and
current learning performance first and then “decide what do the students kind of need to work
on.” PG mentioned that part of the pedagogy is to reflect as a teacher on “what do my students
need” and “what else do we need to move to the next step.”
Summary. The assumed influence that AIS Chinese immersion teachers should have the
factual knowledge of culturally relevant pedagogy is determined to be a need through interviews.
Interview results indicate one participant spoke to a comprehensive definition of culturally

78
relevant pedagogy. seven interview participants shared their understandings of culturally relevant
pedagogy that was loosely or indirectly connected to the key ideas of culturally relevant
pedagogy. One participant did not speak to their interpretation of culturally relevant pedagogy.
In conclusion, one out of nine participants was considered having the factual knowledge of
culturally relevant pedagogy. Therefore, this influence is determined to be a need.
Influence 2
AIS Chinese immersion teachers should know the theoretical tenets of culturally relevant
pedagogy.
Interview Findings. One participant named the three domains of culturally relevant
pedagogy in their own words “achievement or excellence”, “social cultural competence”, and
“social political consciousness [or] awareness.” One participant stated that they have not heard of
the pedagogical tenets. Seven participants shared their own interpretation of the pedagogical
tenets, which did not directly reflect the three domains of culturally relevant pedagogy. PA listed
the tenets as “be aware of the biases we have, understand others from different perspectives,
respect the difference between students, learn more about students’ background, and collaborate
with parents and caregivers.” In addition, PA stated that one of the tenets is to “bring real-life
political and social issues to the classroom”, which is closely connected to one of the three
domains, sociopolitical consciousness. PB did not directly speak to the tenets of culturally
relevant pedagogy, but shared some teaching and learning experiences in which they taught
students about “cultural celebration” and “equity and respect across races.” PE interpreted the
tenets as “teaching methods and culture are closely related … [and] is under the guidance of
culture.” PD and PH explained the tenets with ideas around culture. PD pointed out that culture
is “like an iceberg, having the upper, middle and the ground layers. Culturally relevant pedagogy

79
really wants us to learn the deeper layer of culture.” PH associated the tenets with the idea that
“culture is inclusive, equal, and unique. The world needs the existence of different cultures.” PG
explained the tenets are “observing, being respectful, being responsive, [and] understanding that
people are coming at different levels … and being flexible.” PI considered the tenets of culturally
relevant pedagogy as “education needs to be relevant to the learners.”
Summary. The assumed influence that AIS Chinese immersion teachers should know the
theoretical tenets of culturally relevant pedagogy is determined to be a need through interviews.
Interview results indicate one participant was able to explain the tenets of culturally relevant
pedagogy. One participant spoke to one of the tenets. Seven interview participants did not speak
to the three key domains of culturally relevant pedagogy. As a result, one out of nine participants
was considered to know the theoretical tenets of culturally relevant pedagogy. Hence, this
influence is determined to be a need.
Procedural Knowledge
Influence 1
AIS Chinese immersion teachers need to know how to integrate curriculum so that they
are reflective of diverse cultures and values.
Interview Findings. Five participants did not directly speak to the process of designing a
curriculum. PE expressed that “it’s hard to do this at this school because the curriculum is
basically done. … I have not changed any curricula.” PA shared ideas about revising their
writing rubrics so that it can assess students “who can orally express their writing ideas but
probably can’t write much.” PD wondered “how we can embed other cultures in Chinese culture
while at the same time immersing the learning in reading, writing, social studies, and social
emotional learning.” However, PD did not describe how they developed a curriculum that is

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reflective of diverse cultures and values. PF had “an experience designing curriculum, but not
necessarily a curriculum that reflects all the diverse identities of the students.” Additionally, PF
mentioned that “we don’t have cultural competence standards that will follow.” PI reiterated
their teaching practices in implementing the curriculum, such as “listen to them [students] and
encourage them to have the opportunity to share, and everyone respects different ideas”, whereas
PI did not provide a description of how they developed any culturally relevant curriculum. Four
participants, to some degree, described how they designed a curriculum. PB mentioned using
“the students’ backgrounds and their own cultures” to introduce different cultures in a culture-
themed curriculum, and then “let the students compare the similarities and differences.” In
addition, PB talked about “inviting parents to celebrate the Chinese New Year. … Children need
to experience the real setting to understand the real culture.” Similarly, PC shared an experience
of designing some crafting learning experiences around Diwali when the holiday comes up. PC
created an experiential learning of making Rangoli as a class project, and stated that “I will put
this holiday in my teaching plan, and use some leisure time to make rangoli to let the students
know about Indian culture.” PH also utilized holiday as a cultural topic to integrate some
reflective learning around cultures in a narrative writing unit. As PH elaborated,
we will read some books and stories related to the Mid-Autumn Festival in our reading
class … asking people to choose the characters in the story, to put themselves in the
story, to imagine what they would think and what they would say as people of the time.
PH also described how they blend other cultures in this learning experience. According to PH,
we use the moon as a trigger to motivate our children, and then we can also explore the
meaning behind the Mid-Autumn Festival, which is to think of your family, to hope for
family reunion. There are holidays in the United States about reunion, and so are in

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Japan, Mexico or other countries. … We combine these things and let students know that
the whole world is connected.
PG once developed a peace curriculum collaboratively with other teaching fellows. According to
PG, the learning experiences started with “reading a lot of different books surrounding peace”,
and then discussions around “What does peace mean? How can we be peaceful? What are the
things that make us peaceful?” The students then “created their own drawings and they shared
with each other … I feel peaceful when I do this, or this makes me peaceful because x, y and z.”
As PG mentioned,
through that, they kind of started to respect each other … And then we also have
something called a peace corner where children had to go if they had a conflict, they
would go and so the peace corner and solve their issues.
Document Analysis. The digital curriculum planners analysis shows evidence that some
grade-level social studies curriculum incorporates sociopolitical topics or connections to real-life
contexts. However, several grade-level social studies curriculum use mainstream (American)
culture as the backbone of content learning, fewer learning experiences are designed to
decentralize the mainstream culture and focus on more diverse and minoritized cultural groups.
Science and Math curriculum planners do not demonstrate sufficient evidence that it is culturally
relevant enough. In some grade-level Math curriculum, the money unit imparts the knowledge of
US coins and dollars to the students who live in Singapore. In addition, the social studies, Math
and science curriculum at each grade level were not initially created by the Chinese immersion
teachers. Instead, Chinese immersion teachers teach the translated versions of the curricula so as
to align their teaching and learning with the mainstream English monolingual classrooms. The
digital Chinese Language Arts (CLA) curriculum planners are developed in various manners

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across grades. Two out of five grade-level CLA curriculum planners, to a large degree, are
translated into Chinese from a purchased English Language Arts curriculum. The mentor texts
for literacy development are the same ones used in the English classes, but a translated version in
Chinese. Hence, these curriculum planners do not show evidence of including culturally relevant
pedagogy in curriculum design. The other three grade-level CLA curriculum, to some extent, are
adapted according to some Chinese language standards. The text materials used are mostly
authentic publications from Chinese-speaking regions, which shows evidence that culturally
relevant materials are adopted and integrated in the Chinese literacy curriculum.
Summary. The assumed influence that AIS Chinese immersion teachers need to know
how to integrate curriculum so that they are reflective of diverse cultures and values is
determined to be a need through interviews and document analysis. Five out of nine participants
did not describe their experience of creating a curriculum, and it remains unclear whether the
participants have the procedural knowledge of developing curriculum with cultural relevance.
Four participants had experiences of developing curriculum that addressed cultural learning and
conflict resolution. Based on their description, they knew how to design a curriculum that
incorporates real-life connections. Two participants knew more about providing avenues for
students to engage in higher cognitive processing and to share their experiences and
backgrounds. One participant allowed places for students to work together. None of the
participants highlighted any learning opportunities for students to reflect on social justice and
equity in their curriculum development. Therefore, they do not demonstrate a comprehensive
knowledge of developing a curriculum that is undergirded with culturally relevant pedagogy.
The document analysis reveals a need, as most of the curriculum were not developed solely by
Chinese immersion teachers. Only 60% of the CLA curriculum that were recreated or developed

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by the Chinese immersion teachers show evidence of including culturally relevant pedagogy to a
certain degree. In summary of both findings, this influence remains to be a need.
Influence 2
AIS Chinese immersion teachers need to know how to develop a community of care and
respect with culturally responsive classroom management.
Interview Findings. Four participants described more or less about their classroom
setup. One participant mentioned the learning posters in the classrooms are made in Chinese,
although “they are taken from English and other teaching methods.” PD supported their practices
with reasons such as “these methods are very useful to children, who are very familiar with the
learning model in international schools, although they are from different countries.” As PD
illustrated,
how the students use the boxes in the classrooms are exactly the same as their English
teachers ask them to. … I want to let the kids feel that … they belong to the entire
community [that consisted of about 12 English monolingual classrooms and two Chinese
immersion classrooms].
Two participants mentioned that they displayed Chinese cultural items in the classrooms. PH
expressed that “there are some Chinese decorations in our classroom, but these things do not feel
very systematic and do not attract the attention of our children.” PC demonstrated the Chinese
crafts they made with their students and mentioned that “I’ll keep what they made about the
culture and let them see. … This is about Chinese culture.” One participant discussed how they
set up the classroom learning environment that reflected their students’ cultures and identities.
According to PF, they tried to provide different readers “authentic texts in Chinese … [that]
shows authentic people in China and in Chinese culture.” They also provided “different kinds of

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books of other cultures. … It has to be inclusive of all the students in the classroom.” PF
specifically exemplified that “if we have Korean students, we are trying to include some books
from Korean cultures.” PF raised one point that they include books that reflect the identities
missing in their community as well,
because our kids are so privileged. … They probably don’t often see people who are in
poverty or from same-sex families. We are trying to be broader in different kinds of
books so that students don’t just look at the same books in their English classrooms.
In terms of teaching practices, five participants brought up the ideas of teaching in groups
or a one-on-one setting with the students. PA and PI directly linked culturally relevant teaching
practices to differentiation. PA elaborated that “teachers will give different help. … Before
Covid, they can choose to have a friend help them or do it with a friend.” PI mentioned that
“culture is an individual’s interests and is related to differentiation. … It’s something you can
share, discuss, and respect.” PE considered grouping as a learning culture more in international
schools than in schools in China, and that the education in this international school is more
influenced by the western culture. According to PE, “in international schools, we pay more
attention to groups, talk to friends, know what others think and see how others learn.” Four
participants talked about how they tried to blend the teaching of Chinese culture in the current
school curricula. PB brought up how they used to teach culture that is integrated in a curriculum
and admitted that “the school spends a lot of time focusing on the academic stuff, the cultural
responsive [learning] needs to spare extra time. The school does not have that comparatively.”
PF shared a similar perspective that “we do feel the pressure to have to deliver all the content. So
the time you can specifically allocate to teaching culture is very limited.” PC and PF discussed

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how they teach Chinese culture through crafting. PH mentioned that “ we will take our children
from different dimensions to understand why Chinese Spring Festival is celebrated.”
Regarding community building and student-teacher relationship, PD stated that “I try to
make children feel that teachers will embrace their culture, listen to what they say, and adopt it.”
PD also emphasized that “there’s no preference for a certain kind of festival [in the class
community].” PG talked about how they use morning meetings and songs to teach self-
regulation, and “the kids get to choose which ones [songs] they would like to do that we’ve
learned and if they come up with a new one, we can definitely try that as well.”
Summary. The assumed influence that AIS Chinese immersion teachers need to know
how to develop a community of care and respect with culturally responsive classroom
management is determined to be a need through interviews. Interview results indicate one
participant was able to provide information on how they set up the classroom in ways that allow
students to visualize themselves in the classroom book selection. Two participants showed their
understanding the importance of showing respect to their students’ cultures. However, they did
not specify how to create a culturally compatible environment that conveys genuine respect of all
cultures to each other. Five participants discussed how they provided choices to the students and
taught in small groups, whereas none of the participants mentioned that the priority in culturally
responsive classroom management is to develop and maintain positive, caring and trusting
relationships with students. Three participants explained how they taught Chinese culture in their
classrooms, which is not considered a key strategy or approach to manage classrooms in
culturally diverse educational settings. The interview results underlined that most of the
participants do not have a comprehensive understanding of the key strategies and approaches to
manage their classroom in a culturally responsive way. One participant directly spoke to one key

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strategy to create a culturally responsive classroom. Hence, this influence is determined to be a
need.
Metacognitive Knowledge
Influence 1. AIS Chinese immersion teachers should know how to participate in critical
self-reflection on their teaching practices.
Interview Findings
Three participants were able to reflect on their teaching practices in culturally relevant
pedagogy. One-third participants were able to reflect to some extent on their teaching practices,
which is not entirely connected to culturally relevant pedagogy. The rest three participants were
not able to speak directly to their strengths or areas of growth regarding their teaching practices
in culturally relevant pedagogy. Reflecting on their curriculum planning meetings, PF
demonstrated high awareness of implementing culturally relevant pedagogy in daily teaching
practices. According to PF, “we’re teaching procedural writing and why do we have to do peanut
butter sandwich. … We did the snow skin mooncake”, because using mooncake as a provocation
will be more relevant to the target culture in a Chinese immersion classroom. PF also recalled a
PLC meeting and pointed out that “the team planned activities and had limited sets of materials.
They specifically chose some time that not all the students were present. … I don’t think this is a
very inclusive practice.” PB and PH both reflected on their strengths in teaching curriculum
related to various cultures. When reflecting on areas of growth, PB stated that “I can bring black
life matter into the culture unit and then bring students to discuss how we can be more
harmonious and respectful to each other.” When PD and PG reflected on their areas of growth in
implementing culturally relevant pedagogy, they talked about the need of more time and more
tools to help them reflect critically. PD mentioned that “I don’t have a rubric to assess myself

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whether I have done it well, or how can I become better.” PA talked about “give them [students]
more opportunities to voice and express their thoughts in the classroom.” However, when three
of them reflected on their strengths in implementing culturally relevant pedagogy, it is not utterly
related to the key elements of culturally relevant pedagogy. PA named “divide students into
groups according to their reading levels” as a good example of including culturally relevant
pedagogy. PG used teaching of “having kids recognize where are their engines” as a good
example of practicing culturally relevant pedagogy in the classroom. PE and PI were not able to
identify a good example of including culturally relevant pedagogy in their teaching practices, as
PE expressed “I don’t know very well about culturally relevant pedagogy. How do I say an
example? ” PC reflected on one teaching strength in using crafting to teach culture so as to
increase students’ engagement. When reflecting on areas of growth, PC was not certain what
areas for improvement and briefly mentioned “probably more combined with technology.”
Observation
Neither of the two participating Chinese immersion small PLC planned reflective events
on their weekly PLC meeting agendas. In the five small PLC meetings, most of the PLC
members were vocal to share their voices. However, the conversations were all related to daily
teaching plans, developing writing rubrics, or student behaviors.
Summary
The assumed influence that AIS Chinese immersion teachers should know how to
participate in critical self-reflection on their teaching practices is determined to be a need through
interviews and observations. Three out of nine interview participants were reflecting critically on
culturally relevant teaching practices, whereas the other six participants were either not confident
with their factual knowledge of culturally relevant pedagogy, or having limited factual

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knowledge of culturally relevant pedagogy to support a critical self-reflection in their teaching
practices. Through observations, the participating PLC meetings did not create opportunities for
the teaching members to have critical dialogues around their teaching practices in implementing
culturally relevant pedagogy. The teachers were lacking time and resources to have regular
critical self-reflections on their teaching practices. As a result, this influence is determined to be
a need.
Results and Findings for Motivation Causes
The analysis of this study addresses two types of motivation causes. They are value and
self-efficacy. The assumed value cause is that the AIS Chinese immersion teachers should value
culturally relevant pedagogy with which linguistically diverse and minoritized students will be
recentered and achieve academic excellence and cultural affirmation. The assumed self-efficacy
causes are AIS Chinese immersion teachers need to have confidence in enacting culturally
relevant pedagogy in the Chinese immersion classrooms, as well as feel comfortable with critical
self-reflection on their teaching practices.
Value
Influence 1. AIS Chinese immersion teachers should value culturally relevant pedagogy
with which linguistically diverse and minoritized students will be recentered and achieve
academic excellence and cultural affirmation.
Interview Findings
Nine participants spoke to the benefits of culturally relevant pedagogy. PF stressed that
“it’s not just the benefits, but it’s like it’s necessary.” According to PF, culturally relevant
pedagogy “changed children’s lives.” Six participants discussed the benefits concerning equity in
teaching and learning, student and teacher relationship, and diminishing prejudice. PA claimed

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that “this teaching method is a fair one … a more equitable treatment for students.” PB pointed
out that “change some of my prejudices against others, or some kind of discrimination.” PD
stated that “they [students] feel accepted, they feel respected. … Their cultures are appreciated.”
The other three participants related the benefits of culturally relevant pedagogy to personalized
learning, the importance of understanding learning cultures, and communicative skills. PE
specified that the pedagogy will enable students to “communicate with people of different
cultures, work together, and have a wider mind.” PC shared that “every country has its very
important culture, so long as the student learns the background and culture behind that
language.” In addition, nine participants spoke to the limitations of culturally relevant pedagogy.
One participant showed their doubt in implementing the pedagogy as “culture is too big. … How
do you do alignment across different ages? … Does it have different levels? How do we teach
young students? None of them are clear.” Four participants mentioned time constraints for the
implementation of culturally relevant pedagogy, as well as teachers’ acceptance of implementing
the pedagogy. PA stated that “it is challenging for teachers because you need to spend a lot of
time in addition to the work that needs to be done, in order to really understand the student’s
background and their needs.” PD shared their concern on “the degree of acceptance of the
teacher, the implementation of the curriculum, in what aspect, how do you implement? How to
succeed in the end?” PG expressed that “it takes a lot of time and busy teachers and overfilled
curriculums, it’s hard to find that time.” Three participants commented on the school’s policy,
involvement, and support. PC pointed out that “it does not have a curriculum … if there are
guidelines for teachers. I think it will be better for the teacher to have a direction.” As PB
explained,

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if the school does not have a clear direction, and then there is not a lot of support and
resources, it becomes difficult for teachers to push it. In my knowledge of the school, the
school is not really implementing this, because it gives me the feeling that this is just an
American school. There is not even a lot of Chinese culture in the curriculum in the
Chinese immersion program.
In addition, PG pointed out that “when it becomes prescribed … you’re kind of just like ticking
the boxes”, they did not believe in the utility of culturally relevant pedagogy.
Summary
The assumed influence that AIS Chinese immersion teachers should value culturally
relevant pedagogy with which linguistically diverse and minoritized students will be recentered
and achieve academic excellence and cultural affirmation is determined to be a need through
interviews. While all nine participants were highlighting numerous benefits of culturally relevant
pedagogy and have demonstrated strong belief in it, none of them connected the benefits to
recentering on linguistically diverse and minoritized students so as to help them achieve
academic excellence. Three out of nine participants grounded their discussions of the benefits in
a misunderstanding of culturally relevant pedagogy. Seven out of nine participants expressed
concerns with the limited time, resources, support and unclear directions from the organization in
their implementation of culturally relevant pedagogy in their Chinese immersion classrooms. The
participants seem motivated to implement culturally relevant pedagogy by their beliefs.
However, their knowledge influences as well as the organization causes play a critical role in
maintaining their motivation in implementing culturally relevant practices in their classrooms.
Hence, this influence is determined to be a need.
Self-Efficacy

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Influence 1
AIS Chinese immersion teachers need to have confidence in enacting culturally relevant
pedagogy in the Chinese immersion classrooms.
Interview Findings. Two participants distinctly demonstrated lack of confidence in
enacting culturally relevant pedagogy. PE spoke that “I don’t know very well about culturally
relevant pedagogy. How do I say an example [of a good teaching]?” PI said “I can’t answer that
question. I don’t know much about it myself. … I don’t have much doubt about it myself.” Seven
participants spoke to good examples of them implementing culturally relevant pedagogy. PB
shared their teaching experiences when they “taught culture and tradition.” PC highlighted their
experiences in using handcrafts to teach Chinese culture and said that “the most valuable thing is
that they can connect what I teach with their background.” PF recalled their experiences in
identifying exclusive teaching practices shared by other teachers, and demonstrated high
confidence in enacting culturally relevant pedagogy not only in classrooms, but also in
professional learning communities. PF asserted that “it’s important to ask those critical
questions, otherwise they will never be answered and nobody will really think about it.”
Summary. The assumed influence that AIS Chinese immersion teachers need to have
confidence in enacting culturally relevant pedagogy in the Chinese immersion classrooms is
determined to be a need through interviews. I connect this finding with those in the knowledge
influences. Despite that seven out of nine participants demonstrated high confidence in their
teaching practices, only one of them grounded their teaching practices in a correct understanding
of culturally relevant pedagogy. The other six participants conceived more or less misconception
of culturally relevant pedagogy and did not clearly speak about key strategies of culturally

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relevant pedagogy being applied in their teaching examples. As a result, this influence is
determined as a need.
Influence 2
AIS Chinese immersion teachers need to feel comfortable with critical self-reflection on
their teaching practices.
Observation. In the observations of five Chinese immersion small PLC meetings, critical
self-reflection events were not on the agenda for any of the five meetings. In observations, most
of the PLC members felt comfortable to share their voices or participate in discussions.
Nevertheless, the meeting agendas were planned for the teaching planning, newsletter writing,
writing rubrics development , or student behavior discussions. Critical self-reflection on teaching
practices were not evident in any of the small PLC meetings.
Summary. The assumed influence that AIS Chinese immersion teachers need to feel
comfortable with critical self-reflection on their teaching practices is determined to be a need
through observations. The participants did not plan opportunities to conduct critical self-
reflections on their teaching practices. There was no evidence to support their level of comfort in
reflecting critically on their teaching practices. Subsequently, this influence is determined to be a
need.
Results and Findings for Organization Causes
The analysis of this study tackles three types of organization causes. They are resources,
cultural models, and cultural settings. The assumed cause of resources is that the AIS Chinese
immersion teachers need professional learning of the declarative and procedural knowledge
around culturally relevant pedagogy. The assumed cause of cultural models is AIS Chinese
immersion teachers need to educate for a school espoused value that promotes culturally relevant

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pedagogy. The assumed cause of cultural settings is AIS Chinese immersion teachers need to
practice self-reflection regularly in their professional learning community to ensure learning and
instructions are highly responsive to students’ cultures and values.
Resources
Influence 1. AIS Chinese immersion teachers need professional learning of the
declarative and procedural knowledge around culturally relevant pedagogy.
Interview Findings
Out of nine participants, no one mentioned that they received professional learning of the
factual knowledge of culturally relevant pedagogy in any PLCs [professional learning
community] they are affiliated with. PB responded that “I can almost say no” to the question
about ways the PLCs support their teachers in enacting culturally relevant pedagogy. PF
explained that “they are being supportive. … But … the knowledge base is not there, there are
different developmental orientations or culture understanding is not there and we still have a long
way to go.” Six out of nine participants stated that there were teaching plans discussed regarding
differentiation strategies, holiday celebrations and book selection for classroom teaching in PLC
meetings occasionally. PA mentioned that the grade-level PLC shares “different ways of
teaching” to students with different Math levels. PD shared that their immersion classrooms
adopt most of the curriculum developed by the English monolingual program, and “work with
the English immersion teacher … to discuss what we are teaching and what they are teaching.”
In addition, As PD stated,
because there are too many PLCs we need to participate in, grade-level PLC, immersion
small PLC, and so time is limited, we have the immersion big PLC meeting once a

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month. Often our time is taken up by something else, and when it comes to that, there’s
probably not much time to talk about cultural stuff.
PI mentioned that in grade-level PLC meetings, “they picked out [English] books that were about
minorities … talk about some diverse reading texts, how to introduce them in class.” PI added
that some teachers in the grade-level PLC reflected that “Fountas and Pinnell assessments, there
are biases, as the text is based on White people, maybe it’s not very culturally responsive.”
Eight out of nine participants recalled that the school provided learning experiences
regarding culturally relevant pedagogy on the in-service days, but the number of those learning
opportunities are limited. PB said “ I have limited training.” PI said “There are only two times at
the beginning of the school. … I don’t know if it’s going to happen continuously.” One
participant stated that there was no professional learning around culturally relevant pedagogy.
Seven out of nine participants asserted that they would like to get more training and
relevant resources on culturally relevant pedagogy from the school. PB shared that “I need a
clear direction from the school, a lot of resources, including books, and guest speakers.” PD
mentioned that “If the budget permits, I hope the school will allow us to take a little more
workshop. I still think the workshop offered by the school is too short, too broad, not so deep,
and, if possible, more training.” PE expressed that “the school has to provide resources, course
training, tell us what culturally relevant pedagogy really is, then give some examples of how it is
implemented.” PI pointed out that the school needs to “go on with the last training. Now it seems
silent and we don’t know what’s going on. I don’t think it’s ever clear.”
Observation
In the five Chinese immersion small PLC meetings, no evidence was observed to
demonstrate that AIS Chinese immersion PLCs provide professional learning about culturally

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relevant pedagogy. The members of one participating PLCs used the small PLC meeting time to
plan weekly newsletter to the grade-level immersion parents, as well as developing Chinese
writing rubrics. They once raised the question of whether culturally relevant pedagogy will be
applicable. However, they were not able to continue with the discussion because the members
mentioned that they do not know enough about culturally relevant pedagogy. The other
participating PLC members used the small PLC meeting time to communicate the design of
learning experiences between the English and Chinese teachers. They were talking about
whether they could share one set of learning materials and have some of the English translated
into Chinese. However, no specific discussions or professional learning occurred regarding
culturally relevant pedagogy.
Document Analysis
There is evidence in the in-service-day agendas in 2021 to provide learning of factual
knowledge about culturally relevant pedagogy. There is no evidence in the in-service-day
agendas to provide learning of procedural knowledge regarding culturally relevant pedagogy.
There have been two professional learning opportunities planned on two in-service-day agendas
in the academic year of 2021. The professional learning required teachers to learn and reflect
with their small PLC members. On one in-service day, the planned professional learning agenda
invited the school faculty to reflect on their curriculum using an adapted culturally responsive
curriculum rubric. There is no evidence in the in-service-day agendas of 2020 to demonstrate
that there was professional learning focused on the declarative and procedural knowledge of
culturally relevant pedagogy.
Summary

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The assumed influence that AIS Chinese immersion teachers need professional learning
of the declarative and procedural knowledge around culturally relevant pedagogy is determined
to be a need through interviews, observations, and document analysis. The interview participants
recalled various support obtained from their affiliated PLCs. However, only one out of nine
participants shared that their PLC directly discussed the implementation of culturally relevant
pedagogy in the English monolingual classrooms. Seven out of nine interview participants
expressed their lingering needs in getting more training and relevant resources on culturally
relevant pedagogy from the school. The observation results indicated that none of the two
participating small immersion PLCs planned learning around culturally relevant pedagogy. The
document analysis demonstrated evidence of 2.5-day professional learning experience that was
directly connected to culturally relevant pedagogy in the year of 2021. All the results underline a
shortage of curriculum this influence is determined to be a need. In view of the limited resources
and professional learning opportunities provided by the organization, as well as the absence of
culturally relevant pedagogy in PLC meetings, this influence is determined as a need
consequently.
Cultural Models
Influence 1. AIS Chinese immersion teachers need to educate for a school espoused value
that promotes culturally relevant pedagogy.
Document Analysis
There is no evident information shown in the AIS vision and mission statement to reveal
an espoused value that promotes culturally relevant pedagogy. The mission statement is
described “to provide each student an exemplary American experience with an international
perspective.” The term “American educational experience” is emphasized in the statement,

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showing no evidential base for an diverse educational experience other than an American
educational system. The AIS vision as “we aspire to be a world leader in education, cultivating
exceptional thinkers, prepared for the future” has no direct term or indicator that promotes an
inclusiveness of diverse values, social justice and equity.
There is evidence in the AIS learning aspirations to demonstrate that the school
emphasizes on building students’ characters that show acceptance of the differences and
compassion toward others. In addition, cultural competence is listed as one of the AIS learning
aspirations which was defined as the skill of “functioning effectively with people of different
cultures and socioeconomic backgrounds by building awareness of one’s own cultural
worldview, and developing cross-cultural skills and a positive attitude towards cultural
differences.” In a written explanation of critical thinking as one of the learning aspirations, it
stated that “social studies courses have focused on … once that ask students to critically think
about concepts like conflict, sustainability, and poverty”, which is the evidence to indicate the
school’s espoused values on the development of socio-political awareness in their students’
learning. While it is evident in at least three AIS learning aspirations that AIS has the espoused
value that promotes culturally relevant pedagogy, some aspects were lacking in the AIS
aspiration statement. For critical thinking, social studies is the only academic domain that is
expected to incorporate culturally relevant practices in learning and teaching. For cultural
competence, the target skill is to build awareness of one’s own cultural worldview, although the
skill to critically reflect on oneself and their worldview was not evident in the statement of
cultural competence.
In addition, there is digital information of the AIS learning inspirations in its Chinese
immersion program. The written statements of the seven learning aspirations indicated less

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connection to culturally relevant pedagogy in its program espoused values. The valued
communication for the students in the Chinese immersion program is to “communicate directly
with English and Mandarin speaking communities on a variety of levels.” This value in
communication demonstrated no evidence in including students who come with extra language
assets or whose home language is neither English or Chinese in the Chinese immersion learning
community. The valued character for the students in the Chinese immersion program is to have
the “ability to understand two different value systems and ways of life.” It underlined that there
are no more than two value systems to be experienced, observed, learned through the learning in
the AIS Chinese immersion program. The valued cultural competence for students in the Chinese
immersion program is to know “what it is to have two inner worlds based in the roots of two
different languages and values.” It indicated that there are only “two inner worlds” emphasized
and included in the education of the AIS Chinese immersion program. The valued collaboration
for the students in the Chinese immersion program focuses on one skill of collaborating “with
Chinese and English speakers” to “create bridges between communities to the benefit of both.” It
is not explicitly stated in this value that speakers of other languages than English are included or
welcomed to this program. The valued creativity for the students in the Chinese immersion
program is to “creatively bring together their two language worlds in new and exciting ways
through a variety of media.” There is no evidence in this value statement to show that the AIS
Chinese immersion program provides opportunities for students to present their creativity
through Chinese and other languages in addition to English. The valued content knowledge
learned by the students in the Chinese immersion program needs to be “fully aligned with the
AIS elementary curriculum.” The AIS elementary curriculum was designed for its English

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monolingual program, in which the learning of target culture competence, the Chinese culture, is
not evident.
Along with the AIS learning aspirations, there is evidence in the AIS institutional
commitment and the criteria for measuring the success of the AIS 2027 strategic plan to
demonstrate an organization’s cultural model that promotes culturally relevant pedagogy. In the
AIS institutional commitment, criteria 4.2 indicates that the AIS faculty aspires to implement
“units that are culturally responsive, provide opportunities for inquiry, and result in application
and transfer of learning.” Described in the measuring success of AIS 2027 strategic plan, the
school yearns for a diverse community that “promotes equity and inclusion for all students and
educators.”
Summary
The assumed influence that AIS Chinese immersion teachers need to educate for a school
espoused value that promotes culturally relevant pedagogy is determined to be a need through
document analysis. The AIS vision and mission statement does not reveal evident indications
that promote a value in diversity, equity and inclusiveness. While there is evidence in some
aspects of the AIS learning aspirations to promote culturally relevant pedagogy, it is not evident
that the school values on culturally relevant pedagogy in the AIS learning aspirations specially
created for the AIS Chinese immersion program. Nevertheless, there is evidence that
demonstrates the organization’s value on culturally relevant pedagogy in measuring success for
the school’s 2027 strategic plan and the faculty institutional commitment. In addition to the
findings in the document analysis, the interview findings from the assumed organization cause of
resources reveal that some AIS Chinese immersion teachers do not feel that the school has a
clear direction in implementing culturally relevant pedagogy in the classrooms. Therefore, there

100
is improvement needed in establishing an organization’s espoused value that promotes culturally
relevant pedagogy. As a result, this assumed influence is determined to be a need.
Cultural Settings
Influence 1. AIS Chinese immersion teachers need to practice self-reflection regularly in
their professional learning community to ensure learning and instructions are highly responsive
to students’ cultures and values.
Interview Findings
None of the nine participants indicate that there were opportunities or agendas provided
by their affiliated PLCs to engage them with self-reflection. Three out of nine participants
expressed their needs in increasing more time and opportunity for them to reflect on their
teaching practices in a team setting. PA mentioned that “if it is actually going to be implemented,
the school needs to let us have more discussions, more reflections, and most importantly … and
then we’re actually going to implement it more systematically.” PG stated that they need time
during the PLC to look at their teaching practices, “building upon that and coming up with a next
step kind of plan and then reflecting having time again to reflect on how is it going to keep each
other accountable.” PF described that “we just talk about that. But we don’t actually practice it.
And we don’t go back and reflect on it.” In addition, one participant spoke to the aspect of
modelling from the school’s leadership team. As PF asserted,
the organization [need] not just saying what they’re really doing what they’re saying. I
also need the leadership team to model what they want us to do. I need them to learn to
grow as an individual as a leader, and I need them to be able to coach others in doing
that.

101
When speaking of the professional learning provided by the organization regarding culturally
relevant pedagogy, five participants pointed out that the learning is not consistent or lacking
details for deeper learning. According to PA,
there is a large framework, but there is not much detail. If you can really do it in the
future, you have a system from top to bottom that gives us a lot of PDs in the process,
and you really want the teachers to see that the teaching method is there.
PH said that “for culturally relevant [pedagogy], I feel less trained.” PI stated that “I want to
know one path. We have done two steps, and then what’s ahead, I don’t know what’s next.” Four
participants shared the perspective of not feeling included in the school community or the
community is mainly dominated by one culture. PB expressed that “my feeling is that this school
is American, and its culture is mostly American. Everything is about America.” PC mentioned
that “it feels like immersion is a minority.” As PF recalled,
there was one time we’re talking about three terms. … It’s really hard for many people,
not to say English is not their first language and having to be able to explain the things in
Chinese can pose some challenges for PLC leaders as well.
PG actively voiced that “immersion teachers last year, and the years before got a lot of targets on
our backs. … There were certain people who were kind of aiming things at us … and just
weren’t very kind to us.”
Observation
In the five weekly immersion small PLC meetings, there was no evidence to show that
AIS Chinese immersion teachers are engaged in reflective conversations in the PLC meetings.
Occasionally, some of the small PLC meetings organized by the two participating PLCs were
cancelled. Additional grade-level PLC meetings, in which most of the teaching and learning are

102
discussed for the English monolingual program, were added to the weekly schedule in place of
the regular small Chinese PLC meetings.
Document Analysis
There is evidence in the 2021 in-service-day professional learning agendas to show that
there were two half-day professional learning programs planned to require teachers to reflect
critically on culturally relevant pedagogy in a small PLC setting. The two participating PLCs’
meeting agendas for 2020–2021 demonstrated no evidence of regular self-reflection in a PLC
setting to ensure learning and instructions are highly responsive to students’ cultures and values.
Summary
The assumed influence that AIS Chinese immersion teachers need to practice self-
reflection regularly in their professional learning community to ensure learning and instructions
are highly responsive to students’ cultures and values is determined to be a need through
interviews, observations, and document analysis. All the interview participants expressed that the
organization has not established cultural settings that reflect its values on culturally relevant
pedagogy. The observations of the small Chinese immersion PLC meetings revealed that there
were no opportunities for the participating AIS Chinese immersion teachers to practice self-
reflection regularly around culturally relevant pedagogy. Additionally, the document analysis
found that there was no evidence in the PLC agendas or school-hosted professional learning to
show institutionalized practice of self-reflection for the AIS Chinese immersion teachers. Hence,
this assumed influence is determined to be a need.
Summary of Validated Influences
Table 8, Table 9, and Table 10 show the knowledge, motivation and organization
influences for this study and their determination as an asset or a need.

103
Table 8
Knowledge Assets or Needs As Determined by the Data
Assumed knowledge influence Asset or
need
Declarative factual
AIS Chinese immersion teachers should have the factual knowledge of what
culturally relevant pedagogy is.
Need
AIS Chinese immersion teachers should know the theoretical tenets of culturally
relevant pedagogy.

Procedural
AIS Chinese immersion teachers need to know how to integrate curriculum so
that they are reflective of diverse cultures and values.
Need
AIS Chinese immersion teachers need to know how to develop a community of
care and respect with culturally responsive classroom management.
Need
Metacognitive
AIS Chinese immersion teachers should know how to participate in critical self-
reflection on their teaching practices.
Need

Table 9
Motivation Assets or Needs As Determined by the Data
Assumed motivation influence Asset or
need
Value
AIS Chinese immersion teachers should value culturally relevant pedagogy with
which linguistically diverse and minoritized students will be recentered and
achieve academic excellence and cultural affirmation.
Need
Self-efficacy
AIS Chinese immersion teachers need to have confidence in enacting culturally
relevant pedagogy in the Chinese immersion classrooms.
Need
AIS Chinese immersion teachers need to feel comfortable with critical self-
reflection on their teaching practices.
Need

104
Table 10
Organization Assets or Needs As Determined by the Data
Assumed motivation influence Asset or
need
Resources
AIS Chinese immersion teachers need professional learning of the declarative and
procedural knowledge around culturally relevant pedagogy.
Need
Cultural models
AIS Chinese immersion teachers need to educate for a school espoused value that
promotes culturally relevant pedagogy.
Need
Cultural settings
AIS Chinese immersion teachers need to practice self-reflection regularly in their
professional learning community to ensure learning and instructions are highly
responsive to students’ cultures and values.
Need

All the findings in Chapter Four inform the recommendations in Chapter Five. The
recommendations will address the identified gaps in the knowledge, motivation, and organization
influences. Chapter Five will also provide resources that are applicable to the AIS context as well
as support the organization close the gap from achieving the organization’s performance goals.

105
Chapter Five: Recommendations and Evaluation
The purpose of this project is to conduct a gap analysis to examine the knowledge,
motivation, and organizational influences that interfere with the implementation of culturally
relevant pedagogy in the AIS Chinese immersion program. The analysis will begin by generating
a list of possible or assumed interfering influences that will be examined systematically to focus
on actual or validated interfering influences. While a complete gap analysis would focus on all
stakeholders, for practical purposes the stakeholder to be focused on in this analysis is the AIS
Chinese immersion teachers.
As such, the questions that guide this study are the following:
1. What are the Chinese immersion teachers’ knowledge and motivational influences to
implement culturally relevant pedagogy in their classes?
2. What are the organizational influences that hinder and/or support the Chinese
immersion teachers to implement culturally relevant pedagogy in their classes?
Recommendations to Address Knowledge, Motivation, and Organization Influences
Outlined in Chapter Four, the research data collected through interviews, observations
and document analysis indicated needs with the knowledge, motivation, and organizational
influences. In this chapter, the recommendations are presented and organized by the knowledge,
motivation and organizational validated influences. A table with the validated influences and its
priority to achieve the organizational performance goal is provided in each influence category,
along with the associated principles and supporting literature for the relevant recommendations.
Knowledge Recommendations
The data collected in this study validated five knowledge influences as needs concerning
the implementation of culturally relevant pedagogy in the AIS Chinese immersion program.

106
There are two factual knowledge influences, two procedural knowledge influences, and one
metacognitive knowledge influence. Influences were validated as needs through interviews,
observations, and document analysis. All the five knowledge influences are considered high
priority in their respective knowledge types. Table 11 indicates a priority level for each validated
knowledge influence in achieving the organizational goal as well as the research-based principles
that support the corresponding recommendations. Following the table, a detailed discussion is
provided for each three knowledge types, along with the supporting literature where the
associated principles and the specific recommendations are grounded.

Table 11
Summary of Knowledge Influences and Recommendations
Assumed
knowledge
influence
Asset
or
need
Priority
yes or
no
Principle and citation Context-specific
recommendation
Factual

AIS Chinese
immersion
teachers
should have
the factual
knowledge of
what
culturally
relevant
pedagogy is.

Need Yes Focus on internal
cognitive events
and processes
during learning;
Focus on
differences between
novices and experts
in terms of store of
prior knowledge,
role of automaticity
in performance
(Rueda, 2011)
Provide targeted professional
learning with print
information about the factual
knowledge of culturally
relevant pedagogy; elaborate
factual knowledge with
worked examples and relate
new information to previous
experiences; distribute
practice of repeating the
information to be learned in
regular PLC meetings.
AIS Chinese
immersion
teachers
should know
the
theoretical
tenets of
culturally
Need Yes Focus on internal
cognitive events
and processes
during learning;
Focus on
differences between
novices and experts
in terms of store of
Provide targeted professional
learning with print
information about the factual
knowledge of culturally
relevant pedagogy; elaborate
factual knowledge with
worked examples and relate
new information to previous

107
Assumed
knowledge
influence
Asset
or
need
Priority
yes or
no
Principle and citation Context-specific
recommendation
relevant
pedagogy.
prior knowledge,
role of automaticity
in performance
(Rueda, 2011)
experiences; distribute
practice of repeating the
information to be learned in
regular PLC meetings.
Procedural

AIS Chinese
immersion
teachers need
to know how
to integrate
curriculum
so that they
are reflective
of diverse
cultures and
values.
Need Yes Focus on differences
between novices
and experts in
terms of store of
prior knowledge,
role of automaticity
in performance
(Rueda, 2011);
Providing
scaffolding and
assisted
performance in a
person’s ZPD
promotes
developmentally
appropriate
instruction; Social
interaction,
cooperative
learning, and
cognitive
apprenticeships
facilitate
construction of new
knowledge (Scott
& Palincsar, 2013)
Provide targeted professional
learning with print
information about the
procedural knowledge
of developing a culturally
responsive curriculum;
elaborate procedural
knowledge with worked
examples and relate new
information to previous
experiences; Pair novices
and experts together to
develop a culturally
responsive curriculum with
sufficient scaffoldings and
tools (such as checklist and
pre-written curricula
information) to facilitate the
process of application;
provide regular opportunities
for teachers to adjust, update
and recreate units of study
throughout the school year.
AIS Chinese
immersion
teachers need
to know how
to develop a
community
of care and
respect with
culturally
responsive
classroom
management.
Need Yes Focus on internal
cognitive events
and processes
during learning;
Focus on
differences between
novices and experts
in terms of store of
prior knowledge,
role of automaticity
in performance
(Rueda, 2011);
Provide targeted professional
learning with print, auditory
and visual information about
the procedural knowledge
of culturally responsive
classroom management;
demonstrate procedural
knowledge with worked
examples from videos and
classroom labsite; relate new
information to previous
experiences; provide

108

Factual Knowledge Solutions
The AIS Chinese immersion teachers should know what culturally relevant pedagogy is
as well as its pedagogical tenets. These influences were identified as priorities because this
Assumed
knowledge
influence
Asset
or
need
Priority
yes or
no
Principle and citation Context-specific
recommendation
integrate auditory
and visual
information
maximizes working
memory capacity
(Mayer, 2011)
coaching cycle with
guidance, modeling and
providing performance
feedback to maintain
frequent practice of
culturally responsive
classroom management.
Metacognitive

AIS Chinese
immersion
teachers
should know
how to
participate in
critical self-
reflection on
their teaching
practices.
Need Yes The use of
metacognitive
strategies facilitates
learning (Baker,
2006); Focus on
differences between
novices and experts
in terms of store of
prior knowledge,
role of automaticity
in performance
(Rueda, 2011)
Provide opportunities for
teachers to engage in guided
self-monitoring and self-
assessment of their
implementation of culturally
relevant pedagogy in the
classrooms; model one’s
own metacognitive process
by talking out loud and
assess their strengths and
areas of growth in practicing
culturally relevant pedagogy;
provide opportunities for
individuals to debrief the
thinking process in regular
PLC meetings; provide peer
collaboration and discussion
where individuals can
discuss their procedural
knowledge and its
application of developing
culturally responsive
curriculum and practicing
culturally responsive
classroom management.

109
factual knowledge must be present in order to implement culturally relevant pedagogy in the
classrooms. Undergirded with information processing system theory, Rueda (2011) discussed
that factual knowledge learning strategies should focus on internal cognitive events and
processes during learning. This would suggest that information needs to be provided and held in
working memory for processing in order for learners to gain the knowledge. The
recommendation then for the AIS Chinese immersion teachers might be to provide targeted
professional learning with print information about the factual knowledge of culturally relevant
pedagogy and its theoretical tenets. In Rueda’s discussion (2011), information processing system
theory also declared that learning factual knowledge should focus on the learner’s store of prior
knowledge as well as the role of automaticity in performance. This principle suggests that
information learned meaningfully is stored more quickly and remembered more accurately
because it is elaborated with prior learning. In addition, learned knowledge can be practiced until
it is automated and thereafter does not take up working memory space. The recommendation
then for the AIS Chinese immersion teachers might be providing training with worked examples
and relate new information to previous experiences. Meanwhile, the factual knowledge of
culturally relevant pedagogy might be revisited regularly in PLC meetings, such as the weekly
Chinese immersion small PLC meetings.
Procedural Knowledge Solutions
The AIS Chinese immersion teachers need to know how to practice culturally responsive
classroom management as well as develop culturally relevant curriculum. As discussed above,
the information processing system theory stands out the internal cognitive events and processes
during learning as well as the role of automaticity in performance (Rueda, 2011). This suggests
that new information to be learned should be presented to learners so it would increase the

110
amount of knowledge held in working memory for processing. Once the learned knowledge is
practiced until it is automated, it would no longer take up working memory space. To maximize
working memory capacity, Mayer (2011) discovered that the integration of auditory and visual
information for knowledge to be learned helped to increase more information held in the working
memory. This would advocate that information presented in multimedia or other visual forms
would allow more knowledge input for cognitive processing. The recommendation accordingly
might be providing the AIS Chinese immersion teachers with print information about procedural
knowledge of developing culturally relevant curriculum as well as strategies to nurture a
culturally responsive learning community. The procedural knowledge of culturally responsive
classroom management could be demonstrated in video form as well as classroom labsite. The
newly learned knowledge should be recalled regularly through curriculum planning meetings and
reflective dialogues on teaching practices so that the newly learned procedural knowledge would
become automated in performance. The organization might provide regular opportunities for
teachers to adjust, update and recreate units of study throughout the school year. In addition,
Rueda (2011) discussed focusing on differences between novices and experts in terms of store of
prior knowledge. Scott and Palincsar (2013) declared that providing scaffolding and assisted
performance in a person’s ZPD (zone of proximal development) promotes developmentally
appropriate instruction. They further discussed that social interaction, cooperative learning, and
cognitive apprenticeships facilitate construction of new knowledge. This would advocate that
learning should happen at a developmentally appropriate level with necessary scaffolding for
learners, as learners are differentiated between novices and experts. It is also suggested that
learning partnerships would promote the effectiveness of learning and permit meaningful
personalized learning to happen. Hence, the recommendation might be elaborating procedural

111
knowledge learned by the AIS Chinese immersion teachers with worked examples related to
their previous experiences. Additionally, it is recommended to pair novices and experts together
to develop a culturally responsive curriculum with sufficient scaffoldings and tools (such as
checklist and pre-written curricula information) to facilitate the process of application. To
increase the procedural knowledge of culturally responsive classroom management, it is
recommended that the organization should allow peer-coaching to happen, with guidance,
modeling and providing performance feedback in action to maintain frequent practice of
culturally responsive classroom management in the Chinese immersion classrooms.
Metacognitive Knowledge Solutions
The AIS Chinese immersion teachers should know how to participate in critical self-
reflection on their teaching practices in culturally relevant pedagogy. Researchers discussed that
the use of metacognitive strategies facilitates learning (Baker, 2006); This indicates that
providing opportunities for teachers to engage in guided self-monitoring and self-assessment of
their teaching practices would allow them to be aware of their cognition, adjust their teaching
practices, and better understand why they are doing something (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001).
Therefore, the recommendation for the AIS Chinese immersion teachers might be utilizing
guided self-monitoring and self-assessment of their implementation of culturally relevant
pedagogy in the classrooms. Moreover, it is also helpful that the AIS Chinese immersion teacher
would model their own metacognitive process by talking out loud and assess their strengths and
areas of growth in practicing culturally relevant pedagogy. This would necessitate the
organization to provide opportunities for individuals to debrief the thinking process in regular
PLC meetings that activate collective reflections. As discussed above, Rueda’s discussion on the
role of automaticity in performance would suggest that metacognitive knowledge could also be

112
practiced frequently until it is automated (2011). Hence, it is recommended that the AIS Chinese
immersion teachers should be provided with frequent opportunities to practice critical self-
reflection on their culturally relevant teaching practices, for example, in their weekly small PLC
meetings.
Motivation Recommendations
The data from this study validated three motivation influences as needs regarding the
implementation of culturally relevant pedagogy in the AIS Chinese immersion program. There
are one value influence and two self-efficacy influences. Influences were validated as needs
through interviews and observations. All the three motivation influences are considered high
priority in their respective motivation types. Table 12 indicates a priority level for each validated
motivation influence in achieving the organizational goal as well as the research-based principles
that support the corresponding recommendations. Following the table, a detailed discussion is
provided for respective motivation types, along with the literature that supports the relevant key
principles and recommendations.

Table 12
Summary of Motivation Influences and Recommendations
Assumed motivation
influence
Priority
high
low
Principle and citation Context-specific
recommendation
Value

AIS Chinese
immersion
teachers should
value culturally
relevant
pedagogy with
which
linguistically
High The six different ways that
the social and physical
organization can affect
motivation: task,
authority, recognition,
grouping, evaluation,
and time (Epstein, 1989);
Provides clear and consistent
organizational goals of
implementing culturally
relevant pedagogy;
provides constant
resources and working
conditions that promote
the implementation of

113
diverse and
minoritized
students will be
recentered and
achieve academic
excellence and
cultural
affirmation.
Rationales that include a
discussion of the
importance and utility
value of the work or
learning can help
learners develop positive
values (Eccles &
Wigfield, 2002; Pintrich,
2003).

culturally relevant
pedagogy;
Facilitate professional
learning and PLC
discourses with a focus on
the importance and utility
of culturally relevant
pedagogy for linguistically
diverse and minoritized
students.
Self-Efficacy

AIS Chinese
immersion
teachers need to
have confidence
in enacting
culturally
relevant
pedagogy in the
Chinese
immersion
classrooms.
High There are four major
sources of information
used by individuals
when forming self-
efficacy judgments:
performance
accomplishments,
vicarious experience,
social Persuasion, and
physiological and
emotional states
(Bandura, 1986)
Help learners acquire new
behaviors through
demonstration and
modeling; provide timely
feedback that links use of
learning strategies with
improved performance
(Shute, 2008).
AIS Chinese
immersion
teachers need to
feel comfortable
with critical self-
reflection on their
teaching
practices.
High There are four major
sources of information
used by individuals
when forming self-
efficacy judgments:
performance
accomplishments,
vicarious experience,
social persuasion, and
physiological and
emotional states
(Bandura, 1986)
Demonstrate and model
critical self-reflection on
culturally relevant
teaching practices to the
AIS Chinese immersion
teachers; provide
opportunities for learners
to check their performance
of implementing culturally
relevant pedagogy and
adjust their teaching
strategies as needed.

Value Solutions
The AIS Chinese immersion teachers should value culturally relevant pedagogy with
which linguistically diverse and minoritized students will be recentered and achieve academic
excellence and cultural affirmation. Epstein (1989) discovered that there are different ways that

114
the social and physical organization can affect an individual’s motivation, such as authority, task,
and time. This suggests that the organizational cultural models and settings may affect an
individual’s motivation to accomplish certain tasks. The recommendations then might be that the
school provide clear and consistent organizational goals of implementing culturally relevant
pedagogy in the Chinese immersion classrooms. Moreover, the organization is recommended to
allocate constant resources, time and working conditions that promote the implementation of
culturally relevant pedagogy in the Chinese immersion program. In addition, researchers also
discussed the rationales that include a discussion of the importance and utility value of the work
or learning can help learners develop positive values (Eccles & Wigfield, 2002; Pintrich, 2003).
This principle indicates that learning and working discourses should convey the importance and
utility value of certain activities in order to help individuals develop positive attitudes toward the
target tasks. Therefore, the recommendation might be that the organization would facilitate
professional learning and PLC discussions with a focus on the importance and utility of
culturally relevant pedagogy for linguistically diverse and minoritized students.
Self-Efficacy Solutions
AIS Chinese immersion teachers should have confidence in implementing culturally
relevant pedagogy as well as feel comfortable to conduct critical self-reflection on their teaching
practices. Bandura (1986) created the theory of self-efficacy and constructed the four sources of
self-efficacy: performance accomplishments, vicarious experience, social persuasion, and
physiological and emotional states. This theory advocates that modeling to-be-learned strategies
or behaviors improves self-efficacy, resulting in effective learning and high performance. In
addition, vicarious reinforcement, positive recognition and constructive feedback also help
increase an individual’s self-efficacy. Therefore, it is recommended to provide demonstration

115
and credible modeling of culturally relevant teaching practices and critical reflection to the AIS
Chinese immersion teachers. Moreover, timely feedback to the AIS Chinese immersion teachers
that links use of culturally relevant teaching strategies with improved performance is equally
recommended (Shute, 2008). Some other recommendations might be providing constant
opportunities for the AIS Chinese immersion teachers to check their performance of
implementing culturally relevant pedagogy and adjust their teaching strategies as needed.
Organization Recommendations
The data collected in this study validated three organizational influences on the problem
of practice: one resource, one cultural model, and one cultural setting influence. The influences
were validated through interviews, observations and document analysis. Table 13 indicates a
priority level for each validated influence in achieving the organizational performance goal and
the research-based principles that support this recommendation. Following the table, a discussion
is provided for each priority influence, the associated principle, and the specific
recommendations based on supporting literature.

Table 13
Summary of Organization Influences and Recommendations
Assumed organization
influence
Priority
high
low
Principle and citation Context-specific
recommendation
Resources

AIS Chinese
immersion teachers
need professional
learning of the
declarative and
procedural
knowledge around
High Effective change efforts
ensure that everyone
has the resources
(equipment, personnel,
time, etc.) needed to do
their job, and that if
there are resource
shortages, then
Establish the priorities for the
professional learning and
other resources for
culturally relevant
pedagogy; increase the
time and resources that
support the AIS Chinese
immersion teachers to gain

116
Assumed organization
influence
Priority
high
low
Principle and citation Context-specific
recommendation
culturally relevant
pedagogy.
resources are aligned
with organizational
priorities (Clark &
Estes, 2008).

factual, procedural, and
metacognitive knowledge
of culturally relevant
pedagogy.

Cultural models

AIS Chinese
immersion teachers
need to educate for
a school espoused
value that promotes
culturally relevant
pedagogy.
High The six different ways
that the social and
physical organization
can affect motivation:
task, authority,
recognition, grouping,
evaluation, and time
(Epstein, 1989);
culturally responsive
school leadership
(Khalifa, 2018)
Reconstruct the learning
aspirations created for the
AIS Chinese immersion
program so that it promotes
culturally relevant
pedagogy through the
school’s espoused value.
Cultural settings

AIS Chinese
immersion teachers
need to practice
self-reflection
regularly in their
professional
learning
community to
ensure learning and
instructions are
highly responsive
to students’
cultures and values.
High Effective change efforts
are communicated
regularly and
frequently to all key
stakeholders (Clark &
Estes, 2008);
Culturally responsive
school leadership and
PLCs (Khalifa, 2018)

Provide clear and constant
goals of implementing
culturally relevant
pedagogy in the Chinese
immersion program and
avoid constant change of
the goals with no
discernible reason;
institutionalize the practice
of critical reflection;
develop culturally
responsive PLCs that use
adapted PLC questions to
guide critical reflection on
culturally relevant teaching
practices.

Resources Solutions
AIS Chinese immersion teachers need professional learning of the declarative and
procedural knowledge around culturally relevant pedagogy. Clark and Estes (2008) stated that

117
effective change efforts ensure that everyone has the resources (equipment, personnel, time, etc.)
needed to do their job, and that if there are resource shortages, then resources are aligned with
organizational priorities. This suggests that organizations should provide its members with
sufficient resources that are aligned with its priorities so that effective changes can be
implemented and organizational goals will be achieved. The recommendations hence might be
that the AIS would establish the priorities for its professional learning and other resources for
culturally relevant pedagogy and increase the time and resources that would support the AIS
Chinese immersion teachers to gain factual, procedural, and metacognitive knowledge of
culturally relevant pedagogy.
Cultural Model Solutions
AIS Chinese immersion teachers need to educate for a school espoused value that
promotes culturally relevant pedagogy. According to Epstein, the social and physical
organization can affect an individual’s motivation to enact certain behaviors (1989). Khalifa
(2018) also discussed that culturally responsive school leadership started with the vision, mission
and core values of an organization. These principles suggest that a clear direction and goal
provided by the organization would motivate its members to participate in certain activities or
not. In order to implement culturally relevant pedagogy in daily classrooms, the organization
ought to conduct culturally responsive school leadership. Hence, it is recommended that the AIS
reconstruct the learning aspirations created for the AIS Chinese immersion program so that it
would promote culturally relevant pedagogy. The AIS Chinese immersion teachers therefore
would realize the importance and utility value of implementing culturally relevant pedagogy in
their classrooms.
Cultural Settings Solutions

118
AIS Chinese immersion teachers need to practice self-reflection regularly in their
professional learning community to ensure learning and instructions are highly responsive to
students’ cultures and values. According to Clark and Estes, effective change efforts are
communicated regularly and frequently to all key stakeholders (2018). This suggests that
communication of the organization needs to reinforce its strategic priorities constantly
throughout various organizational settings, newsletters, superintendent and principals’ address,
professional learning, parent and community communication, and so forth. The recommendation
hence might be that the AIS should provide clear and constant goals of implementing culturally
relevant pedagogy in the Chinese immersion program, to its administrators, teachers, as well as
parent community. Moreover, the organization should avoid constant change of the goals with no
discernible reasons. When addressing culturally responsive school leadership, Khalifa (2018)
advised that culturally responsive school leadership should start with its culturally responsive
PLCs where regular critical reflections are practiced individually and collectively. The principle
also suggests a list of adapted PLC questions that will entail the PLC discourse with higher
responsiveness to students’ cultures and values in addition to their academic performance.
Therefore, it is recommended that the school would institutionalize the practice of critical
reflection in the Chinese immersion PLCs. The Chinese immersion PLCs are suggested to adopt
the adapted PLC questions to guide their teachers’ critical dialogues on culturally relevant
teaching practices.
Integrated Implementation and Evaluation Plan
Organizational Purpose, Need and Expectations
The AIS organization mission is to provide each student an exemplary American
educational experience with an international perspective. While the AIS curriculum reflects a

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normative U.S. standard-based curriculum for the last century, the organization’s institutional
commitment has explicitly stated that the curriculum and instructions ought to be culturally
responsive, and that tasks, assessment and resources should be inclusive of diverse perspectives.
Hence, the problem of practice unveiled the theory-in-use at the organization, which is
contradictory to its espoused values conveyed through its strategic plan and institutional
commitment.
This study identified the primary stakeholder group’s goal as by June 2023, the AIS
Chinese immersion teachers will implement culturally relevant pedagogy in the program and
revise their curriculum to ensure bilingual and multicultural learning for the students as
evidenced in teachers’ lesson plans as well as the Chinese immersion curricula. This
performance goal is developed by the research process. According to the AIS institutional
commitments, the curriculum developed for classroom learning needs to be culturally responsive
and relevant, in which learning engagement, evaluation, and materials are inclusive of diverse
perspectives. In addition, based on the 2020 WASC report and its recommended critical areas of
focus, AIS needs to enhance the cultural competence development for its students through
explicit teaching and learning, and thereafter increase their understanding and awareness of race
relation and inclusion issues in the society. Therefore, this goal is aligned with the entire school’s
dedication to culturally relevant practices. With appropriate and organizational support, AIS
Chinese immersion educators’ increased knowledge and motivation of enacting culturally
relevant pedagogy in curriculum development and teaching practices will directly benefit their
students’ cultural competence learning outcome.
As the results of the recommendations provided in this study, the AIS organization will
update the learning aspirations specifically written for its Chinese immersion program and

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constantly provide a clear goal of implementing culturally relevant pedagogy in the Chinese
immersion program. Moreover, the AIS organization is expected to increase its professional
learning opportunities, in terms of allocated resources and time, to help the AIS Chinese
immersion teachers with their mastery of the factual, procedural, and metacognitive knowledge
of culturally relevant pedagogy. In addition to that, the AIS Chinese immersion teachers are
expected to have strong belief in the utility of culturally relevant pedagogy implemented in a
Chinese immersion educational setting. They will have the factual knowledge to describe
culturally relevant pedagogy and its three pedagogical tenets. Equipped with the correspondent
procedural knowledge, the AIS Chinese immersion teachers will feel confident in integrating
culturally responsive curriculum in various domains, provided with more autonomy in
developing the curriculum for their Chinese immersion program. In addition, the Chinese
immersion teachers will practice culturally responsive classroom management in their immersion
classrooms. During weekly Chinese immersion PLC meetings, the AIS Chinese teachers are
secured with time for self-reflection and will feel comfortable to employ their metacognitive
knowledge to conduct critical reflection in their culturally relevant pedagogy.
Implementation and Evaluation Framework
The new world Kirkpatrick model (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016), based on the
original Kirkpatrick four-level model of evaluation of training programs (Kirkpatrick &
Kirkpatrick, 2006), guided this implementation plan. In the new world model, the
recommendation is to follow the plan in reverse, beginning with the end in mind: Level 4 results,
Level 3 behaviors, Level 2 learning, and, finally, Level 1 reaction. This backward design creates
accountability and forces the organization to envision and plan for the intended outcomes. In the
new world Kirkpatrick model, Level 4 results is defined, with the consideration of the

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organizational purpose and mission, as the degree to which the mission and goals are
accomplished. Level 3 behaviors is composed of critical behaviors, required drivers and on-the-
job learning, which indicate the degree to which individuals apply their learned knowledge on
the organization’s change implementation. The new world Level 2 learning observes how much
intended knowledge, skills individuals acquire, as well as their belief, level of confidence in
performing their acquired knowledge. Finally, the new world Level 1 reaction considers the
degree to which the individuals favor the intended learning experiences through three
dimensions, customer satisfaction, relevance, and engagement. Implementing the new world
Kirkpatrick model will foster value and commitment from stakeholders, and guide the
organization to achieve the expected outcomes by maximizing the transfer of learning to
behavior.
Level 4: Results and Leading Indicators
In the new world Kirkpatrick model (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016), Level 4 uses
leading indicators to measure whether individual critical behaviors are consistently contributing
to the accomplishment of the organizational goals. The leading indicators, by definition, help to
link the individual efforts and organizational results through short-term measurable and
observable criteria. The proposed leading indicators are stated as the external and internal
outcomes, corresponded with the metrics and instrument to measure, in Table 14. It is expected
that with professional learning, job tasks, and organizational support, the internal outcomes will
be met. The external outcome should also be met as the internal outcomes are accomplished.

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Table 14
Outcomes, Metrics, and Methods for External and Internal Outcomes
Outcome Metric(s) Method(s)
External outcomes

The AIS learning
experience in its
Chinese
immersion
program is
culturally relevant
and provides
opportunities to
develop and assess
students’ cultural
competence.
The WASC Accreditation Report
reveals the organization’s
strengths in honoring more
individual and cultural
differences through the lens of
cultural competency, as well as
developing common
understanding and practice for
teaching cultural competence
explicitly.
Compare the WASC
Accreditation Report of 2020
and 2026.
Internal outcomes

The AIS learning
aspirations
specifically
written for its
Chinese
immersion
program exhibit
the organization’s
value on culturally
relevant practices.

The seven learning aspirations
created for the Chinese
immersion program are clearly
articulated with key words that
indicate the implementation of
culturally relevant practices in its
immersion program.
Analyze the relevant
information on the school
website Chinese immersion
page
The AIS
organization
Increased time and
resources
allocated to
support its
Chinese
immersion
teachers
in increasing their
knowledge of
culturally relevant
pedagogy.
The factual knowledge of culturally
relevant pedagogy is revisited in
the weekly Chinese immersion
small PLC meetings.
One professional training per
learning quarters focuses on
culturally relevant pedagogy,
supported with Chinese as one
accessible instructional medium.
One reference book about
culturally relevant pedagogy is
provided to the Chinese
immersion teachers.

Analyze the school’s
professional learning plans,
Chinese immersion small PLC
agendas;
Observe all the professional
trainings participated by the
Chinese immersion teachers

The AIS Chinese
immersion
teachers are
provided regular
opportunities to
The four PLC questions used in the
weekly Chinese immersion small
PLC meetings are adapted to a
focus on culturally relevant
Observe the weekly Chinese
immersion small PLC
meetings one time per month;

123
Outcome Metric(s) Method(s)
reflect on their
culturally relevant
practices in the
PLC meetings.
practices of teaching and
learning.
Reflective dialogues are planned in
the Chinese immersion
small PLC agendas.

Analyze the weekly Chinese
immersion small PLC meeting
agendas
The AIS Chinese
immersion
teachers Increased
their awareness of
implementing
culturally relevant
pedagogy in the
classrooms with a
strong belief in its
utility values.
The Chinese immersion teachers
clearly articulate positive
perspectives on the culturally
relevant pedagogy and its
significance of implementation in
the Chinese immersion
classrooms.
In seven out of nine learning
observations, there is evidence
indicating culturally responsive
classroom management strategies
applied in the Chinese immersion
classrooms.

Interview the Chinese
immersion teachers about
their perspectives on
culturally relevant pedagogy
Observe the Chinese immersion
classroom setups;
Observe Chinese immersion
learning sessions, 45 minutes
per time per month;
Shadow the learning in each
immersion classrooms one
day per learning quarter;

The AIS Chinese
immersion
teachers increased
their level of
confidence in
implementing and
reflecting on
culturally relevant
pedagogy.
The Chinese immersion teachers
are vocal and actively participate
in the critical reflection in the
weekly Chinese immersion small
PLC meetings.
In seven out of nine learning
observations, the Chinese
immersion teachers are observed
to apply culturally responsive
classroom management in their
teaching practices.

Observe the Chinese immersion
classroom setups;
Observe Chinese immersion
learning sessions, 45 minutes
per time per month;
Shadow the learning in each
immersion classrooms one
day per learning quarter;
Observe the weekly Chinese
immersion small PLC
meetings one time per month
The AIS Chinese
immersion
teachers Increased
their factual,
procedural, and
metacognitive
knowledge for the
implementation of
culturally relevant
pedagogy in the
immersion
classrooms.
The Chinese immersion teachers
demonstrate correct
interpretation of culturally
relevant pedagogy and its
pedagogical tenets.
The Chinese immersion teachers
integrate culturally relevant
practices when developing the
curriculum collaboratively for
Chinese Language Arts and
Social Studies.
In seven out of nine learning
observations, the Chinese
immersion teachers are observed
to apply culturally responsive
Exit tickets to check for learning
and understanding after each
professional learning;
Interview the Chinese
immersion teachers about
interpretation on culturally
relevant pedagogy;
Analyze the AIS Chinese
immersion curriculum for
Chinese Language Arts and
Social Studies;
Observe the Chinese immersion
classroom setups;
Observe Chinese immersion
learning sessions, 45 minutes
per time per month;

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Outcome Metric(s) Method(s)
classroom management in their
teaching practices.
Shadow the learning in each
immersion classrooms one
day per learning quarter

The AIS Chinese
immersion
curriculum
becomes culturally
relevant and
reflects diverse
cultures and
values.
Use the Rubric for Culturally
Responsive
Lessons/Assignments developed
by Jean Aguilar-Valdez (2015) to
assess the Chinese immersion
curriculum. The curriculum
shows evidence that indicates
effective level in all seven
criteria in the rubric.

Analyze the AIS Chinese
immersion curriculum for
Chinese Language Arts and
Social Studies
The AIS Chinese
immersion
classrooms
become culturally
responsive
learning
communities that
reflect diverse
cultures and
values of their
learners.
Use the five essential components
of Culturally Responsive
Classroom Management as the
criteria of success: (a)
recognition of individuals’
ethnocentrism and biases; (b)
teachers’ knowledge of students’
cultural backgrounds; (c)
teaching practices indicates the
understanding of the broader
social, economic, and political
context of our educational
system; (d) teachers’ ability and
willingness to use culturally
appropriate classroom
management strategies; and (e)
teachers’ commitment to
building caring classroom
communities (Weinstein et al.,
2004). There is observable
evidence in ongoing teaching
practices that reflect at least three
out of the five essential
components.
Observe the Chinese immersion
classroom setups;
Observe Chinese immersion
learning sessions, 45 minutes
per time per month;
Shadow the learning in each
immersion classrooms one
day per learning quarter

Level 3: Behavior
Critical Behaviors

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The Level 3 Behavior in the new world Kirkpatrick model measures the degree to which
individuals perform their learned knowledge in daily practices (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick,
2016). Defined by Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick (2016), the critical behaviors are some
consistently performed actions that create the greatest influence to the desired outcomes. The
primary focused stakeholder group in this study is the AIS Chinese immersion teachers. Three
critical behaviors that should be performed by the AIS Chinese immersion teachers are identified
as the most important to achieving organizational success. First, the AIS Chinese immersion
teachers will work collaboratively to develop the immersion curriculum using the Rubric for
Culturally Responsive Lessons/Assignments. Second, the AIS Chinese immersion teachers will
apply culturally responsive classroom management strategies in the Chinese immersion
classrooms. Third, the AIS Chinese immersion teachers conduct critical reflection on their
culturally relevant practices in the weekly Chinese small PLC meetings. The specific metrics,
methods, and timing to measure each critical behavior are illustrated in Table 15.

126
Table 15
Critical Behaviors, Metrics, Methods, and Timing for Evaluation
Critical behavior Metric(s)
Method(s)
Timing
The AIS Chinese
immersion teachers
will work
collaboratively to
develop the
immersion curriculum
using the Rubric for
Culturally Responsive
Lessons/Assignments.

Number of teachers who
collaboratively develop
culturally relevant
curriculum

Chinese Small PLC
meeting observations;
Document analysis of
the weekly small PLC
meeting agendas
Quarterly
The AIS Chinese
immersion teachers
will apply culturally
responsive classroom
management
strategies in the
Chinese immersion
classrooms.
Number of teachers who are
implementing culturally
relevant pedagogy;
Number of different
strategies that being
implemented to create a
culturally responsive
immersion classroom

Classroom observations Monthly
The AIS Chinese
immersion teachers
conduct critical
reflection on their
culturally relevant
practices in the
weekly Chinese small
PLC meetings.
Number of teachers who are
vocal and actively
participate in the critical
reflective conversations in
the PLC meetings
Chinese Small PLC
meeting observations;
Document analysis of
the weekly small PLC
meeting agendas
Monthly;
Weekly

Required Drivers
The new world Level 3 added required drivers and defined it as the procedures, tools and
systems that reinforce, encourage, reward, and monitor the performance of critical behaviors at
work (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). Table 16 identifies and categorizes the required drivers,
the timing, and the specific critical behavior each driver supports. These required drivers aim to

127
hold individuals accountable to ensure the on-the-job application of their learned knowledge and
skills.

Table 16
Required Drivers to Support Critical Behaviors
Method(s) Timing
Critical
behaviors
supported
1, 2, 3 etc.
Reinforcing

Providing periodical professional learning to increase
the Chinese immersion teachers’ knowledge of
culturally relevant pedagogy.
Quarterly 1, 2, 3
Revisiting the knowledge of culturally relevant
pedagogy in regular PLC meetings.
Weekly 1, 2, 3
Creating print information as job aids for teachers to
recall on the knowledge and worked examples
needed for performing critical behaviors.
Quarterly
distributed with
professional
learning sessions
1, 2, 3
Creating coaching groups and teaching partners to
support the implementation of culturally relevant
pedagogy in classrooms, curriculum development,
and critical reflection.

Encouraging

Feedback from coaches and partners on what is
working well and plan together for the next steps.
Ongoing 1, 2, 3
Program administrators participate in the weekly
Chinese immersion PLC meetings and work
collaboratively with the team members to implement
culturally relevant pedagogy in the Chinese
immersion program.
Weekly 1, 3
Rewarding

Recognizing evident implementation of culturally
relevant pedagogy by teachers and PLCs in the
superintendent, divisional and the immersion
program weekly briefs.
Weekly 1, 2, 3

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Method(s) Timing
Critical
behaviors
supported
1, 2, 3 etc.
Setting up teaching and curriculum labsite in the
quarterly professional development to demonstrate
successful implementation of culturally relevant
pedagogy.
Quarterly 1, 2, 3
Monitoring

Providing self-assessing tools (such as checklist and
rubric) to ensure that the performance of critical
behaviors is on track.
Ongoing 1, 2, 3
Setting up regular coaching meetings to provide timely
feed that links use of learning strategies with
improved performance.
Ongoing 1, 2, 3
Reviewing PLC meeting minutes to ensure that the
adapted culturally responsive PLC questions are
employed to guide the PLC work.
Monthly 1, 2, 3

Organizational Support
In this study, the identified critical behaviors and required drivers rely on the
recommendations at the organizational level. To meet the organizational performance goal and
address the validated gaps, organizational support is fundamental and paramount. Resources,
cultural models and settings at AIS must be aligned with the organizational performance goal
and support the primary focused stakeholder group to perform critical behaviors consistently in
their daily practices. First, AIS would reconstruct the learning aspirations created for the AIS
Chinese immersion program so that it would promote culturally relevant pedagogy. Second, AIS
would establish the priorities for its professional learning and other resources for culturally
relevant pedagogy. The organization will increase the time and resources that would support the
AIS Chinese immersion teachers to gain factual, procedural, and metacognitive knowledge of

129
culturally relevant pedagogy. Third, to ensure the required drivers are functioning effectively, the
school communication needs to reinforce its strategic priorities constantly throughout various
organizational settings, newsletters, superintendent and principals’ address, professional
learning, parent and community communication, and so forth. AIS would provide clear and
constant goals of implementing culturally relevant pedagogy in the Chinese immersion program,
to its administrators, teachers, as well as parent community. Moreover, the school would
institutionalize the practice of critical reflection in the Chinese immersion PLCs, using the
adapted PLC questions to guide their teachers’ critical dialogues on culturally relevant teaching
practices. In addition, the organization would allocate space to encourage and recognize
successful practices of culturally relevant pedagogy by the Chinese immersion teachers and
PLCs in various school communication and professional learning settings. The organization
would encourage and allow fellows who are competent in implementing culturally relevant
pedagogy to step up and provide coaching opportunities to other teachers.
Level 2: Learning
The new world Kirkpatrick model Level 3 evaluates confidence and commitment of
individuals’ performance in addition to the amount of intended knowledge, skills and attitudes
they acquire from the learning events they participate in. Knowledge indicates whether
individuals know the information about certain topics, ideas and concepts. Skill means that
individuals demonstrate the ability to apply their knowledge in certain tasks and have the
knowledge of how to perform certain activities. Attitude is defined as the belief individuals
conceives towards the implementation of what they have learned. Confidence is connected to the
self-efficacy in individuals that demonstrates how competent they believe in themselves to

130
perform certain tasks. Commitment shows whether individuals acknowledge the imperatives of
implementing certain behaviors on the job.
Learning Goals
The following learning goals were developed based on the validated needs from Chapter
Four. Upon completion of the recommended solutions, the AIS Chinese immersion teachers will
be able to:
1. Explain what culturally relevant pedagogy is as well as its pedagogical tenets.
(Factual)
2. List examples of learning experiences that meet the criteria in the Rubric for
Culturally Responsive Lessons/Assignments. (Procedural)
3. Name the five essential components of culturally responsive classroom management
and provide correspondent examples of classroom practices. (Procedural)
4. Conduct critical reflection on the effectiveness of their enactment of culturally
relevant pedagogy in the Chinese immersion classrooms. (Metacognitive)
5. Discuss the utility values of culturally relevant pedagogy. (Value)
6. Demonstrate confidence in developing a culturally relevant curriculum as well as
participating in critical reflection on their culturally relevant practices. (Confidence)
7. Affirm the beliefs in implementing culturally relevant pedagogy in Chinese
immersion classrooms. (Attitude)
8. Plan the action steps for the implementation of culturally relevant pedagogy in their
Chinese immersion classrooms. (Commitment)
Program

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The program should consist of a series of professional learning sessions and coaching
activities that will increase the knowledge and motivation of the AIS Chinese immersion
teachers throughout one academic year. Hence the learning goals listed above will be
accomplished in order to support the achievement of the organizational performance goals by
June, 2023. To increase the teachers’ knowledge and skills, there will be quarterly professional
learning sessions to specifically impart information about culturally relevant pedagogy, its
pedagogical tenets, the utility values of culturally relevant pedagogy, the Rubric for Culturally
Responsive Lessons/Assignment with worked examples, the five essential components of
culturally responsive classroom management with worked examples, and protocols for critical
reflection on teaching practices. In addition, job aids, print information, and one reference book
will be provided to support the learners to reinforce the knowledge learned. Besides the
professional learning sessions, the program will include the coaching events where novices and
experts are paired together to develop a culturally responsive curriculum with sufficient
scaffoldings and tools (such as checklist and pre-written curricula information) to facilitate the
process of application on a quarterly basis. On a monthly basis, instructional coaches for
culturally relevant pedagogy will provide coaching activities to the members of each Chinese
immersion small PLC. Through the coaching exercises, the AIS Chinese teachers will plan their
action steps with the coach, be observed by the coach, and reflect with the coach on their
implementation of culturally relevant pedagogy. The AIS Chinese teachers will document their
reflections and action plans in a journal for referencing purposes.
Evaluation of the Components of Learning
It is necessary to evaluate the AIS Chinese immersion teachers’ learning of factual,
procedural, and metacognitive knowledge around culturally relevant pedagogy, as the knowledge

132
serves as the foundation for the enactment of the critical behaviors listed in the previous section.
It is also important to assess teachers’ value, confidence, and commitment to ensure motivation
isn’t detracting from learning and performance. Based on the data verified in Chapter Four, the
AIS Chinese teachers are motivated to implement pedagogical practices. However, due to lack of
knowledge or misconception of culturally relevant pedagogy, they are currently motivated to
implement teaching practices that may not be entirely considered as culturally relevant
pedagogy. Therefore, it is crucial to assess the motivation influence with the AIS Chinese
immersion teachers after they gain the knowledge of culturally relevant pedagogy for their
teaching practices. The evaluation of this influence will inform whether the primary focused
stakeholder group is motivated to implement culturally relevant pedagogy based on a correct and
thorough understanding. Table 17 lists the evaluation methods and timing for these components
of learning.

Table 17
Evaluation of the Components of Learning for the Program
Method(s) or activity(ies) Timing
Declarative knowledge “I know it.”

Explain what culturally relevant pedagogy is as well as its
pedagogical tenets.
Exit tickets to the quarterly
professional learning
sessions;
Post-program interview upon
the completion of the
program
Procedural skills “I can do it right now.”

List examples of learning experiences that meet the
criteria in the Rubric for Culturally Responsive
Lessons/Assignments.
Exit tickets to the quarterly
professional learning
sessions;
Sample learning experience
from the quarterly
curriculum planning
meetings;

133
Method(s) or activity(ies) Timing
Post-program interview upon
the completion of the
program
Name the five essential components of culturally
responsive classroom management and provide
correspondent examples of classroom practices.
Exit tickets to the quarterly
professional learning
sessions;
Monthly class observation
checklist to identify the
applied strategies;
Post-program interview upon
the completion of the
program
Conduct critical reflection on the effectiveness of their
enactment of culturally relevant pedagogy in the
Chinese immersion classrooms.
Monthly journal entry of the
self-reflection with the
coach;
Post-program interview upon
the completion of the
program
Attitude “I believe this is worthwhile.”

Discuss the utility values of culturally relevant pedagogy. Exit tickets to the quarterly
professional learning
sessions
Affirm the beliefs in implementing culturally relevant
pedagogy in Chinese immersion classrooms.
Post-program interview upon
the completion of the
program
Confidence “I think I can do it on the job.”

Demonstrate confidence in developing a culturally
relevant curriculum as well as participating in critical
reflection on their culturally relevant practices.
Exit tickets to the quarterly
professional learning
sessions;
Post-program interview upon
the completion of the
program
Commitment “I will do it on the job.”

Plan the action steps for the implementation of culturally
relevant pedagogy in their Chinese immersion
classrooms.
Exit tickets to the quarterly
professional learning
sessions;
Monthly journal entry of the
action plans with the coach;
Post-program interview upon
the completion of the
program

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Level 1: Reaction
The new world Level 1 reaction is defined to evaluate how favorable individuals’
reaction is to the learning program. At this level, individuals’ reaction is assessed through three
dimensions: customer satisfaction, relevance, and engagement. Table 18 states the methods that
will be employed to determine how the participants of the program react to the learning
experiences.

Table 18
Components to Measure Reactions to the Program
Method(s) or tool(s) Timing
Engagement

Class observation checklist During the program (the quarterly professional
learning sessions and coaching activities
throughout an academic year)
Coaching activity journals During the program
Curriculum documents During the program
Relevance

Quarterly curriculum planning work During the program;
Ongoing curriculum planning work
Action step planning and self-
reflection in the coaching activities
Exit tickets to the quarterly professional learning
sessions;
During and after the program;
Ongoing through the reflective dialogues in the
weekly small PLC meetings
Customer satisfaction

Satisfaction survey (exit ticket) after
each training session
Quarterly
Feedback for the program After the program

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Evaluation Tools
Immediately Following the Program Implementation
Following the quarterly professional learning sessions, the participants will complete an
exit ticket that includes a short survey to assess Level 1 relevance and customer satisfaction, and
Level 2 attitude, commitment, and confidence. The exit ticket also incorporates two short-answer
questions to check for the knowledge learned at Level 2 (See Appendix H). On a monthly basis,
during the class observations, the paired coach for culturally relevant pedagogy implementation
will fill out an observation checklist to document the critical behaviors in action (See Appendix
I), which will support the evaluation of the participants’ knowledge learning, confidence,
attitude, and commitment for the application of learning. The observation checklist will also
serve as evidence for the evaluation of Level 1 engagement. In addition, the participant’s journal
entries completed in the coach activities also serve as a means to monitor the Level 1
engagement and relevance and Level 2 knowledge, attitude, and commitment. The curriculum
documents refined and updated in the quarterly curriculum planning sessions will demonstrate
the participants’ Level 2 knowledge and skills and Level 1 engagement and relevance.
Delayed for a Period After the Program Implementation
Approximately 2 months after the completion of the program, the AIS Chinese
immersion teachers will participate in an interview. Appendix J outlines a potential interview
protocol with questions that examine Levels 1, 2, 3, and 4. Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick (2016)
recommend evaluating the impact of the training program after a lapsed period of time to allow
participants to reflect on the impact and allow time for drivers and critical behaviors to take
effect. The evaluation tool is designed to obtain feedback regarding Levels 1, 2, 3, and 4. Open-

136
ended questions allow participants to provide feedback regarding additional support they might
need and identify any implementation barriers.
Data Analysis and Reporting
The findings from the exit tickets will be reported each time after the quarterly
professional learning sessions. The data will be presented in graphs to show the results of
evaluation for each level indicator. The data from the short-answer questions will be collected as
a list and categorized into two sections: (a) the participants learned the knowledge; and (b) the
participants have not yet learned the knowledge. The findings from the class observation
checklists will be reported each time after the monthly coaching activities. The data will be
presented in graphs to manifest the number of teachers who performed each targeted behavior.
The data from the descriptive analysis of the targeted behaviors will be listed and categorized by
different targeted behaviors.
The findings from the post-training-program interviews will be reported after the
completion of all the interviews. The data collected from the interviews will be reported out with
quotes of the participants’ responses. The data will help determine whether the leading indicators
at Level 4 are achieved or not. The final report will list out the achieved leading indicators and
the unaccomplished leading indicators.
Summary of the Implementation and Evaluation
The new world Kirkpatrick model is the framework for the integrated implementation
and evaluation plan to address recommended solutions applied to the close the validated gaps
identified through the data analysis in Chapter Four. The significance of the model for training
program evaluation is to improve the program, maximize the transfer of learning to behavior, and
demonstrate the value of training to the organization (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016).

137
Substantially, when gaps are identified that influence the accomplishment of institutional goals,
the organization seeks training to address its problem that creates the barriers. The training
program’s implementation is expected to make a measurable difference in the organization’s
goals and results so as to inform the degree of success in the implementation of changes.
Adhering to the recommendation to use the training evaluation plan in reverse, the
leading indicators for goal attainment were identified at Level 4. Critical behaviors and the
required drivers to achieve those goals were outlined at Level 3. In addition, organizational
support is stated in the alignment of the established goals. Learning goals and evaluating the
learning program are outlined in the section dedicated to Level 2. Finally, a plan that outlines the
measurement of participants’ reactions to the training program completed the implementation
and evaluation plan for Level 1.
Limitations and Delimitations
There are imitations to this study. AIS was the only school examined for the study, and
the stakeholder sample was small. Both of these factors might reduce the findings’ validity. Of
the 10 stakeholders for the interviews, nine participated in the study. Of the four small
immersion PLCs, three agreed to participate in the observation. However, one small PLC was
scheduled to participate in its affiliated grade-level PLC meetings twice a week throughout 2
consecutive months. No weekly small PLC meetings happened during the time and hence it left
no opportunities for this small PLC to participate in the observation study. For the other two
small PLCs who agreed to participate in the small PLC meeting observations, a few small PLC
meetings were either canceled or replaced with its affiliated grade-level PLCs. Consequently, the
observations of the small PLC meetings did not take place weekly over five consecutive weeks.
The study planned to observe 15 small PLC meetings. Only five small PLC meetings were

138
observed eventually. The size of the samples for the study reveals the limitation, as a larger
group of interview participants and small PLC meetings would provide a broadened data set to
analyze. Moreover, examining only one school is a limitation. A larger context could broaden the
data scope and provide deeper insights into the KMO challenges of implementing culturally
relevant pedagogy in Chinese immersion programs. Further, seven out of nine interviews were
conducted in Chinese, as the participants requested to use Chinese to respond. While transcribing
the interviews, the participants’ responses were translated to English. The translation between
languages might have caused loss of information and was constructed with subjective
interpretation of the participants’ responses. This could result in an inevitable biased
interpretation of the data.
Recommendations for Future Research
Future research could focus on the implementation of culturally relevant pedagogy in the
Chinese immersion programs in the United States. In addition, future study could also look into
the specific strategies that could apply in developing curriculum and assessment for target
cultural learning in a Chinese immersion program with high responsiveness to a diverse student
group with other minoritized cultural backgrounds. Moreover, the research could further explore
ways to maintain cultural values and identities of the students who belong to the target culture
group as well as the impact a culturally responsive Chinese immersion program could possibly
have on students who are brought up in a dominant culture as well as those who are raised in
minoritized communities.
Conclusion
The goal of AIS is to provide culturally relevant practices to its diverse student group,
including the learning and teaching in its Chinese immersion program. While all stakeholders’

139
joint efforts contribute to achieving the organizational goal, the stakeholder of focus for this
study was the K–4 Chinese immersion teachers at AIS, as they engage the students in learning
for the longest time each day. With a student population consisting of 80% ELLs, this gap-
analysis study was an important step to informing stakeholders of the knowledge and
organizational gaps at AIS while acknowledging teachers’ motivation in implementing new
practices. At the conclusion of this evaluation study, there is a clear plan for addressing the gaps
and moving the school forward with supporting learners’ cultural competence development as
well as responding to the students with various cultural backgrounds in the AIS Chinese
immersion program. There will always be more work to do as students and their needs should
always be at the center, and schools ought to make every effort to support their students with
relevant learning and responsive teaching.

140
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Appendix A: Interview Protocol
Hi! My name is Yuri. Thank you for agreeing to participate in my study. I appreciate the
time that you have set aside to answer my questions. As I mentioned when we last spoke, the
interview should take about an hour, does that still work for you? Before we get started, I want to
remind you about this study, the overview for which was provided to you in the Study
Information Sheet, and answer any questions you might have about participating in this
interview. I am a student at USC and am conducting a study on culturally relevant pedagogy
(CRP) in the AIS elementary Chinese immersion classrooms. I am particularly interested in
understanding how the AIS elementary Chinese immersion teachers interpret and include
culturally relevant pedagogy in their classrooms. Meanwhile, I am curious to find out how these
teachers could be supported within the organization in terms of their practice with culturally
relevant pedagogy. I am talking to all the AIS elementary Chinese immersion teachers to learn
more about this. I want to assure you that I am strictly wearing the hat of researcher today. What
this means is that the nature of my questions is not evaluative. I will not be making any
judgments on how you are performing as a teacher. My goal is to understand your perspective.
As stated in the Study Information Sheet I provided to you previously, this interview is
confidential. What that means is that your name will not be shared with anyone outside of the
research team. I will not share them with other teachers, the principals, or the school. The data
for this study will be compiled into a report and while I do plan on using some of what you say
as direct quotes, none of this data will be directly attributed to you. I will use a pseudonym to
protect your confidentiality and will try my best to de-identify any of the data I gather from you.
I am happy to provide you with a copy of my final paper if you are interested. As stated in the
Study Information Sheet, I will keep the data in a password-protected computer and all data will

154
be destroyed after 3 years. Might you have any questions about the study before we get started? I
have brought a recorder with me today so that I can accurately capture what you share with me.
The recording is solely for my purposes to best capture your perspectives and will not be shared
with anyone outside the research team. May I have your permission to record our conversation?
Setting the Stage
I’d like to start by asking you some background questions about you. First, tell me about
your background in education.
1. How did you become interested in the field of education?
2. How long have you worked in the field?
3. What roles or positions have you held?
Next, tell me about your background in language education.
1. How long have you worked as a language teacher?
2. How long have you worked in a language immersion program?
3. What were your experiences of developing cultural competence through a language
immersion setting?
4. Tell me about your role in the SAS immersion program.
Heart of the Interview
I’d like to start by asking you about culturally relevant pedagogy.
1. If someone were to ask you what culturally relevant pedagogy is, what would you say
to them?
2. Tell me about when you first learned about culturally relevant pedagogy.
3. If someone were to ask you the tenets of culturally relevant pedagogy, what would
you say to them?

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4. Tell me about your experience in designing a curriculum that reflected diverse
cultures and values of your students, if any at all.
5. If I were in your classroom, from your classroom setup to your teaching, what would
I have observed that reflects culturally relevant pedagogy?
6. If someone were to ask you one example that demonstrates you implemented
culturally relevant pedagogy well, what would it be?
7. If someone were to ask you what could be your area of growth in terms of including
culturally relevant pedagogy in your teaching practice, what would you say to them?
8. What are the benefits of culturally relevant pedagogy, if any?
9. What are the limitations of culturally relevant pedagogy, if any?
10. Tell me about a time when you thought to yourself “culturally relevant pedagogy is
the right approach”, if any at all.
11. Tell me about a time when you didn’t believe in the utility of culturally relevant
pedagogy, if any at all.
12. What are the ways your PLC supports you in enacting culturally relevant pedagogy?
13. What your lingering needs are for implementing culturally relevant pedagogy?
14. What professional learning experiences have you received from your school pertinent
to culturally relevant pedagogy, if any?
15. Some people might say that the school has not done enough to emphasize on
culturally responsive teaching in the professional learning they have provided. What
is your perspective on this?

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Closing Question
If there were anything that I could have asked, what would you like to share and add as a
final thought?
Closing Comments
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with me today! I really appreciate your
time and willingness to share. Everything that you have shared is really helpful for my study. If I
find myself with a follow-up question, can I contact you, and if so, if email is ok? Again, thank
you for participating in my study. As a thank you, please accept this small token of my
appreciation.

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Appendix B: PLC Meeting Observation Checklist
This form, as shown, was used as a tool to record notes for data collection from the
observations of the PLC meetings.

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Appendix C: Documentation Review
Document Timeframe governed
by this document
Date most recent update
approved by faculty and/or the
board of trustees
Chinese Language Art curriculum
in AIS Chinese immersion
program
2020–2021 2020–2021
Math curriculum in AIS Chinese
immersion program
2020–2021 2020–2021
Social Studies curriculum in AIS
Chinese immersion program
2020–2021 2020–2021
Science curriculum in AIS Chinese
immersion program
2020–2021 2020–2021
Lesson plans 2020–2021

Professional development plan 2020–2022

Vision and mission statements 2020–2021 2020–2021
Learning inspirations 2020–2021 2020–2021
Institutional commitment 2020–2021 2020–2021
Chinese immersion PLC agendas 2020–2021 2020–2021
In-service day agendas 2020–2022 2020–2022

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Appendix D: Informed Consent (For Interview)
Informed Consent/Information Sheet (For Interview)
University of Southern California
Rossier School of Education
3470 Trousdale Pkwy, Los Angeles CA, 90089

Exploring Culturally Relevant Pedagogy in A Chinese Immersion Program:
A Gap Analysis
You are invited to participate in a research study. Research studies include only people who
voluntarily choose to take part. This document explains information about this study. You should
ask questions about anything that is unclear to you.
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The purpose of this study is to learn about what are the influences guiding the Chinese
immersion teachers’ knowledge and motivation of implementing culturally relevant pedagogy in
the organization. This study also aims to understand how the organization can support its
Chinese immersion teachers in increasing their knowledge and motivation of implementing
culturally relevant pedagogy in the Chinese immersion program. The researcher is conducting a
study on culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) in the SAS elementary Chinese immersion
classrooms. The researcher is particularly interested in understanding how the SAS elementary
Chinese immersion teachers interpret and include culturally relevant pedagogy in their
classrooms. Meanwhile, the researcher is curious to find out how these teachers could be
supported within the organization in terms of their practice with culturally relevant pedagogy.
PARTICIPANT INVOLVEMENT

160
If you agree to take part in this study, you will be asked to participate in a 60-minute semi-
structured interview.
I would like to assure you that your participation is voluntary. Although there are no foreseeable
risks in your participation, you may withdraw from the study at any time during the study.
CONFIDENTIALITY
All interviews will be confidential and you will remain anonymous. To elaborate, this means that
your name will not be shared with anyone outside of the research team. The University of
Southern California (USC) Institutional Review Board (IRB) reviews and monitors the research
studies to protect the rights and welfare of research participants. As such, the IRB may access the
data from this study.
INVESTIGATOR CONTACT INFORMATION
The Principal Investigator is [YUAN LIU, YLIU2307@USC.EDU, +65 86985682]
The Faculty Advisor is [DR. DARLINE ROBLES, DPROBLES@ROSSIER.USC.EDU].
IRB CONTACT INFORMATION
University Park Institutional Review Board (UPIRB), 3720 South Flower Street #301, Los
Angeles, CA 90089-0702, (213) 821-5272 or upirb@usc.edu

161
Appendix E: Interview Recruitment Letter
Dear XXX,
I am writing to request your participation in a research study on culturally relevant pedagogy
(CRP) in the AIS elementary Chinese immersion classrooms. Your perceptions will inform my
dissertation research as a doctoral student for the University of Southern California who is
conducting this study under the guidance of Dr. Darline Robles at the University of Southern
California. I am particularly interested in understanding how the AIS elementary Chinese
immersion teachers interpret and include culturally relevant pedagogy in their classrooms.
Meanwhile, I am curious to find out how these teachers could be supported within the
organization in terms of their practice with culturally relevant pedagogy. I hope to speak with all
the Chinese immersion teachers who are currently working for the AIS Chinese immersion
program to learn more from their experiences and shared perspectives. As such, the research
questions for this study are:
1. What are the Chinese immersion teachers’ knowledge and motivational influences
to implement culturally relevant pedagogy in their classes?
2. What are the organizational influences that hinder and/or support the Chinese
immersion teachers to implement culturally relevant pedagogy in their classes?
For the purposes of this research, I am seeking your participation in a 60-minute semi-structured
interview. I want to assure you that the nature of the interview questions will not be evaluative in
nature and I will not be making or sharing any judgments regarding you as an individual or your
job performance. My goal is to seek to understand and learn from your perspective. All
interviews will be confidential and you will remain anonymous. To elaborate, this means that
your name will not be shared with anyone outside of the research team. The data for this study

162
will contribute to a report and while I do plan to use some of what you say as direct quotes, none
of the data will be directly attributed or associated with you in any way. I will use a pseudonym
to protect your confidentiality and will try my best to de-identify any of the data that I gather
from you. I will keep all data on a password-protected computer and all data will be destroyed
after 3 years. I would like to assure you that your participation is voluntary and although there
are no foreseeable risks in your participation, you may withdraw from the study at any time
during the study. All respondents may not be asked to participate in an interview. If you are
called upon to participate, an in-person or Zoom interview will be arranged at your convenience
between November 2021 and January 2021.
If you have any questions regarding this invitation or this study, please contact me at +65
86985682 or at yliu@sas.edu.sg. You may also contact my committee chair, Dr. Darline Robles
at dprobles@rossier.usc.edu.
I would like to invite you to please respond to this email by indicating your willingness and
consent to participating in this study within one week, if possible. Thank you.
With my gratitude,
Yuri Liu

163
Appendix F: Informed Consent (For Observation)
Informed Consent/Information Sheet (For Observation)
University of Southern California
Rossier School of Education
3470 Trousdale Pkwy, Los Angeles CA, 90089

Exploring Culturally Relevant Pedagogy in A Chinese Immersion Program:
A Gap Analysis
You are invited to participate in a research study. The study includes interviews and also
observations of PLC’s. Research studies include only people who voluntarily choose to take part.
This document explains information about this study and requests your voluntary participation to
allow me to observe you in your Chinese immersion small PLC meetings. You should ask
questions about anything that is unclear to you.
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The purpose of this study is to learn about what are the influences guiding the Chinese
immersion teachers’ knowledge and motivation of implementing culturally relevant pedagogy in
the organization. This study also aims to understand how the organization can support its
Chinese immersion teachers in increasing their knowledge and motivation of implementing
culturally relevant pedagogy in the Chinese immersion program. The researcher is conducting a
study on culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) in the SAS elementary Chinese immersion
classrooms. The researcher is particularly interested in understanding how the SAS elementary
Chinese immersion teachers interpret and include culturally relevant pedagogy in their
classrooms. Meanwhile, the researcher is curious to find out how these teachers could be
supported within the organization in terms of their practice with culturally relevant pedagogy.

164
PARTICIPANT INVOLVEMENT
If you agree to take part in this study, you will be asked to participate in the observation of your
Chinese immersion small PLC weekly meeting for five consecutive weeks.
I would like to assure you that your participation is voluntary. Although there are no foreseeable
risks in your participation, you may withdraw from the study at any time during the study. Please
respond via email that you agree to be observed in your Chinese immersion small PLC weekly
meeting for five consecutive weeks.
CONFIDENTIALITY
All observations will be confidential and you will remain anonymous. To elaborate, this means
that your name and your PLC name will not be shared with anyone outside of the researcher. The
University of Southern California (USC) Institutional Review Board (IRB) reviews and monitors
the research studies to protect the rights and welfare of research participants. As such, the IRB
may access the data from this study.
INVESTIGATOR CONTACT INFORMATION
The Principal Investigator is [YUAN LIU, YLIU2307@USC.EDU, +65 86985682]
The Faculty Advisor is [DR. DARLINE ROBLES, DPROBLES@ROSSIER.USC.EDU].
IRB CONTACT INFORMATION
University Park Institutional Review Board (UPIRB), 3720 South Flower Street #301, Los
Angeles, CA 90089-0702, (213) 821-5272 or upirb@usc.edu

165
Appendix G: Observation Recruitment Letter
Dear XXX (PLC leader),
I am writing to request your Chinese immersion small PLC’s participation in a research study on
culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) in the AIS elementary Chinese immersion program. Your
PLC’s participation will inform my dissertation research as a doctoral student for the University
of Southern California who is conducting this study under the guidance of Dr. Darline Robles at
the University of Southern California. I am particularly interested in understanding how the AIS
elementary Chinese immersion teachers interpret and include culturally relevant pedagogy in
their professional learning communities. Meanwhile, I am curious to find out how these teachers
could be supported within the organization in terms of their practice with culturally relevant
pedagogy. I hope to observe three AIS Chinese immersion small PLCs’ regular weekly meetings
for five consecutive weeks to learn more from their shared experiences in the professional
learning communities. As such, the research questions for this study are:
1. What are the Chinese immersion teachers’ knowledge and motivational influences to
implement culturally relevant pedagogy in their classes?
2. What are the organizational influences that hinder and/or support the Chinese immersion
teachers to implement culturally relevant pedagogy in their classes?
For the purposes of this research, I am seeking your team’s permission to observe your small
PLC’s weekly meeting for five consecutive weeks. I want to assure you that the observations will
not be evaluative in nature. I will not be making or sharing any judgments regarding your PLC or
your team’s job performance. Neither will I be making or sharing any judgments regarding you
or any of your PLC members as an individual. My goal is to seek to understand and learn from
your PLC experiences. All observations will be confidential and your PLC, you, and your team

166
members will remain anonymous. To elaborate, this means that your PLC name, your name, and
the other PLC members’ names will not be shared with anyone outside of the research team. The
data for this study will contribute to a report. While I do plan to use some of what you or your
PLC members say as direct quotes, none of the data will be directly attributed or associated with
your team in any way. I will use a pseudonym to protect the confidentiality of your team and will
try my best to de-identify any of the data that I gather from your team. I will keep all data on my
private password-protected computer and all data will be destroyed after 3 years. I would like to
assure you that your team’s participation is voluntary. Although there are no foreseeable risks in
your team’s participation, your team may withdraw from the study at any time during the study.
Your PLC participation requires all members’ permission to be observed. If all members of your
small PLC agree to participate in the observations, each member will receive an informed
consent sheet from me via email. After all your members confirm their participation in the study,
I will join your Chinese immersion small PLC meetings as scheduled in-person or via Zoom
between February 2022 and March 2022.
If you have any questions regarding this invitation or this study, please contact me at +65
86985682 or at yliu@ais.edu. You may also contact my committee chair, Dr. Darline Robles at
dprobles@rossier.usc.edu.
I would like to invite you to please respond to this email by indicating your team’s willingness
and consent to participate in this study within one week, if possible. Thank you.
With my sincere gratitude,
Yuri Liu

167
Appendix H: Exit Ticket
This is an exit ticket, served as an evaluation tool, that is provided to the participants of
the training program immediately after the training is completed.

168
Appendix I: Class Observation Checklist
This class observation checklist, shown as participants viewed it, is an evaluation tool
used immediately following training. The coaches will use this checklist when observing the AIS
Chinese teachers to teach in the classrooms during the coaching events. The coaches will check
whether target behaviors are identified and record a description of the behaviors in the comment
area. The target behaviors are related to the culturally responsive classroom management.

169
Appendix J: Post-Program Interview Protocol
Hi! Thank you for participating in this post-program interview! This interview should
take about 30 to 45 minutes to complete. The purpose of this interview is to hear your ongoing
practices after learning from this program as well as your feedback for this program’s future
improvement. Would you have any questions before we start the interview? I’d like to start by
asking you:
1. If someone were to ask you what culturally relevant pedagogy is, what would you say
to them? (L2, L4)
2. If someone were to ask you the tenets of culturally relevant pedagogy, what would
you say to them? (L2, L4)
3. If I were in your classroom, from your classroom setup to your teaching, what would
I have observed that reflects culturally relevant pedagogy? (L1, L2, L3, L4)
4. If someone were to ask you what the values of implementing culturally relevant
pedagogy in your classroom are, what would you say to them? (L2, L4)
5. If someone were to ask you one example that demonstrates you implemented
culturally relevant pedagogy well, what would it be? (L1, L2, L3, L4)
6. If someone were to ask you what could be your area of growth in terms of including
culturally relevant pedagogy in your teaching practice, what would you say to them?
(L1, L2, L3, L4)
7. What might make you feel confident in implementing culturally relevant pedagogy, if
any? (L1, L2, L3, L4)
8. If someone were to ask you about your plan to continue implementing culturally
relevant pedagogy in your classroom, what would you say to them? (L1, L2, L3, L4)

170
9. What part of the training did you find not useful for your goal to implement culturally
relevant pedagogy in the Chinese immersion classroom? (L1)
10. How would you change the training? (L1)
11. What additional support will you need to implement what you learned from the
training? (L1, L2)
12. What barriers do you anticipate that could limit your success at applying what you
learned? (L2)

171
Appendix K: Connecting Four PLC Essential Questions to Cultural Responsiveness
Common driving questions of PLCs Sample subquestions
What do we want all students to learn? Does what we want students to learn include
minoritized communities’ knowledge?
Have we asked the community what
students should learn?
Does the knowledge connect to the
communities and experiences of
minoritized students?
Is what we want students to learn (i.e.,
knowledge) beneficial to minoritized
communities?
How will we know if and when they have
learned it?
Are the scales and rubrics used culturally
responsive? Are the questions culturally
biased?
What are nontraditional ways of measuring
the knowledge of minoritized students?
How will the community perspectives be
included in how learning is measured?
What are the best ways for our students to
show what they know?
How will we teach it? Are the instructional methods culturally
responsive and inclusive?
How are parents and community members
used to help connect instruction to student
communities/lives?
How will we respond if some students do
not learn?

How will we respond if the students have
already learned?
How will we use critical self-reflection
techniques to understand when (and why)
some minoritized students are not
responding to our instruction and content?
How will we take responsibility (individually
and collectively) if minoritized students are
not learning?

Note. Adapted from Culturally Responsive School Leadership (p. 144), by M. A. Khalifa, 2018,
Harvard Education Press. Copyright 2018 by Harvard Education Press.

Abstract (if available)

Abstract Dual-language immersion programs in international schools are growing rapidly. Current studies agree that language immersion education aims to achieve high academic performance, bilingualism, and biculturalism. However, limited research has addressed the development of cultural competence through dual-language immersion education (Freire & Valdez, 2017). Immersion educators work with diverse student populations in international schools. While researchers propose that immersion programs investigate adopting culturally relevant pedagogy to help students increase cultural competence and affirmation of their home cultures, few studies exist to support immersion teachers implementing culturally relevant pedagogy in their classrooms. This study will adopt the Clark and Estes (2008) gap analysis model to identify the knowledge, motivation and organization influences on the implementation of culturally relevant pedagogy by Chinese immersion educators in the Chinese immersion program of an international school. This study employed a qualitative design composed of semi-structured interviews, observations of professional learning community meetings, and documentation analysis. Findings from this study indicated 11 influences on the problem of practice in the areas of factual, procedural, and metacognitive knowledge, value and self-efficacy, resources, cultural model, and cultural setting. These influences were used to develop evidence-based recommendations to address the knowledge, motivation and organization causes impeding the enactment of culturally relevant pedagogy in the Chinese immersion program. This study concluded with a training program developed using the new world Kirkpatrick model (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016) to implement the recommendations proposed through the study.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Liu, Yuan (author)

Core Title Exploring culturally relevant pedagogy in a Chinese immersion program: a gap analysis

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Educational Leadership

Degree Conferral Date 2022-08

Publication Date 09/02/2024

Defense Date 05/21/2022

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag Chinese immersion,culturally relevant pedagogy,gap analysis,OAI-PMH Harvest

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Robles, Darline (committee chair), Picus, Lawrence (committee member), Zhang, Yuehua (committee member)

Creator Email yliu2307@usc.edu,yuri.yuan.liu@gmail.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-oUC111645402

Unique identifier UC111645402

Legacy Identifier etd-LiuYuan-11173

Document Type Dissertation

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights Liu, Yuan

Type texts

Source 20220906-usctheses-batch-977 (batch), University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

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