Teaching English at the intersection of language, race, ethnicity and nationality
Black Jamaican teachers in Japan
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 24226251 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Derrace Garfield Mccallum (0000-0001-5805-5475, Aichi Prefectural University) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Pages | 1-20 |
| Publication date | 2026-05-05 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | New Community (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0047-9586 • E-ISSN: 1469-9451 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/1369183x.2026.2654972 |
| OpenAlex | W7160308865 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 39 |
This critical qualitative inquiry explores the professional and personal experiences of twenty-four Black Jamaican English teachers in Japan. Drawing on Critical Race Theory, Intersectionality, and Narrative Inquiry, the study reveals how native-speakerism, racial/cultural bias, and White supremacy intersect to shape these teachers’ positioning in the ELT landscape. Participants reported marginalisation, microaggressions, and cultural stereotyping that limited their professional roles and opportunities. Despite these challenges, many actively resist through cultural expression and pedagogical excellence; using Jamaican music, storytelling, and other Caribbean folklores to create dynamic and inclusive learning environments. These practices not only enrich classroom environments but also demonstrate forms of Black mobility and motility, where teachers strategically navigate, adapt, and move through educational spaces in ways that challenge dominant hierarchies and enact presence. Through this embodied engagement, they generate what McKittrick (2011) conceptualises as a Black sense of place. This study underscores the need to interrogate hegemonic norms within ELT and to value the contributions of racially diverse native English-speaking teachers in Japan.
Black mobility · Critical race theory · cultural stereotyping · English language teaching · Intersectionality · microaggressions · native-speakerism · Storytelling · teacher identity · White supremacy · Critical Race Theory in Education · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning · Teacher Education and Leadership Studies
Seeing Africans in China
Subcultural capital
Defining the contours of black motility
The cultural foundation of African Chinese trading networks
Native-Speakerism in Japan
The Ecology of Language Evolution
Introducing Global Englishes
Global Englishes for Language Teaching
A Tale of Two Visions
Teacher Identity in Language Teaching
Native-speakerism
Conceptualizing and Confronting Inequity
A ‘new’ hierarchy of English teachers
Contextualising Narrative Inquiry
The Intersectionality of Gender, Sexuality, Race, and Native-speakerness
A Narrative Inquiry of Transnational Language Teachers’ Professional Identity Construction
The Nest–NNEST Divide and Teacher Identity Construction in Hong Kong Schools
Beyond Native and Nonnative
Native-English speaking teachers’ experiences in East-Asian language programs
Standards of English and politics of inclusion
Advantages and Disadvantages of Native‐ and Nonnative‐English‐speaking Teachers
(Non)native Speakered
The Ownership of English
Race and Tesol
White Native English Speakers Needed
Using thematic analysis in psychology
Native-Speakerism
In This Issue
Language, Identity, and the Ownership of English
Teacher professional identity
Identity and interaction
Beyond Native-Speakerism
On plantations, prisons, and a black sense of place
Transcending the nativeness paradigm
| Citations per year | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |