Many gifted Asian American adolescent males face cultural issues that may impact their success. This article presents important cultural dilemmas faced by 2 gifted Asian American young men. Through a qualitative approach, the acculturation experiences of John and Matt, gifted Taiwanese, second generation immigrants, are described. Intergenerational cultural conflict in the families of the young men is examined. Implications for supporting Asian parents in nurturing their sons' social, emotional, and intellectual development are discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AtkinsonD. R., MortenG., & SueD. W. (1993). Counseling American minority: A cross-cultural perspective. Dubuque, IA: Brown & Benchmark.
2.
BakerJ. A., BridgerR., & EvansK. (1998). Models of underachievement among gifted preadolescents: The role of personal, family and school factors. Gifted Child Quarterly, 42, 5–15.
3.
BennettC. I. (2003). Comprehensive multicultural education: Theory and practice (5th ed.). Boston: Pearson Education.
4.
BaruthL. G., & ManningM. L. (1999). Multicultural counseling and psychotherapy: A lifespan perspective (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
5.
BogdanR. C., & BiklenS. K. (1998). Qualitative research for education: An introduction to theory and methods (3rd ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
6.
CitroC. F., CorkD. L., & NorwoodJ. L. (eds.). (2004). The 2000 census: Counting under adversity. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.
7.
CoffeyA., & AtkinsonP. (1996). Making sense of qualitative data: Complimentary research strategies. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
8.
FrasierM. M., & PassowA. H. (1994). Towards a new paradigm for identifying talent potential (Research Monograph 94112). Storrs: National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented, University of Connecticut.
9.
GoyetteK., & XieY. (1999). Educational expectations of Asian American youths: Determinants and ethnic differences. Sociology of Education, 77, 22–36.
10.
HasegawaC. (1989). The unmentioned minority. In MakerC. J. & SchieverS. W. (eds.), Critical issues in gifted education (Vol. 2, Pp. 192–196). Austin, TX: Pro-Ed.
11.
HébertT. P. (1998). Gifted Black males in an urban high school: Factors that influence achievement and underachievement. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 21, 385–414.
12.
HébertT. P. (2000). Defining belief in self: Intelligent young men in an urban high school. Gifted Child Quarterly, 44, 91–114.
13.
HubermanA. M., & MilesM. B. (1994). Data management and analysis methods. In DenzinN. K. & LincolnY. S. (eds.), The handbook of qualitative research (2nd ed., Pp. 706–715). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
14.
HuangL. N. (1997). Asian American adolescents. In LeeE. (ed.), Working with Asian Americans: A guide for clinicians (pp. 175–195). New York: The Guilford Press.
15.
JacksonN. E., & LuW. H. (1992). Bilingual precocious readers of English. Roeper Review, 14, 115–119.
16.
JungM. (1998). Chinese American family therapy: A new model for clinicians. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
17.
LeCompteM. D. (2000). Analyzing qualitative data. Theory Into Practice, 39, 146–154.
18.
LeeE. (1996). Asian American families: An overview. In McGoldrickM., GiordanoJ., & PearceJ. K. (eds.), Ethnicity and family therapy (pp. 227–248). New York: The Guilford Press.
19.
LeeE. (1997). Chinese American families. In LeeE. (ed.), Working with Asian Americans: A guide for clinicians (pp. 46–78). New York: The Guilford Press.
20.
LiuW. N., & Pope-DavisD. B. (2003). Moving from diversity to multiculturalism. In Pope-DavisD. B., ColemanH. L. K., LiuW. M., & ToporekR. L. (eds.), Handbook of multicultural competencies in counseling and psychology (pp. 90–102). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
21.
McCownR., DriscollM., & RoopP. G. (1995). Educational psychology: A learning-centered approach to classroom practice (2nd ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
22.
PattonM. Q. (2002). Qualitative evaluation and research methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
23.
PiechowskiM. M. (1997). Emotional giftedness: The measure of intrapersonal intelligence. In ColangeloN. & DavisG. A. (eds.), Handbook of Gifted Education (2nd ed., Pp. 366–381). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
24.
PluckerJ. A. (1996). Gifted Asian-American students: Identification, curricular, and counseling concerns. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 19, 315–343.
25.
RimmS. B. (1995). Why bright kids get poor grades: And what you can do about it. New York: Three Rivers Press.
26.
ShinJ. (2005). Developing in two languages: Korean children in America. Tonawanda, NY: Multilingual Matters.
27.
SodowskyG. R., KwanK. K., & PannuR. (1995). Ethnic identity of Asians in the United States. In PonterottoJ. G., CasasJ. M., SuzukiL. A., & AlexanderC. M. (eds.), Handbook of multicultural counseling (pp. 123–154). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
28.
SueD. W., & SueD. (2003). Counseling the culturally different: Theory and practice (4th ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons.
29.
WenhaoJ., SalomonH. B., & ChayD. M. (1993). Transcultural counseling and people of Asian origin: A developmental and therapeutic perspective. In McFaddenJ. (ed.), Transcultural counseling: Bilateral and international perspectives (pp. 239–259). Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association.
30.
YagiD. T., & OhM. Y. (1995). Counseling Asian American students. In LeeC. C. (ed.), Counseling for diversity: A guide for school counselors and related professionals (pp. 61–83). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
