The Experiences of a Chinese Immigrant Family during the COVID-19 Pandemic

While the COVID-19 pandemic challenged educators, parents, and students to adapt to online learning, it significantly impacted Asian Americans, especially the Chinese immigrant families, with increased anti-Asian acts of racism and xenophobia. The case study investigated a Chinese immigrant family's experiences transitioning to online learning in the climate of anti-Chinese rhetoric in the United States. The case comprised a Chinese immigrant woman and her twins, a boy, and a girl, who were middle school students in a Northern California school district that transitioned to online learning in March 2020. Narrative interviews were conducted online and via telephone and analyzed using content analysis. The findings indicated the challenges in engaging students in online learning that impacted their interactions with classmates and their learning experiences. The findings also revealed the family's coping mechanisms for dealing with anti-Asian discrimination and prejudice against Chinese immigrants, an issue that the twin's school, teacher, and classmates seem to have ignored, according to their accounts. These mechanisms were grounded in their Chinese culture and parental involvement styles. The study emphasizes the need to educate teachers on the use of technology and online teaching to middle school students, the value of Chinese parental involvement in their children's education, and the dangers of bias, discrimination, and microaggressions to promote inclusive classrooms. The results will benefit the development of online teaching and learning and touch upon students' diversity, policy makers' strategies, and the quality of the learning environment.