The increasing demand for bilingual and world language education in the United States has led to the expansion of Chinese-English dual-language immersion (DLI) programs, heightening the need for transnational Chinese teachers (TCTs). Despite their essential contributions, TCTs encounter substantial challenges in navigating the U.S. educational system, including issues of professional legitimacy, pedagogical adaptation, cultural negotiation, and immigration-related precarity. Existing research often overlooks the discursive and structural barriers that specifically shape TCTs’ experiences, particularly within the context of alternative certification pathways. This study addresses these gaps by examining how institutional discourses influence the professional identities and pedagogical beliefs of TCTs in U.S. K–12 educational settings.Framed by transnationalism theory (Levitt & Glick Schiller, 2004), cultural capital theory (Bourdieu, 1986), and neoliberal governmentality (Foucault, 1991), this qualitative case study investigates two primary research questions: (1) What dominant discourses shape the professional experiences of transnational Chinese teachers (TCTs) in the U.S.? (2) How do these discourses influence their professional identity and pedagogical beliefs? Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, reflection journals, and teaching artifacts from five TCTs who completed a World Language Teacher Certification Program (WLTCP) in a Midwestern U.S. state. Findings reveal that TCTs must continuously negotiate their professional legitimacy, often being positioned as instructional assistants rather than lead educators. Monolingual English ideologies and the lack of standardized Chinese curricula further marginalize TCTs, requiring them to engage in extensive curricular innovation and advocacy. Despite institutional challenges, TCTs demonstrated agency by adopting student-centered pedagogies, leveraging translanguaging practices, and building professional communities to support curriculum development. Moreover, immigration policies, particularly reliance on H-1B visas, exacerbate professional precarity, constraining TCTs' career mobility and stability. Family obligations and cultural expectations further complicate their decision-making regarding long-term professional engagement in the U.S. Through these complex negotiations, TCTs reconstruct their professional identities, balancing transnational cultural resources with the demands of U.S. schooling contexts. This dissertation contributes to the literature on bilingual education, transnational teacher identity, and dual-language program sustainability. It calls for policy reforms that recognize the cultural capital TCTs bring, support bilingual pedagogical flexibility (e.g., through acceptance of translanguaging practices), and address visa-related employment barriers. Additionally, it advocates for the development of research-based Chinese language curricula and targeted mentorship programs to support TCTs’ professional integration. Overall, by foregrounding TCTs' lived experiences, this study provides critical insights into the structural and discursive forces shaping transnational teaching in the U.S., offering practical implications for improving teacher preparation, program development, and educational equity in multilingual contexts.
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