This article is an edited transcription of a conversation among Asian American teachers. The virtual conversation took place on October 28, 2022 with several educators from California, Texas, and Massachusetts and led by Asian American... more
This article is an edited transcription of a conversation among Asian American teachers. The virtual conversation took place on October 28, 2022 with several educators from California, Texas, and Massachusetts and led by Asian American youth activist in Texas, Emy Chen. The teachers included Aileen Pagtakhan, middle school English language arts, history, and yearbook teacher in Union City, California; Katie Yue-Sum Li, former English as a second language and humanities teacher and currently an Ethnic Studies instructional coach for Boston Public Schools; Matthew Laurel, English and Asian American literature high school teacher in Berkeley, California; and Mohit Mehta, Asian American history and bilingual education teacher and doctoral candidate in Texas. As special forum organizers, we wanted to learn from and with teachers whose experiences were informed by Asian American Studies (AAS). Emy ChEn. Hi! My name is Emy Chen. I am fifteen and ten days old. I go to Mc-Callum High School and I'm a sophomore. My journey with Ethnic and Asian American Studies started when I was ten years old, with the movement for sanctuary in my city and then recently at Los Alamitos, and in Texas broadly.
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As schools, school districts, and states begin to institutionalize Ethnic Studies in policy and practice, we examine the ways in which Asian American Studies (AAS), a subfield of Ethnic Studies, has informed solidarity and social... more
As schools, school districts, and states begin to institutionalize Ethnic Studies in policy and practice, we examine the ways in which Asian American Studies (AAS), a subfield of Ethnic Studies, has informed solidarity and social movements at the K-12 level. This conceptual paper engages the following questions: Whose stories do we center in Asian American Studies? What is Asian American Studies pedagogy? How has Asian American Studies informed the movement for K-12 Ethnic Studies? We expand on Ethnic Studies pedagogies (Tintiangco-Cubales et al. 2015) to offer a praxis that centers the experiences of Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AA and PI) to examine power relations, community building, resistance, and social justice. We theorize an Asian American Studies pedagogy that relies on AA and PI voices while simultaneously valuing relational racialization (Molina, HoSang, Gutiérrez, 2019) as a vehicle for developing “deep solidarities” (Fujino, 2018). We conceptualize a Radical Asian American Studies pedagogy rooted in solidarity and social movements.
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Ethnic Studies Education turn. Growing support for the movement for K-12 Ethnic Studies is revealing a necessary (re)imagining of what education can become and subsequently how and why teacher education must change. In this article, I use... more
Ethnic Studies Education turn. Growing support for the movement for K-12 Ethnic Studies is revealing a necessary (re)imagining of what education can become and subsequently how and why teacher education must change. In this article, I use portraiture to share the experiences of two veteran teachers of Color. The portraits illuminate how Ethnic Studies was central for their learning to interrogate white programs and teacher educators on the utility of Ethnic Studies for teacher education.
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There is a paucity of research on the educational experiences of Filipinx Americans, the second-largest Asian American group in the United States. Studies that do exist often lump Filipinxs with other Asian Americans or present them... more
There is a paucity of research on the educational experiences of Filipinx Americans, the second-largest Asian American group in the United States. Studies that do exist often lump Filipinxs with other Asian Americans or present them devoid of critical contexts that shape their experience, namely, colonialism and racialization. Using a desire-based framework and empire as an analytic, we conducted a semi-systematic review of 74 journal articles to better understand how Filipinx Americans are presented in the research. Our analysis suggests that researchers often position Filipinx Americans relative to whiteness or utilize critical educational framings to interrogate the complex ways they are racialized. We offer implications for research focused on Filipinx Americans and minoritized groups. We conclude by discussing the utility of interdisciplinary research as well as the necessity for desirability and empire as a lens for future education research.
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Educators of color can often (in)advertently perpetuate gendered oppression against each other to cope with racism and its associated stressors. This occurs in part due to the violence we have endured as (a) minoritized people in a... more
Educators of color can often (in)advertently perpetuate gendered
oppression against each other to cope with racism and its associated
stressors. This occurs in part due to the violence we have endured
as (a) minoritized people in a society where our oppression is
endemic, (b) scholars of color navigating exclusionary institutions
and education spaces, and (c) educators who experience vicarious
and complex trauma from pain imposed onto the young people
with whom we work, seldom resulting in opportunities to address
gender dynamics that uphold power imbalances among men,
women, and gender-nonconforming people of color. In this conceptual paper we offer an intersectional framework of a “praxis of critical
race love” to highlight cisgendered, heteropatriarchal toxic masculinity often reified in education contexts, and use narratives to demonstrate how we apply a healing-centered praxis within our service,
teaching, and research to challenge such harm. Ultimately, we share
tangible, community-engaged examples demonstrating how educators can co-create counterspaces that elevate women and gender-minoritized people in the firestorm of white supremacy.
oppression against each other to cope with racism and its associated
stressors. This occurs in part due to the violence we have endured
as (a) minoritized people in a society where our oppression is
endemic, (b) scholars of color navigating exclusionary institutions
and education spaces, and (c) educators who experience vicarious
and complex trauma from pain imposed onto the young people
with whom we work, seldom resulting in opportunities to address
gender dynamics that uphold power imbalances among men,
women, and gender-nonconforming people of color. In this conceptual paper we offer an intersectional framework of a “praxis of critical
race love” to highlight cisgendered, heteropatriarchal toxic masculinity often reified in education contexts, and use narratives to demonstrate how we apply a healing-centered praxis within our service,
teaching, and research to challenge such harm. Ultimately, we share
tangible, community-engaged examples demonstrating how educators can co-create counterspaces that elevate women and gender-minoritized people in the firestorm of white supremacy.
Research Interests:
In this article, Curammeng addresses how Ethnic Studies can inform portraiture and its capacity for qualitative research studies. Using Filipino American teachers’ narratives, Curammeng describes portraiture as collages demonstrating how... more
In this article, Curammeng addresses how Ethnic Studies can inform portraiture and its capacity for qualitative research studies. Using Filipino American teachers’ narratives, Curammeng describes portraiture as collages demonstrating how such an approach offers new modes of engagement for portraitists’ collaborators and readers. The implications from this work illuminate how portraiture – through an Ethnic Studies perspective – draws attention to the multi-layered and nuanced experiences of teachers, how they make sense of their work as minoritized people, and how qualitative researchers can utilize Ethnic Studies with portraiture to capture these nuances. Finally, Curammeng argues for the consideration of ‘decipherment’ to piece together new methodological strengths for portraitists and educational research.
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This article shares national models of educational activism that center the experiences of People of Color but are diverse in that they serve students, parents, preservice teachers, teachers, and/or community educators and meet frequently... more
This article shares national models of educational activism that center the experiences of People of Color but are diverse in that they serve students, parents, preservice teachers, teachers, and/or community educators and meet frequently in small groups or annually/biannually. Included narratives embody the humanization process, and situate that in the purpose of each project. Our aim is to complicate and extend the definition of activism as a shared struggle for the right to feel human.
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Purpose-Momentum around the institutionalization of Ethnic Studies in US K-12 classrooms is increasing. Opponents have argued that Ethnic Studies does not challenge students academically and prepare them for high stakes testing (Planas,... more
Purpose-Momentum around the institutionalization of Ethnic Studies in US K-12 classrooms is increasing. Opponents have argued that Ethnic Studies does not challenge students academically and prepare them for high stakes testing (Planas, 2012; Sanchez, 2007). Conversely, research continues to show ways Ethnic Studies contribute to students' academic achievement, especially for students from marginalized and vulnerable communities (Cabrera et al., 2014; Halagao, 2010; Tintiangco-Cubales et al., 2015). This study aims to demonstrate the possibilities and potential of Ethnic Studies-framed tools for English and Language arts teachers. This moment concerning Ethnic Studies in schools illuminates an important opportunity to demonstrate how Ethnic Studies-framed tools positively affect learning mainstream school content, namely, English and Language Arts. The authors consider the following point: To what extent can Ethnic Studies-framed tools affect approaches for learning English, writing and reading while simultaneously being responsive to a community's needs? The authors maintain the importance of such tools that exist in how they support the development of community responsive literacies (CRLs). Design/methodology/approach-This paper examines CRLs through the Ethnic Studies Praxis Story Plot (ESPSP). The authors begin by exploring the development of the ESPSP, first used in Pin@y Educational Partnerships (PEP), an innovative K-college Ethnic Studies teaching pipeline. Next, the authors examine each coordinate of the ESPSP, examining their purpose, theoretical underpinnings and ways the ESPSP offers nuanced approaches for learning literacies. Findings-The authors then discuss how CRLs emerged to support PEP teachers and students' reading and writing skills using the ESPSP. Originality/value-Finally, the authors learn from students' experiences with the ESPSP and offer implications for English and Language Arts teachers in the pursuit of teaching and serving students in more socially just and community responsive ways.
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At once a political and cultural intervention, Ethnic Studies as a field sought to create an education whereby students’ knowledges and experiences were valued. While research demonstrating how Ethnic Studies affects students’ academic... more
At once a political and cultural intervention, Ethnic Studies as a field sought to create an education whereby students’ knowledges and experiences were valued. While research demonstrating how Ethnic Studies affects students’ academic and social-emotional outcomes, the prowess of Ethnic Studies, as a site for teacher preparation remains under examined in empirical research. Drawing from portraiture, critical race and Ethnic Studies frameworks, I analyze in- depth interviews, focus groups, and artifacts with Filipino American self-identified male teachers. I work to make explicit how Ethnic Studies prepared these teachers in ways their formal teacher education did not. I conclude with recommendations for how teacher education steeped in Ethnic Studies supports culturally sustaining, critically conscious, and community responsive learning for students and teachers committed to justice.