A blessing with a curse: model minority ethnic students and the construction of educational success

While concerns around minority ethnic students and underachievement have attracted considerable attention in educational research, such as in England, few studies have examined those who excel, except as reference to justify the equity of the established system. This paper explores the educational success of British Chinese and Indian students, who are synonymously recognised as the model minority due to their tendency to achieve exceptional grades in national examinations. Data in this paper includes four discussion groups and 23 semi-structured interviews with British Chinese and Indian students (aged 11–14) and six teacher interviews. This study explores the social costs and benefits of the label of model minority and how these students attributed with such an identity construct and interpret educational success. Although high expectations by self and by others can positively contribute to the educational success of British Chinese and Indian students, inflated expectations can also generate a continuous sense of insecurity. Model minority students must contemplate the fear of failure and the potential damage they could inflict on the reputation of their family. Implications of the identity of model minority for students, teachers and policy are suggested.     

Social identity theories and educational engagement

There is a large body of research in studies of schooling, particularly ethnographic case studies, which posits that collective action among students undermines engagement in school and contributes to educational inequality. In this paper I review studies of engagement from a social identity theory perspective. To what extent can collective action explain why some student groups are less engaged than others? I discuss four approaches to identifying social identity‐related problems of engagement frequently used in prior research. While researchers often find problems of engagement among low‐academic‐status students, research on educational engagement has had difficulty locating the underlying causes of inequality in student engagement. Social identity theories of educational engagement are inherently theories of collective action. I conclude that a fifth approach, large‐scale observational studies of monitoring and sanctioning, provides the best framework for identifying both the prevalence of, and solutions to, this particular source of disengagement.     

Recognising students and teachers: difference and identity in international classrooms

ABSTRACT

This article argues that representations of teacher and student identity obscure the complexity of individuals as becomings. Evidence from interviews and observations with Western teachers in international schools in Vietnam suggests that these representations posit the existence of stable teacher and student identities and derive the difference between them from static images of Western and Asian cultures. I argue that thinking through Deleuze’s concepts of becoming, difference, and faciality offers possibilities for different kinds of encounters between teachers and students as individuals.     

Towards graduate employment: exploring student identity through a university-wide employability project

Students have expectations of their university education leading to graduate careers, with universities investing considerable resources in institution-wide initiatives designed to enhance opportunities for student work placements and work-related learning. However, there are large variations between courses and disciplines in student uptake of these opportunities, with limited evidence explaining why this might be the case. Recognising recent approaches which consider student identity in transitions, this study explored student attitudes to work-related learning across a range of subject disciplines. The first phase of the study used in-class surveys (N = 199) to focus on students’ self-identification and perceptions of employability initiatives. Follow-up interviews were conducted to further explore themes emerging in the survey data. The study found that, while some students drew on resources for identity work in their recognition of and approach to work-related learning, access was limited, and university resources were not always recognised or effective. The findings have implications for the design of effective graduate employability initiatives.     

Children's environmental identity and the elementary science classroom

This qualitative research explores children's environmental identity by describing how fifth grade children view their relationship with the natural world alongside their experience of elementary school science. Qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews with 17 grade 5 children was supported with a survey that included responses to open-ended survey items. Analyses convey that children recognize and describe their own environmental identity, but that identity is often unacknowledged in the science classroom. This lack of acknowledgment may limit connections of school science to children's interests and emotional attachment to the natural world.     

Promoting ethnic identity development while teaching subject matter content: A model of ethnic identity exploration in education

This grounded theory study was conducted to investigate how two veteran social studies teachers, one African American and one Japanese American, incorporated opportunities for students to explore their ethnicity while learning subject matter content. Four themes emerged that form the basis of a model that provides teachers with strategies for assisting students as they learn about their ethnic groups through existing subject matter curricula. These data, and teachers' reports of sustained student engagement when exploration of cultural heritage was incorporated into the curriculum, provide warrant for including instruction in ethnic identity exploration in teacher preparation programs.     

Community,culture and identity: geography,the National Curriculum and Wales

ABSTRACT

The 1988 Education Reform Act legislated for a National Curriculum not for one nation but for two, Wales and England. This article reviews the way in which attempts to develop a distinctive curriculum in Wales for one subject, geography, were thwarted by the dominance among key policy‐makers in England of views about the study of place which were unsympathetic to the idea of the school curriculum being a vehicle for the development of a sense of community and national identity. Drawing on evidence from a survey of secondary school geography teachers in Wales, it considers the extent to which the teaching of geography is seen by teachers as a means of achieving such educational goals.     

《等待野蛮人》中看少数族裔身份

中心——他者关系显著的帝国的老行政长官与一位边境蛮夷少女,在对抗——融合的短暂相处过程中,老行政长官对自己有了重新的审视和反省,而蛮夷少女在短暂的"文明生活"后最终回到了属于自己的"蛮族部落"。少数族裔被置于"他者"处境下对身份的诉求,对话语权的抗争历来频繁。本文从后殖民批评以及内部殖民角度入手,来解读边缘化少数族裔在陷入难以挣脱被主流文化同化和湮灭的命运时,对自己少数族裔文化能够受到主流的尊重和保留所作最后抗争。     

Not quite university people? Academics teaching on foundation studies programmes in New Zealand universities

ABSTRACT

In the current neoliberal environment in higher education, universities are viewed as a valuable source of income. To generate this income, universities need to attract students, and in order to do so, they need to perform well in global ranking tables. These tables are influenced to a large extent by staff research and postgraduate teaching. Foundation studies programmes (FS) do not usually have a great deal to offer in these categories and this places staff teaching on these programmes in a difficult position. This article explores the perceptions of staff teaching on FS programmes in New Zealand universities, drawing on data from semi-structured interviews with 22 lecturers from four universities. Although lip service is paid in higher education circles to the importance of widening access to university education for traditionally marginalised groups, it appears that staff teaching on FS programmes do not, on the whole, receive acknowledgement, support or reward for the work that they do. Despite their marginalised status, these lecturers are committed to helping second chance learners. However, their ability to make a positive impact on these students’ lives is limited by their lowly status in the university sector. This article discusses the insights of FS staff and considers the implications of their positioning in the university sector. It offers some suggestions as to how, in a small way, universities could address the difficulties these academics face in their attempts to widen university access.     

中国西南地区少数民族大学生民族认同心理研究

In China, ethnic identity refers to both one’s own ethnic identity and the identity of the Chinese nation. It is of great significance not only to individuals’ mental health and full play of psychological functions but also to ethnic solidarity and regional and national stability. On the whole, ethnic minority college students in the Southwestern regions have positive national identity and behavior tendency. Universities and colleges should further uplift students’ national identity and improve their behavior through education. __________ Translated from Minzu Jiaoyu Yanjiu 民族教育研究(Journal of Research on Education for Ethnic Minorities), 2007, 18(2): 32–36     

Culturally responsive pedagogy: A New Zealand case study

Abstract

This paper examines the justification for a culturally responsive educational initiative to raise the educational underachievement of Māori students in New Zealand. The initiative is justified by claims that the recognition in the classroom of a student’s cultural identity will lead to the student’s educational achievement. Using an account of a small study of teachers and their beliefs regarding New Zealand’s culturally responsive educational policy Kia Eke Panuku, we argue that such a claim is not established and it is the development of an epistemic identity which is more likely to be the means for Māori to attain educational success.     

论民族认同性与多民族国家民族政策的成功调整

现代多民族国家 ,几乎共同面对这样一种矛盾 ,即 :如何让文化的多元与政治统一和内部秩序并存。矛盾的解决难以仅靠某一两项民族政策的调整便能奏效 ,有时甚至需要对整个政策以及制定政策背后的理念进行反思。对民族认同性复杂性的分析 ,对民族认同性对于多民族国家政治统一、内部秩序和谐的正反两方面作用的分析及相关变量的研究 ,可以启发我们的思路 ,增添思想上某种有益的兴奋感     

The transnational in-between identity of Chinese student returnees from the UK: Mobility,variations and pathways

Considering the rising tide of international student return mobility, the UK needs to pay attention to the long-term circulation and development of international student returnees. This study analyses the mobility, variations and pathways of the transnational in-between identity of Chinese student returnees from the UK, an under-researched group in the changing dynamics of international student mobility. This longitudinal study uses original data from 48 semi-structured interviews to show how student returnees’ identities change over time in transnational sociocultural contexts. This study develops a spider chart comprising multiple manifestations of transnational selves to account for returnees’ intermediary and heterogeneous states of transnational in-between identities. Based on the empirical evidence, the study finds that transnational in-between identity is characterised by a ‘self-in-between mobility’, seeking compromises and connections between the polar extremes of essentialist and non-essentialist approaches to identity. In such an identification process, the changing dynamics of agency play a pivotal role in (re)shaping multiple identity pathways as variegated temporal outcomes of mobility. The findings not only advance the theoretical and methodological constructs of identity, but also have implications for relevant concerns in international education.     

Ethnicity,temporality and educational mobilities: comparing the ethnic identity constructions of Mongolian and Tibetan students in China

This article explores the impact of educational mobilities on the ethnic identity construction of minority students in China. Adopting ‘temporality’ as an analytical tool, the article highlights the dynamic temporal multiplicity in ethnic identity construction by comparing longitudinal in-depth interviews of a Mongolian student and a Tibetan student. This multiplicity of temporality is manifested in three aspects: temporality of ethnic othering; temporality of ethnic identity awakening; and temporality of ‘worldly time’ and ‘ethnic time’. Both ‘worldly time’ and ‘ethnic time’ entail distinctive understandings about these students’ pace and priorities in life. Both students defer their ‘permanent’ ethnic identity to an imagined future. Yet, adopting the gaze of the dominant others, both students subconsciously constructed an essentialist view of their ethnic cultures as fixed and stable, and those of the dominant cultures as alive and fluid. This article enriches our understanding of the politics of subjectivation through the lens of ‘temporality’.     

大学生自我同一性变化趋势研究

大学生的自我同一性随着年级的提高而发生迅速的变化,年级越高,同一性形成者的比例越高,同一性混乱者的比例越低,早期达成的比例在大一中最高,积极延缓者的比例在大二中最高。在大一和大二时,开展职业生涯规划教育有利于大学生自我同一性的形成。     

Academic motivations of Yi youths in China: Classmate support and ethnic identity

To enhance the academic achievements of Yi ethnic minority youths in rural school settings, the authors examined the effect of classmate support and the meditating role of ethnic identity in promoting their academic motivation. Cross-sectional survey data were collected from Yi youths sponsored by a philanthropic organization to attend local schools in Liangshan, rural China (n?=?657; 7–12 years old; 52% boys). Results of structural equation modelling showed that classmate support positively affected ethnic identity-commitment and ethnic identity-exploration, which then had positive impacts on three academic motivation outcomes: intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation-external and identified regulation, and extrinsic motivation-introjected regulation. The mediating effects of ethnic identity-exploration and ethnic identity-commitment were statistically significant, except for the pathway from classmate support to extrinsic motivation-introjected regulation via ethnic identity-commitment. The authors found that ethnic identity can be facilitated through building supportive classroom environment for positive academic motivations in Yi youths. Cross-cultural significance of this study is also discussed.     

Pupil mortification: digital photography and identity construction in classroom assessment

Cultural theorists have illuminated how photographic images contribute to autobiographical remembering and identity formation. This has new significance given that digital photography now allows personal images to circulate rapidly amongst peer groups. Taking these insights into classroom contexts, this paper draws on recent case-study data to explore a teacher’s use of digital photography to provide ‘feedback’ to pupils. Critiquing dominant psychological understandings of classroom assessment for their lack of recognition of power relations, it takes up post-structuralist theories of discourse, embodiment and affect to consider how these digital photographs became ‘sticky’ with memories of peer derision, ‘mortifying’ pupils and marking them as ‘other’ in ways that were intensified through later display to the class. Thus, rather than providing benign support for learning, the circulation of these images as part of feedback processes in this classroom context seems to have functioned as a powerful technology of individualization and normalization.