Cultivating Students' Critical Consciousness and Ethnic-Racial Identity: Ethnic Studies and Adolescent Development (Poster 21)

• In Event: Promising Scholarship in Education Research: Dissertation Fellows and Their Research

Abstract

United States (U.S.) education is at a critical junction. Currently, ethnic studies (ES) and other forms of anti-racist education that center the perspectives of historically oppressed racial and ethnic groups in the U.S. is under intense scrutiny. Despite attacks on ES, ES enrollment is associated with academic achievement and civic engagement among students of color (Dee & Penner, 2017; Cabrera et al., 2014). As the debate rages on, it is critical to examine the implications of ES for youth development, and how it is linked to positive academic and civic outcomes (Cabrera et al., 2014; Bonilla et al., 2021). This study assesses the efficacy of an ethnic studies curriculum for fostering critical consciousness and ethnic-racial identity and whether these two processes positively shape academic and civic outcomes for racially marginalized students. I employ a longitudinal convergent mixed-methods design consisting of focus group interviews with and close-ended surveys with 9th-grade Latinx and Native American students to elucidate whether they develop critical consciousness and ethnic-racial identity while enrolled in ES, and if critical consciousness and ethnic-racial identity in turn mediate the link between ES and their academic (i.e., school engagement and GPAs) and civic (i.e., participation in critical action) outcomes. Emerging findings suggest that youth grew in their critical consciousness and ethnic-racial identity and that these processes are related to school and civic engagement. This research clarifies how ES fosters student success, shedding light on the aspects of ES that are most salient to students.

Author

• Andres Pinedo, University of Michigan
  Presenting Author