HMoob Miseducation to Transformation: Centering HMoob Epistemologies and Ontologies in Education

• In Event: Building Educational Possibilities: Migrants, Refugees, and Students of Color

Abstract

Education research on HMoob (or Hmong/Mong/HMong) students in the United States has described them as refugees, educational delinquents, and from low socioeconomic status, and used these designations to advocate for educational interventions and resources (Xiong & Mouavangsou, in-press; Vue & Mouavangsou, 2022; Poon et el., 2016). This strategic positioning racializes HMoob students operating from a deficit and damage-centered narrative, which leads to the miseducation of HMoob youth (Vue & Mouavangsou, 2022). This paper extends Mouavangsou (2019)’s research on HMoob education to make a more explicit connection between miseducation and internalized racism, and offers possibilities for undoing Hmoob miseducation.

Author

• Kaozong Nancy Mouavangsou, University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire