Supporting Adolescent Identity Development and Academic Adjustment via School Racial Socialization

• In Event: Understanding How Educators Interact With and Inform Adolescents’ Ethnic-Racial Identities

Abstract

Objectives and Background
Schools are a critical context for adolescents’ understanding of their ethnic-racial identity (i.e., ERI), a process called school ethnic-racial socialization (Saleem & Byrd, 2021). Research has demonstrated that schools offering adolescents opportunities to learn about their ERI can positively inform their ERI developmental processes and their academic engagement (e.g., Alim & Paris, 2017; Saleem et al., 2022); however, the extant research offers a limited understanding of how specific educator practices and ERI-focused curricula can promote these outcomes. Having a clearer understanding of these processes is key, as it could support educators’ more effective implementation. Given the current backlash and legal difficulties that many U.S. educators face in bringing these types of learning experiences to their classrooms (Schwartz, 2023), this work is more urgent than ever. Accordingly, the current study sought to illustrate the mechanisms by which an 8th grade English teacher implementing an ERI-focused unit informed her students’ ERI developmental processes and, through this, students’ academic engagement (i.e., behavioral, cognitive, emotional).

Method
The study took place in a predominately White U.S. Northeast public middle school during the 2019-20 school year. The participating teacher, who identified as a White woman, formed the Identity Unit by integrating the Identity Project, an eight-session ERI development intervention, into a literature circle unit with books centering ethnoracially minoritized main characters. Thirty interviews were conducted with her and 16 of her students (3 Latinx, 4 White, 4 Asian, 5 Multiracial; Mage = 13.25, SD = .45; 75% girls, 25% boys), once during and once following the Identity Unit. Data were analyzed using causation coding (Morrison, 2009) and thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2012). This iterative process involved coding, memo-ing, discussion with study team members, and recoding. Following the coding process, a process diagram of the most salient codes was created (Figure 1).

Findings and Implications
As highlighted in Table 2, students discussed how the Identity Unit encouraged their ERI development through (a) facilitating conversations with family, (b) providing dedicated time for ERI exploration, and (c) facilitating personal and literary exploration in tandem. Students also connected these processes to the multiple dimensions of their academic engagement (i.e., behavioral, cognitive, emotional). The teacher’s commentary further supported the patterns that emerged in the student discussion. Study findings offer support for integrating curricula explicitly focused on ERI development into course content by highlighting the unique synergy that can occur when this is done effectively, and the potential benefits for adolescent adjustment. Study findings also highlight the challenges of conducting this type of work in a predominately White school context. Namely, there is a clear need for additional scaffolding for White students who feel disconnected from their ERI due to their color-evasive social contexts as well as for additional targeted support for ethnoracially minoritized students who may feel isolated or insecure when their differences are made salient in the classroom. Study findings provide actionable insights to educators seeking to implement similar curricula in their classrooms as well as important considerations for future research on school-based ERI learning.

Author

• Kristia Wantchekon, Georgetown University