Combating Omission is Renewal: Education Policy & Asian Racial Literacy in Wisconsin

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Abstract

Introduction
After the drastic rise in anti-Asian hate crimes in 2020, the community has called for “education” as one of the top solutions to this crisis (Stop Asian Hate Report Card, 2022). Since then, states have mandated Asian American K-12 history policy to be included in curriculum. This critical ethnographic study employs an embodied AsianCrit and Racial Literacy lens to how Asian American K-12 policy is being translated in a Wisconsin high school. Conducting critical ethnographies is essential for a renewal of how we view and approach Asian Americans in K-12 spaces since we have often been misrepresented or completely omitted in curriculum which is a form of curricular violence (Takagi, 1992; An, 2020).

Methodology
For this study, I chose critical ethnography as the primary method to examine how Asian American curricular policy at Wisconsin is being implemented through an embodied AsianCrit and racial literacy lens. While ethnography describes culture, critical ethnography begins with an ethical responsibility to address processes of unfairness or injustice within a particular lived domain (Madison, 2019). As a Filipino American researcher, I was able to have an “insider lens” to how Asian American K-12 studies is employed (Tintiangco-Cubales et. al, 2020). This positionality enabled me to take on an embodied AsianCrit lens through the coding and analysis section, specifically focusing on the tenet of “Asianization.”

Data Collection
I used observations and semi-structured interviews with two teachers who curated and taught the embedded Hmong and Asian American curriculum in their literature course between February - April 2024. While observing, I looked for moments of Asian racial literacy talk, which means teachers and students talking about Hmong and broader Asian American concepts pertaining to race, racism, and racialization. I interviewed teacher 1 in person on April 5th and teacher 2 virtually on April 9th. The focus of these semi-structured interviews was to garner a better understanding of their process of curating and implementing the curriculum, and how positionality impacted their process.

Results
The study found that two teachers were using an embedding strategy to systematically include Hmong and broader Asian American stories and histories into their elective literature course called Culture, Politics, and Identity. Beyond embedding, this study found that teachers employed community engagement to build foundational racial literacy skills by inviting guest speakers who identify with the curriculum such as local Hmong American activist Zon Moua. This “community-as-curriculum” pedagogy allowed for power-sharing, and more students were exposed to Asian Racial Literacy outside of elective courses.

Significance
As Wisconsin has recently passed Asian American K-12 policy through Act 266, this ethnographic case study provides insight to administrators and teachers on where to start when it comes to designing and implementing Ethnic Studies policies focused on Asian Racial Literacy. This study opens up more avenues for research exploring: What does Asian Racial Literacy building look like at the preschool through middle school level? Will this have an impact on how Black, Latinx, Jewish, Arab, and other Ethnic Studies policies are translated?

Author

• Tony DelaRosa, University of Wisconsin - Madison