Becoming the model: Complicating the myth of Asian American “success” narratives through historical thinking

• In Event: We Did Not “Fall Out of a Coconut Tree”: Fostering Historical Thinking Within Higher Education Graduate Programs

Abstract

Objectives

Racialized groups are unable to claim sole authorship of their stories in U.S. history. Hegemonic ideologies and narratives, when repeated over time, morph into stereotypes that confine racial and ethnic minorities to the label of “other” in American society. To challenge these narratives and remedy the historical harms on racial and ethnic minorities in the U.S., we must not only acknowledge that othering of different groups has occurred but interrogate how they have been othered over time (Dozono, 2022). This paper presents the development of a course unit using historical data to examine the othering of historically marginalized racial and ethnic groups in the U.S. and postsecondary education. Using the example of the model minority narrative to interrogate Asians’ and Asian Americans’ positioning in the discourse on race and postsecondary education, the paper demonstrates two things: one, lessons engaging students with historical data complicates narratives created at the macro-social level and humanizes communities beyond constructed labels and two integrating historical thinking with educational leadership as an interdisciplinary effort develops and reinforces students’ skills in research and practice. Examining historical data shows students “that each of us is more than the handful of labels ascribed to us at birth,” (Wineburg, 1999, p. 490).

Framework

The development of this course unit synthesized Andrews and Burke’s (2007) 5 C’s historical thinking framework and Kim’s (1999) Racial Triangulation theory to examine how the model minority myth has persisted throughout U.S. history. Andrews and Burke offered the concepts of change over time, context, causality, contingency, and complexity while Kim’s (1999) racial triangulation theory accounted for the social processes that have positioned Asian Americans as the model minority. Together these frameworks demonstrate how a course unit can be designed to elevate the stories of people who have been overlooked or maligned because of impressions created and sustained at the macro-social level.

Model

It uses a problem-based approach (Poch & Yousuf, 2017) to help develop student’s historical thinking skills while connecting content relevant to issues faced by educational leaders. Through completion of this course unit, students will be able to uncover forgotten histories, explain how historical thinking advances justice by elevating the stories of racial and ethnic minorities, interrogate assumptions they hold about racial and ethnic groups, and examine connections to contemporary practice.

Data

This unit introduces students in graduate level educational leadership courses to historical thinking through an examination of data including, but not limited to websites, case law, oral histories, and newspaper and magazine articles.

Scholarly Significance

The interrogation of the model minority myth through historical data equips students to “re-write narratives about merit and moral deservingness and…re-imagine the linked fate and linked futures of Asian Americans and other minoritized groups” (Lee, 2021, p. 884). Engaging meaningfully with historical data allows students to deconstruct the narratives and labels associated with historically marginalized groups. When used in educational leadership courses it serves as a bridge when interrogating how dominant narratives have shaped student interactions with and their navigation and negotiation of postsecondary education social environments.

Author

• Chadrhyn A.A. Pedraza, New Mexico State University