Asian American Civic Inquiry in Action in the Secondary ELA Classrooms (Poster 2)

• In Event: Research for Remedy: Supporting Civic Literacy Development

Abstract

While mandates like the Teaching Equitable Asian American Community History (TEAACH) Act are important in that they recognize the importance of AsAm stories and histories, they raise the question of whether notions of civic engagement being reimagined to align more closely with Asian American students’ life experiences (Rodríguez, 2018). As such, we come together as a collective of Asian American female educators to critically examine the field of English Language Arts at the secondary level. Furthermore, we consider how teachers can incorporate AsAm literature to increase civic inquiry for all students.
Authentic civic learning necessitates a more profound and personal development of critical civic empathy—“embodying the lives of our fellow citizens while keeping in mind the social forces that differentiate our experiences as we make decisions about our shared public future” (Mirra, 2018, p. 7). Critical civic empathy can be developed when teachers select texts that challenge and extend students’ identities and experiences, and more importantly, intentionally structure essential questions and activities that do so (Mirra, 2018).

Theoretical Framework
We draw from ethnic studies methodologies as defined by Agarwal-Rangath (2020) and Yeh et al. (2021a) where its goals are to: “(1) rehumanizing educational experiences for our youth; (2) acknowledging the histories, resilience, and resistance of communities of color; and (3) shifting the use of education from awareness to action” (p.3). By centering and leaning on such tenets of ethnic studies, we are able to recenter histories and identities of people of color and disrupt white supremacy and colonial effects within the curriculum at the secondary level.


Methods & Data Sources
Our lesson plans were created using a modified AsAm centered lens with a civic inquiry and action focus. So often, AsAm history is taught (or when it is taught) as isolated events, and through a Euro-centric, colonist lens, and what this does it depict Asian Americans as victims or threats. Nowhere are Asian Americans seen as resilient individuals that have agency or as working in collaboration with other communities.

Results & Significance
An analysis of the lesson plans revealed three ways the AsAm-centered lessons might foster critical civic empathy. First, they presented a multiplicity of identities through Asian characters that interrupted negative stereotypes of Asian American identity as a monolith, as passive and vulnerable. Second, they highlighted solidarity between AsAm communities and other communities of color in movements of resistance. Lastly, a dialogic process of examining novels and stories reflected how racial prejudice contributes to the social, political, and legislative marginalization of AsAm groups. While the study focused on AsAm histories, the implications for engaging students’ critical civic empathy transcend AsAm communities—it allows us to imagine possibilities of a shared future.

Authors

• Minkyung Choi, Montclair State University

• Diana Liu, Teachers College, Columbia University