Creating Space for Cultural Knowledge: How Reflective Practice Enables Immigrant Youth to Recognize, Share, and Connect Across Intersectional Identities

• In Event: Storying Intersectionality for Collective Thriving: Dignity and Wisdom Across Cultures, Generations, Space and Time

Abstract

This paper examines how reflective practice among immigrant youth serves as a catalyst for imagining equitable educational futures. Grounded in intersectionality theory and funds of knowledge frameworks, this qualitative study of ten high school students participating in an intercultural dialogue program at an anthropology museum pursued three specific objectives: 1) document how structured reflection enables immigrant youth to articulate cultural knowledge gained through intersectional identity navigation, 2) analyze processes through which individual reflective practices generate collective wisdom for educational transformation, and 3) identify youth-generated principles for institutional change that center marginalized voices in educational futures.
As an educator and social worker who has led in international schools and intercultural educational programming, I bring the lived experience of facilitating learning environments and experiences for culturally- and nationally-diverse student communities. This positioning informed my commitment to creating research spaces where participants' expertise drives analysis rather than external frameworks imposed upon their experiences.
When provided with structured opportunities for reflection, immigrant youth engage in sophisticated meaning-making processes that bridge their multiple cultural worlds. Through pre-program questionnaires, semi-structured dialogues, and reflection journals, participants demonstrated how their daily navigation of family expectations, peer relationships, and media representations creates unique forms of cultural knowledge. Drawing from intersectionality theory, the analysis reveals how participants' simultaneous navigation of race, ethnicity, generation status, and cultural positioning generates historical insights preserved through family migration stories, strategies for navigating systemic inequities, and creative approaches to maintaining cultural connections across generations.
These young people's reflective practices extend beyond individual identity formation to encompass critical analysis of systemic inequities, including colorism across cultures, educational tracking systems, and heritage language marginalization in school settings. The funds of knowledge framework illuminated how participants recognized expertise developed through cultural navigation and shared this knowledge with peers who had parallel but distinct experiences.

Author

• Rorujorona Ferrell, University of Pennsylvania