Targeting ethnic-racial identity development and academic engagement in tandem through curriculum

Abstract

Schools play an integral role in adolescents' learning and understanding of their ethnic-racial identity (ERI); however, the extant research offers a limited understanding of how specific educator practices can inform adolescents' ERI development, and in turn, their academic adjustment. Accordingly, the present study utilized 30 interviews with Latinx, White, Asian American, and Multiracial eighth grade students (N = 16; M_age = 13.25 years, SD = 0.45; 75% girls, 25% boys) and their English teacher to illustrate the processes by which an ERI-focused unit informed students' ERI developmental processes and their academic engagement (i.e., behavioral, cognitive, and emotional). Results from iterative causation coding indicated that (a) the unit promoted ERI development by facilitating conversations with family, offering dedicated time for ERI exploration, and facilitating personal and literary ERI exploration in tandem; (b) the unit's focus on ERI development encouraged students' emotional, cognitive, and behavioral academic engagement; and (c) the unit also encouraged students' emotional, cognitive, and behavioral academic engagement by leveraging book selections centering ethnoracially minoritized youth, critical consciousness raising, and class community building. Our findings offer implications for future research and school-based efforts looking to positively support adolescents' ERI development. Our findings also provide insights regarding the role of the predominately White school context in students' experiences with the unit, namely, the role of the context in some students' occasional disengagement with the material.