Becoming, learning, and belonging: A Qualitative study on Asian American alumni reflections on high social racial identity formation, Asian American curriculum, and building community

This dissertation presents a descriptive qualitative study on the high school experience of Asian American students. Asian American alumni from a magnet high school located in a large Midwest city reflect on and share their experiences navigating high school. Through semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis, this research examines and presents how Asian American high school students were shaped by their social interactions in high school, as well as the effect of exposure to or lack of exposure to Asian American history in their high school curriculum. Examining how high school shapes how Asian American students view themselves provides guidance on how educators and policy decisions can support Asian American students and other students from historically minoritized groups. Utilizing Asian Critical Race Theory as the theoretical framework and Culturally Relevant/Sustaining Pedagogies as conceptual frameworks, the research highlights how Asian American students construct their identity and create a sense of belonging in educational spaces that often render them invisible. Key findings show how the Model Minority Myth (MMM) continues to exist in education spaces, but Asian American students challenged the MMM. At the same time, Asian Americans find space for themselves and belonging in schools through the importance of Asian American educators and cultural clubs. The themes in this research show how embedding culturally responsive and sustaining approaches positively affect Asian Americans. The research contributes to growing emphasis on more culturally relevant curricula and inclusive approaches in the classroom. In addition, this research examines the positive impact of an inclusive curriculum as states mandate more culturally relevant curricula.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ed.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp

Grantor

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2025

Author dc:creator

• Park, Anna

Contributors dc:contributor

• Lee, Sharon
• Pak, Yoon
• Kang, Hyun-Sook
• Mason, Curtis

• Asian American
• Asian American students
• curriculum
• culturally relevant pedagogy
• culturally sustaining pedagogy
• model minority myth
• belonging

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2025 Anna Park

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/132782

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/132782