Publication:
Improving anti-racist education for Multiracial students

Simple item page
dc.contributor.advisorMaurianne Adams
dc.contributor.advisorGretchen Rossman
dc.contributor.advisorNitasha Sharma
dc.contributor.authorHamako, Eric
dc.contributor.departmentUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst
dc.date2023-09-23 8:46:42
dc.date.accessioned2024-04-26T16:18:28Z
dc.date.available2024-04-26T16:18:28Z
dc.date.issued2014
dc.date.submittedFebruary
dc.date.submitted2014
dc.description.abstractThis dissertation explores how anti-racist education might be improved, so that it more effectively teaches Multiracial students about racism. A brief history of anti-racist education and a theory of monoracism – the systematic oppression of Multiracial people – provide context for the study. Anti-racist education in communities and colleges has supported U.S. social movements for racial justice. However, most anti-racist education programs are not designed by or for students who identify with two or more races. Nor have such programs generally sought to address Multiraciality or monoracism. Since the 1980s, Multiraciality has become more salient in popular U.S. racial discourses. The number of people identifying as Multiracial, Mixed Race, or related terms has also increased, particularly among school-age youth. Further, the size and number of Multiracial people’s organizations have also grown. Anti-racist education may pose unintended challenges for Multiracial students and their organizations. This study asked twenty-five educators involved in Multiracial organizations to discuss anti-racist education: what it should teach Multiracial students; what is working; what is not working; and how it might be improved. Qualitative data were gathered via five focus group interviews in three West Coast cities. Participants proposed learning goals for Multiracial students. Goals included learning about privilege and oppression; social constructionism; historical and contemporary contexts of racism; and impacts of racism and monoracism on Multiracial people. Participants also called for education that develops interpersonal relationships, self-reflection, and activism. Participants also discussed aspects of anti-racist education that may help or hinder Multiracial students’ learning, as well as possible improvements. Participants problematized the exclusion of Multiraciality, the use of Black/White binary racial paradigms, linear racial identity development models, and the use of racial caucus groups or affinity spaces. Participants also challenged educators’ monoracist attitudes and behaviors, particularly the treatment of questions as pathological “resistance.” Suggestions included addressing Multiraciality and monoracism, accounting for intersectionality and the social construction of race, validating self-identification, and teacher education about monoracism. The study then critically analyzes participants’ responses by drawing on literature about anti-racist education, social justice education, multicultural education, transgender oppression (cissexism), and monoracism. Based on that synthesis, alternate recommendations for research and practice are provided.
dc.description.degreeDoctor of Education (EdD)
dc.description.departmentEducation
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.7275/ynxa-sq93
dc.identifier.orcidN/A
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14394/20164
dc.relation.urlhttps://scholarworks.umass.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1079&context=dissertations_2&unstamped=1
dc.source.statuspublished
dc.subjectanti-racist education
dc.subjectcommunity education
dc.subjectMultiracial
dc.subjectmonoracism
dc.subjectsocial justice
dc.subjectmulticultural
dc.subjectdiversity
dc.subjectBilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education
dc.subjectEthnic Studies
dc.subjectTeacher Education and Professional Development
dc.titleImproving anti-racist education for Multiracial students
dc.typeopenaccess
dc.typedissertation
digcom.contributor.authorisAuthorOfPublication|email:erichamako@gmail.com|institution:University of Massachusetts Amherst|Hamako, Eric
digcom.identifierdissertations_2/90
digcom.identifier.contextkey5447081
digcom.identifier.submissionpathdissertations_2/90
dspace.entity.typePublication
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
Dissertation__Hamako__Eric__Improving_anti_racist_education_for_Multiracial_students__2014.04.06_.pdf
Size:
2.49 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Name: Dissertation__Hamako__Eric__Improving_anti_racist_education_for_Multiracial_students__2014.04.06_.pdf
Size: 2.49 MB
Kind: Adobe PDF
Collections
Dissertations