Great article about the importance of
racial and ethnic identity:
http://www.education.com/reference/article/ethnic-identity-and-academic-achievement/
Excerpts:
During adolescence, individuals begin to construct a general sense of
their identity, or their personal definitions of who they are, what is
important to them, and appropriate ways to think and behave. During this
period, youth also differentiate their various social identities, the
self-constructed definitions of who they are in relation to the social
groups to which they belong. A sense of ethnic identity becomes salient
for many ethnic minority adolescents as they explore the significance of
their ethnic group membership in defining who they are (Spencer &
Markstrom-Adams, 1990; Phinney, 1990). Ethnic identity has multiple
components, including individuals' views of the importance of their
ethnic group to their self-definitions, the meanings they attach to
their ethnic group, and their thinking about how their ethnic group
affects their position in society. Thus, ethnic identities are
descriptive (e.g., “I am a Mexican American”; “I am an African
American”), affective (“I feel positively about being an African
American”; “I think others regard my ethnic group positively”), as well
as prescriptive (“I know how Chinese Americans act”; “I know how African
Americans act”). Adolescents' understandings of the meanings of their
social identities influence their adaptations and responses within
domains in which those identities are salient. Because race and
ethnicity often are salient in the domain of education, adolescents'
ethnic identities may be particularly relevant in shaping how youth
interpret and respond to their social and classroom contexts at school.
Relative to younger children, adolescents have more highly developed
cognitive abilities related to understanding themselves and their
experiences in more complex, abstract, and indirect ways, and this
period also involves intensification of particular social-cognitive
attributes, e.g., heightened awareness of how they are viewed by others.
Thus, they become more cognizant of the relevance of race and ethnicity
in society and have a higher likelihood of perceiving experiences in
terms of race and ethnicity (Spencer, Dupree, & Hartmann, 1997).
Academic engagement requires linking one's personal identity to the
roles of student and learner (Garcia & Pintrich, 1994), showing
sustained curiosity and interest in class, and displaying intense
efforts in learning tasks (Connell, Spencer, & Aber, 1994; Skinner
& Belmont, 1993). Adolescents' academic engagement has been linked
to social identities that are made salient in the academic domain
(Garcia & Pintrich, 1994). The academic domain is one in which race
often is salient for many ethnic minority adolescents. For instance,
entry into secondary schools is associated with increased racial
cleavage, social comparison, and heightened salience of racial and
ethnic stereotypes (Fisher, Wallace, & Fenton, 2000). Thus, it is
likely that minority adolescents' levels of academic engagement are
influenced, in part, by their ethnic identity beliefs. Theory and
research suggests that ethnic identity may serve as a risk factor for
lower academic motivation and achievement as well as promote academic
motivation and achievement. The risk and promotion approaches are
described below.
Also, there is growing evidence that having a strong, positive sense
of ethnic identity may protect minority adolescents from the negative
psychological and academic impacts of perceiving ethnic group barriers
or experiencing interpersonal discrimination based on their ethnic
group. For instance, in a 2006 study, Sellers and colleagues found that
Black youth having an ethnic identity characterized by feelings of
strong group connection and group pride showed more positive
psychological well being when experiencing racial discrimination
compared to those adolescents with less strong feelings of connection to
and positive attitudes about their ethnic group. Wong and colleagues in
their 2003 study found that African American adolescents who held a
strong connection to and pride in being Blacks were protected from the
negative impact on academic attitudes and performance of experiencing
racial discrimination at school relative to those with less of a strong,
positive connection with their ethnic group.
Thus, school practitioners must receive training about the
development of youth from multicultural backgrounds. This training
should not only acknowledge the unique risks associated with membership
in ethnic minority groups in the United States but also consider how
youths' ethnic identities can serve as cultural assets in relation to
their achievement and how to use this information to create inclusive
classroom contexts for all students. Without such training, it is likely
that teaching approaches and practices will be based on popular views
of common sense approaches not supported by empirical research.
Additionally teachers should be mindful of endorsing their own ethnic
identity beliefs in the class contexts they create.
SPECIFIC ETHNIC IDENTITIES
Asian
American Identity Development
