Young Children’s Racial-Cultural Identity Negotiation and Development:A Phenomenological Case Study
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2015
Keywords
young children, Asian-American, racial-cultural identity, case study
Abstract
This article reports on a phenomenological case study following one Korean-American child’snegotiation and development of racial-cultural identity in the United States during the first three years ofschool. This study aimed to closely explore, understand, and explain the critical incidents experienced bya Korean-American child to recognize and negotiate her racial-cultural identity, and the strategies sheused to navigate through the school culture. As a result, four themes were identified with the followingmetaphors: (a) Just give me a sandwich – Avoiding attention; (b) I must have been a slave – Trying to fitin; (c) It is my cultural water – Speaking up; and (d) I can be both – Reconstructing flexible identities.This study offers a glimpse into a complex nature of a Korean-American child’s racial-cultural identitynegotiation and development in the United States calling for an expanded discourse around the issue, andsheds a light on what roles teachers and parents can play to collaboratively address and scaffold theexperiences.
Was this content written or created while at USF?
Yes
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Asia-Pacific Journal of Research in Early Childhood Education, v. 9, issue 2, p. 97-120
Scholar Commons Citation
Han, Heejeong Sophia, "Young Children’s Racial-Cultural Identity Negotiation and Development:A Phenomenological Case Study" (2015). Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Learning Faculty Publications. 7.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/cil_facpub_tampa/7
