Defining "American" in the context of immigration: A case study of Helping Hands Elementary

Abstract/Contents

Abstract: Immigration has dramatically changed the face of the nation in the last thirty years, yet it is unclear how children currently define “Americanness” in light of these demographic and cultural shifts. This research explores how elementary students define what it means to be American in the context of immigration- driven diversity. Based on a survey of fourth and fifth graders in an elementary school located in a high-immigrant community, the author shows that despite the diversity of the school and local surroundings, and the multicultural ideology espoused by school staff, students predominately defined “American” in ethnocultural terms – specifically, as white, US-born, and English-speaking. At the same time, a small group of students challenged this narrative and defined Americans in pluralist terms. This study suggests that schools aiming to create inclusive learning communities in an increasingly diverse nation may need more direct approaches to teaching a culturally pluralist model of America.

Type of resource	text
Date created	2016

Author	Lash, Cristina L.

Subject	American identity
Subject	national identity
Subject	education
Subject	school diversity
Subject	ethnoculturalism
Subject	immigration
Subject	Stanford Graduate School of Education
Genre	Article

Related item	Title Link to article
Location	https://purl.stanford.edu/bf141vg1830

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License: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license (CC BY).

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