Ethnic identity in school context: The case of Yi ethnic minority adolescents in rural China

Abstract

Using Yi adolescents in rural China (n = 163) as an example, this qualitative study explored how school ethnic socialization shaped the ethnic identity development and the future self of indigenous youths in mainstream Han‐dominant school settings. Focus groups and thematic analysis were used. Six themes emerged, describing the participants' experiences of mainstream socialization, cultural socialization and multiculturalism within their school and how these practices shape their ethnic identity. Mainstream socialization also shaped their future aspirations by motivating them to utilize their education to contribute to the Yi community and to improve the status of Yi women. While mainstream socialization was seen as undesirable in current literature, our findings suggested that it facilitates ethnic identity development in indigenous adolescents by broadening their horizons to Han cultures if rural schools in China also practice cultural socialization concurrently.

Ethnic Identity Development, Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms, and Relationships with Primary Caregivers: A Two-Wave Longitudinal Study among Yi Ethnic Minority Youths in Rural China School Settings

“…Interestingly, earlier findings on younger Yi youths indicated a decline in their ethnic identity exploration and commitment [45]. This discrepancy may be explained by the distinct developmental stages of childhood versus adolescence: at earlier developmental stages, Yi young people may not be aware of their ethnic distinctiveness [7].…”

“…Findings on Yi primary-school children showed that they developed positive social skills, behavioral health, and academic motivation after attending the local schools [34,44]. However, these students' sense of ethnic identity declined over time [45]. The rural education curriculum focuses on academic excellence and preparing students to survive in the Han-driven economy, resulting in school management placing a lower priority on the teachings of ethnic minority culture and traditions [46][47][48].…”

“…The self-reporting Chinese version of the multi-group ethnic identity measure was used to assess participants' ethnic identity [5,45]. The measure consisted of two subscales, using 12 items representing the constructs of ethnic identity-exploration and ethnic identitycommitment on a 4-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree; 4 = strongly agree).…”

Effects of students’ perception of teachers’ ethnic-racial socialization on students’ ethnic identity and mental health in rural China’s schools

“…Supportive ethnic-racial socialization in school settings is a proven source of strong ethnic identity and positive psychological health in ethnic-racial minority young people in Western literature (e.g., Byrd, 2019 ; Saleem and Byrd, 2021 ). Research conducted by the authors of this article among Asian students also showed that through learning about and discussing their own cultures in relation to larger society and issues on racial equality and justice at their schools, which is, an immediate social context that young people are nested in, students are given the opportunity to resolve ethnic uncertainties and leverage their ethnicity to develop their sense of life purpose (e.g., Lai et al, 2023 ; Teyra et al, 2023 ). While scholars have been focusing on the study of ethnic identity in ethnic-minority young people, there is also a growing discussion on the importance of ethnic identity for the cultural majority.…”

“…Some showed pride and positive feelings towards their ethnic group membership, while others preferred to disengaged from their ethnic communities because of racial discrimination. On the other hand, some students were able to resolve their racial discrimination experiences and pledged to contribute to their ethnic community with the mainstream knowledge they learned at school ( Lai et al, 2023 ). These findings suggested that ethnicity do play a special role within the development of ethnic minority individuals in different socio-cultural settings.…”