Fostering Meaningful Racial Engagement Through Intergroup Dialogues

Abstract

Current attention on improving intergroup relations and participation in diverse societies compels us to understand the requisite values and skills for such participation. An action research approach examined an applied model of engagement across differences—intergroup dialogues that are facilitated in face-to-face encounters of college students from diverse social backgrounds meeting over a sustained period of time. Results show that overall program effects are evident only for racial identity outcomes—importance and centrality. However, regression analyses show students’ valuing of the dialogic learning process (e.g. peer facilitation, sharing experiences, and asking questions) is significantly related to increase in frequency of thinking about racial group membership, perspective-taking ability, comfort in communicating across differences, positive beliefs about conflict, and interest in bridging differences.

The Relationship Between Critical Ethnic Awareness and Racial Discrimination: Multiple Indirect Effects of Coping Strategies Among Asian Americans

“…(adopted from Fletcher, Danilovics, Peterson, & Reeder, 1986;Nagda & Zúñiga, 2003;Spencer, Brown, Griffin, & Abdullah, 2008) Appendix B…”

“…The Critical Ethnic Awareness (CEA) measure consists of three items from the Attributional Complexity Scale (Fletcher, Danilovics, Peterson, & Reeder, 1986) and four items from the Thinking About Self in Social Context measure (Nagda & Zúñiga, 2003;Spencer, Brown, Griffin, & Abdullah, 2008). CEA assesses the extent to which individuals think -given their racial/ethnic minority background -society and culture influence their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.…”

“…Critical awareness, or critical consciousness, is defined as an understanding of the general societal inequities that constrain human agency and overall well-being and the influences of social inequities on an individual and his or her relations with others (Freire, 1974;Watts, Diemer, & Voight, 2011). Developing critical awareness allows a person to explore the dynamics of privilege and oppression rooted in social construction (Nagda & Zúñiga, 2003).…”

Activity Theory, Authentic Learning and Emerging Technologies

“…Given the diverse nature of students in South Africa, student engagement may differ across cultures. Nagda and Zuniga (2003) proposed that cross-group interactions, when structured with a collaborative process, can play a role in building multicultural communities. To this end, the classroom reflects the multicultural diversity of the country, which should provide a space for meaningful engagement.…”

Race, Inclusion, and Science: Things That Really Do Go Together

“…We knew the girls would be using an AFM microscope as part of the hands-on learning at the camp, thus combining a conversation about race and ancestry with the ability to observe differences in hair under the microscope would help students connect social issues with laboratory methods. As the GAMES girls tend to be about two thirds white, we also thought introducing small group and intergroup interaction would be an important way to engage on this topic 12 .…”