Nepantlera Pedagogy in an Immigrant Youth Theater Project: The Role of a Hmong Educator in Facilitating the Exploration of Culture and Identity

Background/Context: Community-based youth theater programs afford youth opportunities to explore and “author” new identities by “performing writing.” Yet, we know much less about the ways in which immigrant youth are exploring struggles and changes within their families and ethnic community. We particularly lack research about the roles of immigrant adult educators in youth programs, and the significance to the pedagogical process of their experiences, being, and modes of interacting with young people who share with them a common ethnicity. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: The purpose of the study is to explore the role of a community-based Hmong immigrant educator as a “nepantlera,” or boundary-crossing “guide” in Hmong youth’s negotiation of culture and identity. It is guided by three questions: (1) How does nepantlera pedagogy move beyond self–other dichotomies? (2) How does nepantlera pedagogy facilitate rewriting the self to construct new visions of ethnic identity? and (3) How does nepantlera pedagogy entail risking the personal? Setting: The research setting was a Hmong community-based arts organization in an urban center in the Midwestern United States. Population/Participants/Subjects: Three 1.5-generation Hmong American adult staff of a community-based organization, one Korean American teaching artist from a local theater company, and 11 second-generation Hmong American adolescents participated in the study. Research Design: The study draws from a critical ethnographic investigation of the culturally relevant practices of a youth theater project within a Hmong coethnic organization. Data Collection and Analysis: Ethnographic data collection occurred over the 4-month program cycle of the theater project. Data sources include field notes from participant observations, semi-structured interviews, audio and video recordings of the activities, work products, and documents about the program and organization. The data were analyzed with thematic analysis techniques. Findings/Results: The findings suggest that the nepantlera pedagogy of the Hmong immigrant educator fostered opportunities for Hmong youth to (1) disrupt binaries between first-generation and second-generation immigrants by exploring not only differences but also commonalities; (2) imagine new ethnic selves by exploring and rewriting a Hmong edict against same-last-name relationships; and (3) experience the vulnerability of their Hmong educator through disclosure about his personal life. Conclusions/Recommendations: The nepantlera pedagogy of an immigrant educator within a coethnic community-based organization brings a perspective from the nepantla, or “in-between,” of culture and identity that provides immigrant youth with a deeper level of cultural knowledge and connectedness to navigate their multiple worlds.

Environmental Factors for Motivation of First-Generation Hmong American College Students in Academic Attainment

This qualitative thematic analysis study examined the motivations of first-generation college graduate Hmong American students in their educational attainment. Currently, Hmong American students are facing cultural and institutional barriers which continue to impact access to and achievement in college. Although there is an educational disparity, for some within the Hmong American student community, there is resilience to overcome and graduate from institutions of higher education which is important to understand. Culturally Engaging Campus Environment Model underpinned the one-on-one in-depth interviews of purposively sampled first-generation college graduate Hmong American students who attended the University of California, Merced. The findings from the study highlighted ways family supports, role models, breaking culturally normed gender roles, Hmong Student Associations (HSAs), and intentional holistic campus supports are important motivational environmental factors in Hmong American students’ higher education journey.

Environmental Factors for Motivation of First-Generation Hmong American College Students in Academic Attainment

This qualitative thematic analysis study examined the motivations of first-generation college graduate Hmong American students in their educational attainment. Currently, Hmong American students are facing cultural and institutional barriers which continue to impact access to and achievement in college. Although there is an educational disparity, for some within the Hmong American student community, there is resilience to overcome and graduate from institutions of higher education which is important to understand. Culturally Engaging Campus Environment Model underpinned the one-on-one in-depth interviews of purposively sampled first-generation college graduate Hmong American students who attended the University of California, Merced. The findings from the study highlighted ways family supports, role models, breaking culturally normed gender roles, Hmong Student Associations (HSAs), and intentional holistic campus supports are important motivational environmental factors in Hmong American students’ higher education journey.