We are the Sea, We are the Ocean, Oceania is Us: Cultivating a Sense of Belonging through Curriculum and Pedagogy at a Two-Year AANAPISI
By: National Center For Institutional Diversity
Tags: Higher Education, Asian American, Diversity, Inclusion

Imagine sitting in a classroom where you felt your identities seen, opinions and ideas heard, and culture respected and honored. What would this environment look like? More importantly, how can institutions foster this sense of belonging for community college students who may only have limited opportunity to engage with peers and instructors in class due to working part-time and fulfilling multiple obligations at home or commuting? Leveraging the Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution (AANAPISI) grant, De Anza College’s Initiative to Maximize Positive Academic Achievement and Cultural Thriving among Asian American and Pacific Islanders (IMPACT AAPI) developed learning communities to address the academic needs of their Filipino, Southeast Asian, and Pacific Islander students through curricular pathways.

In 2008, De Anza College — a public two-year community college in Silicon Valley with an Asian American and Pacific Islander student population of more than 47 percent of the student body — received one of the first six inaugural two-year AANAPISI grants to serve low-income Filipino, Southeast Asian, and Pacific Islander students. In 2011, De Anza received a second, five-year grant. Both grants met the goals of the federal AANAPISI program through design of curricular pathways based on learning communities (team-taught and thematically linked courses) and embedded counseling. This contribution to the AANAPISI series highlights how culturally responsive curriculum and pedagogy impacted the experiences of Filipinos, Pacific Islanders, and Southeast Asians. We offer implications for practice and research as future consideration for AANAPISI institutions and scholarship.

Photo by Lanelle Ladero on Unsplash

Research on Sense of Belonging at Colleges and Universities

Based on previous research, we know that students who perceive and experience a more positive campus climate feel a greater sense of belonging are more likely to academically and socially succeed, and to feel satisfied with their overall college experience. Sense of belonging affects all students, but students experience belonging differently and distinctly based on their social identities (e.g., race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation) and campus environments. Specifically, for AAPI students, if they feel that their ethnic culture fits within the campus environment, they perceive a more positive campus climate and ultimately feel like they belong.

Focusing on AAPI students is important, as Teranishi’s research underscores the heterogeneity of the AAPI population in U.S. schools. His study makes visible the diversity in ethnicity, immigration histories, generational and legal status, language, educational attainment, and economic status of AAPIs. AAPI students include those who are the children of immigrants or immigrant-origin children, who often have to negotiate their dual identity — that of their home and American culture — within school settings.

Research on college students’ sense of belonging has primarily focused on students at four-year institutions in relation to campus climate. Little is known about how sense of belonging is cultivated at two-year community colleges, specifically in the classroom. This study addresses this gap by demonstrating how a culturally responsive learning community stimulated the academic and social experiences of IMPACT AAPI students through curriculum and pedagogy.

Sense of Belonging through Curriculum and Pedagogy

The majority of De Anza learning communities center on a theme, which is realized in the course content and assignments. In the case of ICS 21: Introduction to Pacific Islander Culture and History and EWRT 1A: Composition and Reading, the theme is introduced in the course syllabus that begins with the following passage: “We should not be defined by the smallness of our islands, but by the greatness of our oceans. We are the sea, we are the ocean, Oceania is us. Epeli Hau’ofa”. This passage speaks of connection and expansiveness within a diasporic identity. The passage also positions individuals and communities as being one with the environment. The two instructors deliberately chose this passage to situate the students within these values. The instructors also embraced storytelling as a central activity related to personal and cultural identity and the concept of family. The valuation of storytelling was shown through the inclusion and sharing of personal narratives, including stories shared by both instructors, the two IMPACT AAPI embedded counselors, and students. Below is an excerpt of a spoken word poem shared by a Filipina American student (CR) in class.

[CR]: So we took our chances in the land which claimed happiness, claimed opportunity, claimed a happier life, freedom and left behind all that I had to own except for a few pictures, some clothes and hope for a better change. I left behind my mother & father, my brothers and sisters. the only place I’ve come to call home. And as I left the shores I could hear their bittersweet goodbyes, fading, fading, fading, till I see their faces no more [NR]: So even though I am alone in a sea of people. And even though it is difficult to breath, I must persevere for the future. For my children and theirs. [CR]: I will be the one who brings hope, who brings joy, who brings opportunity no matter the burden, no matter the fear, no matter the isolation The life I live now is not lived for me, but lived for those that breathe after me. I will be the spark that brings up the flames of life. I am not alone, for their lives are in me.

In the poem, the dialogue between CR and her mother (NR) made an impact on her classmates. Imagery found in her poem invoked dreams, freedom, seclusion, isolation, poverty, better education, perseverance, hope, joy, opportunity, and ancestral connection. After performing, CR talked about growing up in a Navy family and several students commented on how they were able to connect to her family’s immigration story. CR also stated, “It’s a privilege to sit here in school cuz not a lot of people in the Philippines have this opportunity to sit in a school. This assignment is for school, but this assignment is for yourself.” One instructor underscored the importance of this last point, “In Asian Pacific Islander cultures, many traditions get passed down orally, so this assignment is to honor this tradition.”

The value of the concept of family as a supportive and nurturing space was done through the repetition of behaviors between the IMPACT AAPI instructors, counselors, and the behaviors between all four IMPACT AAPI staff members. Their interactions were positive, caring, and respectful. Positive interactions were also present between the IMPACT AAPI staff and student peer mentors in the classroom. The peer mentors were introduced and praised for their achievements in the previous spring term 2014. They were also thanked publicly in the classroom for volunteering their time to support students. These ways of being with each other demonstrated to the students the importance of nurturing the relationships that exist within the IMPACT AAPI community. These examples exemplify how program staff actively invited students to join the IMPACT AAPI family.

Photo by DeAnza College on Facebook

What This All Means and What We Can Do

Emerging research demonstrates the impact of AANAPISI-funded programs on the academic and social success of AAPI students. Moreover, as designated eligible AANAPISIs continue to increase, funding for these institutions has remained flat — slowing the progression for AANAPISIs. With two consecutive AANAPISI grants, De Anza College showed promise in leveraging federal funding to serve the needs of their AAPI students through learning communities. Based on this example, institutions should rethink their curriculum. Syllabi content should make visible the histories of AAPI students, and pedagogical strategies should engage students’ creativity to foster a sense of belonging. Recent waves of immigration should also be considered when thinking about the experiences of AAPI students who are refugees, asylees, or undocumented. Use of visual and performing arts and reflective writing can serve as a healing practice in learning and teaching. Due to the diversity of AANAPISIs and the student populations they serve, future research should assess programs at four- and two-year institutions both on the mainland and in the Pacific regions and explore the ways AAPI students have constructed their identities in relation to geography and colonial displacement.