Perceptions of School Belonging Among Pacific Islander College Students (67070)

Session Information: Challenging & Preserving: Culture, Inter/Multiculturalism & Language
Session Chair: Spencer Scanlan

Saturday, January 7, 2023 (09:00)
Session: Session 1
Room: 317A
Presentation Type:Oral Presentation

All presentation times are UTC-10 (Pacific/Honolulu)

This study looks at students’ perceptions of school belonging at one college in Hawaii with high levels of Pacific Islander students. Ninety-seven Pacific Island college students participated in 17 on-campus focus groups facilitated by a member of the research team, held over 7 weeks during the summer of 2022. Consent forms were collected and all data collections were approved by the IRB. Focus groups lasted approximately 90 minutes and included questions related to student perceptions of ethnic identity, and school belonging. All focus group interviews were audio and video recorded over ZOOM, then transcribed and de-identified for analysis.
Transcriptions of focus group interviews were analyzed iteratively with an inductive coding strategy for emergent themes and patterns (Cresswell, 2009; Miles et al., 2014). Analyses revealed multiple themes about factors that promoted or inhibited school belonging among Pacific Islander students. Teachers who allowed for greater expressions of ethnic identity within the school setting promoted a greater sense of school belonging. Many first generation students reported difficulty belonging, due to familial or religious obligations. Pacific Island students feel misplaced when school campus expectations are at odds with their cultural identity, but teachers were identified as agents of promoting or inhibiting ways for students to belong. Other emergent themes will be presented and discussed in this presentation, contributing important information from the perspective of Pacific Islander students. Findings from this study may foster conversations among school leaders to revisit expectations and policies that might promote student sense of belonging.

Authors:
Erika Feinauer, Brigham Young University, United States
Spencer Scanlan, Brigham Young University, United States
Grace Tora, Brigham Young University, United States
Kehau Maltzl, Brigham Young University, United States
Catalina Hernandez, Brigham Young University, United States


About the Presenter(s)
Dr Erika Feinauer is a University Associate Professor/Senior Lecturer at Brigham Young University, United States

See this presentation on the full schedule Schedule



Conference Comments & Feedback

Place a comment using your LinkedIn profile

Comments

Share on activity feed

Powered by WP LinkPress

Share this Presentation

Posted by Clive Staples Lewis

Last updated: 2023-02-23 23:45:00