With a Little Help from Peers and Teachers: Ethnic-Racial Identity and the Social-Emotional Context of School

Monday, November 28, 2017

Debbie Rivas-Drake

University of Michigan

Ethnic-racial identity is an important developmental concern with implications for psychological and academic adjustment. There is ample evidence that race and ethnicity shape youths’ daily experiences in school. Such experiences should be understood within the broader social-emotional context of schooling–the conditions for which adults are ultimately responsible. Are peer interactions around race couched in a conflicted, alienating, and inequitable space? Or one that is harmonious, emotionally-supportive, and equitable? We know surprisingly little about how social-emotional characteristics of teacher and peer interactions may inform changes in ethnic-racial identity. In this talk, I will present recent research from my lab that illuminates some of the ways in which the ethnic-racial identity of diverse youth is embedded in a school’s social-emotional context.