Chapter 10: Using Critical Race Theory to Explore Korean-Origin Working Class Youth’s Conceptualizations of Identity

In this exploratory study, I utilize Critical Race Theory to explore the identities that six Korean-origin, working class/poor youth are conceptualizing in their multiple social worlds. Examining the participants’ interpretations and negotiations of their multiple identities provides a more complex and nuanced understanding of how some Korean-origin, working-class/poor students experience school. It also draws attention to how these youth are being impacted by and are negotiating classroom practices, school structures, and education policies. This challenges stereotypical assumptions about Asian-origin youth and enables educators, researchers, and policymakers to more effectively identify, critique, and change educational practices and policies that explicitly and/or implicitly limit the educational and social opportunities of Asian-origin youth.