Ethnic Studies in K-12: Current Status and Effects

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Producers: Alexa Rahardjo, Christina Wong, Rachel Yang, Tiffany Zhao

Description: This podcast explores the current status of the Ethnics Studies movement in K-12 schools. Alexa Rahardjo, Christina Wong, Rachel Yang and Tiffany Zhao will be hosting the conversation about the ethnic studies movement, as well as inviting two special guests to speak on their perspective behind the change in California’s Ethnic Studies requirement for high school students. Fionne Ma, a UCLA graduate in psychology with a minor in education, will be discussing her views on this new requirement; as well as Kelly Zhao, a UCLA graduate student majoring in Asian American studies and researching the effect that ethnic studies has on California community colleges. We will focus on the topic of the current controversy of how this will play out in K-12 school and its effect on the student body. Another question we looked into is the effect that ethnic studies has on the identities of minorities, in particular Asian Americans. With the current rise in Asian American hate crimes, the effort made by California could help reduce the ideology of the forever foreigner and help students form an identity based on cultural acceptance and understanding.