Date of Award
Spring 5-2026
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Education
First Advisor
Whitney McIntyre Miller
Second Advisor
Quaylan Allen
Abstract
Kapwa Across Contexts: Acculturation and Enculturation in Filipino American Identity at Home and in School examines how Filipino American identity is shaped across two primary sites: K–12 schooling and the Filipino American home in Southern California. Centering first-generation Filipino immigrant parents and their U.S.-born second-generation children, this qualitative study is guided by AsianCrit, Culturally Responsive Methodologies (CRM), and Nadal’s Filipino American Identity Model. Using narrative inquiry, six Filipino American family units (6 children; 8 parents) participated in individual and joint dyad interviews and Culturally Responsive Musical Inquiry (CRMI), in which families co-composed an original song. Findings indicate that K–12 schooling often emphasized achievement, respectability, and model-minority logics while offering limited Filipino-centered curriculum, leading many students to build “around-school” belonging through peers and extracurricular spaces. In contrast, home functioned as the most consistent engine of enculturation through everyday cultural practice (food, faith, kin networks, and relational ethics). Many participants described Filipino-centered reclamation in emerging adulthood and bidirectional enculturation as adult children brought new frameworks into family dialogue. Implications include the need for culturally sustaining curriculum and school leadership that moves beyond performative inclusion toward Filipino historical grounding and relationally accountable family engagement.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Jamias, J. (2026). Kapwa across contexts: Acculturation and enculturation in Filipino American identity at home and in school [Doctoral dissertation, Chapman University]. Chapman University Digital Commons. https://doi.org/10.36837/chapman.000750