Rashné R. Jehangir

Stories as knowledge: Bringing the lived experience of first-generation college students into the academy

This longitudinal study of first-generation, low-income students examines the impact of their participation in a multicultural learning community (MLC) designed to challenge the isolation and marginalization they experience at a large, predominantly White research university. The MLC employed multicultural curriculum and critical pedagogy to bring students’ lived experience and narrative to the center of their learning experience. Qualitative data in the form of reflective writings and retrospective interviews showcase how first-generation students are validated as knowers and can cultivate a sense of belonging at the academy when their cultural wealth is incorporated into the classroom space.

Assessing Our Commitment to Providing a Multicultural Learning Experience

This article provides the quantitative results of a study undertaken by a developmental education program within a large public urban research university to explore the extent to which employees perceive that they themselves and the program as a whole create a welcoming multicultural learning experience for all students. The questionnaire used for this research adapts for higher education a multicultural education assessment instrument (Banks et al., 2001) originally created specifically for elementary and secondary educational institutions.

The Influence of Multicultural Learning Communities on the Intrapersonal Development of First-Generation College Students

This longitudinal study of first-generation, low-income students considers the impact of their participation in a multicultural learning community designed to combat the isolation and marginalization they experience at a large Midwestern research university. The study explores the extent to which multicultural curriculum and critical pedagogy create avenues for intrapersonal self-authorship for historically marginalized students in a TRiO program. Findings indicate that intentionally drawing students’ lived experiences into the learning process and scaffolding opportunities to reflect on one’s multiple identities positively impacts development of the intrapersonal dimension of self-authorship.

On Critiques and Possibilities

The narratives of low-income (LI), first-generation (FG) students in this book reaffirm that college is a far cry from paradise for many students. However, these same narratives also include experiences and spaces that, though imperfect, provided an oasis of belonging and meaning making in the educational journey for many nontraditional students. These students’ experiences and aspirations, from their first year and beyond, underscore the idea that the purpose of multicultural and critical pedagogy is to challenge educational inequality by creating possibilities and opportunities for all students. The classroom, and indeed, U.S. higher education “remains a location of possibility” to create democratic multicultural communities and challenge social inequities; it is how we, as educators, will nurture this possibility that is still a question.

A Long Way from Home

Rhian’s story speaks to the promise and burden of the educational opportunity that many first-generation (FG) students grapple with when preparing to enter college. The journey to college is influenced by many factors that will be addressed in this chapter, but even for those who capture the prize of admission, the reward is weighty in that it carries expectations not only for the student but also for his or her entire family and community. As Rhian’s states, her experience in college may be lonely, but her dreams and expectations are crowded with the faces of her mother, her inner-city community, and the demands of doing something that will “change the normal flow of things” in her life. Like Rhian, many FG students and their families want and need the college promise to translate into opportunities that will allow them to collectively cross the boundaries of class, race, and geography into a place of greater economic stability.

Strangers without Codebooks

In their own voices, Mai and David, both first-generation (FG) college students at a large, predominantly White midwestern research university, describe their concerns about college. Mai captures the confusion and apprehension about her impending arrival, while David describes his first day of college. Mai confirms that the road to college itself has been unclear and expresses fear about how she will measure up in comparison to others in her peer group. Both express anxiety and concern about this new place, and more importantly, their place in it. It might be argued that it is not uncommon for any college student to feel “lost” as a freshman. However, unlike their counterparts who come from college-educated families, Mai and David are lost in a different way. They are not merely lost in the expanse of campus; rather, they have arrived without the “codebook.” Both must now traverse an alien landscape while simultaneously figuring out the rules and expectations, both implicit and explicit, which shape every facet of the collegiate experience. In addition, it is unlikely that they will find many familiar markers that reinforce their lived experience, further solidifying the concern that they have, indeed, come to this new territory unprepared (Jehangir, 2008).

Rationale and Design for the Multicultural Learning Community

In the quote above, Sasha reflected on her experience in the Multicultural Learning Community (MLC) at the end of her first semester in college. She highlighted the ways in which learning together facilitated her transition to college and invited her peers to be teachers and co-learners in her educational journey. She also alluded to challenges in the journey, noting that it is not merely “book smarts,” but the capacity to persist that is critical to completing college. To provide context to the experience and voice of the student participants, this chapter provides an overview of the learning-community design, the rationale that shaped the curriculum and pedagogy, and how and where it was programmatically situated on campus.

Belonging and Finding Place

Belonging is a complicated dance of giving and receiving. To belong is not only to be welcomed but also to feel that we have something to contribute. To belong is to find connection, to leave our mark and to be understood and valued for our unique contributions. Like the house and hill, connectedness to people or a place or an institution is enriched when all parties are critical to the making of that relationship. When first-generation (FG) students were interviewed about how they came to belong in college, they were acutely aware of occasions when they were welcomed but not on their own terms. They were adroit at distinguishing between when they had established authentic connections with peers and when they were pretending to fit in. They were aware that belonging can be elusive, just as when we shift our place of residence or leave our familiar hill, we must start again to try to find home.

Toward Community, Connectedness, and Care

Alexander’s quote (1977) speaks to the need for attention to connectivity and integration in designing space. This notion of connectedness suggests that no space is a vacuum; rather, it is an extension of the spaces that lead up to it, and that space embodies the experiences of those within it. The last chapter addressed the theoretical frameworks of critical pedagogy and multicultural education in cultivating a sense of place for first-generation (FG) students. This chapter considers redesigning the classroom and draws on learning-community structures and core practices as a means of operationalizing the tenets of these theoretical frameworks. Learning-community design is explored as a means of cultivating a space and place for FG students. The terms space and place refer to how students’ locations or places in the world (Bruch, Jehangir, Lundell, Higbee, & Miskch, 2005) are impacted by their history, demographics, primary language, and their relative proximity to power. In this chapter, I share some history about learning communities and highlight key structures that impact learning-community design. I address research findings that focus on the impact of learning communities on the college experiences of FG students and end with a discussion of learning-community design as a vehicle for the praxis of critical pedagogy and multicultural education.