Argues that the rhetoric of preliteracy is a 19th-century narrative that offers a subordinate identity and obscures the conditions through which literacy development is promoted. Examines the literacy experience of the Hmong of Laos to demonstrate how their supposed preliteracy is an outcome of a dense and interconnecting network of historical…

Comparison of foreign-born Hmong who immigrated as children and second-generation Hmong-American high school students shows that economics, perceptions of family relationships, culture, and educational experiences influence school attitudes and provide more variation than the stereotypes of model minorities and delinquents. Accommodation and…

The growing field of positive psychology is encouraging advances in the scientific research of developmental strengths and virtues like forgiveness. However, multicultural and indigenous psychology perspectives can raise valuable questions about positive psychology and the relationship between cultural particularity and virtues like forgiveness.…

This is a bibliography on the Hmong of Laos who are part of a larger group of people commonly referred to in the literature as the Miao. The bibliography is divided into eight sections: (1) background material and volumes which include references to the Hmong; (2) items which specifically refer to Hmong culture and history; (3) ethnographic works…

Focus groups of recent Hmong and Somali immigrants provided information about effective design variables for public service brochures. Participants preferred a bilingual layout. Hmong participants did not like images showing native dress; Somali images must respect cultural aspects of dress. (Author/JOW)

Explores traditional migratory and family characteristics of Hmong culture and one elementary school's university collaborative program to attract Hmong students. Describes the magnet school program, extended day programs, and second language acquisition program to ease the transition to school. Notes that several unique features of the…

"Hmong Language, Culture, and Learning" is a new required course for ESL and bilingual education minors at University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. Course elements include ethnographic research within the Hmong community; classroom discussion of Hmong language, culture, and learning issues; observing/volunteering in bilingual Hmong/English…

Similar to other Asian American students, Southeast Asian American students are often stereotyped by the popular press as hardworking and high-achieving model minorities. On the other hand, Southeast Asian American youth are also depicted as low-achieving high school dropouts involved in gangs. The realities of academic performance and persistence…

Through the ethnographic methodological tools of formal and informal interviews, observations, participation in coplanning sessions, and analysis of literacy curricula, the researchers of this study found that effective teachers are finding ways to work successfully within the current political climate influenced by No Child Left Behind and the…

Narrative research offers unique possibilities for fostering dialogues of discovery between oneself and others. There is an increasing use of narrative inquiry within the field of educational research. A researcher's work with a Hmong refugee from Laos illustrates representational and interpretive dilemmas in narrative research. Narrative…

Explores the social and cultural construction of femininity among young Hmong women in the West, drawing on interviews with members of the Hmong community in Hobart, Tasmania (Australia). Constructions of Hmong femininity emerging in Australia and the United States challenge the core of Hmong social organizations as imagined in the West. (SLD)

Examines intergenerational conflict over issues of gender and sexuality from the perspective of adolescent Hmong girls, considering the broader conflict between Hmong and American culture. Reflects on how educational practitioners can support young Hmong American women who are exploring gender roles that are at odds with their families'…

It is well-established that the effects of poverty are devastating for children in school. More generally, scholars have documented that low "socio-economic status" (SES), whether measured by family income, parent education, or parent occupation, is usually the most powerful predictor of achievement and test score performance, sometimes swamping…

The Hmong are a group of people from Southern China, Laos, Northern Vietnam, and Thailand who have immigrated to the US and who have settled in rural counties in Central California. The literature suggests, the Hmong routinely use the services of shamans as part of their health care services. The purpose of this study was to determine the…

This investigation is an ethnographic case study of the literacy learning opportunities of a fifth-grade Hmong child (pseudonym Deng) who came to the United States from Laos via Thailand at the very end of his third-grade year in school. Deng was one of 25 students in a mainstream urban classroom in the Midwest during his fifth grade in school…