Adoptee identity affirmation in US K-12 schools

Abstract

This study synthesizes the voices of adult adoptees to support educators in promoting culturally and belonging-responsive practices in schools. By highlighting adoptees as knowledge contributors, I reveal how displacement from one’s first family, nationalities, racial communities, and ethnic communities is perpetuated by school environments, curricula, and a sheer lack of awareness among school personnel. This displacement impacts identity development among adoptees, especially transnational, transracial, and transethnic adoptees, pointing to a clear need for educators to surface hidden assumptions and in turn affirm adoptees’ identities and address their unique challenges. Utilizing a qualitative convergent secondary analysis with a critical and relational design, this research emphasizes the lived experiences of adult adoptees and the meaning that they place on their identities and relationships. While belonging is crucial for all students, transnational and transracial adoptees face unique hurdles due to their displacement from their countries, cultures, and communities. Through podcast interviews with adoptee hosts, adult adoptees discussed the significant impact of school-based amplifiers of displacement, particularly displacement related to race and identity but demonstrate resilience and personal strength in navigating the associated challenges. The four identified key areas of displacement perpetuation are as follows: school curriculum, school environment, staff awareness, and a lack of belonging. With this information, the study advocates for improved education on epistemic injustice, the acknowledgment of ambiguous loss, and the creation of mutual affinity aid spaces to support adoptees, all aimed at affirming adoptees’ identities and fortitude. In conclusion, this study suggests that schools, as displacement perpetrators, must be re-imagined and reformed to affirm adoptees’ identities. My study shows that educational leaders must develop greater awareness and responsiveness through curriculum and environment changes to affirm adoptee identity. Through this work, the need for decolonial, adoptee-affirming practices in schools is both just and imperative. May the healing and hopeful stance of adult adoptees, myself included, meet our aims.