Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 186 views

    Cultural Exploration Paper: A Look Into The Pacific Islander Community Paul Sarsfield City University - EGC 596

    Uploaded by

    Paul Sarsfield
    This document discusses the Pacific Islander culture and community in Tacoma, Washington. It notes that over 30,000 Pacific Islands make up this population, which can be divided into Polynesians, Melanesians, and Micronesians. In Tacoma, roughly 3,200 identify as Pacific Islander. The document then examines challenges facing Pacific Islander students, such as lower rates of education valuation, absenteeism, and dropping out. It credits the Asia Pacific Cultural Center for helping improve outcomes by providing resources and advocating for students and their families.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved

    Cultural Exploration Paper: A Look Into The Pacific Islander Community Paul Sarsfield City University - EGC 596

    Uploaded by

    Paul Sarsfield
    186 views6 pages
    This document discusses the Pacific Islander culture and community in Tacoma, Washington. It notes that over 30,000 Pacific Islands make up this population, which can be divided into Polynesians, Melanesians, and Micronesians. In Tacoma, roughly 3,200 identify as Pacific Islander. The document then examines challenges facing Pacific Islander students, such as lower rates of education valuation, absenteeism, and dropping out. It credits the Asia Pacific Cultural Center for helping improve outcomes by providing resources and advocating for students and their families.

    Original Description:

    PI

    Original Title

    PI

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    This document discusses the Pacific Islander culture and community in Tacoma, Washington. It notes that over 30,000 Pacific Islands make up this population, which can be divided into Polynesians, Melanesians, and Micronesians. In Tacoma, roughly 3,200 identify as Pacific Islander. The document then examines challenges facing Pacific Islander students, such as lower rates of education valuation, absenteeism, and dropping out. It credits the Asia Pacific Cultural Center for helping improve outcomes by providing resources and advocating for students and their families.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    186 views6 pages

    Cultural Exploration Paper: A Look Into The Pacific Islander Community Paul Sarsfield City University - EGC 596

    Uploaded by

    Paul Sarsfield
    This document discusses the Pacific Islander culture and community in Tacoma, Washington. It notes that over 30,000 Pacific Islands make up this population, which can be divided into Polynesians, Melanesians, and Micronesians. In Tacoma, roughly 3,200 identify as Pacific Islander. The document then examines challenges facing Pacific Islander students, such as lower rates of education valuation, absenteeism, and dropping out. It credits the Asia Pacific Cultural Center for helping improve outcomes by providing resources and advocating for students and their families.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    You are on page 1of 6

    PACIFIC ISLANDER CULTURAL EXPLORATION 1

    Cultural Exploration Paper: A Look into The Pacific Islander Community


    Paul Sarsfield
    City University - EGC 596
    PACIFIC ISLANDER CULTURAL EXPLORATION 2

    Amongst the melting pot of cultures that make up our country, one that stands out due

    to its native history and population around the Pacific Ocean are those that make up the Pacific

    Islander culture. As far back as 3000 BC, there have been documented events attributed to this

    culture. The first being people migrating from the Malay Peninsula to the islands across the

    Pacific Ocean (Swain). Looking broad, over 30,000 islands now make up this vast population

    throughout the Pacific. They can be broken down into three regions; the Polynesians, the

    Melanesians, and the Micronesians. Looking closer to home, the 2010 census showed that 1.4

    million reside in the United States and Washington State had a population of 43,505, making up

    just .6% of the total population. Tacoma had roughly 3200 citizens identifying as Pacific

    Islander, a make-up of 1.6% of their overall population and within the Tacoma School District

    (TSD), there are roughly 800 students and 6 teachers identified as Native Hawaiian/Pacific

    Islander. At Wilson High School, there are roughly 17 students and no teachers that are

    identified as Pacific Islander (OSPI).

    Looking into the family structure, Pacific Islanders are heavy into ‘family first’. They

    teach their children early that they are a part of a larger picture and taking care of their elders

    and the village is important. Even today, children are expected to live at home until they are

    married and fall under the order of their father until married. Education is not valued in this

    culture, as it is in others. From as early as 1900 to present, statistics show that the male

    population does not focus on school as much as he does at home.

    What led to these numbers? A study in Washington by the Feta Ta’iala Learning Center

    in 2017 cited attendance, behavior and course performance as the leading factors. In 2016,

    31% were flagged as chronic absentees, 6% for short or long-term suspensions or


    PACIFIC ISLANDER CULTURAL EXPLORATION 3

    expulsions. Benchmarks for TSD show that the graduation dropout rate in 2017 for Pacific

    Islanders was 8.3%. Breaking down by gender, the male dropout rate was 14% with another 3%

    staying in the schools a 5th year to graduate, compared to only 2% of females dropping out. This

    has dropped significantly from 2014 statistics that showed males at 40% and females at 21%

    dropout rate. The number of times being absent attributes to poor performance in school

    (missing assignments, failing tests and ultimately failing classes), which then attributes to

    frustration and dropping out.

    The number one resource for Pacific Islanders in the Tacoma School District is at the

    Asia Pacific Cultural Center (APCC). I had the great opportunity to sit down with their executive

    director and talked about past and present issues, resources and involvement between their

    organization, the school district and the families. She shared her concerns, how their center has

    helped prepare Pacific Islanders to succeed in school and move on to successful paths into

    college or jobs.

    One of the biggest factors for the above drop from 2014 to the present has been the

    APCC and their assistance. Pacific Islanders came to the states with a Visa, but more times than

    not, the families let the visa expire because they did not understand the process or forgot,

    which attributes to a high number of undocumented students in the school system. Even

    worse, because of this, a lot of students fall with a reported 25% of them being homeless during

    the school year. The APCC provides students and their families with food resources, such as

    food stamps, meals at the center and works with local shelters. Those at home, their parents

    may not even know how they are doing in school as when counselors mail home credit checks

    and progress reports, the students retrieve the mail and hide it from their parents. The APCC
    PACIFIC ISLANDER CULTURAL EXPLORATION 4

    strongly suggests that counselors call home and if they cannot reach a parent, call the APCC and

    they will be happy to do a home visit to ensure the parents are in the know. Since 2014, 70% of

    the at-risk students that the APCC has helped, have gone on to college or obtained jobs with

    path progression.

    The APCC communicates with the deputy superintendent of TSD directly, which

    attributes to the great communication that trickles down into the schools. Principles, school

    behavior counselors, nurses, counselors, and teachers are all a part of the network with the

    APCC. They re-iterated the ‘it takes a village’ approach and not to try to do it all on our own.

    Many of the students do not live with their biological parents, but with extended family as their

    parents may still be in their home country/state or in the penal system. The number one

    reason for that is domestic abuse, which is prevalent in their culture, which is also attributed to

    their low economic status. Many students (mainly male) must hold under the table jobs and

    work night shifts so they can go to school. This, in turn, attributes to the absentee rate or

    school performance rates I noted above. Working with these students, a solution may be not to

    have a first or last period to allow at least a couple hours of sleep or allow them to take school

    work home in addition to homework or do online/alternative classes. The APCC was

    in agreeance when I thought of this, giving options to both the students and their families to

    help them succeed.

    Another concern the APCC brought up was the lack of cultural identity, as many parents

    do not share, fully, their heritage (due to work, housing, separation etc.) so students have a low

    self-esteem when trying to identify to their culture and assimilate to the American one. This

    leads to anger, depression, anxiety and social issues which then label them as angry, abusive,
    PACIFIC ISLANDER CULTURAL EXPLORATION 5

    anti-social or strange. The APCC has classes for all ages, to each about their past. The staff are

    all from the various cultures within the Asian Pacific realm. These classes help students belong

    to their past while succeeding in this culture.

    Looking forward to the internship, I am excited to bring the APCC and this data in and

    work with this small but vital community. To bring out their culture and history in awareness

    opportunities, to provide tutoring and mentorship resources for both them and use them as

    mentors in their junior/senior year to the freshmen/sophomores. This will bring self-worth,

    esteem and a sense of belonging not only to them in school but bring it throughout the district

    and help them move on as successful adults after school.


    PACIFIC ISLANDER CULTURAL EXPLORATION 6

    REFERENCES

    Swain, L. (n.d.). Pacific Islander Americans. Retrieved July 30th, 2018, from Countries and Their Cultures
    website: http://www.everyculture.com/multi/Le-Pa/Pacific-Islander-Americans.html

    Wilson High School Benchmarks. Retrieved July 31st, 2018, from Wilson High School’s Official Site
    website: https://www.tacomaschools.org/wilson/pages/benchmarks.aspx

    US Census Bureau. (2010). Annual Estimates of the Resident Population by Sex, Race, and Origin for the
    United States, States, and Counties. Retrieved July 30th, 2018 from their website:
    https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=PEP_2015_
    PEPSR6H&prodType=table

    Woo-Ching, P. T. (2017). Pacific Islander Student Data. Retrieved August 1st, 2018 from the website:
    https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Patrick_Woo-Ching2/project/Pacific-Islander-Student-
    Data/attachment/59c86717b53d2f691d60052d/AS:542300050210816@1506305815587/downl
    oad/09-23-17+PI+Student+Data.pdf?context=ProjectUpdatesLog

    You might also like