Educational Implications and The Emerging Stages of Ethnicity1
On the next page, model Dr. Banks takes a model of cultural /racial identity development
and applies it to the discipline of education, answering the question: How does a
student’s awareness of their ethnic identity, and their relationship to that developmental
identity stage affect his or her emotional and learning ability with any given teacher at
any given time on the continuum? Following the graph below is a short description of the
issues and concerns that may need to be addressed at each stage of a person’s / student’s
development taken from the book Teaching Strategies for Ethnic Studies (Banks 1998).
We tend to assume that ethnic groups are monolithic, homogeneous rather than complex,
and dynamic. To move us out of this assumption, Banks has developed a typology that
attempts to outline the basic stages of development ethnic individuals may go through
while attending school or in their personal lives.
The purposes of the typology are to:
• stimulate research and the development of concepts and theory related to
ethnicity and ethnic groups,
•
suggest preliminary guidelines for teaching about ethnicity in schools and
colleges,
•
help students and teachers to function effectively at increasingly higher stages
of ethnic identity awareness.
Taken from Facilitators` Training Manual – Education for Social Justice: A Program for Adults, J. V.
Reza
11
The Stages of Ethnicity - Banks
Globalism
and Global
Competency
Multiethnicity
and Reflective
Nationalism
Ethnic
Ethnocentrism
Stage 6
Ethnonational
Identity
Stage 5
Biethnicity
Stage 4
Ethnic Identity
Clarification
Stage 3
Ethnic
Encapsulation
Ethnic
Psychological
Captivity
New Discovery
of Ethnicity
Stage 2
Stage 1
The Stages of Ethnicity
Stage 1: Ethnic Psychological Captivity
The individual absorbs the negative ideologies and beliefs about his/her ethnic group as
put forth by the larger society.
Consequently, he/she exemplifies ethnic self-rejection and low self-esteem and is
ashamed of his/her ethnic group and identity during this stage. The individual may
respond in a number of ways, including avoiding situations that bring contact with other
ethnic groups and/or striving aggressively to become highly culturally assimilated.
Conflict develops when the highly culturally assimilated psychologically captive ethnic
person is denied structural assimilation or total societal participation.
Curricular Implications
This student can best benefit from mono-ethnic content and experiences that will help
him or her to develop ethnic awareness and a heightened sense of ethnic consciousness.
Stage 2: Ethnic Encapsulation
This stage is characterized by ethnic encapsulation and ethnic exclusiveness, including
voluntary separatism. The person participates within his or her own ethnic community
and believes that his or her ethnic group is superior to other groups.
The manifestation of ethnic encapsulation is different given the historical context of the
group in question. For example:
• European-Americans who have internalized the dominant societal myths
about the superiority of their ethnic or racial group and the innate inferiority
of other ethnic groups and races, who live in all-White suburban communities
in the Untied States and live highly ethnocentric and encapsulated lives can be
described as Stage 2 individuals.
vs.
•
The person of color, who has been living in ethnic psychological captivity and
has just discovered their ethnic consciousness, tends to have highly
ambivalent feelings toward his/her own ethnic group and to confirm, for
themselves, that they are proud of their ethnic heritage and culture.
Consequently, strong and verbal rejection of out groups usually takes place.
Individuals in this stage expect other members of the group to show strong
overt commitments to the liberation struggle of the group or to the protection
of the group from outside and "foreign" groups.
Curricular Implications
This student can benefit from curricular experiences that accept and empathize with their
ethnic identities and hostile feelings toward outside groups. The instructor should accept
that in this stage there are hostile feelings. Helping the student express and clarify these
feelings will facilitate them moving on to Stage 3, et cetera
Stage 3: Ethnic Identity Clarification
Here, the individual is able to clarify personal attitudes and ethnic identity, to reduce
inner conflict and to develop clarified positive attitudes toward his or her ethnic group.
Self-acceptance leads to appropriate responses to outside ethnic groups. Self-acceptance
is a requisite to accepting and responding positively to other people, both within and
outside one’s own ethnicity. During this stage, the individual is able to accept and
understand both the positive and negative attributes of his/her ethnic group. Pride is not
based on the hate or fear of outside groups but is genuine. Individuals are more likely to
experience this stage when they have attained a certain level of economic and
psychological security and have been able to have positive experiences with members of
other ethnic groups.
Curricular Implications
Curricular experiences within this stage should be designed to reinforce the student's
emerging ethnic identity and clarification. Students should be helped to attain a balanced
perspective on his or her ethnic group.
Stage 4: Biethnicity
Within this stage there is a healthy sense of ethnic identity and the psychological
characteristics and skills needed to participate successfully in his or her own ethnic
culture as well as in another ethnic culture.
Curricular Implications
Curricular experiences should be designed to help the student master concepts and
generalizations related to an ethnic group other than his or her own and to help the
student view events and situations from the perspective of another ethnic group.
Stage 5: Multiethnicity and Reflective Nationalism
The Stage 5 individual has clarified, reflective, and positive ethnic and national
identifications; positive attitudes toward other ethnic and racial groups; and is selfactualized. The individual is able to function within several ethnic cultures within his or
her nation and to understand and appreciate and share the values, symbols, and
institutions of several ethnic cultures within the nation. Individuals within this stage have
a commitment to their ethnic group, an empathy and concern for their ethnic group and a
strong but reflective commitment and allegiance to the nation state and its idealized
values, such as human dignity and justice.
Many people participate in several ethnic cultures at superficial levels, such as eating
ethnic foods and listening to ethnic music. Participate at more meaningful levels and
learn to understand the values, symbols, and traditions of several ethnic cultures and are
able to function within other ethnic cultures at meaningful levels.
Curricular Implications
The curriculum at this stage of ethnicity should be designed to help the student develop a
global sense of ethnic literacy and to master concepts and generalizations about a wide
range of ethnic groups.
Stage 6: Globalism and Global Competency
The individual within Stage 6 has clarified, reflective and positive ethnic, national and
global identifications and the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and abilities needed to function
within ethnic cultures within his or her own nation as well as within cultures outside his
or her nation in other parts of the world. This individual has developed the ideal delicate
balance of ethnic, national, and global identifications, commitments, literacy, and
behaviors. They have internalized the universalistic ethical values and principles of
human kind and have the skills, competencies, and commitment needed to take action
within the world to actualize personal values and commitments.
Curricular Implications
The typology presented here constitutes a continuum. The process of acquiring an
effective balance of ethnic, national, and global identifications and related cross-cultural
competencies is a continuous and on-going process.
Consequently, a major goal of the curriculum for the Stage 6 individual is to help the
student function more effectively within their ethnic group, nation, and world through
acquiring more knowledge, skills, attitudes, and abilities.
A major goal of teaching students within this stage is to help them understand how to
determine which particular allegiance - whether ethnic, national, or global - is most
appropriate within a particular situation. Ethnic, national, and global attachments should
be given different priorities within different situations and events. Students in Stage 6
need to learn how to determine which identification is most appropriate for particular
situations, settings, and events.