Filipino Families

With 3.2 million Filipinos in the U.S., Filipino Americans comprise the fastest growing (Agbayani, 1996) and the second largest Asian American group in the U.S. (Halagao, 2004).  The tendency to group Filipino Americans with other Asian Americans, however, have masked their unique challenges and contributed to their invisibility (Museus & Maramba, 2010, Buenavista, 2010).  The following provides background information and strategies for working with this important but often overlooked group. 

Educational Attainment

Unlike other Asian American groups, Filipino Americans tend to have lower rates of high school completion, suffer from depression and other mental health issues, and have lower levels of participation and retention in higher education (Buenavista, 2010).

In Hawaii and California, the two states with the largest number of Filipinos, Filipino-Americans were represented at four year institutions at lower rates than other racial groups (Okamura cited in Museus & Maramba, 2010). Filipino Americans are also less likely to have a bachelor’s degree than their Filipino immigrant counterparts, 37% of whom had a bachelor’s degree. This indicates a trend toward downward mobility (Agbayani, 1996) at odds with the higher educational attainment of Filipinos in general.

The reasons for this downward trajectory are unclear. Some authors suggest Filipinos are a socioeconomically disadvantaged group (Agbayani, 1996; Lai & Arguelles and Nadall cited in Ong & Viernes 2012/2013). Others find that Filipino Americans are racialized similar to Blacks and Latino Americans, subjecting Filipino Americans to some of the same forms of institutional racism as these more visible minority groups. Indeed, as a result of their shared experience of Spanish colonialism, common religion, and use of Spanish surnames, Filipinos are often treated or perceived as Hispanic and some Filipino youth identify with Latinos (Ong & Viernes, 2012/2013).

In addition, the Philippines’ long colonial history, first by the Spanish and later by Americans, produced what scholars call a “colonial mentality,” a denigration of self and aspiration to be like the colonizer. This colonial mentality can result in a feeling of cultural inferiority and lack of ethnic pride. Given this legacy of colonialism, it is important for educators working with Filipino students to include culturally responsive curriculum with a decolonizing framework with the goal of emancipating students from these colonial mentalities (Halagao, 2004; Halagao, 2010).

Filipinos in Hawaii

In Hawaii, Filipino Americans’ lower educational attainment has been blamed on a history of racism, less demand for highly educated workers, and less developed system of higher education (Okamura 2010 cited in Museus & Maramba, 2010). The disadvantaged status of Filipino Americans in Hawaii has been traced to their subordinate position as immigrant laborers on Hawaii’s sugar plantations starting in 1906 (Agbayani, 1996). Taking up the lowest plantation jobs vacated by earlier Chinese and Japanese migrants who moved on to urban jobs, migrant Filipinos in Hawaii were valued as laborers and actively dissuaded from pursuing any education. Perhaps as a result of these efforts, by 1980, Filipino Americans in Hawaii had completed the lowest median number of school of any major ethnic group.

Working with Filipino-American Families

Teachers and counselors working with Filipinos should understand the centrality of family for Filipino-Americans. Filipino-Americans have a collectivist orientation and extended family can sometimes number 100 or more. As a result of these strong kinship ties, Filipino-Americans often send money, clothes, and household goods to extended family in the Philippines. Filipino-Americans can also make personal sacrifices for family including postponing marriage, passing up a promotion that requires moving, or leaving the family in pursuit of a better education.

Achieving smooth interpersonal relationships (pakikisama) may take precedence over clear communication or accomplishing a task. As a result, Filipino-Americans may hide negative feelings or may go to great lengths to avoid asking for help when they encounter a problem.

According to their Catholic faith, many Filipino-Americans also deal with reality (including failure or defeat) as God’s will. Sometimes incorrectly interpreted as fatalistic, this attitude can also demonstrate determination in the face of uncertainty or stress.

These are just a few common characteristics of Filipino-American families. In order to best work with Filipino-American students,curriculum developer and teacher educator Patricia Halagao (2004) recommends that teachers

1. Get to know students.
2. Include culturally relevant curriculum.
3. Teach students and parents about colonial mentalities.
4. Establish personal connections with families.
5. Establish a familial community in the classroom.
6. Give voice to Filipino-American students.
7. Encourage Filipino-American students to speak their mind.
8. Use art, music, and dance to teach core subjects.
9. Involve Filipino-American families.
10. Provide resources and role models for students.

Those who work with Filipino families should respect rather than dismiss families’ religious, philosophical, and cultural beliefs (Chan, 1992). Finally, it’s important to remember that Filipinos are a diverse community, in terms of their family’s geographic origin, language, place of residence, educational achievement, gender, class, and sexual orientation in addition to other factors (Bissell, 2008; Halagao, 2004). While it’s important to understand these common characteristics, we should also recognize individuals and families as unique.

References

Agbayani, A. (1996). The education of Filipinos in Hawaiʻi. In J. Okamura (Ed.), Filipino American history, identity and community in Hawaiʻi (147-160).  Honolulu, Dept. of Sociology, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa: University of Hawaiʻi Press.

Bissell, J. (2008). Improving Cultural Competency: Smart Strategies for Working with Filipinos. Hawaii Journal of Public Health, 1(1), 70-71.

Buenavista, T. (2010). Issues Affecting U.S. Filipino Student Access to Postsecondary Education: A Critical Race Theory Perspective. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk (JESPAR), 15(1-2), 114-126.

Chan, S. (1992). Families with Pilipino Roots. In Lynch, E. & Hanson, M. (Eds.), Developing Cross-Cultural Competence: A Guide for Working with Young Children and Their Families. Baltimore: Paul H Brookes Publishing Co.

Chutuape, E. D. (2016). ‘Chinese-Mexicans’ and ‘Blackest Asians’: Filipino American youth resisting the racial binary. Race, Ethnicity & Education, 19(1), 200-231. doi:10.1080/13613324.2013.792801

Halagao, P. E. (2004). Teaching Filipino American students. Multicultural Review Spring, 42-48.

Halagao, P. (2010). Liberating Filipino Americans through decolonizing curriculum. Race, Ethnicity, and Education, 13(4), 495-512.

Museus, S. D., & Maramba, D. C. (2010). The Impact of Culture on Filipino American Students’ Sense of Belonging. Review Of Higher Education, 34(2), 231-258.

Ong, P. & Viernes, K. (2012/2013). Filipino Americans and Educational Downward Mobility. Asian American Policy Review 23: 21-39.