Date of Graduation

2017

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

College/School

School of Education

Department

International and Multicultural Education

Program

International & Multicultural Education EdD

First Advisor

Shabnam Koirala-Azad

Second Advisor

Emma Fuentes

Third Advisor

Lois Lorentzen

Abstract

There are 10.4 million Filipino/a migrant workers worldwide, with the large majority of Filipina migrants working in traditional gendered labor such as domestic work, care giving, nursing, teaching, and factory work (Ruiz, 2013). Because of the private nature of household work, Filipina migrants are vulnerable to mental and physical abuses from their employers in addition to labor exploitation. While researchers recognize migrants’ agency and acknowledge migrants as political and social actors, few studies connect Filipina migrant workers’ activist identities to the political education they receive from grassroots organizations in the Philippines, United States, and other countries. Consequently, the purpose of this qualitative study is to research the roles that political education, critical pedagogies, and community organizing play in developing a social justice mindset among Filipina migrants who are members of the Filipino Migrant Center (FMC), Long Beach in Southern California. FMC engages in organizing low-income members of the Filipino community around issues and concerns affecting them, provides services, and conducts research and educational work. This study investigates the experiences of six Filipina migrant workers and three staff members involved with the FMC in order to examine the issues that Filipina migrants face, and the ways in which political education and the practice of activism developed their sense of empowerment and ability to transform the negative conditions of their lives. The study links FilCrit pedagogy, transnational feminism, and social movements as theoretical sites that can teach us how Filipina migrant workers engage in learning the socio-historical and political dimensions of their lives, and how to take action against social injustice.

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