Ethnic-racial identity in Europe: Adapting the identity project intervention in five countries

Figures & data

Table 1. Adaptations of the Identity Project intervention in five European countries.

	Germany	Greece	Italy	Norway	Sweden
Region	Berlin, Halle	Athens	Padova	Oslo	Gothenburg
Identity terminology	Heritage cultural identity (Berlin), cultural identity (Halle)	Cultural-ethnic identity	Cultural identity	Ethnic-cultural identity	Ethnic identity
Ethnicity and race discussions	Discussion of racism and racialization of categories like immigrant descent, no discussion of ‘race’ or ‘ethnicity’	No discussion of ‘ethnicity’or ‘race’	Included explanation to students of how the term ‘race’ is socially constructed and does not have a biological foundation	Included a paragraph explaining why ‘race’ is not used. The students are encouraged to reflect upon and discuss how they experience race in Norwegian context. Discussion of ‘ethnicity’	Included discussions of how the concept ‘race’ has been used in the Swedish context to highlight and validate both historic and current experiences of discrimination, discussion of racialization, racism included as a term.
Content added specific to country	Discussion of Germany as a migration-diverse country, national identity and separation from ‘ethnic’ identity, migration status, regional identities (incl. East Germans as politically minoritized group), polycultural perspective on cultural identity	In progress	Discussion of migration status, ‘foreigner’, regional identities, Italian law concerning acquisition of citizenship	Information about various historical and more recent ethnic-cultural groups in Norway	Discussion of Sweden as a migration-diverse country, ‘immigrant / Swedish’ dichotomy, regional identities.
Examples of country- specific material	Germania videos immigrant descent musicians and artists on being of multiple heritages, reinforcing diversity in who is “German” e.g., rapper Musa: https://www.youtube.com/watc h?v = KNVAIgF-Bq0	Video of the Onassis Foundation: “8 Young People Discuss: Cultural Identity and the Concept of Belonging”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0eMiX4igY&t=1254s	Video of genetic studies explaining that humans originate from the same African population (session 2): “Sapiens – only one planet” https://www.raiplay.it/video/20 19/03/Il-test-delle-razze-	To deepen the discussions about stereotypes, obtained rights from the Norwegian Public Broadcast to use a video from a series ”Don’t ask about it” in which the audience send in questions they’d like to ask different	Video made by the research team showing interviews with young adults of immigrant and non-immigrant descent in Sweden who talk about their ethnic identity as a journey.
	Syrian and German refugee video to emphasize commonalities across groups that seemly differ: https://www.funk.net/channel/d eutschland3000-1570/flucht- 1945-und-heute-2- generationen-1-schicksal- 1229440 Personal stories of discrimination experiences by (family) members of the research team	“All That We Share” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v = jD8tjhVO1Tc)	23032019-a67e9315-2e07- 4da8-8e24-5bc6a9295f27.html Video made by the research team showing interviews with young adults of immigrant descent in Italy and Italians living abroad who talk about their cultural identity as a journey (session 6)	minority groups. The episode used shows Somali immigrants responding to the questions that have been posed. Video made by the research team with immigrant background young adults talking about their ethnic identity journey.
Grade of students	7th	8th	10th	11th (1. Grade in upper secondary school)	10th
Adaptation team	Minoritized and majority researchers and research assistants from Germany and the US (Berlin), and Austria (Halle)	Minoritized and majority researchers and research assistants	Researchers and research assistants from different cultural backgrounds	Research team in collaboration with minority counsellors, both with varying ethnic-cultural backgrounds	Minoritized and majority researchers and research assistant
Methods and strategies for adaptation	Discussions with minoritized and majority German pre- service teachers, followed recommended practices for cultural adaptations of evidence-based interventions (e.g., Barrera & Castro, 2006), focus groups with teachers and youth after first cohort, consultation with Umaña-Taylor	Consultation with Umaña- Taylor and researchers adapting the Identity Project in other European countries	Focus group discussions with linguistic-cultural mediators, individual interviews with young adult immigrants in Italy and with Italian citizens living abroad, followed recommended practices for cultural adaptation of evidence-based interventions (e.g., Barrera & Castro, 2006), consultation with Umaña- Taylor and researchers adapting the Identity Project in other European countries. To accommodate COVID-19 related restrictions the intervention was delivered online.	Focus group with adolescents, consultation with Umaña- Taylor and researchers adapting the Identity Project in other European countries. Discussions with teachers, minority counsellors and members of the advisory group comprising governmental institutions, voluntary organizations and multi-cultural school personnel	Focus groups with adolescents and pre-service teachers to discuss terminology and content of sessions, analysed Swedish authorities’ usage of the terms, consultation with Umaña-Taylor and researchers adapting the Identity Project in other European countries
Facilitators of the Identity Project per classroom	One minoritized (Halle; refugee background teacher) and one majority pre-service teacher or researcher (one male, one female)	PhD candidate, a clinical psychologist and a psychotherapist, with experience in classroom interventions. Each facilitator is supported during the intervention by an assistant psychologist.	Two facilitators (one PhD candidate and several Master- level Psychology students)	One high school teacher and one minority counsellor working together during sessions.	Two minoritized researchers/research assistant or one minoritized and one majority researcher/research assistant
Length of time to adapt	7 months meeting weekly, followed by feedback from students and teachers at the end of the first cohort, revised for subsequent cohorts (Berlin); about four months weekly meetings for second German adaptation (Halle)	1 year weekly online meetings during the pandemic	6 months meeting weekly, followed by pilot study (pre- and post-test), focus group discussions with students and teachers, and subsequent revision of adaptation prior to starting main intervention	One year including COVID related postponements to adapt the manual, followed by pilot- study (also interrupted because of COVID) with pre- and post- tests, and interviews with students and facilitators.	6 months work on focus group studies to get input on original manual, followed by 3 months of weekly meetings and then 3 months of several meetings per week
Key lessons learned in adaptation process	It is necessary to include minoritized researchers in adaptation, adolescents may be more willing to discuss topics that seem taboo to adult researchers, feedback from adolescents, teachers, and moderators are extremely helpful.	Identity Project core constructs are bound to ideology. It was important to acknowledge the different worldviews of the members of the research team and to take into account the school and societal characteristics.	Must take into account the characteristics of the local school context and national educational policies.	It is of great value to gather information from a variety of stakeholders, not only students and teachers, but also other personnel experienced with education in multicultural schools and bureaucrats in central positions.	To guide the adaptation process and balance many perspectives on diversity, a central theme to consider is what is uncomfortable or inappropriate. When exploring and defining what is uncomfortable, we asked, for whom? And if there is discomfort for some, does this mean that it is inappropriate?
Measures for outcome/evaluation and possible mediators, moderators (labelled with ‘M’), for all students unless otherwise indicated	Heritage cultural and national identity exploration and resolution. Religious identity exploration and resolution. Global identity resolution. Self-esteem. Depressive symptoms. Intrinsic learning motivation. Academic self-concept. Academic engagement.	Cultural-ethnic and national identity exploration and resolution. Global identity resolution. Self-esteem. Depressive symptoms. Other-group attitudes. Peer acceptance and rejection. Perceived discrimination (only immigrant adolescents).	Cultural identity exploration and resolution. Other group orientation. Global identity cohesion. Self-esteem. Depressive symptoms. Academic engagement. Classroom cultural diversity climate. Environmental sensitivity (M).	Heritage and majority ethnic- cultural identity affirmation. Ethnic identity exploration and resolution. Ethnic identity crisis. Global identity resolution. Centrality/private regard/public regard. Perceived discrimination. Classroom cultural diversity climate.	Ethnic identity exploration and resolution. Global identity resolution. Centrality/private regard/public regard. Everyday discrimination. Classroom cultural diversity climate. Identity distress. Self-esteem. Satisfaction with life.
	Other-group attitudes. Classroom cultural diversity climate (M). Autonomy and relatedness support by teachers (M). National identity flexibility. National identity content. Critical consciousness.	Bicultural identity integration(only immigrant adolescents).	Familial ethnic socialization (M). Prosocial behavior towards friends. Discrimination*. Cultural intelligence*. *only for pilot study	Self-esteem. Satisfaction with life. Depressive symptoms. Academic engagement. Classmate and teacher social support. Other-group attitudes. Familial ethnic socialization	Depressive symptoms. Anxiety symptoms. Academic engagement. Global school climate. Experiences of school- and cyberbullying. Other-group attitudes. Acceptance/respect/tolerance of diversity. Big five personality traits (baseline only). (M) Familial ethnic socialization (M)

Hällgren, C., Granstedt, L., & Weiner, G. (2006). Everywhere and nowhere: Multicultural and anti-racist issues in the Swedish school. Authority for School Development. https://www.skolverket.se/download/18.6bfaca41169863e6a656829/1553959864040/pdf1845.pdf

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