Negotiating Identity, Inclusion, and Political Belonging:Filipino-Chinese Students’ Experiences in Policy-Driven Multicultural Schooling

Education policies promoting multicultural inclusion increasingly reshape minority schooling across Asia, yet their implications for children’s identity development and well-being remain underexplored. This qualitative study examines how Filipino-Chinese students experience identity negotiation, belonging, and participation within Chinese schools in the Philippines that have transitioned to coeducational and multicultural models under national education reforms. Drawing on in-depth interviews with twenty-two students and thematic analysis supported by NVivo, the study explores how language policy, curriculum restructuring, and school culture intersect with adolescent developmental processes. Findings indicate that while inclusion-oriented reforms expand civic identification and intercultural interaction, they simultaneously reduce the visibility of heritage language and cultural practices, producing identity ambivalence. Students respond through adaptive strategies that distinguish cultural affiliation from political belonging. The study contributes child-centered evidence to education policy debates on multicultural inclusion, minority schooling, and youth well-being.