ABSTRACT This paper explores the ways an elite girls’ secondary school context influences one Vietnamese Australian schoolgirl's engagement with interculturality. As well as thinking about and interacting with others respectfully and equitably, interculturality encompasses thinking reflexively about the influence of one's own background, and systems of power, on such thoughts and interactions. Analysis is based on interviews conducted with Kate (a pseudonym) when she was in Years 7–9 of secondary school and aged approximately 12–15 years old. I argue that Kate's awareness of ways she is minoritised and/or marginalised at school help her to identify and critique structural racism. However, I also highlight that Kate's relative success within Kirkswood College's highly competitive academic environment impedes her ability to critique inequity. This is because her take-up of discourses of self-improvement and meritocracy potentially hinder her ability to recognise structural bias.

中文翻译：

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身为亚洲人“很奇怪”：精英女子学校的种族主义和跨文化

摘要 本文探讨精英女子中学环境如何影响一名越南澳大利亚女学生参与跨文化活动。除了尊重和公平地思考和与他人互动之外，跨文化性还包括反思性地思考自己的背景和权力系统对这种思想和互动的影响。分析基于对凯特（化名）进行的采访，当时她在中学 7-9 年级，年龄约为 12-15 岁。我认为凯特对她在学校被少数化和/或边缘化的方式的认识有助于她识别和批判结构性种族主义。然而，我也强调了凯特在柯克斯伍德学院的相对成功' 竞争激烈的学术环境阻碍了她批判不平等的能力。这是因为她对自我提升和任人唯贤的话语的接受可能会阻碍她识别结构性偏见的能力。