Schooling and settlement: refugee education in Australia

Abstract

Schools are a stabilising feature in the unsettled lives of refugee students. They provide safe spaces for new encounters, interactions and learning opportunities. They also deliver literacy, the key to educational success, post-school options, life choices, social participation and settlement. Currently Australian schools are poorly funded and illequipped to provide effective English as a Second Language teaching and support. A new cohort of refugee students mainly from Africa and the Middle East are struggling. This article discusses the importance of educational interventions that keep in mind both the immediacy of 'what is happening now' and broader post-colonial conditions. It identifies the limits of piecemeal partnership interventions and the domination of psychological approaches that individualise the issues and overemphasise pre-displacement conditions of trauma. Such approaches disregard the socio-political conditions of post-displacement and issues of racialisation, acculturation and resilience. The article argues for good practice approaches to schooling and settlement that involve whole-school accounting for organisational processes and structures, policy, procedure, pedagogy and curricula.Keywords: refugee students; refugee education; racialisation; acculturation; resilience IntroductionThe new cohort of refugee students in Australian high schools are mainly from Africa and the Middle East and comprise a distinct, conspicuous and complex minority. 1 In the early 1990s refugees mainly came from the Middle East and former Yugoslavia and in the 1980s from Asia and Latin America. The education of African and Middle Eastern refugee students is of concern for two reasons: first because we know little about the historical and cultural backgrounds of new refugees and the effects of pre-and post-displacement factors such as interrupted schooling, lack of literacy in mother tongue, trauma, torture, migrant status and reception, racialisation, acculturation and resilience; and, second, because English as a Second language (ESL) instruction and support are currently under-funded and poorly resourced.Forced migration and the experience of migrants from African and the Middle East have not provided the grounding for theories of schooling and settlement. In Australia theoretical understandings are predominantly based on the experience of European and Asian migrants. Teachers and students are unfamiliar with the historical and political circumstances of intra-national conflict and forced migration in these regions, as well as ethnic and cultural differences:

Experiences of School Belonging for Young Children With Refugee Backgrounds

“…Moreover, such an understanding must take into account refugee students' own identities and knowledge rather than assuming that refugee students can simply "fit in" to existing school environments and school cultures (Matthews, 2008; Woods, 2009). In other words, understandings of school belonging for students with refugee backgrounds must lead to a two way interaction which takes into account existing power relationships, and ensures that refugee students can feel belonging in all of the domains on their own terms as well as those of the school (Matthews, 2008;Riggs & Due, 2011; Woods, 2009).…”

“…Specifically, their findings indicate that students reported valuing, amongst other things: the cultural diversity of their intensive language school, the presence of other students who spoke their own language, having a sense of safety and belonging, and a curriculum which allowed them to experience some success in their education. These findings indicate the importance of ensuring that the facilitation of school belonging is collaborative and reciprocal, by providing opportunities for refugee students to contribute their own knowledge and aspirations, rather than focusing school This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of a paper published in the Educational and Developmental Psychologist Copyright Cambridge University Press DOI: 10.1017/edp.2016.9 experiences on existing school values and culture (Matthews, 2008; Woods, 2009).Finally, the literature exploring school belonging for refugee students has also found that school belonging is negatively impacted by experiences of discrimination (e.g., Brown & Chu, 2012; Trickett & Birman, 2005). Specifically, experiences of discrimination lead to a range of negative outcomes, including difficulties developing peer relationships at school, lower levels of school belonging and engagement, and decreased mental health and wellbeing (Priest et al., 2014).…”

“…In resettlement countries such as Australia, school is one of the primary places where newly arrived refugee students will connect with their community, build relationships, and establish a sense of belonging in their new country (Woods, 2009;Matthews, 2008; Correa--Velez, Gifford, & Barnett, 2010;Mace, Mulheron, Jones, & Cherian, 2014;de Heer, Due, & Riggs, 2016). As such, school belonging plays a crucial role in establishing a sense of social inclusion, positive wellbeing and the development of peer relationships for refugee young people from the beginning of their resettlement (Correa--Velez, et al, 2010;de Heer, et al, 2016; Woods, 2009).…”

“…Finally, belief in school refers to the extent to which students feel that their school values have significance for them. Taken together, higher levels of school belonging have been shown to be related to a number of positive outcomes for adolescents, including improved self--esteem and motivation, and lower levels of depression and peer rejection (Anderman, 2002; Battistich, Solomon,Watson, & Schaps, 1997; Goodenow, 1993;Kia--Keating & Ellis, 2007; Sujoldzic, Peternel, Kulenovic, & Terzic, 2006 for refugee students is vital to providing students with the opportunity to feel a sense of connection to their school environment (Kia--Keating & Ellis, 2007).Moreover, such an understanding must take into account refugee students' own identities and knowledge rather than assuming that refugee students can simply "fit in" to existing school environments and school cultures (Matthews, 2008; Woods, 2009). In other words, understandings of school belonging for students with refugee backgrounds must lead to a two way interaction which takes into account existing power relationships, and ensures that refugee students can feel belonging in all of the domains on their own terms as well as those of the school (Matthews, 2008;Riggs & Due, 2011; Woods, 2009).…”

“…While only a proportion of these young people and their families will be moved to a resettlement country, it is nevertheless vitally important that resettlement countries have an evidence base upon which to draw when providing settlement services and support to young people with refugee backgrounds. This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of a paper published in the Educational and Developmental Psychologist Copyright Cambridge University Press DOI: 10.1017/edp.2016.9In resettlement countries such as Australia, school is one of the primary places where newly arrived refugee students will connect with their community, build relationships, and establish a sense of belonging in their new country (Woods, 2009;Matthews, 2008; Correa--Velez, Gifford, & Barnett, 2010;Mace, Mulheron, Jones, & Cherian, 2014;de Heer, Due, & Riggs, 2016). As such, school belonging plays a crucial role in establishing a sense of social inclusion, positive wellbeing and the development of peer relationships for refugee young people from the beginning of their resettlement (Correa--Velez, et al, 2010;de Heer, et al, 2016; Woods, 2009).…”