EDUCATIONAL CULTURAL BROKERS AND REFUGEE CHILDREN’S SCHOOL ADAPTATION
Dr. Sophie Yohani, Ph.D., R. Psych.
Assistant Professor & Director of Counselling,
Division of Clinical Services
Department of Educational Psychology
University of Alberta
Email: [email protected]
PRESENTATION OUTLINE
Background Overview of project goals Key issues for children’s adaptation Relevance and objectives of current project Key issues from preliminary results: Roles of
educational cultural brokering Comparing educational cultural broker roles
to other related professionals Potential implications from research results
PROJECT GOALS
This study will explore the role of educational culture brokers in facilitating refugee children and families’ adaptation in school settings. Goals include:
Developing an understanding of the role and strategies of cultural brokering within an education framework.
To suggest a model of brokering that addresses the needs of refugee children and families within school contexts.
First I was in Africa and we had a war. They were killing people. Some people were carrying things on their heads like food and clothes. We traveled to XXX. From XXX we flew to Canada. When we arrived we stayed in a hotel until we could find an apartment. After that, about a month, we went to school. When I finish university, I would like to become a doctor. (Akinyi, 14-year old refugee girl).
FOSTERING REFUGEE CHILDREN’S ADAPTATION IN RESETTLEMENT COUNTRIES Moderating factors for newcomer childrens’
adaption in schools include the nature of the host society, nature of the group, mode of acculturation, and psychosocial and individual factors such as social supports.
Adaptation in schools is negatively affected by lack of mastery of new language (Bhattacharya, 2000) and societal and school pressure toward rapid assimilation into existing culture (Igoa, 1995), while positive school adaptation is associated with the ability to hold a bicultural or integrated orientation (Portes & Rumbaut, 2001).
FOSTERING REFUGEE CHILDREN’S ADAPTATION IN RESETTLEMENT COUNTRIES
Children who come from families with known histories of pre-migration exposure to war, family losses, limited education exposure, and health difficulties are one such group who are at risk of experiencing significant difficulties with adaptation in educational settings (Clark, Sack, & Croft, 1993; Cole, 1998; Kinzie & Sack, 2002).
RELEVANCE OF STUDYCollaboration between families and schools is
vital when addressing the school needs of newcomer children, includes an understanding of cultural differences and similarities, and pre-migration experiences that impact learning outcomes.
When faced with cultural and language differences, schools and families can enlist the services of third parties, such as cultural brokers, to assist and ensure appropriate service provision.
RELEVANCE OF STUDYGiven that culture is considered to be an
important aspect of education and mental health (Sue & Sue, 2008), the act and role of brokering is potentially relevant for various stakeholders who seek to improve education services within Canada’s increasingly diverse school milieu (Statistics Canada, 2007).
Within education, research on cultural brokering is scarce and currently limited to the role of immigrant children as cultural brokers (Jones & Trickett, 2005), teachers as cultural brokers (Abbate-Vaughn, 2006), parent liaisons as cultural brokers (Martinez-Cosio & Lannacone, 2007) and young adult staff in community-programs (Cooper, Denner, & Lopez, 1999).
Article Broker Population Strategies/Roles
Abbate-Vaughn, J. (2006). “
- Prospective teachers
-teachers broker relationship between school and home (Gay, 1983; Goodwin, 2000)
Amatea, E.S., & West-Olatunji, C.A. (2007).
-School counsellors -counselors serve as “cultural bridge” between families and teachers by (a) sharing info that counters teacher’s negative views, (b) modeling reaching out to families and building strengths, (c) mediated conflicting cultural expectations
Barrett, T. G., & Thaxton, L. (2007). Robert A. Roessel Jr.
- Brokers -brokers worked to create common cultural purpose, transcended common conventions for educating Native Americans (NA), intergrated new vision for NA in higher education
Cooper, C.R., Denner, J., & Lopez, E.M. (1999).
-Teachers, family members, staff in community programs
-teachers review assessments to ensure Spanish-speaking children not misplaced in special ed. and encourage students’ dreamsexplain how US schools function, encouraged parental participation-older siblings orient students to school, help with homework, model positive behaviour-community program staff help children feel safe and confident, learn alternatives to violence, gain ed. experience, acquire bicultural skills, value home communities, share language, share bicultural experiences, encourage dreams, help navigate school syste-staff are supportive, offer broader view of school/life than family does, help children link family/comm./school
Gentemann, K.M., & Whitehead, T.L. (1983).
- Teacher-counselors (TC) in support program for Black students
-cultural broker links mainstream culture and sub-cultures through brokers acculturated in both cultures-brokers straddle both cultures to communicate values form one group to another-broker make communication more effective, role models for ethnic community-act as “translators” of academic subculture to students and student subculture to university -TC brokered by monitored lectures, leading informal seminars, counselling, helping employment, dev’p stnd English skills, and dev’p appropriate social skills-encourage students to take on leaderships roles at UniversityTC acted as role models
Gorman, W. (1999). - Canadian Native students
-teachers must act as cultural brokers-educators must dev’p strategies that build on (not change) cultural dispositions, emphasize “being” rather than “doing”, focus on past/present not just future, and promote harmony rather than subjugation of nature
Howard, A., Anderson, J.A., Smiley, A.D., Abbott, D. (2006)..
-School Liaisons who do brokering
- use of brokers who are representative of family’s culture, succeeded in ed. system, and help family’s navigate/interpret ed. system-brokering included activities that assisted marginalized families to navigate/interpret mid-class paradigm, including translation, facilitating skill dev’p so parents could advocate-
Jones, C.J., & Trickett, E.J. (2005).
Russian-immigrant children and mothers
-children broker with local institutions, other adults and peers, translating school documents, doctors, answering phone, translating for parents-children act to make customs, mores, policies, legal constraints, or interaction patterns more comprehensible to parents/family members-studies show majority of immigrant children broker for with and for parents and around school-related matters-mixed results regarding gender of child brokers and acculturation variables
Lane, B.A. (1992). -school principals
-Principal’s role as builder/broker of cultures offers important foundation to examine school leadership-“transition rituals” may help staff adjust to changes in school culture
Lewis, K.C. (2004). Instructional Aides (IA)
- May be called to be CB and bridges to the community, but many aren’t prepared- CB understand mainstream, as well as ethnic culture are related to students and admin-whether IA have connections to communities they work in, it’s assumed they’re “similar” in race, ethnicity or class and can therefore bridge the cultural gap between home and school- parents describe 4 roles of IA: connector, team member, instructor, and physical caregiver/health service provider (French & Chopra, 1999)-IA should be an integral part of any team that works with students
OBJECTIVESTo understand how facilitation is currently
achieved and to work towards a model of brokering that will best address the complex needs of refugee children and families.
To explore the opportunities and barriers to cultural brokering that exist in the education context.
To develops ways of supporting cultural brokers through an institutional and policy context.
RESEARCH APPROACHA qualitative case study of educational cultural
brokers involving document analysis, focus group discussions, and in-depth semi-structured individual interviews.
Cultural brokers will be asked to collect and described critical incidents (Flanagan, 1954) in order to explicate the roles that brokers play in facilitating refugee school children’s adaptation in schools.
Thematic analysis will be used to highlight roles, challenges, and opportunities of educational cultural brokering .
PRELIMINARY RESULTS: ROLES OF EDUCATIONAL CULTURAL BROKERS
Micro-Level Roles: Day-to-day bridging, support and educational activities that assist children's
adaptation through direct contact with families, school personnel, and community.
Advocacy & Witnessing Bridging Communication Gaps Education & Awareness Raising Empowering Parents and Children Conflict Resolution & Supportive Counselling Linking to Community Resources & Supports Providing Academic & Settlement Supports
PRELIMINARY RESULTS: ROLES OF EDUCATIONAL CULTURAL BROKERS
Macro-Level Roles:Slow process of transforming system to be more open and flexible to cultural diversity through activities that are not obvious but whose outcome is seen over time
Building relationships with schools and school boards
Facilitating processes for parent concerns about school adaptation to be addressed
Educating schools about culture and experiences of refugee and immigrant children
Empowering parents to have a voice with regards to issues affecting adaptation to school system
Comparisons with Related Professionals
Education Cultural Brokers Advocacy & Witnessing Linking to Community
Resources & Supports Bridging
Communication/Cultural Gaps Education & Awareness Raising Empowering Parents and
Children Conflict Resolution &
Counselling Academic & Settlement
Supports
In-School Settlement Workers Support newcomer students and their
families to meet basic needs within their schools and communities
Develop/provide connection to community supports
Develop/find supports to address child’s needs using holistic model (physical, social, emotional, spiritual)
Assist students/families by assessing current needs and assist them to develop understanding of new country, community and school
Help students/families determine and address barriers to successful integration
Assist schools/staff in understanding new students and developing pathways for their success as students/citizens
Comparisons with Related Professionals
Education Cultural Brokers Advocacy & Witnessing Linking to Community
Resources & Supports Bridging
Communication/Cultural Gaps Education & Awareness Raising Empowering Parents and
Children Conflict Resolution &
Counselling Academic & Settlement
Supports
Multicultural (Health) Liaison Workers* One-on-one counselling
services Referrals to professionals Educational workshops Awareness raising of
mental health issues through local media
Consultation with communities regarding needs
*Not all roles included here
http://www.vch.ca/ce/docs/reports/06_04_multicultural_mental_health.pdf
Comparisons with Related Professionals
Education Cultural Brokers Bridging
Communication/Cultural Gaps
Education & Awareness Raising
Empowering Parents and Children
Conflict Resolution & Supportive Counselling
Academic & Settlement Supports
Advocacy & Witnessing
Multicultural (School) Liaison Workers* Work with ESL families as
interpreters A liaison between families,
schools and communities for ESL students
Act as a community resource for newly arrived families
Hired by school board Facilitate communication
between schools, parents, and students
Help schools understand needs and concerns of communities
*Not all roles included here
http://www.vsb.bc.ca/districtinfo/organization/ls/drpc/Multicultureworker.htm
PRELIMINARY CONCLUSIONS
Brokers can play a vital role in assisting the adaptation of refugee children in school settings
Role and strategies used by brokers can be incorporated into other services for refugee children including psychological and speech therapy services
A significant challenge to the work of brokering is the lack of clarity regarding this role both at the school and community levels – Eg. Advocacy role
FURTHER RESEARCH
If brokers work at micro and macro-levels towards larger systemic change in creating welcoming communities for refugee children and families, then more information is required regarding:
Parents’ perspectives on brokeringTeachers’ perspectives on brokeringExploring use of brokering in other school-
based services such as psychological services
POTENTIAL PRACTICE & POLICY IMPLICATIONS
If brokers work at micro and macro-levels towards larger systemic change in creating welcoming communities for refugee children and families, then:
Where should individuals acting as brokers be best situated? Within or outside of schools?
Who should fund cultural brokering programs?
What forms of ongoing professional development should brokers be receiving? Recognition of existing credentials?
How can brokers be best used in building cultural competency in schools?