EDUCATIONAL CULTURAL BROKERS AND REFUGEE CHILDREN’S SCHOOL ADAPTATION

1. 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: sophie.yohani@ualberta.ca

2. 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

3. 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).

4. 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).

5. 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).

6. RELEVANCE OF STUDY • Collaboration 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.

7. RELEVANCE OF STUDY • Given 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).

10. OBJECTIVES • To 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.

11. RESEARCH APPROACH • A 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 .

12. 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

13. 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

14. Comparisons with Related Professionals Education Cultural Brokers 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 • Advocacy & Witnessing • Linking to Community Resources & Supports • Bridging Communication/Cultural Gaps • Education & Awareness Raising • Empowering Parents and Children • Conflict Resolution & Counselling • Academic & Settlement Supports

15. Comparisons with Related Professionals Education Cultural Brokers 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 • Advocacy & Witnessing • Linking to Community Resources & Supports • Bridging Communication/Cultural Gaps • Education & Awareness Raising • Empowering Parents and Children • Conflict Resolution & Counselling • Academic & Settlement Supports

16. Comparisons with Related Professionals Education Cultural Brokers 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 • Bridging Communication/Cultural Gaps • Education & Awareness Raising • Empowering Parents and Children • Conflict Resolution & Supportive Counselling • Academic & Settlement Supports • Advocacy & Witnessing

17. 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

18. 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 brokering • Teachers’ perspectives on brokering • Exploring use of brokering in other school-based services such as psychological services

19. 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?

20. ACKNOWEDLEGMENTS This research is being funded by: PRAIRIE METROPOLIS CENTRE A Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration, Integration and Diversity