Children of Nigerian Immigrants in Ireland Developing Transcultural Identities

• In Event: Immigration, Identity, and Pedagogy: Toward Asset-Based Approaches to Understanding and Working With Minoritized Students

Abstract

Purpose

This study’s purpose is to explore how four children of Nigerian immigrants in the Irish Republic, a country experiencing an increase in immigration and diversity, understand their identities as people of color. The study investigates three questions: (1) What experiences of discrimination and racism, if any, do four elementary-grade children of Nigerian immigrants in Ireland have? (2) How do four elementary-grade children of Nigerian immigrants in Ireland react to any discrimination and racism they experience? (3) What adaptation styles do four elementary-grade children of Nigerian immigrants in Ireland adopt based on any experiences of discrimination and racism?

Conceptual Framework

This study uses Suárez-Orozco and Suárez-Orozco’s (2001) conceptual framework of social mirroring and the adaptation styles for children of immigrants. This framework examines “the various ways that children of immigrants react to negative social mirroring” (p. 100) and how they develop their identities. Suárez-Orozco and Suárez-Orozco note that children’s reactions can include three types: (1) resignation; (2) unawareness of the negative mirroring; and (3) resistance. Similarly, the scholars describe three adaptation styles: (1) ethnic flight; (2) adversarial identities; and (3) transcultural identities.

Method

This qualitative case study investigates “a contemporary phenomenon in depth and within its real-life context” (Yin, 2009, p. 18). Data generation occurred in the 2014-2015 school year. The research site was St. Hilary, a third- through sixth-grade Catholic school in Lancaster, an Irish city. There were four focal students (Bella, Jacob, Victor, and Candace) who were in the fifth and sixth grades, born in Ireland, and Irish citizens.

Data Sources and Analysis

There are four main data sources: (1) individual interviews with the students; (2) group interviews with the students; (3) individual interviews with the students’ teachers and administrators; and (4) school observations. All interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and thematically coded using Dedoose. I took field notes to record daily learning routines, classroom layouts, and curricular themes.

Results

I argue that the four students encountered discrimination and racism that led to reactions of resignation and resistance, but that the children adopted transcultural identities that preserved “the affective ties of the home culture while enabling [them] to acquire the skills required to cope successfully in the mainstream culture” (Suárez-Orozco & Suárez-Orozco, 2001, p. 113). Rather than showing resignation or resistance, each student showed both reactions at different times and in different contexts. The students also developed transcultural identities that helped them fuse aspects of their Irish, Nigerian (and broader African) backgrounds, particularly by using language as an identity-affirming counter space (Carter, 2007) and by participating in sports.
Significance

Since large-scale immigration and diversity are relatively new in Ireland, limited research exists in this context that explores how children from immigrant backgrounds (especially the African diaspora) develop their identities. More broadly, this research informs how children of immigrants negotiate cultural backgrounds as they navigate between and within cultural worlds. The research is particularly useful for pre- and in-service teachers who strive to create inclusive learning environments, and it supports the development of culturally sustaining pedagogies (Paris and Alim, 2017).

Author

• Don McClure, St. John's University