Voices of Refugee Youth

• In Event: Highlighting the Voices of Immigrant and Refugees: Examples of Community-Based Research

Abstract

The focus of this doctoral research project is the settlement experiences of refugee youth who have exited high school and a program designed by a school board in Alberta, Canada to support their language and academic needs. These newcomer youth encountered profound academic and social stresses as they attempted to create a new identity and sense of belonging in their new home. By engaging the notion of place as a framework, I was seeking to better understand what it means for refugee youth to recuperate a place of belonging. Gruenewald (2003) suggests that understanding our relationship to place can be profoundly pedagogical. By having a place-based awareness, we strengthen our connections to others and to the places in which we live (Gruenewald, 2008).

I engaged PhotoVoice as a methodology, to provide my research participants with an opportunity to reflect on their own personal circumstances as well as give them an opportunity to create a digital product that opened a space for their voices to be heard. The primary research question for this study was: How do refugee youth perceive their educational and settlement process in Calgary? In addition, the following sub-question was addressed: How have the youth gained a sense of place and belonging in their community? A secondary aim of the study was to investigate a pedagogical perspective through a further question: How can refugee youth be given a sense of agency and voice to interpret and incorporate their learning such that they can actively participate and guide their settlement?

Knowing the personal challenges each of the youth’s lives embodied, this project enabled the participants to gain an awareness and appreciation of their strengths. By focusing on the notion of belonging rather than barriers to settlement, the youth had an opportunity to reflect on the actions and behaviours that were instrumental in their effort to connect to their new home.

The findings revealed that at the core of the youth’s efforts and ways to inhabit their new home, connecting to people, especially in school, in addition to connecting to the natural world, fostered feelings of well-being and belonging. As a pedagogical tool, the use of photos and narratives provided opportunities for the youth to interpret and analyze common themes, and to share a collaborative digital product with recently arrived newcomer youth; all contributed to a meaningful and empowering undertaking.

Educational implications include practical recommendations for schools, teachers, students as well as community agencies supporting newcomer youth. High schools that offer welcoming and focused language programs with teachers who have trauma sensitive training provide a foundation for older newcomer youth. Meaningful relationships among teachers, students and families generate trust that in turn creates safe places for students’ needs and voices to be understood. Giving experienced youth opportunities to reflect on and share their perspectives with other youth fosters confidence and awareness for both groups.

Author

• Patti Trussler, Mount Royal University