Power of Illustrated Stories to Illuminate Agency by Afghan Refugee/Immigrant Girls Navigating Schooling

• In Event: Cross-Disciplinary Language Development in Transnational Contexts

Abstract

Set in the context of our study that used illustrated stories to evoke the power of visuals, we investigate both the suppression and the empowerment of agency for Afghan refugee/immigrant girls navigating schooling. We bring stories and experiences of Afghan refugee/immigrant girls related to their gendered and racialized bodily experiences in school to the surface of the learning discourses to challenge the dominant narratives and transform the boundaries of disciplinary norms. Using visual discourse analysis of drawings by participants, we analyze how the Afghan refugee/immigrant girls used illustrated stories to depict their agency. Our analysis revealed that the participants mobilized their bodily positioning in order to exercise their power and agency to address their daily challenges in schooling.

Authors

• Shima Dadkhahfard, University of Calgary

• Miwa Aoki Takeuchi, University of Calgary