Accessing Educational Resources and Support: Newcomer Refugee Mothers’ Challenges and Resilience during the COVID-19 Pandemic

• In Event: Rooted in Care: Imagining Inclusive and Sustainable Educational Futures for Refugees

Abstract

Purpose
This study explores the educational experiences of seven Turkish newcomer refugee mothers’ support systems for their children during the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S., focusing on their access to academic resources and support. It aims to reveal how these mothers responded to systemic inequities and how their cultural assets contributed to their children's education.
Theoretical Framework
Guided by Yosso’s (2005) Cultural Community Wealth (CCW) Theory, the study adopts an asset-based framework to understand how marginalized communities leverage six forms of capital—aspirational, linguistic, familial, social, navigational, and resistant—to support educational success. The study critiques deficit perspectives through history by highlighting the strengths that refugee mothers bring to U.S. schools for a new practical vision for future implications.
Methods
The authors used an instrumental qualitative case study design, employing semi-structured interviews, observations, and memoing. The study focused on Turkish mothers who had asylum-seeker or asylee status, resettled in the U.S. after 2016, and had children enrolled in K–12 public schools.
Data Sources and Analysis
Data came from three rounds of 90–120-minute Zoom interviews conducted with seven Turkish refugee mothers from the Northeast, Northwest, and West Coast regions of the U.S. Participants had varied English language proficiency and immigration experiences, and data included transcripts, observational notes, and reflective memos. Data were analyzed using NVivo software and Saldaña’s two-cycle coding process, integrating deductive analysis through Yosso’s CCW framework.
Results
Findings reveal that all participants demonstrated resilience by mobilizing community and familial networks, digital tools, and prior educational knowledge, even though they faced multilayered challenges, including limited English proficiency, lack of school-provided language support, and unfamiliarity with U.S. educational systems. Linguistic and resistance capital were evident in both English-proficient mothers, who engaged directly with schools, and those with emerging proficiency, who used community translators, older children, and creative strategies to stay involved. Social and familial capital included informal peer mentorship, resource-sharing within cultural networks, and extended family support in academic and emotional matters. Navigational and aspirational capital emerged in parents’ strategic enrollment in extracurriculars, their guidance on school applications, and efforts to maintain optimism and educational goals for their children despite instability and trauma. Participants consistently viewed education as a long-term investment and navigated institutional gaps with creativity and persistence, despite being underrecognized by schools.
Significance
This study advances scholarship on refugee education by extending Yosso’s CCW framework to the unique experiences of newcomer refugee mothers during a global crisis. It challenges deficit-based narratives by showing that these families possess adaptive capacities and cultural strengths that are vital to their children’s educational success. The work offers the following actionable implications:
1. Schools must provide linguistically and culturally accessible communication and resources.
2. By making refugee parents’ voices central, equity-focused education policy should support school-community partnerships with resettlement agencies.
3. Family engagement must be reconceptualized to include the strengths and informal support systems that refugee parents mobilize.

Authors

• Saliha Al, University of Rochester

• Mehtap Akay, International Rescue Committee