Voices of Students with post-Soviet Background on their Canadian Schooling Experiences

• In Event: Multi-Stakeholders’ Perspectives on the Education of Children and Families with post-Soviet background in Ontario: Implications for Policy and Practice

Proposal

This presentation provides insights from the study’s student-participants. The project interviewed 25 former and current students who were of various ethnic backgrounds. The interviews were conducted individually or via focus groups and took between 60- 90 minutes. In addition, survey was conducted and 155 students responded to it. The interview data was analysed via thematic analysis, using NVivo, while the surveys were analysed via descriptive analysis aligned thematically with the interviews. The analysis revealed that overall post-Soviet high school students describe their Canadian education experiences in positive terms. They like the freedoms, students’ diversity, intercultural learning and friendship, caring attitudes of their teachers and school administrators, lack of direct and overt discrimination, the relaxed and non-competitive academic and peaceful social environment, availability of various resources, and opportunities. Students especially highlighted these positive experiences, when probed and when asked to compare their experiences with the schooling in their former post-Soviet countries.

At the same time, the students also spoke of challenges such as navigating and making independent decisions re. their course selections during academic year and future careers’ options and opportunities while studying at school and lack of fixed textbooks in some subjects, and comparatively less attention to arts, drama, music and sports. The students also questioned academic rigour of the Canadian schools vis-à-vis their home countries’ education (especially in subjects such as science and mathematics) as well as noted the absence of topics that would represent their cultures, histories and backgrounds, especially critical events of the past and present. The students mentioned few instances of inter-students' bullying and peer pressure among the students and slow school administration response to some of these concerns. Students also have trouble adjusting to the new education system and its unwritten rules, which they see as implicit and vague compared to a more explicit and direct system in post-Soviet states. Notably, while the post-Soviet students’ voices resonated with some of the other students from immigrant, refugee and minority backgrounds, their voices also lacked many critical insights that the research on other coloured and minority students has presented. The presentation will end up with methodological and academic implications for policy, curriculum development and teacher education in Canada for enhancing immigrant and refugee students’ education experiences (understood broadly) in Canada and North America

Authors

• Nikolai Afanasev

• Sarfaroz Niyozov Niezov, OISE, University of Toronto

• Jessica Grace MacDonald