How U.S. Teachers Collaborate With Somali Refugee Communities to Teach Responsibly for Equity and Inclusion in Globalized Classrooms

• In Event: Preparing Teachers to Be Global-Citizen-Scholars: Educating Responsibly for Equity and Inclusion in Classroom Practice

Abstract

Objectives
In recent times, attitudes toward non-European immigrants in the US have become increasingly hostile with consequences for how immigrant students experience schooling. These hostile attitudes have prompted K-12 schools to collaborate with recently arrived immigrant refugee communities to change school perceptions of diversity, understand the international backgrounds of immigrant students, and address their academic needs. With this in mind, I present the results of research exploring how U.S. American classroom teachers collaborate with Somali refugee immigrant families to teach responsibly for educational equity and inclusion.
Theoretical Framework
For this study, I used Dimitrov and Haque’s (2016) framework for intercultural understanding based on teachers becoming critically aware of their own and global perspectives, worldviews, and value systems. This framework focuses on intercultural understandings by: a) examining one’s attitude to cultural difference; b) collaborating with all stakeholders to bridge gaps in intercultural understanding; and, c) teaching responsibly as an ongoing practice of equity and inclusion.
Method
This phenomenological study began with IRB approval in 2009 and analysis of the data was completed in 2017. According to van Manen (2007), phenomenology is the study of lived experience useful in exploring how a phenomenon is experienced, perceived, and interpreted by the actors in a given situation, event, or condition. As a research practice, phenomenology involves: a) identifying a phenomenon; b) setting aside researcher and participant bias; c) collecting data on lived experience; d) analyzing the data to develop themes; and, e) writing up the essence of the experience. This study explored: How do classroom teachers and Somali refugee parents collaborate? What are the pedagogical implications of such collaborations?
Data Sources
The context of the study was an urban school district in the Midwest. Participants consisted of 12 teachers and 12 Somali refugee immigrant parents. Data consisted of response to questionnaires, focus groups, and follow-up individual face-to-face interviews conducted over a period of three years.
Results
Findings from this study reveal that when teachers collaborate with parents, they are able to identify barriers to teaching responsibly and bridge the gap between how teachers and parents conceptualize their role in teaching and learning. Sharing information on a regular basis and working together on school events gave teachers and parents a deeper understanding of how the norms of parenting in the US and Somalia differ, clear misunderstandings caused by language barriers, and organize parental support for parents to become more involved with school. The study also revealed school-community partnerships helped facilitate understandings between teachers and refugee immigrant parents making teachers more receptive to inclusion in classroom practice.
Scholarly Significance of the Study
This study contributes to a developing body of research on how to prepare teachers who are global-citizen-scholars for addressing inclusion of the educational needs of specific student groups in their classrooms. The study sheds light on how school-community collaborations assist Somali parents and other diverse parent groups to develop a deeper understanding of school culture. The study also provides evidence that classroom teachers need ongoing professional development that addressed the changing contexts of schools and their student populations.

Author

• Wangari Gichiru, Central Connecticut State University