Family Dialogues: Syrian Refugee Families Authoring Their School Experiences in the United Kingdom

• In Event: Supporting Immigrant and Multilingual Families

Abstract

Over six million Syrians have been displaced from their homes. In the past decade, the United Kingdom received Syrian refugees and made a public commitment to educate their children. Connecting these families with local schools is challenging. Employing an ecological exploration of the families’ approach to UK schools, this study engaged five Syrian refugee families in family conversations. The purpose was to explore how these families authored their experiences with their children’s schooling. Informed by dialogism and the anthropological storyline framework, the resulting family conversations revealed insights into the actors and events informing the families’ pursuit of schooling for their children. The findings illuminate these families’ united emotional engagement in navigating school, providing new insights on family-school partnerships

Authors

• Martha J. Strickland, The Pennsylvania State University - Harrisburg

• Daphna Skotnicki