Navigating Sense of Self and Community Through Multimodal Storytelling: Experiences of Youths in Clarkston, Georgia

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Sunday 1:30 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 1
  In Roundtable Session: Empowering Community and Building Multicultural Future (Table 4)

Abstract

Despite the importance of storytelling, there is a lack of space or opportunity in schools or communities, where newcomers can share about their experiences and backgrounds as ‘refugees’. This study draws on semi-structured interviews, reflection notes, and artifacts shared by nine participants (from five-day storytelling camp) to examine, “To what extent does storytelling in a non-formal educational setting provide space to navigate a sense of self and community among youth with refugee and immigrant-background in Clarkston, Georgia?” Employing a narrative inquiry framework, this study finds that storytelling in non-formal educational settings provides space for immigrant and refugee-background young people to relocate themselves across contexts, cultivate a sense of relatedness with one another, and have pride in themselves and surrounding communities.

Authors

• Jihae Cha, The George Washington University

• Sarah Oh, Vanderbilt University