Analyzing the Variation in Characteristics that Influence Refugee Parent—Preschool Teacher Communication

• In Event: Poster Session 03
  In Poster Session: PS 03 Topic - Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context

Abstract

Educational literature emphasizes the importance of home–school connections and parental involvement (Jeynes, 2003), but for refugees these connections may mean more than just the child’s academic success/adjustment and span to include forming networks of support for the entire family (McBrien, 2005). However, spawning from cultural differences and misunderstandings, teachers may assume that refugee/immigrant parents are not interested in their children’s education due to a lack of involvement or communication (Ariza, 2000). Further, Walker-Dalhouse and Dalhouse (2009) found that teachers perceived refugee parents’ lack of knowledge about U.S. school involvement practices as indifference. Thus, in order to approach these cultural and linguistic misunderstandings, this study sought to investigate the individual person characteristics of refugee parents and preschool teachers that influence the communication process, and how these factors support or impede interaction.
Participants included ten refugee mothers and two preschool teachers who were recruited from a non-profit agency serving refugees. Of the ten mothers, five were from various countries in the Middle East and five were from Burma. They spoke various languages, and each had different migration journeys before resettlement. For preschool teachers, one was a former Eritrean refugee and one was European American. We utilized qualitative semi-structured interviews focusing on communication processes with prompts to capture personality traits/feelings that might influence interactions (e.g. motivation, fear, indifference).
Two team members coded all the data using a deductive approach (Thomas, 2006), allowing for an analysis plan that identified themes connected with Bronfenbrenner’s person characteristics of force, resource, and demand (2005). The goal of this approach was to use the theoretical framework to derive codes to organize different individual characteristics for each participant while still uncovering interactions among them as well as overlap between participants.
For refugee mothers, analyses revealed that the top influential factors for communication processes with teachers were cultural communication experiences, language barriers, driving abilities, motivation, comfortableness in communicating, and outward appearance (see Table 1). However, analyses uncovered unexpected variation in how these factors interacted to influence communication. For example, Aung spoke fluent English but expressed she rarely interacted with her child’s preschool teacher because in Burma that was not an expectation. And Nu was very motivated to communicate with her son’s teacher but struggled with language barriers. No mother expressed indifference or lack of motivation in communicating. Additionally, the teachers approached communication with the parents in different ways based on their personality, experiences, and perceptions. For example, Ahera was motivated and persistent in communicating with parents even in the face of language barriers compared to Grace who had more apprehension (see Figure 1).
These findings provide insight into areas in which cultural misunderstandings or challenges prevent effective interactions. They highlight that each individual refugee mother and teacher had personal strengths and weaknesses when communicating with each other. They further emphasize that greater understanding of refugee families’ lives, cultures, and individual characteristics are needed, and educational institutions should establish foundations for teachers to learn more about the families with whom they work.

Authors

• Dana Conlin, University of California - Irvine
  Presenting Author

• Rachel Boit, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
  Non-Presenting Author

• Amanda C Barnes, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
  Non-Presenting Author

• Linda Hestenes, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
  Non-Presenting Author