Adolescent Sudanese Refugees in Australian Schools – A cultural perspective

Before we begin….

Who am I? Mobile Phones Your safety Who are you?

Session Outline

The Sudanese Refugee experience Culture Ethnic Identity Difficulties faced by Sudanese

adolescent refugees How can I support Sudanese

adolescent refugees? Resources

The Sudanese Refugee experience

Everyone in Australia, but the Aboriginal was an immigrant, without

continued immigration our nation would not be what it is today.

(Grambs, 2001)

The Sudanese Refugee experience

2010-2011 169 Sudanese adolescent refugees

arrived in Victoria

(Department of Immigration & Citizenship)

The Lost Boys of Sudan

The Sudanese Refugee experience

Humanitarian conditions are the worst in the worldCivil war commenced 19832 million Sudanese lost their lives5.5 million people were displacedWar & drought led to chronic food

shortages and famine in the South(Schweitzer, Greenslade Kagee, 2007)

The prize-winning image: A vulture watches a starving child in southern Sudan, March 1, 1993.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5241442

The Sudanese Refugee experience

Sudanese have left situations of:Extreme violenceSignificant traumaHardshipLoss of FamilyInterruptions to school & work. (Schweitzer, Greenslade Kagee, 2007)

The Sudanese Refugee experience

Refugee teens face 3 main challenges:

Refugee Experience

Settlement Adolescence

Violence:

•Political

•Religious

•Intercultural

•Persecution

•Oppression

•Armed Conflict

•Identity Formation

•Gaining independence

•Finding place in community

•Relationships with peers & family

•Discovering sexuality

•Learning English

•Restarting school

•Adjusting to new culture

•Separation from extended family

•New systems and environment

•Forging new social networks

(Victorian Settlement Planning Committee, 2005)

Activity 1 – Cultural Perceptions

How did it feel being on the receiving end of your partner’s perception?

How did it feel revealing your perceptions?

Were you surprised by any perceptions made?

How did it feel to have the responsibility for making a perception on your partner?

Culture

The ideas, customs, and social behaviour of a particular people or society

The attitudes and behaviour characteristic of a particular social group

(Oxford Dictionary, 2011)Drinking Culture

What cultures

can you

think of?

Culture Culture refers to not only the racial or ethnic groups

we are born into but also the groups we choose to belong to, such as religious or social groups.

Culture is a combination of thoughts, feelings, attitudes, beliefs, values, and behaviour patterns that are shared by racial, ethnic, religious, and social or organisation groups.

Culture provides guidelines for how we live each day.

We often move between cultures. (Teaching Tolerance, 2011)

Culture

Culture of Students

Culture of School

Personal Culture

(Teaching Tolerance, 2011)

Activity 2 – African culture in Australian Schools

“It takes a village to raise a child”

(Washington, 2005)

Culture

How might your culture affect the culture of others?

How might your culture be different from the students in your classroom or school?

How might the culture of the school be different from your culture?

Ethnic Identity

‘Australian kids… see you like you’re stupid or something’, ‘…. Talking to

them and they pretend that they doesn’t hear’

Sudanese Youth

(Poppitt & Frey, 2007)

Culture Our ‘self’ identifies with the culture of origin, its

values and rules and is linked to our self-esteem.(Nesdale & Mak, 2003)

When moving between cultures our self-esteem acts as a mediator of ethnic identity crisis and mental health. (Oppedal, Roysamb & Sam, 2004).

Self-esteem is affected by discrimination.(Rumbaut, 1994)

Discrimination against immigrants in the form of ostracism, bullying and difficulties at school is not uncommon.(Kunz, 2000)

Culture

Feeling of belonging to both ethnic and majority cultures is also part of social group identity which has plays an important part in the well-

being of adolescent immigrants (Sam, 2000).

Difficulties faced by Sudanese adolescent refugees

Minimal formal educationInterrupted schooling and Limited EnglishPeriod of cultural adjustment including the

culture of their school Developing new peer networksLearning new cultural cuesSocial adjustment such as making friends and Wanting to belong in their new school,

community and country. (Xu, Bekteshi, Tran, 2010)

How can I support Sudanese adolescent refugees?

School is a critical element of adolescent social-emotional development. (Roeser, Eccles, & Sameroff, 2000).

Support from schools can have a direct, positive effect on adolescent’s health, development and psychological well-being. (Rosenfeld, Richaman, & Bowen,

2000; Torsheim & Wold, 2001) Teachers and classmates can provide a wide range

of support to students including: help with schoolwork, reinforcement of self-worth, sense of belonging, and role models.

(Xu, Bekteshi, Tran, 2010)

What can you do as a teacher:

1. Build strong ties between families and schools2. Encourage parents to actively engage with their

children’s learning3. Develop cultural awareness 4. Teach students about refugee and immigrant

populations5. Openly discuss racism and discrimination6. Address and prevent bullying7. Develop and orientation program for refugees and

immigrants8. Access support for English learning9. Develop homework clubs10. Encourage culturally appropriate sporting activities eg.

Soccer(Xu, Bekteshi, Tran, 2010; Bridging Refugee Youth & Children Services, 2008)

Summary

What were your key learning's?

Additional Reading Grambs, J.D. (2001) Immigrants and Refugees: Or Ethnicity Ain’t

What It Used to Be, Theory Into Practice, XX (3), 158-163. Poppitt, G., & Frey, R. (2007). Sudanese Adolescent Refugees:

Acculturation and Acculturative Stress. Australian Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 17 (2), 160-181.

Schweitzer, R., Greenslade, J., & Kagee, A. (2007). Coping and resilience in refugees from Sudan: a narrative account. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 41, 282-288.

Xu, Q., Bekteshi, V., & Tran, T. (2010). Family, School, Country of Birth and Adolescents’ Psychological Well-Being, Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, 8 (1), 91-110. doi:org/10.1080/15562940903379142

Welcoming and Orienting Newcomer Students to U.S. Schools. (2008, Spring). Bridging Refugee Youth & Children Services. Retrieved from http://www.brycs.org/documents/upload/brycs_spotspring2008-2.pdf