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Transcript of Starting Primary School in Ireland: the Experience of Refugee Children and their Families Dr....
Starting Primary School in Ireland: the Experience of Refugee Children and their Families
Dr. Philomena DonnellySt. Patrick’s College, Dublin
EECERA Prague [email protected]
Direct Provision
Since April 2000- a system of direct provision Full board accommodation Small amount of money but not social welfare Not permitted to choose or change address Reception and Integration Agency under the
Department of Justice, Equality and law Reform
In 2002-nearly 2,000 asylum seekers recognised as refugees. In 2005 dropped to 966 due to constitutional change
Direct Provision- 2005
Each adult had a weekly allowance of €19.05 Each child €9.52 Bed, breakfast and evening meal provided as
well as household items such as cleaning fluids, some toiletries
Children get an allowance for nappies up to age three
25% of people living in Direct provision Centres in 2005 were under the age of four
Purpose of Research
To document the experience of children and parents who obtained residency status of starting primary school in Ireland
Jill Rutter(2006) talks of the lack of research in the educational experiences of children who are refugees in comparison with the volume of studies on the traumatic experiences of these children
Research Participants
Through the assistance of an accommodation centre, I met with a group of parents in June 2005 and explained the purpose and process of the research
Thirteen parents agreed to participate-all women
All had a child starting primary school in September 2005-7 girls and six boys
Research method
Children and their parent/s were interviewed in August 2005 before the children started school
Interviewed again at the end of the first term Dec 05- at this point some of the families had received residency papers and were moving out of the centre. This often meant a change of school for the child
Interviews again took place in June/July 06 when the children had completed a year of primary school- the majority of the families had moved out of the accommodation centre at this point although some were still there
Interviews again took place in June/ July 07- at the end of the two year early years cycle in Irish primary schools
Initially many parents showed great caution-some requested that the interview would not be taped- by the second interview they all were more comfortable
Profile of Families
Resident in Ireland from 5 months to 3 years in direct provision
Average 2 and a half years 5 were accompanied by husbands 1 family of 4 children, 4 with 3 children and
the rest had 2 children 12 families from Nigeria and 1 from Ghana
Parents Qualifications
9 of the mothers have 3rd level qualifications Dip. In Marketing, Post-grad in Marketing,
Higher Dip. in Banking and Finance, Dip. In accountancy, Dip. in Computer Science, Degree in Psychology, Dip in Travel and Tourism, Dip in Food Science and Technology, Degree in Economics (Mothers)
Motor Mechanics, Computer Science, Degree in Engineering (Fathers)
Finding a School
6 had found a primary school through talking to friends
4 through the DJLR 2 through their Church 1 a local Resource Centre
Anticipations and Concerns
The majority of children had started school before the residency was granted
Traveled on buses from the accommodation centre to schools in local towns- one child was attending a country school outside the town: concerns would the children get on the right bus etc
Parents hopes -that they would do well in school and make a contribution to society- would be good people
That they wouldn’t be bullied or be the subject of racist remarks
The tension of waiting for residency/ rumours
Transitions
Finding accommodation – many operate through friends
Finding a school/ changing school- the number of changes some of these children had experienced
Learning how and where things operate Many expressed little knowledge of the
education system Making a living telling jokes
Starting School
All but one of the children had to move school when the family moved out of direct provision
All found the schools helpful, informative and supportive
The majority attended a meeting for new parents
‘Because I am not Irish they did not separate us from the Irish. Secretary said to pay ( for school books) what you can when you can. I was surprised’
They found people such as Principals helpful and available
One felt a teacher was complaining a lot about her child’s behaviour
Children’s Comments
Loved school, the exercise outside (playtime), singing
Child aware of Irish-English compared to Nigerian- English ( dropping ‘th’)
Happy at school but gets tired ‘one day I forgot my lunch and a white boy
give me a sandwich’ The loss of friends when moving schools-
‘they won’t play with me’
Playing with toys, dinosaurs, jigsaws There’s so much fun, I’m allowed to play Dolls- one black one and others ‘ What are the other children like?’ They like
to eat Friends featured strongly Two mentioned birthday parties
I’m from Mosney We came here from Nigeria and then we
came from Mosney and then we moved here. I remember going to school with my pink Barbie bag. Pink is my favourite colour
GAA- Irish football/ soccer
Some interim overviews
Social networks- in Mosney, Churches Danger of poverty- curtains/ coats, childcare Information ( Irish National Teachers
Organisation –INTO ) booklet, Tips for Parents- as a result of the research have an insert explaining the Education system in several languages
Parents Comments
Some found the move out of the accommodation centre difficult-finding new schools, children being unsettled
Felt the children were so used to being with parents all of the time
Knew some Irish parents through chatting at school gate although there was a certain caution around this
Four parents mentioned Maeve’s mum- an Irish parent who made an effort to speak and ask the children to her house to play
One parent felt when children fighting, teacher speaks to black parents but when the white children fight, the teacher does not speak to their parents
One parent felt ‘very up and down’ One was receiving help with her children from
her church
Cold and fog a negative One parent reacted very badly to the school’s
suggestion that the child repeat the first year A male teacher in early years –cultural
difference The majority spoke highly of the teaching
approaches
Completing the Research
Interviewed children and their families June /July 07 – a number of fathers have joined their wives and children
Re-applying for residency In July 07-interviewed the principal and two
class teachers of the school where many of the children in the research attend- these interviews are in the process of transcription and analysis