Running Head: HOW DOES BEING A REFUGEE AFFECT A CHILDS EDUCATION?

How Does Being a Refugee Affect a Childs Education?

Claire Palermo-Re
Bridgewater College

Running Head: HOW DOES BEING A REFUGEE AFFECT A CHILDS EDUCATION?

Abstract
Refugees are people who are escaping some form of prosecution by relocating to a new country.
In America refugee children make up 35-45% of all refugees. Many times refugee children have
trouble adjusting due to language barriers. In Saint Paul Public Schools in Minnesota worked to
help the refugee children by establishing Transitional Language Centers (TLCs). Most of the
times the language and cultural barrier is the biggest issue. However, in some cases refugee
children have experienced serious trauma that hinders their education. As more and more
refugees and immigrants enter the US, if teachers want to continue to teach effectively they will
need to learn not only how to teach content, but how to teach American culture and customs and
learn how to help their students learn English.

Running Head: HOW DOES BEING A REFUGEE AFFECT A CHILDS EDUCATION?

I decided to do research on how refugee children do at their new school. I wanted to see
how they adjust and if being a refugee had an impact on education. I thought that it would and so
I wanted to see what I could do as a teacher to help the refugee children better adjust. I picked
this topic because of the amount of refugees in Harrisonburg. I had never known that there were
so many refugees so close to school. After learning that and going to my classroom to observe I
started wondering if I could identify which of the children were refugees and which were not. I
could not, but I wondered if I looked at their academic performance I could try to guess.
I think refugee children probably do poorly in school due to the cultural differences. This
topic relates to multicultural education because refugee children come from different cultures.
Often times their culture is very different from American culture. They can have trouble
adjusting and that may be why they do not always do so well in school. If their new classroom
and classmates are accepting of their culture they will adjust better and will end up doing better
academically. If they are taught about American culture that might also help them perform better.
American culture is very different compared to other cultures so some aspects might confuse
them. If they understood the culture better it would help them to adjust better which would help
them perform better in school.
Refugees are people who left their country due to persecution. Many refugees try to
escape their country and their situation by coming to the United States. Refugees must have
permission from the US government before they can come over. If they do not have permission,
they are not allowed to enter the country. Formal U.S. refugee resettlement began in 1980 and
since then 1.8 million refugees have settled in America (BRYCS website). Most refugees come
to America in hopes of a better life for themselves and for their family. Out of all the refugees in
America about 35-40% are children, 95% of which resettled with their parents (BRYCS).

Running Head: HOW DOES BEING A REFUGEE AFFECT A CHILDS EDUCATION?

The amount of refugees coming to America at a certain time depends upon what is going
on in the world. If there is a crisis going on in the world the rate of refugees will increase.
Between October 1, 2014 through March 31, 2015 the cases of refugees was 12,984 and the
amount of individuals was 31,503 (http://www.wrapsnet.org). Individuals is how many total
refugees came over during that time. The case number is lower because a case may include a
family. For example if a family of four refugees resettles in the United States that would be one
case, but would count as four individuals. Where the refugees settle depends on where they came
from. Sometimes refugees from the same country will try to resettle in the same state. That way
they have someone nearby they can relate to. They will have someone nearby who knows what
they have gone to and who speaks the same language. That can help make the transition easier.
Refugees are not going to be a part of the dominant group. The dominant group in
America is white, middle-class, English-speaking, heterosexual who has historical roots in
Europe (textbook). Refugees are not going to be anywhere close to this. In many cases refugees
will be poor, not speak English and not be white. Being so different from the dominant group
may make it difficult for refugees to feel comfortable in school. If the kids do not feel safe and
comfortable in school then they are going to struggle academically.
Many refugees are school-aged kids. In 2008, 24% of all the refugees who recently
resettled in the United States were school-aged kids (BRYCS). School-aged kids are kids who
are between the ages of 5-18. Many times these kids have trouble adjusting because they do not
speak English or they may have just experienced some form of trauma. Many refugee kids may
not have had much schooling in their former country and struggle to adapt.

Running Head: HOW DOES BEING A REFUGEE AFFECT A CHILDS EDUCATION?

Cultural borders are boundaries between groups based on cultural differences (textbook).
These differences may make it difficult to understand someone of a different backgrounds. For
many refugee children it may be hard to understand American culture.
For some kids the biggest struggle is the language barrier. No matter how smart the child
is, if they cannot speak the language they will struggle. Even if they can speak the language, if
they speak with an accent they may still have trouble adjusting. An accent is how a person
pronounces words. If a student pronounces words differently than the other kids due to an accent
they may have trouble adjusting.
Some states have tried forming programs to help refugees adjust especially to help them
learn the language. After the Vietnam War many Hmong refugees arrived in America (academic
journal TLC). At first they settled in refugee camps, but after a while the camps shut down and
the refugees resettled. The Saint Paul Public Schools (SPPS) district was expected to receive
1,000 school-aged kids so they formed Transitional Language Centers (TLCs) to help the kids
deal with the language barrier (academic journal TLC).The TLCs were originally supposed to
only exist for a short while and were supposed to have intensive programs that taught their
lessons in English and in Hmong to meet the needs of the Wat Tham Krabok refugees. All the
people who worked at the center received training in ELL strategies and Hmong culture
(academic journal). The workers knowing about Hmong culture helped them be better able to
teach the children.
Acculturation is when a new group, such as the Wat Tham Krabok refugees, adopts
cultural practices of the dominant group (textbook). For the Wat Tham Krabok refugees they
may have picked up cultural practices while at school. Then the kids could bring that home and
share with the parent.

Running Head: HOW DOES BEING A REFUGEE AFFECT A CHILDS EDUCATION?

The centers opened up for the 2004-2005 academic year. Saint Paul Public Schools
opened TLCs in four different Elementary schools and each TLC had five classrooms and
capacity for 125 students (academic journal TLC). The TLCs helped students transition better.
The kids were with kids who spoke the same language as them and who had the same culture.
The teacher had learned about Hmong culture which also helped them connect better with their
students. If a teacher takes the time to learn about their student and learn about their background
and how schooling is done in their home country they can then make the transition to American
schools easier. Programs like TLCs in which there is dual instruction end up being very
beneficial for refugee children.
However, language is not the only major obstacle refugee children must overcome. Many
refugees have experienced some form of trauma and that may be why they had to leave their
former country. Refugee camps do not always have the best living conditions. That may also
affect refugees especially the children. Refugee children whose home country was involved in a
war often time reported symptoms of PTSD, depression, grief and anxiety (academic journal).
PTSD is post-traumatic stress disorder. For some of these kids moving to a new country may
make their symptoms worse. In some cases moving to a new country and having to deal with a
new culture has caused acculturation stress (academic journal). In these cases having to learn a
new culture and learning how to adjust in a new environment has caused major stress for the
child.
There are many other factors besides being in a country where a war is occurring that can
affect a childs mental health. Some examples of these are poor parental mental health, language
problems, stress of moving, racial discrimination and trouble with jobs or housing (academic
journal). Most of these affect a parent more than a child, however something that affects the

Running Head: HOW DOES BEING A REFUGEE AFFECT A CHILDS EDUCATION?

parent also affects the child. If a parent is having trouble adjusting then the child will have
trouble adjusting as well. If they have trouble adjusting then they are more likely to perform
poorly in school.
Some people think all teachers need to be able to teach ELLs. ELLs are English
language learners. The Supreme Court passed a law that said all kids in the United States have
the right to a free public education. It does not matter if they are in the country legally or not,
they are allowed to attend school. For most refugees English will not be their first language.
From 1979 to 2004 the proportion of students in the US between the ages of 5-17 who spoke a
different language at home besides English increased from 9% to 19% or 9.9 million total (book
pg 298). This number will only increase as time progresses. Over the past 15 years scholars have
worked together to create a framework to help prepare linguistically responsive teachers. The
framework includes: sociolinguistics consciousness, value for linguistic diversity, inclination to
advocate for ELL students, learning about ELL students language backgrounds, experiences and
proficiencies, identifying the language demands of classroom discourse and tasks, knowing and
applying key principles of second language learning and scaffolding instruction to promote ELL
students learning (book pg 302). In less words the framework states that teachers need to learn
about their students background, advocate for their students, value differences and help them
learn English by figuring about what they should learn. Most of this framework is not difficult to
accomplish. The teacher just needs to care about the student and that will make a huge difference
in the childs academic performance.
AS a result of my research I have found that refugee children can be successful in school.
However, it depends on their teacher and the learning environment. Their teacher needs to
understand that they may have gone through some form of trauma and help them cope. A teacher

Running Head: HOW DOES BEING A REFUGEE AFFECT A CHILDS EDUCATION?

who teaches refugee children also needs to be able to help them adjust to life in the United
States. If a teacher cannot adjust to the new culture they will have difficulties learning and
excelling in school.
This information will make a difference for me as a teacher. If I have a student who is a
refugee my job is not only to educate them on school stuff. In most cases refugees are not fluent
in English. As their teacher I need to help them become more comfortable speaking English. The
sooner they start learning English the easier it will be to learn. Additionally if a child learns
English then can teach their parents English. By helping my student learn I am also helping their
parents learn which may help them get a job and help them adjust better.
Multicultural education is an educational concept that incorporates different cultural
groups with an emphasis on the interaction of race, ethnicity, class and gender (textbook). In my
future classroom not all of my students with be a part of the dominant group. Some of my
students will be of different ethnicities and may speak one language at home and English at
school. Part of being a good multicultural teacher is understanding that all the kids are going to
be different. A good teacher needs to celebrate their differences and make kids feel relaxed. If the
children all feel relaxed and comfortable in the classroom they will perform better academically.