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Being Involved in Uninvolved Contexts: Refugee Parent Involvement in Children’S Education by Fadi Ennab

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Being Involved in Uninvolved Contexts: Refugee Parent Involvement in Children’S Education by Fadi Ennab CANADIANCCPA CENTRE FOR POLICY ALTERNATIVES MANITOBA Being Involved in Uninvolved Contexts: Refugee Parent Involvement in Children’s Education By Fadi Ennab MARCH 2017 Being Involved in Uninvolved Contexts: Acknowledgements Refugee Parent Involvement in Children’s Education The author would like to express his gratitude to Dr. Shauna MacKinnon for involving him in this project isbn 978-1-77125-335-2 and providing her support throughout the research process. The author is also thankful for the families March 2017 and school staff that participated in this research project and shared their experiences. Thanks to the members of the Newcomer Coalition Education who assisted in recruitment and in providing spaces, along with few interpreters, to interview parents. All the opinions and views expressed within are the sole responsibility of the author. Unit 205 – 765 Main St., Winnipeg, MB R2W 3N5 I am pleased to acknowledge the generous financial tel 204-927-3200 fax 204-927-3201 support of the Social Sciences and Humanities email [email protected] Research Council of Canada through the Manitoba Research Alliance grant: Partnering for Change – Community-based solutions for Aboriginal and inner-city poverty. About the Author Fadi Ennab is a researcher, lecturer, and trainer on issues related to migrants. He has an MA in Sociology from the University of Manitoba. Introduction The involvement of parents from refugee back- 2011; Georgis et al. 2014). With limited paren- grounds in their children’s education is crucial tal involvement and supports, it is harder for for academic success and community devel- parents to ensure the success of their children, opment, including civic participation and em- academically and socially. powerment. When parent involvement is sup- Increasing numbers of newcomers live in ported by school communities and inspired by Canada, and the province of Manitoba is leading the knowledge and experiences of newcomer this trend. Canada receives 250,000 newcomers communities, “it can mobilize transformative per year. Fewer than 20,000 are refugees (about local resources and become powerful tools of 8 percent of all newcomers). In spite of some ebb school reform and family and community en- and flow, the number of refugees living in Mani- gagement” (Jasis and Ordoñez-Jasis 2012: 86). toba has increased over the years. Between 2000 Yet, as research shows, schools often struggle and 2010, Manitoba accepted 11,215 refugees at a in promoting the involvement of newcomer rate of about 1,100 a year, or roughly 10 percent parents, especially in settings where there are of all immigrants, with most settling in Winni- language, cultural, and/or socioeconomic chal- peg. Most of the refugees are from Africa, Asia, lenges separating the school system and its staff and the Middle East (Adekunle et al. 2015). Ac- from the communities and families they serve cording to Manitoba Labour and Immigration (OECD 2015; Glogowski and Ferreira 2015). This (2015: 3), in 2014 Manitoba “received the highest is not surprising, especially in Manitoba, given number of refugees in its history and the high- the “overwhelming pressure on existing infra- est number of refugees per capita in Canada”. structure and services” (MacKinnon et al. 2006: This trend was maintained in 2016 with thee 4; Thomas 2015). While parents from refugee federal government’s Syrian refugee program. backgrounds are not a homogenous group, they In the past five years, Manitoba public schools face unique, multiple, and intersecting challenges have welcomed “over 23,000 new students from that can negatively impact their involvement in Kindergarten to Grade 12 who are learning Eng- their children’s education to the point of poten- lish as an additional language [EAL]” (Newcomer tially being uninvolved (Weine 2008; McBrien Education Coalition of Manitoba 2015: 9). Given Being involved in Uninvolved Contexts: RefUgee PaRent involvement in ChildRen’s education 1 the increasing number of newcomers refugees it can have more support and social capital. Parent is important to ensure that are involved in their involvement can “build self-esteem, raise skills, children’s education. open pathways and in some cases lead directly Families from refugee backgrounds are of- to employment for parents” (Muller 2009: 22). ten marginalized by an educational system that Teachers also benefit by having parents involved does not recognize their unique social needs because they can work together with families, and does not provide culturally sensitive sup- which tends to reduce misunderstandings on ports due to limited funding and over reliance shared expectations. Parent involvement is also on Eurocentric approaches. Research on refu- seen as part of a broader moral commitment to gee families in Manitoba shows that students social justice and educational equity for disen- can feel isolated and excluded in their schools franchised populations by enhancing relation- as a result of perceptions of racism from teach- ships and resource sharing among community ers and students. Refugee students face higher members (López 2001; Auerbach 2007). Given drop-out rates and are being disproportionately the rate of return on educational spending, it streamlined into lower level educations or jobs is important to support parent involvement be- (Kanu 2008; Dykshoorn 2009). There are also cause there is a strong public-policy argument common misunderstandings between parents for government investment in parent involve- and school staff and ineffective educational -in ment (Muller 2009). Parent involvement benefits volvement practices that continue to be relied on, all students across cultures, backgrounds, and such as focusing on school involvement while ig- socio-economic statuses. Not supporting parent noring home involvement (Kanu 2008). This gap involvement for groups at risk of marginalization, is exacerbated by the lack of research on refu- such as refugee families, can undermine other gees, including parent involvement in children’s supports provided to them (People for Education education. In an attempt to address the gap, this 2009). For these reasons, it is important to pro- community-based qualitative research focuses on mote and maintain involvement in education, the involvement experiences of refugee parents especially among refugee families. and the challenges they face in being involved In spite of the increasing amount of research in their children’s education. By understanding documenting the improved outcomes for refugee the unique needs of refugee parents and the con- students when their parents are involved in their texts in which they live, this research study seeks education, it is difficult to find research specifi- to provide ways to meaningfully and effectively cally focused on the involvement of refugee par- promote parent involvement. ents in Manitoba. Existing research is focused on the experiences of African refugees, primar- ily from Somalia, in Alberta (Shimoni et al 2003; Why Focus on Refugee Parental Este and Tachble 2009; Georgis et al. 2014) and Involvement in Children’s Education? on immigrants in Ontario (Ippolito and Schecter There is a large body of academic research dem- 2010; Wong 2015; Glogowski and Ferreira 2015; onstrating a strong relationship between parent Khanlou et al. 2015) and Montreal (Beauregard involvement in children’s education, student ac- et al. 2014). Research by Kanu (2008) and Stew- ademic success, and community empowerment. art (2012) briefly mention parent involvement Having refugee parents involved in their children’s as part of their discussion on refugee students. education acts as a protective factor against cu- Kanu’s (2008: 928) research on African refugee mulative risks and can help ensure their success students in Manitoba schools found that “cul- (Weine 2008). By having involved parents students tural differences in expectations of parental in- 2 canadian centre for policy alternatives — MANITOBa volvement in their children’s schooling” as one improve student success in Canada, the USA, of the main challenges parents often cited as and Australia. As noted by McBrien (2011) all negatively affecting their student’s academic three countries’ departments of education have success, in addition to economic pressures, ac- web pages specifically designed to help parents culturation and adaptation challenges, and lim- understand and become involved with their chil- ited English language proficiency. Stewart (2012) dren’s formal education. Suggestions often in- also noted that school leaders should collaborate clude: valuing education, attending school meet- with parents and community groups by provid- ings, creating home environments conducive to ing welcoming information, providing transla- learning, and volunteering at school. tion, and encouraging parents to participate in In Manitoba, the provincial government, the schools by addressing barriers, such as language, Winnipeg School Division (WSD), and the Man- work schedules, and child care, which often limit itoba Association of Parent Councils (MAPC), their involvement. recognize the importance of parent involve- Qualitative research exploring parental ment. In 2012, the Manitoba provincial govern- involvement in children’s education in Canada ment introduced legislation to strengthen pa- (Shimoni et al. 2003: 565; see Kanu 2008; Este rental involvement in the education system and and Tachble 2009), the United States (see Hos recognized MAPC as the official representative 2016; Tadesse
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