DePaul University Via Sapientiae College of Education Theses and Dissertations College of Education Winter 3-2020 Chasing the American Dream: Refugee students and care in U.S. high schools Yacoub Aljaffery DePaul University Follow this and additional works at: https://via.library.depaul.edu/soe_etd Part of the Education Commons Recommended Citation Aljaffery, Yacoub, "Chasing the American Dream: Refugee students and care in U.S. high schools" (2020). College of Education Theses and Dissertations. 171. https://via.library.depaul.edu/soe_etd/171 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the College of Education at Via Sapientiae. It has been accepted for inclusion in College of Education Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Via Sapientiae. For more information, please contact [email protected]. DePaul University College of Education CHASING THE AMERICAN DREAM: REFUGEE STUDENTS AND CARE IN U.S. HIGH SCHOOLS A Dissertation in Education With a Concentration in Curriculum Studies by Yacoub Aljaffery © 2020 Yacoub Aljaffery Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy March 2020 iv Abstract The purpose of this narrative inquiry study was to understand the essence of the experience of ESL refugee students who completed high school in United States public schools and who are currently in two-year or four-year colleges. All participants in this study came to the United States from refugee camps or countries neighboring their home countries due to war and violence in their home countries. A narrative inquiry approach was used, with semi-structure interviews to understand the refugees’ school lived experiences. Ten participants were interviewed, aged between 18 and 26. Seven participants were interviewed twice, and the other three were interviewed only once due to their limited availability. The findings show that refugee students had both negative and positive experiences in United States public schools. However, their positive experience seemed to overshadow their negative experience. The refugee students had more positive relationships with their ESL teachers compared with their mainstream teachers, and they were engaged in their ESL classes better than to other classes. Such positivity seems to be because these ESL teachers were supportive, shared similar background with their students, and were better trained to teach refugee students. This study shows that these refugee students were enthusiastic, dreamers, and were following the path of success. Such positive attitude these students have seemed to be because of students’ motivation, teachers’ support, and the teaching practices performed by their teachers. As the United States continues to welcome refugees from around the world, this study will help teachers to improve their understanding of refugee students, and it will shape recommendations for further scholarly research. v TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................................................. VIII DEDICATION AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................ IX CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................. 1 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM ................................................................................................................................................ 3 STATEMENT OF PURPOSE ................................................................................................................................................ 4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS .................................................................................................................................................... 4 CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ......................................................................................................................... 6 REFUGEE MIGRATION STAGES .......................................................................................................................................... 7 The Pre-Migration Stage ....................................................................................................................................... 8 The Migration Stage ............................................................................................................................................. 8 The Post-Migration Stage ..................................................................................................................................... 9 CULTURE, CHANGE AND ADAPTATION .............................................................................................................................. 10 Culture ................................................................................................................................................................ 10 Cultural Change .................................................................................................................................................. 11 Acculturation and Adaptation ............................................................................................................................ 13 EMOTIONAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL ISSUES ......................................................................................................................... 14 Trauma and Resilience ........................................................................................................................................ 14 Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder .......................................................................................................................... 16 REFUGEE STUDENT SCHOOL EXPERIENCE .......................................................................................................................... 17 Bullying and Discrimination ................................................................................................................................ 17 Second Language Acquisition ............................................................................................................................. 19 Refugee Students’ Social Relations in Schools .................................................................................................... 20 Refugees’ Interrupted Education ........................................................................................................................ 22 REFUGEE PARENTS’ ENGAGEMENT IN THEIR CHILDREN’S EDUCATION ..................................................................................... 25 Culture and the School System ........................................................................................................................... 26 Parent-Teachers Communication ....................................................................................................................... 27 Trusting Teachers ............................................................................................................................................... 29 Refugee Parents and Resettlement Barriers ....................................................................................................... 30 CLASSROOM PRACTICES FOR REFUGEE STUDENTS ............................................................................................................... 31 WHAT MAKES A GOOD TEACHER FOR REFUGEE STUDENTS? ................................................................................................ 34 Support ............................................................................................................................................................... 34 Engaging and Interacting ................................................................................................................................... 37 Empathetic and Caring ....................................................................................................................................... 39 Community Builder ............................................................................................................................................. 41 Preparedness and Relatedness to Refugee Students .......................................................................................... 42 CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................................................. 44 CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY .............................................................................................................................. 47 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ........................................................................................................................................... 47 METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................................................................................... 50 PARTICIPANTS AND RECRUITMENT ................................................................................................................................... 52 DATA COLLECTION METHODS ......................................................................................................................................... 54 DATA ANALYSIS ..........................................................................................................................................................