Divergent paths, same destiny: A Bourdieusian perspective on refugee families' negotiation of urban school transition in the US. (7th October 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Li, Guofang
• Is Part Of: European journal of education. Volume 53:Number 4(2018)
• Page Start: 469
• Page End: 480
• Publication Date: 2018-10-07
• Subjects: Education, Higher -- Europe -- Periodicals; Education -- Research -- Europe -- Periodicals; 370.94
• DOI: 10.1111/ejed.12300
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0141-8211

Abstract

Abstract: This article documents five refugee families and their children's efforts to reestablish themselves in an urban school context in the US. A thematic analysis of the families' negotiation with the urban school system, the language programmes and their home engagement practices suggests that they were subjected to symbolic violence brought upon by the precarious context of reception, the monolingual ideologies and the hegemonic practices of the urban schools and resettlement policies and agencies. Such symbolic violence systematically fractured their language learning, educational success, and upward social mobility. Therefore, despite their divergent paths of immigration and resettlement, the children shared similar stories of system blockage, inertia, and fragmentation. These shared trajectories suggest the need for multi‐layered changes to remove blockages in the education and immigration system, transform the dispositions and practices of the key players, including policy makers, school administrators and teachers, and raise critical consciousness among the refugees.