Conflicting demands of settlement and tertiary education in Australia for refugee background students? a critical metaphor analysis

Refugee education remain a priority area especially for those who arrive in a resettlement country still within the age range 18-25. Their voices provide for agency and the chance to be heard resulting in an appropriate support provided by the higher learning institution. The metaphor (Metaphor is recognised as an important way of thinking-constructing analogies and making connections between ideas-and an important way of using language-to explain abstract ideas or to find indirect but powerful ways of conveying feelings. By investigating people's use of metaphors, we can better understand their emotions, attitudes and conceptualisations, as individuals and as participants in social life (Cameron et al., International Journal of English Studies 12:195-200, 2010).) of meandering in a rather complex education system is central to this chapter and in a less explicit way provides an understanding for underachievement in school bringing to the surface equity issues for this cohort of students. For adults from refugee backgrounds who are newly arrived in a settlement country like Australia, there are many challenges to be overcome in the process of establishing new lives. Education is widely thought to contribute to successful settlement; however, it can be difficult for refugees to access and participate in the unfamiliar education systems of their new country, particularly if there are significant cultural and linguistic differences between the new arrival and the host country. Drawing on the findings of two separate studies that explored students' experiences of transitioning into, through and out of their further education in Australia, two case studies are offered to describe the impact of key events and changing circumstances in the participants' educational journeys. These individual narratives illuminate the uneven and differentiated impact of contemporary perceptions, stereotypes, and misconceptions about refugees as a burden on the settlement society. Using metaphor analysis to make sense of the participants' experience, we present three dominant ways of making meaning that emerged from the data: metaphors relating to perceptions of movement and pace ('meandering around' and 'helter-skeltering'), metaphors of strategy ('hedging bets'), and metaphors of acceptance ('making do'). These findings illuminate how the competing demands of settlement and education both open and constrain opportunities to participate and succeed in educational pursuits for adult students from refugee backgrounds.