Repositioning refugee students from the margins to the centre of teachers' work

Margaret H. (Margaret Helen) Vickers; Florence E. McCarthy

Repositioning refugee students from the margins to the centre of teachers' work

Margaret H. (Margaret Helen) Vickers, Florence E. McCarthy

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

Abstract

As several notable international scholars have argued, the standardised practices of schools are problematic for many students, since they reinforce the constructed identity of a predominantly white, middle-class, English-speaking society, reflecting the predominantly mono-cultural nature of the teaching workforce. Students located at the ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã‹Å“marginsÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ of this institutional identity are constructed as a minority. These students are mostly from families that are socially or economically disadvantaged, and often culturally and/or linguistically diverse. Refugee students occupy an especially ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã‹Å“marginalÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ position on these criteria. They represent a distraction from what neo-liberal discourses have established as ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã‹Å“centralÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ goals for schools, namely, a focus on outcomes rather than inputs, the use of standardised testing, and an auditing of student outcomes that places schools in competition with each other. Yet in the Western suburbs of Sydney, a region housing almost 10 per cent of AustraliaÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s total population, where one third of the population is overseas-born, where half the worldÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s languages are spoken, and where approximately 80 per cent of all humanitarian refugees to NSW are settled, these ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã‹Å“marginalÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ students are more often at the ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã‹Å“centreÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢. As a result of an increasing degree of school segregation over the past two decades, in some Western-Sydney schools, these so-called ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã‹Å“minorityÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ students constitute a majority, and educating them is central to their teachersÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ work. This paper reports on an action-research program based in several of these schools. It provides an account of a refugee support partnership that connects a University-based teacher-education program, local public schools, and a not-for-profit agency whose mission is to support literacy development. Research data from this program indicate that the provision of one-on-one tutoring by student teachers results in substantial gains in refugee-studentsÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ cultural understandings and academic achievements. The program also transforms the student teachersÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ understandings of what it means to be a ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã‹Å“good teacherÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢.

Original language	English
Number of pages	12
Journal	International Journal of Diversity in Organisations\, Communities & Nations
Publication status	Published - 2010

Open Access - Access Right Statement

Ã‚Â© 2010 Common Ground, Margaret H. Vickers, Florence E. McCarthy. All rights reserved. Apart from fair use for the purposes of study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act (Australia), no part of this work may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher. For permissions and other inquiries, please contact: [email protected].

Keywords

Western Sydney (N.S.W.)
action research
multicultural education
refugees
teaching

Cite this

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keywords = "Western Sydney (N.S.W.), action research, multicultural education, refugees, teaching",

author = "Vickers, {Margaret H. (Margaret Helen)} and McCarthy, {Florence E.}",

year = "2010",

language = "English",

journal = "International Journal of Diversity in Organisations\, Communities & Nations",

issn = "1447-9532",

publisher = "Common Ground Publishing",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Repositioning refugee students from the margins to the centre of teachers' work

AU - Vickers, Margaret H. (Margaret Helen)

AU - McCarthy, Florence E.

PY - 2010

Y1 - 2010

N2 - As several notable international scholars have argued, the standardised practices of schools are problematic for many students, since they reinforce the constructed identity of a predominantly white, middle-class, English-speaking society, reflecting the predominantly mono-cultural nature of the teaching workforce. Students located at the ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã‹Å“marginsÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ of this institutional identity are constructed as a minority. These students are mostly from families that are socially or economically disadvantaged, and often culturally and/or linguistically diverse. Refugee students occupy an especially ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã‹Å“marginalÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ position on these criteria. They represent a distraction from what neo-liberal discourses have established as ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã‹Å“centralÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ goals for schools, namely, a focus on outcomes rather than inputs, the use of standardised testing, and an auditing of student outcomes that places schools in competition with each other. Yet in the Western suburbs of Sydney, a region housing almost 10 per cent of AustraliaÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s total population, where one third of the population is overseas-born, where half the worldÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s languages are spoken, and where approximately 80 per cent of all humanitarian refugees to NSW are settled, these ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã‹Å“marginalÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ students are more often at the ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã‹Å“centreÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢. As a result of an increasing degree of school segregation over the past two decades, in some Western-Sydney schools, these so-called ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã‹Å“minorityÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ students constitute a majority, and educating them is central to their teachersÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ work. This paper reports on an action-research program based in several of these schools. It provides an account of a refugee support partnership that connects a University-based teacher-education program, local public schools, and a not-for-profit agency whose mission is to support literacy development. Research data from this program indicate that the provision of one-on-one tutoring by student teachers results in substantial gains in refugee-studentsÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ cultural understandings and academic achievements. The program also transforms the student teachersÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ understandings of what it means to be a ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã‹Å“good teacherÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢.

AB - As several notable international scholars have argued, the standardised practices of schools are problematic for many students, since they reinforce the constructed identity of a predominantly white, middle-class, English-speaking society, reflecting the predominantly mono-cultural nature of the teaching workforce. Students located at the ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã‹Å“marginsÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ of this institutional identity are constructed as a minority. These students are mostly from families that are socially or economically disadvantaged, and often culturally and/or linguistically diverse. Refugee students occupy an especially ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã‹Å“marginalÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ position on these criteria. They represent a distraction from what neo-liberal discourses have established as ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã‹Å“centralÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ goals for schools, namely, a focus on outcomes rather than inputs, the use of standardised testing, and an auditing of student outcomes that places schools in competition with each other. Yet in the Western suburbs of Sydney, a region housing almost 10 per cent of AustraliaÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s total population, where one third of the population is overseas-born, where half the worldÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s languages are spoken, and where approximately 80 per cent of all humanitarian refugees to NSW are settled, these ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã‹Å“marginalÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ students are more often at the ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã‹Å“centreÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢. As a result of an increasing degree of school segregation over the past two decades, in some Western-Sydney schools, these so-called ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã‹Å“minorityÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ students constitute a majority, and educating them is central to their teachersÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ work. This paper reports on an action-research program based in several of these schools. It provides an account of a refugee support partnership that connects a University-based teacher-education program, local public schools, and a not-for-profit agency whose mission is to support literacy development. Research data from this program indicate that the provision of one-on-one tutoring by student teachers results in substantial gains in refugee-studentsÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ cultural understandings and academic achievements. The program also transforms the student teachersÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ understandings of what it means to be a ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã‹Å“good teacherÃƒÂ¢Ã¢"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢.

KW - Western Sydney (N.S.W.)

KW - action research

KW - multicultural education

KW - refugees

KW - teaching

UR - http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/503735

M3 - Article

SN - 1447-9532

JO - International Journal of Diversity in Organisations\, Communities & Nations

JF - International Journal of Diversity in Organisations\, Communities & Nations

ER -

Repositioning refugee students from the margins to the centre of teachers' work

Abstract

Open Access - Access Right Statement

Keywords

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