A Comparison of Goal Setting and Reputational Orientations of African Adolescents From Refugee Backgrounds in Intensive English Centers and Mainstream Secondary School Classrooms

Abstract

This version is available at https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/54832/ Strathprints is designed to allow users to access the research output of the University of Strathclyde. Unless otherwise explicitly stated on the manuscript, Copyright © and Moral Rights for the papers on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. Please check the manuscript for details of any other licences that may have been applied. You may not engage in further distribution of the material for any profitmaking activities or any commercial gain. You may freely distribute both the url (https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/) and the content of this paper for research or private study, educational, or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge.Any correspondence concerning this service should be sent to the Strathprints administrator: strathprints@strath.ac.ukThe Strathprints institutional repository (https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk) is a digital archive of University of Strathclyde research outputs. It has been developed to disseminate open access research outputs, expose data about those outputs, and enable the management and persistent access to Strathclyde's intellectual output. AFRICAN ADOLESCENTS FROM REFUGEE BACKGROUNDS AbstractWe compared the goals, reputations and behaviours of three groups: African adolescents from refugee backgrounds in Australian Intensive English Centres (IEC), African adolescents who have transitioned from an IEC into mainstream schooling, and Australian mainstream adolescents. We posit that the need for African adolescents from refugee backgrounds to identify with the dominant social group within the IEC and mainstream settings is an important factor in the goals they set, the reputations they choose, and the manner in which they pursue them. To this end, we conducted a cross sectional comparison through ReputationEnhancing Goals Theory, an approach congruent with sociocultural adaptation.Using multivariate techniques we found African adolescents in the IEC context set academic goals associated with a conforming reputation, whereas African adolescents in mainstream schooling set social goals associated with a non-conforming reputation.Australian mainstream students had an equal split between academic and social goals and conforming/non-conforming reputations. Each of the three groups indulged in behaviours congruent with the goals they set and reputation sought. A series of separate multiplemediation models revealed significant indirect effects on a number of variables via School Connectedness, Control over most important goal, and to a lesser extent Goals.It appears African adolescents in mainstream schooling are attempting to adapt to another dominant culture (i.e., mainstream peers) on transitioning from the IEC, but they face confusion about who they are and who they wish to be. The implications for adolescents from African refuge backgrounds is, that while placing them in IECs for up to two years to help them settle into the education system is laudable, ...

Stigma, stereotypes and support: the 3S in navigating complex journeys from Intensive English Centres to higher education for students from refugee backgrounds in Australia

“…There is limited literature on the experiences of students transitioning from IECs through the Australian education system. Studies situated at IECs have focussed on interventions to address problematic behaviour in traumatised youth (Mom et al 2019); and goal setting approaches among African refugee students transitioning from IECs to mainstream high school (Gunasekera et al 2016). The authors recommend increasing the emotional support and sense of cultural belonging among SfRBs both during their time in the IEC and as they transition to mainstream high school education.…”

The Adapted Self-Report Delinquency Scale for Adolescents: Validity and Reliability Among Portuguese Youths

“…The ASRDS has a Grade Four (approximately 9-10 years of age) reading level and incorporates adolescent age appropriate language. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses have consistently revealed seven internally consistent subscales, and recent separate administrations of the ASRDS with Australian adolescents have produced satisfactory reliability coefficients across these (subscales): Abuse of Property (α = .87-.91), Hard Drug-Related Offenses (α = .74-.89), Physical Aggression (α = .85-.88), Stealing Offenses (α = .82-.90), School Misdemeanors (α = .86-.88), Soft Drug (α = .84-.88), and Vehicle-Related Offenses (α = .88-.94; see Carroll, Houghton, Durkin, & Hattie, 2009, for a comprehensive review; Carroll et al, 2006;Gunasekera, Houghton, Glasgow, & Boyle, 2014;Gunasekera, Houghton, Glasgow, Carroll, & Hunter, 2016;Houghton, Carroll, Tan, & Hopkins, 2008;Houghton, Tan, Khan, & Carroll, 2013). These data provide confidence in using the ASRDS as a contemporary measure of self-reported delinquency.…”