Becoming Australian: a review of southern Sudanese students’ educational experiences

Abstract

This writing presents a retrospective view of the literature around meeting students' learning needs in Australian schools. It has particular reference to one particular group of students with refugee experience who have been in Australian schools for over a dozen years; students with a background of oracy from Southern Sudan. It highlights the complexities and challenges of the Australian education system in their attempts to authentically engage with the psychological and literacy needs of these students. The development of psychological health and literacy competencies are considered to be two of the most critical and complex responsibilities undertaken by education, and, in the case of these students two of the most significant when considered in relation to successful settlement, acculturation and assimilation. In presenting this literature, the bigger picture of how schools can fail, not only these particular students, but for any number of students from diverse backgrounds, becomes startlingly obvious, as do the ways in which in which the current political agenda inherent in the public education system in Australia privileges students of specific class and culture. Finally, recommendations are made regarding the development of policy and the concentration on pedagogical practices which acknowledge and respect the strengths and capabilities of this group of students with refugee experiences and of all the diverse student cohorts who are currently engaging with Australian schooling. 2 Refugees leave their home country as result of fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership of a particular social group (see http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49c3646c125.html) 3 Individuals who have fled their countries usually as a result of fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership of a particular social group and seek asylum elsewhere (see

Assessing educational difficulties of students from refugee backgrounds: a case study approach

“…English language skills were underdeveloped in all cases studied, despite remediation. Consistent with previous research, as English was the medium of communication in the schools, limited English proficiency hindered the students' understanding and learning of the content covered in the school setting (Sellars & Murphy, 2018). It is likely that their language was not developing due to multiple reasons.…”

School adjustment of ethnic minority youth: a qualitative and quantitative research synthesis of family-related risk and resource factors

“…In relation to the subject field of family relationships family cohesion (e.g. Latino community's value of familismo), family functioning and two-parent-family-structure were identified as protective factors (Arora & Wheeler, 2018;Cook et al, 2015;Paat, 2015;Peguero et al, 2017;Sellars & Murphy, 2018;Sibley & Brabeck, 2017). Some studies pointed out that parental lack of essential skills to successfully manage interaction and communication in a new cultural context can constitute a barrier to parents' involvement in school (Szpara & Ahmad, 2007).…”

“…In contrast, many articles identified changes in family structure (e.g. separation, reunification, divorce) as negatively affecting immigrant children's school related adaption (Mason, 2016;Sellars & Murphy, 2018). In the same vein, negative childparent relationships and an adverse family climate as well as parental violence (Titzmann et al, 2014) in immigrant families were associated with maladjustment of children (Lin et al, 2011;Titzmann et al, 2014).…”

Resettling into a new life: Exploring aspects of acculturation that could enhance the mental health of young refugees resettled under the humanitarian programme

“…Within the last decade, there has been increased interest in investigating factors that could affect the mental health of young refugees' post-resettlement (Lau et al 2018;Sellars & Murphy 2018). A systematic review examining risk and protective factors affecting the health of refugee children resettled around the world identified acculturative stress as a main risk factor impacting their socio-emotional development (D'Abreu et al 2019).…”