Seeking refuge in literacy from a scorpion bite

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine a refugee boy's experiences with literacy in and out of school in the US. Within these contexts, I explore this youth's literacy development in light of his identity as a poor Yezidi Kurdish refugee from Iraq. Central to the article are two main themes. The fi rst, life as a scorpion sting, explicates the young man's life as a refugee, and the diffi culties he faces in and out of school. The second theme, reading for mayonnaise, alerts us to the limitations of literacy programs in which unconnected texts and distanced narratives are prominent, and individuals' real lives are, for the most part, ignored and marginalized even with the presence of exceptional teachers.

Spiritual and religious meaning making in language and literacy studies: global perspectives on teaching, learning, curriculum and policy

“…While at school, the young women were part of an ethnic enclave of other Yemeni American Muslims, and they became part of a post-9/11 US society wherein Islamophobia grew. Relatedly, and in connection to young people's literate trajectories within their religious identities, Sarroub (2007) examined in depth a Yezidi young man's (Hayder) home and school life. Hayder had arrived in the USA as a refugee with the second wave of Iraqi refugees following the Second Gulf War.…”

“…Within language and literacy scholarship, however, very little is known about literacy teachers’ knowledge about religions beyond their own, much less about potential impacts of this knowledge on teaching work. Sarroub (2007) made an ethnographic contribution to this latter question in her interpretation of teachers’ misunderstanding of Hayder, a Yezidi Kurd. Sarroub (2007) showed how Hayder’s teachers’ limited knowledge of the diverse ethnic and religious populations in Iraq who were displaced or fled because of discrimination and ethnic cleansing had an impact on their judgments of him and his participation in class.…”

Islamophobia in US education

“…In line with Allman's call for research on the topic, we agree that this is a critical time for US public schools because multiple populations of students face discrimination, marginalization, and the very real fear of being targeted as potential threats to society. Several years ago in the United States and in the aftermath of 9/11, an ELL high school boy from Mexico who had been in the United States for 5 years and who was enrolled in ELL class Loukia was observing (Sarroub 2007), noted that people thought he was an Arab Muslim and gave him a hard time about it, calling him "sand nigga" and "towel head," so he proceeded to get a tattoo on his left arm that said in block letters, "LATINO" and would hold up his arm whenever he heard these labels, which he found insulting. At the time, the young man was friends and interacted daily at school with Iraqi, Kurd, and Syrian refugees from the Second Gulf War, who themselves sometimes experienced the name-calling as well as the furtive looks from their peers and people in their Midwestern city.…”

What Is “New” in the Study of Religion and Language Teaching: An Essay From a Middle Ground Point of View

“…A bit later in my career, my own work (Sarroub, , , ) focused on how young people and families, mostly Yemenis and Yemeni Americans, used texts, language, and multiple literacies in and out of school to successfully navigate cultural, religious, gender, and secular expectations. This work was followed by exploring how schools and teachers negotiated the language practices of young people whose religions they did not know or understand such as those of Yezidis and Kurds from Iraq (Sarroub, , , , ). My thinking was further influenced by P. David Pearson, Jim Gee, Carole Brandt, Susan Florio‐Ruane, Luis Moll, Mary Pipher, James Collins, and Robert Robertson as I considered how school language and literacies intersected with young people and their families’ knowledge of and about the world in connection to their religious practices, texts, and how print and textual practices influenced how they learned locally and globally.…”