Behind Successful Refugee Parental Engagement: The Barriers and Challenges

Abstract

This two-year study examined the barriers and challenges encountered by refugee parents as they negotiate their children’s successful transition into a new school system. Theresearchers sought to determine what can be learned from parent and educator experiencesof these obstacles in order to optimize parent–teacher collaboration for refugee families.Contextualized within a LEAD (Literacy, English and Academic Development) programin an urban centre in Western Canada, the study triangulated data from focus groups comprisingSyrian and Iraqi Arabic-speaking families, teachers, and settlement workers. Thedata were qualitatively analyzed by incorporating Epstein’s six types of parental involvement,a culturally responsive model accounting for parental engagement within the contextof home-school-community collaboration (Epstein & Sheldon, 2006). From this model,the researchers make recommendations that include province-wide initiatives to supportleadership and teacher training, mandated programming to support refugee and immigrantyouth, and the establishment and expansion of board and in-school settlement best practicesprovince-wide