Understanding the
misunderstandings:
Lessons learned from
researching former refugee
youths in Australia.
Presented by
Dr Jonnell Uptin
The University of Sydney
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Acknowledgement to Country.
I would like to acknowledge and pay respect to the traditional owners of the
land on which we meet; the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation.
It is upon their ancestral lands that the University
of Sydney is built.
As we share our own knowledge, teaching, learning and research practices
within this university may we also pay respect to the knowledge embedded
forever within the Aboriginal Custodianship of Country.
The University of Sydney
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Education and Refugee Students
– The current research on young refugee students entering the
Australian education system paints a bleak picture. It points to
a lack of engagement in and with schools and numerous
barriers to learning (Sidhu and Taylor 2007; Matthews 2008)
– Yet, at the same time, in the same research there is an
acknowledgement that refugee students value education highly
and have a strong desire to learn (Olliff 2007; Gifford,
Correa-Velez, and Sampson 2009; Refugee Council of
Australia 2009; Keddie 2011).
– Where is the disconnect????
The University of Sydney
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Cultural Competence
– The problem:
– In much of the research, the media
and political rhetoric
– the subject is ABOUT refugees – not
much room for refugees to talk.
– The first step to achieving a cultural
competence is a willingness to really
listen.
– Listening in western culture is often
seen as passive but other cultures see
listening as active and fundamental
to inclusion.
The University of Sydney
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The Research
•
How do former refugee youths living in Australia negotiate their
cultural identity?
• What pathways do young former refugees take to construct a
new sense of identity?
• Qualitative: Focus groups and semi structured interviews.
• 12 ( 8 females and 4 males, aged between 16 -21).
• Ethics was rigorous.
• My background.
The University of Sydney
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Participants
Karenii and Chin States of
Burma, and Burma.
Burundi, Southern Sudan,
Democratic Republic of
Congo, Sierra Leone, and
Togo
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Thailand, Malaysia
Kenya, Zambia,
Benin, South Africa and Ghana.
This factor makes identity
complex.
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I really miss Zambia. The people there, I loved it. I had so many friends there
‘cause I grew up there and I became part of the culture there.
When I came here (Australia) I had to identify myself as Burundian even though
I’ve never been to Burundi, never. It’s here in Australia that I have to call myself
Burundian but I grew up in Zambia. I speak the language which is Nyanja, I
speak it and I can’t speak Kirundi. Yeh, everything about me was Zambian,
everything.
There are still things that are similar like respecting your parents, that’s African.
But Zambians are like, really chilled out compared to Burundians, they are very
uptight; they are not fun at all. Zambians are soooo fun. Burundians are very
conservative and the Zambians are not. That’s hard for me.
When I talk to my parents the Zambian way they used to get offended and I’d
be like, I live in Zambia, this is me now. But here (in Australia) my parents say,
‘You are Burundian,’ but I can’t be Burundian I’m in Australia! (Peta)
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Recruiting Participants.
–
–
–
–
9 ‘Nos’.
The agony of the Interview.
‘So you just want me to talk about myself, I can do that.’
Learning from this: No matter how much I thought I knew
because I was an outsider I needed to keep inquiring and not
presume I had the answer.
– Participants needed to be in control.
– I was looking for their ‘truth’, their perceptions and
understandings of their own refugee experience.
– Accepting what they gave me and hearing the heart of the
matter. To be believed, they expressed, It was a gift.
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Interviews first.
– Jacqueline’s father. (Benin)
– Making crucial decisions not based upon my own cultural
background.
– Sing Me’s Family. (Karenni)
– Taking notes and not recording – replicating Karenii style of
communication.
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As I was leaving Sing Me’s house she asked me if I was teaching the new Burmese kids that had
just arrived at the Intensive English Centre. I said I was and that they were very shy. She said, yes
most Burmese are very shy. I asked her about one girl, had she come with her family to
Australia? She said that she had come with her mother and sister. I asked if she had a dad. (I
was aware that some fathers chose to stay behind and help the freedom movement). Sing Me
told me that her father had died in the camp.
She said, ‘He just felt sick one day and didn’t wake up’. I did not speak, contemplating on how
sad that was. I said, ‘I’m sorry’.
She answered, ‘Please don’t be sad. She is not sad. It must be accepted. That is why we don’t
like telling Australian people about people who die. They get sad. Why do you get sad? It is a
part of our life to die’.
I replied, ‘Yes you are right’.
She asked me again, ‘Why do Australian people get sad when they talk about dying?’
I answered, ‘that’s a very good question Sing Me. I think we are scared to die.’
She said, ‘Karenni people and Burma people stay happy, it’s okay to die, it is life too’.
I thanked her and drove off feeling more like a child who had learnt something very important
about life.
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Observations.
– Many of the participants reported the interview was a
cathartic experience.
‘I have only now realised that all the horrible, horrible things that happened is over. Cause
you don’t tell people a story when you are still in it, do you? You tell it when it’s over. Now
I know it’s over’.
– Others reported that they got it all ‘out of their head for the
first time’.
– Many found it a ‘growing up’ experience saying, my father
thinks this but I see it another way.
– All asked for validation of their feelings.
– After the very sad stories told each would tell a joke and
bought themselves back to a healthy state of mind.
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The Storytelling
– Some of the stories illistrated the young people’s feelings, for
example, when I asked Matinda about studying in High school
she answered,
English, ahhh, it flies like a bird away, they speak so fast, b b b b b b, I try to
catch it but it goes, flies high away. If only I could catch it and put it in a cage I
would sit it in my room and it would sing to me all night in my dreams. In the
morning when I go to school, I open my mouth and out, out would come English
(sighs).
– In retelling stories great sensitivity was needed.
– Because I had a position of trust that came from knowing the
participants previously in the capacity of youth worker, coach
and teacher there came with most of the participants a
disclosure and discussion around some very sensitive topics, for
example, narrating meeting mum after many years of
separation.
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Focus Groups
– African Girls and Burmese group.
– Catering for difference.
– African girls – excited - At times the girls were yelling with
anger over certain issues (never at each other), then someone
would say something funny and they would burst into laughter.
The girls got up and danced with delight, other times they
dramatize their story with actions. They high fived each other
and slapped each other on the backside when they agreed
with each other; they connected with each other in physical
ways.
– Burmese Focus group.
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Intercultural Competence
– The young people wanted a home and to belong. In schools the
participants emphasised that in making friends it was them who
had to change – sometimes this was impossible.
‘When I arrived here in Australia, in school you know, that’s when I felt like I didn’t
belong here. --- It felt like I was a black dot on a white paper. (We laugh) They
can’t miss you, you see everyone just staring, turning and looking’. Gabriella
‘I will get friends when I sound more like Aussie’ (Phi lo)
– Intercultural competence was a well developed survival skill in
Australia and they were very alone in this walk.
– They felt strongly that they must adjust or they will loose their
future. Adjusting took on many forms
– There were places where the young people felt accepted and
were seen as contributors and ‘cool’.
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– They resisted the current discourse of ‘the refugee as victim or
traumatised’. Seeing that this simplifies the complexity of their
experience and does not enable them to move on.
In their minds, they still feel sorry, pity, they start thinking about wars. And in
my mind I feel that word [refugee] diminishes me and my ability. For
example; I was once applying for a job and they urged me to put the word
‘refugee’. They say, ‘once they see this word girl, you will get a job, it’s easy
for you’. I was just soooo angry. I have to use that word! I have to carry that
word with me, for me to receive something. This is a job I’m applying for! They
will base it on my ability. Not feel sorry for me! Oh it really got to me.
For me I think it lowers people’s ability, because a refugee is someone who
needs help, someone who is displaced in the middle of nowhere. But here
people have Australian citizenship. They have homes to sleep, food to eat. I
don’t know where the refugee word fits in, it’s useless. But they still use it. That
hurts me.
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Implications for Teaching.
– The uniqueness and individuality of the refugee experience
cannot be underestimated.
– The dominant culture DEMANDS that we integrate toward it.
Resisting this means missing opportunities for the future.
– Much of the discourse in education places refugee students as
‘at risk’.
– Why?
The University of Sydney
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