I originally wrote this article in 2019. 

There is a global refugee epidemic. According to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), there are 22.5 million refugees worldwide (2018). These statistics present an absolute tragedy, a conundrum that is leaving the world scrambling to respond. Canada is one of the brave nations that have committed to continually giving sanctuary to refugees. As a result, demographics in Canada are changing, even in the small Atlantic Canadian province of New Brunswick.  

I lived in Fredericton, New Brunswick from 2010-2016. In Fredericton I attended UNB, where I earned a degree in Recreation and Sports Studies as well as a degree in Education. I enjoyed my time at UNB, but one of the most significant experiences during my years in Fredericton did not have anything to do with my schooling. In the fall of 2015, while attending Douglas Baptist Church I found out that Syrian refugee families would be coming to Fredericton. Our church had the opportunity to help one refugee family transition to a new life in New Brunswick. My wife and I jumped on board! We helped take the family shopping, move into their apartment, and spent time with them on weekends. Even though there was a significant language barrier it was a beautiful time getting to know the family. When we left Fredericton in July 2016, to move to Thailand, we lost contact with the refugee family. Nevertheless, my memories of the refugee children’s language barriers, educational gaps, and heart wrenching stories have lived on. My desire to help these and other refugee students is what started this research proposal. Now, let us back up a few steps to understand more about refugees in New Brunswick. 

Since 2015, refugees have come to New Brunswick in significant numbers. In particular, “About 650 Syrian students have enrolled in New Brunswick schools during the two-year (2015-2017) wave of refugees that have come to Canada.” (Bissett, 2017). According to the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (2017, April) Syrian refugee students enrolled in Anglophone schools in New Brunswick. The 650 Syrian students represent a 1% increase in student school population in New Brunswick. A 1% population increase at a school like Fredericton High School, population 1,895 (N. Langille, FHS vice-principal, personal communication, November 8, 2018) would be 19 Syrian refugee students. Therein lies the problem. In many New Brunswick teachers’ professional contexts, the influx of refugees have left teachers scrambling, struggling to help because refugees often have heavy baggage and mental health issues caused by their experiences in the countries they have fled (Birman & Chan, 2008; Birman et al., 2005; Hamm et. al 2017b; Lustig et al., 2003; Wilson-Forsberg, 2013). 

Refugees are not typical “new students” coming to New Brunswick from another province or even another western country. They often come with more physical and emotional trauma than any person should have to experience in their life. The goal in teaching refugees should not only be to help them feel “welcome”, but to help them succeed in contexts beyond public school. School leaders and teachers should realize that refugees have new lives ahead of them and focus on helping them succeed by navigating Canadian systems (healthcare, financial, academic, and insurance). The goal should be to send every Syrian refugee student on to post-secondary education. Thereby giving them the best chance to move from the bottom of the socioeconomic hierarchy to the top (Egbo, 2009; Wilson-Forsberg, 2013). 

Refugee experiences in Canada have been thoroughly detailed in academic literature. The first (official) refugees to Canada came in the 1880s, shortly after Canada became a country (Government of Canada, 2018). However, traditionally, the province of New Brunswick has not been very multicultural: “New Brunswick has not practiced multiculturalism to the same degree as the urban centres of central and western Canada… 20 per cent of Canadians are foreign-born… the percentage in Atlantic Canada is between 1 and 3 per cent” (Wilson-Forsberg, 2013). Therefore an influx of refugees resulting in a 1% increase in student population is very significant. According to these statistics, this would mean a minimum of a 33-100% increase in the number of foreign-born students in New Brunswick Anglophone schools. 

As mentioned above, to truly help refugee students the goal should be to enable them to receive a post-secondary education, which starts with acceptance. Refugee students’ struggles with acceptance have been documented by different researchers. The sad fact is that refugees to Canada often start at the lowest rung of the socioeconomic ladder (Egbo, 2009; Wilson-Forsberg, 2013), therefore acceptance from their peers can be difficult. This leads to refugee students being targets for bullying in both elementary or secondary school. Though intriguingly, as Wilson-Forsberg (2013) points out, for immigrants to Canada, cities can be harder to settle into than rural communities: “established residents, and especially the adolescents of Fredericton, are uninterested and ambivalent toward immigrant adolescents”. In the Wilson-Forsberg (2013) article, the adolescents in Fredericton were compared to adolescents in Florenceville, New Brunswick, a much smaller town. The findings suggest that small towns are easier environments for immigrants to experience true multiculturalism and acceptance. Future work could be done connecting refugee student’s feelings of acceptance at school in small towns and cities to the rates of refugee student post-secondary enrollment from those places. 

Dr. Lyle Hamm’s research has focused, in part, on helping refugee students through efforts to guide leaders in New Brunswick and beyond to better meet their needs (Cormier et al., 2017; Hamm et al., 2017a; Hamm et al., 2016; Hamm et al., 2017b; Hamm, 2015; Hamm, 2017). Dr. Hamm’s work with refugee students (starting in 2015) is very important to me as it serves as the motivation behind this research proposal. I want to delve specifically into hearing refugee stories, examining themes, then sharing successful strategies with teachers in New Brunswick and around the world in order to empower them to help the refugee students in their schools. 

Specific to best practice advice for teachers, research has been done in this area (Hoot, 2011). However, because of the fairly recent influx of Syrian refugee students to New Brunswick schools, to my knowledge no research has been done specific to Syrian refugees in the context of New Brunswick with my intended methodology. My proposed research will narrow the focus from refugees coming to North America to a few Syrian refugee high school students in New Brunswick. With this precise focus, I will use narrative inquiry to help the refugee students share their stories in hopes of answering the following research question: How can New Brunswick teachers best care for Syrian refugee students in Canada? The research will dive into the stories of refugee students coming to New Brunswick and experiencing acceptance for the first time. This acceptance can be from peers, teachers, or community members.  

As you can tell, I am a global-minded teacher with a heart to help populations in need. Syrian refugee students are one of those populations. This research will be another step toward empowering refugee students, by giving them a voice through their storytelling (Burkholder, 2018), and teachers, by providing information which will help them care for their own refugee students. Undoubtedly, this research will help the incredible resilience of Syrian refugee students to shine through. This resilience will contribute to future appreciative inquiry work (Ludema, Cooperrider, & Barrett, 2006) emphasizing the positive qualities these students possess which have helped them thrive in Canada. 

Literature Review 

There is a plethora of research that has been done on the subject of refugee students. The following are different findings from the academic literature. First, schooling is important for refugee students to transition well into their new environments (Bačáková, 2011). This may seem like common sense, but as an educator it is affirming. Second, extensive research has been done on the topic of refugee students’ mental health issues caused by their often horrific pasts (Birman & Chan, 2008; Birman et al., 2005; Lustig et al., 2003; Wilson-Forsberg, 2013). It is encouraging that refugee student mental health is well-researched. Mental health can be such a difficult topic and is sometimes avoided by peers and teachers. It is clear that refugee students have a multitude of struggles: trauma, language, friend, and family separation. Third, Hoot (2011) gives brief suggestions for American teachers to help refugee students find personal and academic success in their new environments. To attain personal success, Hoot suggests establishing strong communication between schools and parents as well as seeking support from outside organizations like: social workers, translators, and multicultural associations. To attain academic success, Hoot suggests modified academic plans, English second language assistance, and translation services. It is clear that refugee students need to be treated with care in order to forge strong relationships with peers and teachers that will help them feel accepted.

There is a significant amount of research related to refugee students coming to Canada. First, Egbo (2009) reports on the discombobulation between federal and provincial governments which affects refugee student education (p. 40). The federal government is in charge of immigration, while the provincial governments are in charge of education. Each province has their own interpretations of the federal laws; therefore; they apply them differently. This can increase the waiting time of refugee children trying to enter Canadian schools. Sadly, many refugee students come to Canada already having missed multiple years of schooling. To bring them all the way to Canada, then elongate the waiting period because of political miscommunication is a tragedy. Second, Olsen, El-Bialy, Mckelvie, Rauman, & Brunger (2016) make intriguing points about Canada’s national identity and refugee relations, “the construction of ‘‘the refugee’’ identity as of one who is voiceless, homeless, helpless, and vulnerable is essential in maintaining the national identities of countries of the global North as charitable and humanitarian” (p.62). The “helpless refugee” image has made its way into Canadian classrooms where refugees are often painted with the wide brush of suffering and helplessness. These messages are taught, either intentionally or unintentionally, to both refugee students and their peers. Sadly, these messages perpetuate the cycle of misinformed socially constructed refugee identities, which are emasculating in nature and are detrimental to the acceptance of refugee students. 

Although there has been significantly less research done specific to refugee students coming to New Brunswick, some does exist. Dr. Lyle Hamm makes a multitude of suggestions for how New Brunswick school leaders can support Syrian refugee students. Hamm et al. (2017b) suggests that New Brunswick school leaders need to commit to continuous school-wide professional learning about refugees on topics such as: “global trends and challenges, intercultural education and peace, and war and trauma” (p. 41). Hamm also recommends that pre-existing New Brunswick students should be formally educated about diversity, the ongoing conflict in Syria, and the lives of refugees (Hamm et al., 2017b). In order to foster acceptance of Syrian refugees, Hamm et al. (2017b) suggests that refugee students must be empowered to tell their stories, which is precisely what I would like to do with this research. 

I chose narrative inquiry as the methodology for this research because I want to understand the first-hand experiences of refugees in order to help refugee students who come to New Brunswick in the future. Muzaliwa (2011) recommends narrative inquiry as “an exemplary research method for school leaders looking to lead for social justice”. Muzaliwa (2011) also says that narrative inquiry helps us see “who we are, where we are, where we came from, and where we are heading” (p. 76). The fact that refugee students will be informing best practice as well as benefiting themselves by processing past experiences is extremely valuable. Donald Polkinghorne (1995) presents the “analysis of narratives” which is a type of narrative inquiry where stories are used to create concepts and solutions. My proposed narrative inquiry will follow Polkinghorne’s lead and will be considered an “analysis of narratives”. I will use the refugee students’ stories to create best practice advice for teachers to help future Syrian refugee students.  

Muzaliwa (2011) used narrative inquiry as the methodology to examine high school teachers’ experiences with refugees to America. In terms of students, research using narrative inquiries as told by school-aged refugee students has been conducted by Fuertes (2010). While other narrative inquiry research has been done in the area of young refugees, ages one to four, coming to America (Hoot, 2011; Prior & Niesz, 2013). Prior & Niesz (2013) used the methodology of narrative inquiry to examine the education experiences of young Burmese refugee students in America. This research, however, focused on simply telling the children’s stories of first impressions of schooling in America. As opposed to using the stories to improve professional practice in fostering the acceptance of refugee students, as I aim to do. 

Methodology 

Approach and Rationale

To reiterate, my research question is: How can New Brunswick teachers best care for Syrian refugee students in Canada? For the purpose of clarity, the stories of the refugee students will focus on the first time they felt accepted by peers, teachers, or community members in a school setting. To answer this research question I will do empirical research. In order to accurately understand the stories of refugee students, my research will take the form of a narrative inquiry, in which refugee students will tell their stories of: struggles, first impressions, and growing relationships (acceptance).  

Sampling

The best case sample would be to have 10 subjects (five male and five female) participating in the narrative inquiry. Subjects will be high school aged (14-18 years old) Syrian refugee students who have come to Canada within the past 24 months. Subjects will need to have only lived in the province of New Brunswick since moving from Syria, with no more than 1 month outside of the province within the past 24 months. The reason for these last two provisions is because my research will focus on refugee students’ experiences specific to New Brunswick, without being tainted by the significant influence of time spent in other provinces. 

Data Gathering

Narrative inquiry is a methodology in the interpretive paradigm. Therefore, my research will gather qualitative data from refugee students to understand their interpretation of the world around them. I will gather qualitative data in three different ways, this is called “triangulation” (Hamm et al., 2017b; Wagner, 2018a). The triangulation of the data in my research will come from: 1) student written storytelling, 2) student oral storytelling (through an open interview format), and 3) interview transcripts of the students (taped & written).   

1. Refugee students will write a set of three stories: a) my first day of school in New Brunswick, b) the first time I felt accepted by a teacher, and c) the first time I felt accepted by a peer. 
2. For oral storytelling, refugee students will be given the choice of individual, pair, or group interviews. This idea was derived from James Hoot’s (2011) qualitative study on best practices for the educators of refugees.
3. Researchers will use an iPhone to record the audio of the oral storytelling (interviews) while simultaneously recording written notes. 

The data gathering trifecta detailed above fits the recommendations of Prior & Niesz (2013) to use different storytelling formats. 

Data Analysis

For data analysis I will then have the difficult task of deriving meaning from the stories. Because this is a narrative inquiry that seeks to answer a purpose question, the interview data will be used prescriptively (Cranton & Merriam, 2015, p. 149). Taping interviews will allow for more comprehensive immersion (Cranton & Merriam, 2015, p. 138) which will strengthen data analysis. I will use a thematic analysis of the field texts derived from the oral storytelling (Cranton & Merriam, 2015; Prior & Niesz, 2013). To carry out the thematic analysis I will follow Braun and Clarke’s (2006) recommended steps: 1) become familiar with the data; 2) create codes; 3) pour over every tape and transcript to become very familiar with the data; 4) double check themes; 5) finalize themes 6) synthesize the report.

Ethical Considerations

The first box to check on the list of ethically responsible research is to get approval from the Research Ethics Board (REB) prior to seeking the permission of the stakeholders in my research. Examples of attaining official ethical body approval before seeking the informed consent of stakeholders are seen in a multitude of studies (Court, 2011; Muzaliwa, 2011; Prior & Niesz, 2013). Informed consent from all stakeholders in this research is critical. As Wagner (2018b) states, “When we do research with human subjects, the most important thing is informed consent… The word ‘informed’ is critical”. The stakeholders from which I will need to receive informed consent include: the school district, school principals, teachers, refugee students, and parents of the refugee students. I will attain consent from stakeholders using a stakeholder consent form as shown in Muzaliwa (2011). 

A significant ethical issue for my research is that the main piece of evidence “experiencing acceptance for the first time” will be quantified from a Western perspective. In the research I will try my best to make sense of the information, but I will inevitably struggle with bias and interpreting the findings through my own worldview. Hopefully, future studies will be able to quantify “acceptance” in a way that more accurately relates to the Syrian concept of “acceptance”.

References

Bačáková, M. (2011). Developing inclusive educational practices for refugee children in the Czech Republic. Intercultural Education, 22(2), 163–175.

Birman, D., & Chan, W. Y. (2008). Screening and assessing immigrant and refugee youth in school-based mental health programs.

Birman, D., Ho, J., Pulley, E., Batia, K., Everson, M. L., Ellis, H., Stichick Betancourt, T., Gonzalez, A. (2005). Mental health interventions for refugee children in resettlement. White Paper II, Refugee Trauma Task Force, National Child Traumatic Stress Network, Chicago, IL http://www.nctsnet.org/nctsn_assets/pdfs/materials_for_applicants/MH_Interventions_for_Refugee_ Children.pdf

Bissett, K. (2017, August 24). Hundreds of Syrian refugees add costs for New Brunswick schools. Retrieved from https://globalnews.ca/news/3694218/hundreds-of-syrian-refugees-add-costs-for-new-brunswick-schools/

Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative research in psychology, 3(2), 77-101.

Burkholder, C. (2018). DIY Media-Making for Social Change: Hong Kong’s Ethnic Minority Youth Speak Back to Exclusion and Call for Social Action Through Cellphilms. In S. Bastien & H. Holmarsdottir (Eds.), Youth as Architects of Social Change: Global Efforts to Advance Youth-Driven Innovation (pp. 155–174). London: Palgrave MacMillan.

Cormier, K., Massfeller, H., Hamm, L. D., & Oulette, K. (2017). ” The world is constantly arriving”: The intercultural diversity toolkit for educators in New Brunswick. Antistasis, 6(2).

Court, J. (2017). ‘I feel integrated when I help myself’: ESOL learners’ views and experiences of language learning and integration. Language and Intercultural Communication, 17(4), 396-421.

Cranton, P., & Merriam, S. B. (2015). A guide to research for educators and trainers of adults. Krieger Publishing Company.

Egbo, B. (2009). Education and Diversity: Framing the Issues, Teaching for Diversity in Canadian Schools. Windsor: ON: Pearson Education Canada.

Fuertes, A. (2010). Birds inside a cage: Metaphor for Karen refugees. Social Alternatives, 29(1), 20–24. 

Government of Canada. (2018). Canada: A History of Refuge. Retrieved from https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/refugees/canada-role/timeline.html

Hamm, L. D., Massfeller, H., Scott, A., & Cormier, K. (2017a). “They Wanted to Study Us; They Didn’t Want to Help Us”: Socially Just and Participatory Research Methodologies for Demographically Changing Schools. Journal of Contemporary Issues in Education, 12(1).

Hamm, L., Doğurga, S. L., & Scott, A. (2016). Leading a diverse school during times of demographic change in rural Canada: Reflection, action and suggestions for practice. Citizenship Teaching & Learning, 11(2), 211-230.

Hamm, L., Massfeller, H., & Oulette, K. (2017b). Summative Report for Case 1 School in Collective Case Study. Unpublished manuscript. University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB. 

Hamm, L. (2013). Intercultural research and education on the Alberta prairies: Findings from a doctoral study. Journal of Educational Thought, 46(3), 219-231.

Hamm, L. (2015). Hiring and retaining teachers in diverse schools and districts. The Complexity of Hiring, Supporting, and Retaining New Teachers Across Canada, 40.

Hamm, L. (2017). Becoming a transformative vice-principal in culturally and linguistically rich diverse schools: “Pace yourself–It’s a marathon, not a sprint”. International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education, 6(2), 82-98.

Hoot, J. L. (2011). Working with very young refugee children in our schools: Implications for the world’s teachers. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 15, 1751-1755.

Ludema, J. D., Cooperrider, D. L., & Barrett, F. J. (2006). Appreciative inquiry: The power of the unconditional positive question. Handbook of action research, 155-165.

Lustig, S. L., Kia-Keating, M., Grant-Knight, W., Geltman, P., Ellis, H., Birman, D., Kinzie, D., Keane, T., & Saxe, G. (2003). Review of child and adolescent refugee mental health. White Paper, National Child Traumatic Stress Network, Refugee Trauma Task Force. http://www.nctsnet.org/nctsn_assets/pdfs/reports/refugeereview.pdf

Muzaliwa, A. I. I. (2011). Teaching and Leading for Diversity and Social Justice through Narrative Inquiry in Secondary Schools. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway, PO Box 1346, Ann Arbor, MI 48106.

New Brunswick Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. (2017, April). Summary Statistics School Year 2016-2017. Retrieved from https://www2.gnb.ca/content/dam/gnb/Departments/ed/pdf/K12/StatisticalReports-RapportsStatistiques/SummaryStatistics2016-2017.pdf

Olsen, C., El-Bialy, R., Mckelvie, M. et al. (2016). “Other” Troubles: Deconstructing Perceptions and Changing Responses to Refugees in Canada. Journal of Immigrant Minority Health 18(1), 58–66. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-014-9983-0

Prior, M. A., & Niesz, T. (2013). Refugee children’s adaptation to American early childhood classrooms: A narrative inquiry. The Qualitative Report, 18(20), 1-17.

UNHCR. (2018). Figures at a Glance. Retrieved from http://www.unhcr.org/figures-at-a-glance.html

Wagner, D. (2018a). Research Data and Fiction. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQbh9SMLY8s

Wagner, D. (2018b). Research Ethics. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iR__T2_iwwUWilson-Forsberg, S. (2013). Budding Multiculturalism or Veiled Indifference?. Journal of Intercultural Communication, (31).

Thank you for taking the time to read this article. It was a pleasure spending time with you today.

Peace & Blessings, 

– Josiah