{"id":60746,"date":"2021-12-16T04:11:01","date_gmt":"2021-12-16T09:11:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?p=60746"},"modified":"2021-12-16T04:11:01","modified_gmt":"2021-12-16T09:11:01","slug":"theyre-really-keen-for-us-to-do-better-than-they-did-how-refugee-parents-motivate-their-kids-learning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/theyre-really-keen-for-us-to-do-better-than-they-did-how-refugee-parents-motivate-their-kids-learning\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018They\u2019re really keen for us to do better than they did\u2019: how refugee parents motivate their kids\u2019 learning"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nRefugees struggle to find meaningful employment in Australia. In 2010, the\u00a0Refugee Council of Australia <\/a>\u00a0found people who came to Australia on refugee or humanitarian visas remained \u201cthe worst off of the migrant visa groups\u201d when it came to employment. Around 12% were unemployed 18 months after arrival, compared to 8% of those who came on family visas.<\/p>\n

Education \u2013 and particularly opportunities for university education \u2013 gives people with a refugee background the\u00a0means to significantly improve<\/a>\u00a0their lives and socioeconomic status. People with refugee backgrounds hope for a better life for their children than the one they had, and they see education as crucial step in this journey.<\/p>\n

But we know little about the role refugee parents play in influencing their children\u2019s educational and long-term success.<\/p>\n

My research focused on refugee families whose children performed well in school and university. We interviewed 50 refugee parents, children and their teachers to find out whether particular values of refugee families influenced the children educationally.<\/p>\n

We found parents who took the refugee journey to secure a good life for their family indirectly influenced their children to work hard like they did, and to strive for the kind of life denied to them.<\/p>\n

\u2018They wanted us to make something of ourselves\u2019<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The parents who participated in the research varied in their levels of education \u2013 from no formal schooling to having a PhD. Most parents did the interview in their first language with either a professional interpreter, a bilingual school services officer or an adult child interpreting.<\/p>\n

Their cultural backgrounds varied widely too: interviewees included refugees from Afghanistan, Nepal, Rwanda, Syria, Vietnam and Bhutan. While all parents were first-generation refugees, the time their children had spent in Australia varied too: some had been born here, others came here as a child, while some arrived more recently as an adolescent.<\/p>\n

The refugee parents generally had high hopes for the opportunities education could provide for their children because they were denied the right to it in their home country or in refugee camps. From the interviews with the children, we found the parents\u2019 high values around education motivated their children to put more effort into learning.<\/p>\n

Interpreter for Afghanistan-born parent Ahmad told us:
\nThe main inspiration for [the parent] is that no one in his family had an opportunity to have a higher education. So, his children will be the first one in his family that [\u2026] will be educated enough [\u2026] with a higher qualification [\u2026] They can\u2019t help them with their [child\u2019s] learning, but the only thing that they provide is to care about them. They advise them about their education, how you can be successful through education [\u2026]<\/em>
\nThe children, both at a younger age and as adults, were very aware of their parents\u2019 impact on their ability to achieve well academically. But the parental motivation didn\u2019t cross over into pressure.<\/p>\n

Alayna, who is 12 years old, was born in Iran to Hazara parents. She said she was confident her parents would still be proud of her chasing her own dreams, even if they didn\u2019t align with theirs.
\nMy mum really wants me to be a doctor because doctor is a good job, and [\u2026] if I don\u2019t choose to be a dentist or a doctor or a teacher (I can still be) a useful person for the world, they will be totally proud of me.<\/em>
\nShipa in her 20s, born in Nepal to Bhutanese parents of Nepalese ethnicity, told us:
\nA strong message from my family that I have to study (because) without education, there\u2019s nothing [\u2026] but they also have trust (that) I can do it. It\u2019s really positive and very exciting to be [\u2026] at the university as a refugee with uneducated parents [\u2026] I just wanted to be an educated girl.<\/em>
\nEster, who is 18 years old, was born in Tanzania to Burundian parents. She said:
\nThey just wanted us to focus on school [\u2026] they\u2019re really keen for us to do better than they did [\u2026] because we\u2019ve got an opportunity to come to Australia [\u2026] they didn\u2019t want us to waste it. They wanted us to [\u2026] make something of ourselves.<\/em>
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