AN EXERCISE IN WORLDMAKING 2009 - ISS

16 ANDREA NICOLE DYKSHOORN
Several other key factors distinguish refugees from economic immigrants.
First, while immigrants have time to prepare for moving, refugees
often leave abruptly, at times, without finishing personal business at
home. Second, immigrants have a choice of where they will relocate,
while refugees are forced to move, and often do not choose where they
will end up. Third, while immigrants may experience a sense of loss after
relocation, it is generally not combined with trauma, an element that can
be found in the experience of refugees. Finally, while immigrant children
face adjustments in their new schools, they typically do not have long
periods of interrupted schooling. For refugee children, however, civil
war and lengthy stays in refugee camps can prevent access to basic education,
leaving them far behind peers of their age group in their new
country (Manitoba Education, Citizenship and Youth, 2005).
EDUCATION—AN ECONOMIC, POLITICAL, AND SOCIAL PROCESS
For children new to Canada, schools are an important space for integration
into a new culture. Kapreilian-Churchill (1996) writes that “as a vital
socialising agent, schools bear a great responsibility in helping immigrant
and refugee children understand the new country and become a meaningful
part of it” (358). This understanding of the education process reflects
the view that formal schooling is not a narrative process or oneway
transfer of knowledge from teachers to pupils. The end result of
education involves more than economic outcomes. Rather, formal education
is also a highly political process that forms, reflects, and reinforces
societal attitudes and values (Freire, 1998:68). This is often known as the
hidden curriculum, and its impact transcends economic concerns of employability,
to affect human dignity, social legitimacy, and empowerment
(Stromquist et al, 1998: 401).
INDICATION OF THE PROBLEM AREA
Through multicultural education policies, many Canadian schools have
made inroads in recognising and embracing students from diverse backgrounds.
In fact, Canadian strategies for integration—conceptualised as a
two-way process requiring adjustments from both sides (Atfield et al,
2007: 12)—are often cited in literature and modeled in other countries.
Yet while all students who are new to the Canadian school system face
adjustments, research indicates that refugee populations—and those