Educating refugee and Hurricane displaced youth in troubled times: countering the politics of fear through culturally responsive and trauma-informed schooling

ABSTRACT

There is a growing body of interdisciplinary scholarship on the traumas inherent in forced migration and the corresponding educational and mental health needs of displaced youth. Yet, there is limited empirical research on how political and normative culture affects this relationship. This article presents findings from a larger multi-method qualitative case study that utilized observations, document collection, interviews, and focus groups to investigate how US high school personnel leveraged available policy and programmatic supports to address displaced student educational needs. Educator knowledge of student cultural histories coupled with awareness of how trauma can disrupt social and cognitive development was found to support anti-deficit thinking among staff and positive student transitioning into the US educational system within the current political environment. Building on literature concerned with the politics of education and ways to address structural oppression through culturally responsive and trauma-informed practices, this research develops a framework for understanding important intersections between schooling practices, context-specific resettlement culture, and student experience.

KEYWORDS:

• Critical theory
• displacement
• politics of education
• case study methodology
• culturally responsive and trauma-informed practice

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank study participants, as well as the high school students and staff who welcomed us into their learning community. The PI also wishes to thank the University at Buffalo, SUNY Community of Excellence in Global Health Equity and the Graduate School of Education for providing financial resources to help conduct this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by University at Buffalo, SUNY.