Narratives of agency : Afghan refugee background students' experience of schooling in New Zealand : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand
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Date
2018
DOI
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Massey University
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Abstract
Little is known about the experiences of refugee background students in New
Zealand high schools, and more specifically we lack narratives from more recent
groups like those from Afghanistan. Research about Afghans in New Zealand does
not address the experiences of how young Afghan students engage with schooling
and education in the new environment. As schools are often a challenging
navigational space during the transition and adaptation for these students, it is
imperative to reflect on their experiences for transformative purposes. This study
aimed to understand those transitional experiences through the lens of the students’
sense of agency.
Data were drawn from a phenomenological research approach that included in-depth
interviews with six senior high school students who were former refugees from
Afghanistan. The study examined the role and ways in which a sense of agency
helped these students to succeed in achieving their educational goals, by identifying
the factors that provided impetus for the development of their sense of agency in the
educational context. The study’s conceptual framework was built on an ecological
model. The ecological perspective illuminated the links between the students’
agency, their funds of knowledge, and their socio-cultural capital.
The findings highlighted multiple contexts in which the students illustrated their
capacities for agency, and how that ultimately helped them to navigate ways in
which they believed, decided and acted. The findings also underscored the need to
recognize as well as leverage on refugee background students’ agency and their
agentic resources. These students’ narratives can inform and reform underlying
premises of current policy, practices and pedagogy for refugee students, which can
lead to a more engaged and authentic understanding about their learning and
experiences.
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Keywords
Afghans, Education (Secondary), New Zealand, Teenage refugees, Interviews, Afghanistan, Student adjustment, Control (Psychology), Identity (Psychology)