Immigrant students' experience of schooling: a narrative inquiry theoretical framework

We explore immigrant students' experience of schooling focusing on Yang Yang and his family. We present insights into immigrant Chinese educational experience in Canada and bring forward a narrative‐inquiry framework for the study of student experience. We find that—contrary to some of the expectations of Chinese immigrants—family relations, student learning, and school policies are complicated, with families finding it difficult to translate Chinese educational values in the Canadian context and their children facing serious learning and social difficulties.     

Learning as sociocultural practice: Chinese immigrant professionals negotiating differences and identities in the Canadian labour market

The last few decades have witnessed both an expansion and a transformation of immigration flows, which pose significant challenges with respect to how people work with differences across culture and space. Against this background, this paper explores how some Chinese immigrant engineers respond to differences in the Canadian labour market. It not only examines some of the learning practices engaged by the immigrants as they negotiate professional niches and professional identities, but also demonstrates how their learning process is socially mediated. In particular, it shows that licensure processes and immigrant settlement services are instrumental in entering immigrants into the cultural and social order in the Canadian labour market. It pinpoints a lack of recognitive justice in the ways in which immigrants' learning processes are institutionally reshaped. Informed by the sociocultural approach, this paper treats learning as a social participatory process, through which individual identities are constituted and reconstituted.     

论黄果树新城旅游移民社区建设

文章在分析黄果树新城移民社区与黄果树风景名胜区之间关系的基础上,对该移民社区的产业重构和文化重塑进行了理性的思考,以期修筑一个移民诗意栖居的美好家园。     

浅谈移民的文化适应——以新疆南疆汉族移民为例

本文选取新疆南疆园艺村和阔纳协海尔村作为田野调查个案,通过对村落中汉族移民在生计方式、语言、风俗习惯、房屋建筑风格等文化要素变迁及其特点的考察,探讨了移民区域在移民文化适应过程中所形成的一种类型——多元文化格局,及移民在文化适应过程中的内外层次差别。最终认为,移民的外在文化特质的适应相对较快,但内在的深层次的文化特质的适应肯定要滞后于外在适应,甚至停滞不前。但是,深层次的文化调适是移民与迁入社会和谐发展所不可或缺的。     

The impact of perceived childhood victimization and patriarchal gender ideology on intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization among Korean immigrant women in the USA

Childhood victimization experiences are common among intimate partner violence (IPV) victims. This study examines the link between childhood physical and sexual victimization experiences and adulthood IPV among Korean immigrant women in the USA. As Korean immigrants often use physical punishment to discipline their children, and reporting sexual abuse is discouraged due to stigmatization in this community, cultural factors (e.g. patriarchal values) related to childhood victimization and IPV were also examined. Survey data from Korean immigrant women in the USA were collected. Using a case-control design, we compared 64 Korean immigrant women who have experienced IPV in the past year with 63 Korean immigrant women who have never experienced IPV in their lifetime. The findings of this study reveal that IPV victims, compared with non-victims, experienced higher childhood victimization rates. Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that childhood victimization and patriarchal gender ideology strongly predict IPV victimization among Korean immigrants. However, patriarchal values did not moderate the relationship between childhood victimization and IPV. To prevent IPV among Korean immigrant population, we need to make special efforts to prevent childhood abuse and change ingrained cultural attitudes about child physical and sexual abuse among immigrant communities through culturally sensitive programs.     

Promising Physical Activity Inclusion Practices for Chinese Immigrant Women in Vancouver,Canada

Even though the number of immigrants coming to Canada continues to rise (Statistics Canada, 2010) and there is some evidence to suggest that participation in community sport and recreation can ease the stress associated with settlement (Stodolska & Alexandris 2004), our previous research has shown there is little or no information sharing about promising inclusion practices between local, provincial, and federal sport and recreation policy makers in Canada (Thibault, Frisby, & Taylor, 2009). To begin to fill this void, interviews were conducted with 50 Chinese immigrant women, who represent the largest immigrant group in British Columbia, 11 staff from the City of Vancouver, and 5 staff from an immigration service agency called S.U.C.C.E.S.S. A Multiculturalism, Sport, and Physical Activity Workshop was subsequently held so study participants could come together to discuss promising physical activity inclusion practices for newcomers. The practices discussed here include: citizen engagement to promote mutual learning and policy/program development; working from a broader social ecological framework; improving the city's leisure access policy; and enhancing community partnerships to facilitate cross-cultural connections.     

Language education of adult immigrants in Greece: current trends and future developments

The increasing number of immigrants living and working in Greece has proven to be a challenge for the social as well as educational policy of this country. In order to help adult immigrants to integrate into society and facilitate their access to the job market, the Greek state has introduced special language education programmes. This paper discusses the current trends in Greece regarding immigrant language education and presents findings of a survey which aimed at exploring immigrants’ language needs and preferences. The results of this survey indicate a high interest by immigrants in learning Greek but a very low level of enrolment on and attendance of language courses. As a knowledge of Greek is necessary to improve immigrants’ socio‐economic and professional status, it is suggested that cooperation between immigrant associations and educational policy‐makers is necessary for the design of successful language programmes and the promotion of Greece’s policy of integration.     

ISSUES IN COUNSELING IMMIGRANT COLLEGE STUDENTS

The immigrant population of urban community colleges has grown in recent years, creating new challenges for college counselors. Counseling intervention is essential to enable immigrant students to cope with the stresses of immigration and the effects of those stresses on their college performance. Acculturation is a process that changes with time and that affects students of different ages differently. Cultural variations among immigrants affect social and academic performance in college as well. Developing English language fluency both accompanies and is accompanied by other adjustment issues. College counselors can facilitate both student' adjustment and the college's recognition of immigrant students' cultural perspective.     

Thematic Analysis of Intergenerational Transmission of Trauma in Latinx Immigrant Families in the Southern US

Immigration is a growing social dynamic in many countries, eliciting a variety of different responses. Proponents of immigration note how the influx of new people into the United States (US) has enhanced the workforce and brought cultural enrichment; others have attributed to immigrants, particularly undocumented, a rise in crime and strains on social services. Consequently, immigrants often contend with discrimination and other unique stressors that increase the likelihood that immigration will be a traumatizing experience. Because scholarly focus on the impact of immigration upon psychological wellbeing typically highlights individual experiences, there is limited attention on the impact on immigrant families, particularly mixed-status families comprised of immigrant parents and children who are US citizens by birth. There is also limited attention on immigrant dynamics in the Southern US. This qualitative, thematic analysis explores the experiences of 71 pairs of Latinx immigrant mothers and their US citizen children, living in the Southern US, utilizing the lens of intergenerational transmission of trauma. Using narrative data taken from trauma assessment instruments, the authors identified the most prevalent themes shared by the mothers and their children as crime victimization, deportation, threats to family health, sexual abuse, and marital conflict.

     

Mathematics achievement of Mainland immigrant students in Hong Kong

One of the main features of globalization is the increasing mobility of population. As an immigrant society, Hong Kong has witnessed waves of Mainland Chinese arrivals and assimilation into her mainstream, particularly around the change of sovereignty period. School-aged children constitute a substantial fraction of the new population. Given their potential impact on Hong Kong's present and future, how these immigrant youngsters perform in school has always been a concern to the public as well as the government. This study compared Hong Kong 8th-graders' mathematics performance in the four rounds of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study by their immigrant status. The results showed that the first-generation immigrant students' performance had obvious retrogression compared to native students in the past years. Among the natives, non-local-born students with only their father born in Hong Kong had the most similar performance as the first-generation immigrants. The causes for the differences are explored from both internal and external perspectives.     

Quality of life of elderly Chinese immigrants: focusing on living arrangements and social capital

This study examines the relationship between living arrangements, social capital, and quality of life of elderly Chinese immigrants in the United States. For this purpose, data were collected from 205 Chinese immigrants aged 65 years and above who did not have any cognitive disorders and were living in Los Angeles County. The primary variables considered included demographic data, living arrangements, social capital, and the quality of life. Results showed that the quality of life of elderly Chinese immigrants was significantly influenced by their life with a spouse or children and traits of social capital, such as trust, partnership with the community, and political participation. Findings indicate that trust, partnership, political participation, and living with a spouse or children are closely related to the quality of life of elderly Chinese immigrants. This study highlights the importance of developing a community atmosphere and policy to enhance elderly Chinese immigrants’ social participation, trust, and life with family members to further improve their subjective quality of life. Results may have implications for elderly immigrants from other countries, as well.     

芙洛的形象意义

张翎在《睡吧,芙洛,睡吧》里塑造了芙洛这位北美早期与众不同的女移民形象。其意义在于重构了近代北美华人移民史,言说了被遮蔽的华人女先侨话语,给处于“边缘人”生存境遇的新移民提供了历史观照。     

战后澳大利亚对华移民政策的演变(1945-1995)

澳大利亚是一个移民国家,移民政策一直是其重要的基本国策之一。由于历史、政治、社会和文化背景等方面的原因,在100多年来澳大利亚对华移民政策史上,以种族歧视为核心的“白澳政策”长期占据主导地位。第二次世界大战结束以来,澳洲政府逐步调整对华移民政策,其间经历了一个从逐步调整、渐进改革到彻底废除“白澳政策”;从以引进非技术移民为主到鼓励商业移民和独立技术移民赴澳的历史演变进程。澳洲政府最终废止白澳政策的基本原因主要是:二战促使澳洲人对种族歧视问题进行了认真反思;战后反种族歧视的世界进步潮流的推动;华人素质的改变和中国国际地位的提高,以及改变对亚洲关系和开发澳洲、发展经济的需求。     

Transnationalism,parenting, and child disciplinary practices of African immigrants in Alberta,Canada

Child discipline remains a topic of public health interest across the globe. Despite this enduring interest, very little is known about the child disciplinary practices of African immigrants in Canada. This paper explores the disciplinary practices of African immigrant parents in Alberta, a Canadian province with a recent surge in the population of African immigrants. Employing a critical ethnographic methodology, informed by transnational theory, we collected data through in-depth qualitative interviews with a purposive sample of African community leaders (n = 14), African immigrant parents (n = 32), policymakers (n = 2), and health and immigrant settlement workers (n = 10). As members of the African immigrant community, we were deeply immersed in the research settings, which afforded us the opportunity to collect pertinent observational data in the form of reflexive notes. Thematic analysis of the data revealed child disciplinary approaches that incorporate Canadian and African parenting practices, as well as practices that appear somewhat unique to this demographic. We found that African immigrant parents used corporal discipline, persuasive discipline, and a hybrid of the two, as well as emerging practices involving transnational fostering and emotional isolation of children who persistently misbehaved. These practices, in their totality, appeared to be influenced by the transnational experiences of parents and precepts that are traceable to Canada’s legal and educational systems. We present theoretical, policy, and service implications of our findings, including a recommendation to incorporate sociocultural dimensions of child discipline into Canadian child welfare policies and practices.     

菲律宾华侨华人社团现状

在海外华侨华人社会中,菲华社会被认为是一个典型的＂社团社会＂,社团数量多,参加社团的人数也多,社团在菲律宾华侨华人的社会生活中扮演了重要的角色。20世纪90年代末以后,随着菲华确定了＂融合于主流社会＂的新方向以及新移民的大量涌入,菲华社团也出现了新的特点：以往缘于政治分歧的冲突缓解,而名利之争凸显出来;新移民在社团中的影响力增强。但目前菲华社团依然面临不团结及后继无人等问题。     

工会维护农民工权益的职责与途径

农民工是我国社会转型期出现的一个特殊群体,维护农民工的权益体现了以人为本的根本要求。农民工具备了产业工人的基本特征,已成为新的产业工人阶层,最终将融为产业工人的主体。从工会的产生、性质和法律地位来看,维护农民工合法权益是工会组织的基本职责,应当动员组织农民工加入工会。工会在维护农民工权益上与传统企事业单位工会有很大的不同,需要探索新的途径。     

Program participation of immigrant children: Evidence from the local availability of Head Start

This paper analyzes the impact of the local availability of Head Start, a public preschool program for low-income children, on the participation of immigrant children. We use propensity score methods to flexibly control for numerous individual and neighborhood characteristics and availability of other services aimed at low-income families. We find that having a Head Start center in a child's census tract significantly raises participation of immigrant children, and these results are robust to several sensitivity analyses. Furthermore, the impacts are larger for recent migrants and for those with less access to private transportation, consistent with both information and transportation costs as important factors affecting program participation for immigrants.     

Transformative learning of mentors from an immigrant workplace connections program

Mentorship programs have been deployed within immigrant and settlements services to integrate newcomers to the Canadian labor market. These programs are often assessed for their impacts on immigrant mentees. Little attention has been paid to how they may have influenced mentors. In this context, this study, from the perspective of transformative learning, examines the experiences of 19 mentors who were involved in a mentorship program designed to enhance the employment prospects for immigrant professionals in Canada. Findings indicated that in the process of mentoring immigrants with diverse backgrounds, mentors engaged in both informational and transformational learning. Through informational learning, the mentors expanded their cultural and work-related knowledge, hence their life horizons. For some mentors, their learning was also transformational. Some developed new awareness of and relation to the self. Some also started recognizing the structural and cultural barriers facing newcomers, and sometimes taking actions to effect social change. Both kinds of learning – informational and transformational – we argue, may contribute to disrupting relations of inequality between newcomers and the host society. The study suggests ways through which mentoring programs can contribute to a two-way process of integration involving changes and learning for both newcomers and the host society.     

Towards a postcolonial politics of appearance: unsettling lifelong learning as a racial contract

ABSTRACT

In the context of flexible capitalism, lifelong learning has been posed as a pathway for individuals to accumulate skills and actualise potentials. What is overlooked, however, is that the process of accumulation and actualisation is embedded within the culture of recognition. People who are historically constructed as the anthropos, a legacy of the colonial history struggle to appear as equals vis-à-vis the gaze of the humantias. With this critique in view, I reviewed the field of immigrant and lifelong learning in relation to a postcolonial politics of appearance. I sought to understand how lifelong learning settles itself in immigrant consciousness, and how it shapes immigrant experiences in the West. My review points to three metaphors that speak of the challenges and possibilities for immigrants to appear: fixation of the Eurocentric gaze, re-credentialing as precarious investment, and lifelong learning as trans/formation. Together, these metaphors suggest that lifelong learning has conjured a racial contract, which ironically binds immigrants to the labour of learning and yet continuously suppresses their appearance. To unsettle this racial contract, borders need to be reimagined and crossed/vexed by recentring immigrants as knowing subjects.