Hope For a Better Day: An Arts-Based Engagement Ethnography on the Resettlement and School Integration of an Immigrant Muslim Family in Western Canada

Date
2022-04-25
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract

The global political climate has left a large number of individuals seeking asylum in various countries, with nearly half of these individuals being school aged-children (United Nations Refugee Agency, 2019). Although immigrant families have been reported to face a number of challenges navigating their new host country, these challenges can be pronounced for immigrant families carrying a Muslim identity. This thesis answered two research questions in two manuscripts. Manuscript 1’s research question was: What are the experiences of an immigrant Muslim family integrating into a public school board located in urban Alberta? Manuscript 2’s research question was: What are the collective and individual resettlement experiences of an immigrant Muslim family with a complex migration trajectory? In this arts¬-based engagement ethnography (ABEE; Goopy & Kassan, 2019; Kassan et al., 2020), set within a transformative framework (Mertens, 2007, 2012), we used artifacts created by participants using cultural probes as well as qualitative individual and family interviews to document school integration and resettlement experiences. In Manuscript 1, a three-stage process of analysis revealed two structures regarding school integration experiences: (a) challenges navigating a public school board, and (b) recommendations for school boards. Manuscript 2 revealed two structures highlighting collective and individual experiences of resettlement into broader Canadian society: (a) identity exploration post-migration, and (b) sources of strength and resilience. The results and implications of both research questions are presented in the two manuscripts.

Description
Keywords
Muslim, Family, Immigrant, School, Arts-Based Engagement Ethnography, Education, Alberta, Canada
Citation
Khan, M. (2022). Hope For a Better Day: An Arts-Based Engagement Ethnography on the Resettlement and School Integration of an Immigrant Muslim Family in Western Canada (Master thesis). University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca .