Opening the School Gate | Introduction

There are a number of contributing factors that impact on the involvement of migrant and refugee families in schools. These include:

• Stigma: Research from the Connecting CLD Parents project indicated that parental contact with schools was largely crisis focused and often related to discipline issues. Families often associated any contact with school with some sort of trouble, and the fear and stigma associated with school contact frequently prevented a more positive relationship from forming.
• Expectations of school involvement: Within the Australian education system, a three-way relationship between students, families and school is seen as ideal. Expectations of school involvement in other countries however can be quite different. How parents interact with schools will often reflect their own experience of schooling overseas. For example, some parents may be used to a more strict separation between home and school life, where parents are not expected to have much of a role in the school unless a problem arises.
• Family roles: Family roles often change significantly due to migration. Young people may be more confident in English and take on a new role as advocate for the family, providing assistance with settlement needs and interpreting. This can lead to a power shift within families with children taking on a great deal of responsibility. Parents may feel dependent and powerless and thus less confident in approaching the school directly. Young people may also be protective of their parents and reluctant to involve them in school activities.
• Practical considerations: Migrant and refugee parents/ carers may have limited time for school involvement due to family size, having young dependent children or being constrained because of work commitments. Financial pressures may be severe in migrant and refugee families. Families may be paying off overseas debts or sending money to assist relatives in need. Refugees usually arrive in Australia with no possessions or financial assets and have to rebuild their lives. Despite the availability of some government assistance and schools offering support to reduce financial disadvantage, the costs associated with education remain a heavy burden for many families. Financial difficulties may affect the family’s ability to purchase uniforms and books, contribute to school levies or pay for school activities, excursions and camps.
• Language barriers: Newly arrived family members often feel very uncertain about communicating with the school and can be concerned about their English Language skills in the absence of the use of interpreters (Migrant Information Centre 2002:12). Parents with stronger English skills will find it easier to understand information and are also likely to feel more connected wth the school.
• Knowledge of school systems: Recently arrived parents/carers are likely to have varied knowledge of Australian school systems and may have significant gaps in information or understanding, often about essentials such as uniforms, assessments and textbooks. Parents' understanding or expectations regarding different educational pathways may also impact on their interaction with the school. For example, some migrant or refugee parents have set ideas about their child's education and employment options and may be reluctant to discuss alternative educational pathways with the school.
• Fears: Some families feel their children are less physically safe in Australia than when they were overseas, where there was a perception that the community would intervene to protect their children. Anxiety levels can be high for refugee families who have experienced traumatic periods in which their children may have been lost or endangered. Families’ fears about the Westernisation of their children and the loss of culture and values can also be great. These fears can affect parents’ willingness to allow their children to participate in extracurricular activities.