Primary School Teachers' Understanding of Challenges Faced by Afghan Immigrant Students: A Qualitative study

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 PhD student of Educational Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Tehran

2 Faculty of Education, Shahid Beheshti University

3 Faculty of Education, University of Tehran

Abstract

Introduction
Education brings many benefits to the individual and society. Education, through equipping people with a variety of skills, provides them with opportunities to be useful in their future lives and help them have a high income, which, in turn, helps in breaking the cycle of poverty. Additionally, education, Affects citizenship type, individuals' perception and their involvement in society. Educationisf great importance for immigrants. Education helps immigrants be better acquainted with the host community and provides them with opportunities to integrate into the community. This is especially important for following customs, rules, and acquiring language (Dempster & Hargrave, 2017). Over the past few decades, the immigration rate has increased significantly. In 2012, more than 12% of 15-year-old students in the EU were from immigrant families (OECD, 2015). The growing rate of immigrant students can seriously challeng the education system and cause some problems for the development of skills in diverse students and promotion of social cohesion. Cnsidering this, turmoil and wars in the Middle East, on one hand, and stability and security in Iran, on the other hand, have caused a lot of immigrants to settle Iran. These immigrants are from such countries as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and Syria. However, the number of Afghan refugees are much higher than other migrants in Iran. According to the report released by the 2016 General Census of Population and Housing, there are about 1,583,979 Afghan immigrants in this country. Of these, 1,242,332 live in urban areas and 340,968 in rural areas (Ministry of Interior, 2016). Therefore, educating immigrant learners, especially Afghan immigrants, and paying attention to the educational challenges faced by them is of great importance for several reasons. First, no specific research has been done in this regard. Second, there has been a significant difference between Iranian and Afghan students in their academic success. Third, the language and dialect of immigrant students are usually different from Iranian students and this has created some problems for them. Fourth, Afghan students, more than other immigrant learners from more deprived families, tend to continue their education. Fifth, Afghan immigrants are the largest group of immigrants in Iran. Sixth, Afghan immigrants have a high level of education and do not have great cultural affinity with Iranians. And seventh, this group of immigrants constitutes a significant portion of population in Iran, and ignoring them can create many economic, social and cultural problems for the country. All these factors can challenge the traditional curricula available to immigrant students. As a result, identifying major challenges faced by educating immigrants can lead to better educational outcomes and long-term opportunities for them to participate more actively in the practices of communities of which they are members. Therefore, this study is an attempt to identify educational challenges faced by Afghan immigrants, and thus help in understanding their special needs.
 
Research questions
What are the main educational challenges faced by Afghan immigrant students in Iran?
 
Methods
This study has been done through adopting a qualitative approach to and a phenomenological method of research. The study population consisted of all teachers involved in the education of immigrant children. The research sample comprised of 15 teachers who were semistructurally interviewed. The researchers continued interviewing the participants until data saturation reached. All interviews were audio recorded and then the obtained data was transcribed. Data analysis was performed using the framework proposed by Strabert and Carpenter (2003). Finally, member check technique was used to assess the validity of the findings.
 
Findings
After reading the transcribed data and then analyzing them, 25 basic themes, including language problems, religious differences, , discriminatory treatment of teachers, low parental education, dropout, isolation, perception of Afghan students as second-class citizens, and  poverty and child labor, were identified. These 25 basic themes were then categorized into 5 main themes, namely economic challenges, social challenges, academic challenges, cultural challenges, and administrative challenges.
 
Discussion
Immigrant students are among the most disadvantaged groups in society. They usually do not access to pre-school education. Another major challenge faced by immigrant students is academic breaks. Education interruptions occur when, for example, a second-grade immigrant student decides to resume studies in the destination country after a three-year break. In this case, s/he is at least three years behind iher/his peers in terms of language, math, etc (New York Child Supporters Foundation, 2010). Another major challenge faced by immigrant students is dropping out of school. Every year, one million students in the United States drop out before graducation. Another major problem of immigrant students is parental illiteracy. Parental education can be considered as a tool for children's academic success (Mangion & Spett, 1998; Spra et al., 2009). Some other important challenges faced by Afghan students are related to cultural issues. Cultural barriers can be cultural differences between people from two or more countries which can lead to communication failure and misunderstanding. Cultural differences that exist between different students, families, and education systems often cause some educational problems for immigrant student.

Keywords

References

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History

  • Receive Date: 09 November 2019
  • Revise Date: 14 March 2020
  • Accept Date: 10 May 2020

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