Abstract
More than 125,100 refugees from Burma were resettled in the US 2010-2020. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) predicts another 14,000 Burmese will seek asylum in the US during 2023. Burmese refugees arrive with less formal education than other refugee groups and struggle to understand the US educational system, often resulting in students' dropping out. Refugee camp experiences, trauma, difficulty with English, and struggles of the resettlement process present major challenges to US Burmese students seeking higher education experiences. This chapter explores the educational difficulties, challenges, and personal successes of US Burmese refugees living in the Midwestern United States through oral history interviews. The goal of the study is to understand and explore education as it is experienced and perceived by Burmese refugees in the United States and explore existing challenges to their participation in higher education.
TopBackground
Education of Refugees in the US
Education is problematic for refugees worldwide. UNHCR (2021) reports nearly half of refugees were unable to attend school prior to resettlement. Schools represent the “first point of contact and care and rehabilitation” for refugee youth (Arar et al., 2020, 3). Educational access, including the right to higher education, is a basic human right (UNHCR 2021), yet little scholarly research has emphasized refugees’ experiences with higher education (Ramsey & Baker, 2019). Recent proliferation of Burmese refugee resettlement in the United States, combined with US Burmese families’ difficulties with England language and US school culture as well as high US Burmese high school student dropout rates, means research focusing on the educational experiences of ethnic Burmese especially is needed.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Higher Education: In the United States, the term higher education refers to formal schooling beyond the secondary school diploma (Grade 12) that leads to an academic degree. Higher education may take place at college or university.
Myanmar: Formerly Burma and since 1989 officially referred to as The Republic of Myanmar.
Refugee: An involuntary migrant; a person who has been forced to leave their home country in order to escape persecution, war, or natural disaster.
Burmese: Collectively, the people of Burma or Myanmar.
Model of Schooling: Sometimes referred to as "cultural models of schooling," the model of schooling theory likely originated with Ogbu's (1991) contention that different cultural models provoke different behaviors [Ogbu, J. U. (1991) Immigrant and involuntary migrants in comparative perspective.]. Thus, the cultural model of a particular group (US Burmese refugees, in this chapter) is connected with the academic success or failure of the members of that group. This chapter considers differing cultural models inherent in US schools and in Burmese schools, and explores US Burmese refugees' adjustment or adaptation challenges within US schooling models..