Navigating the Schoolyard: Refugee Children’s Construction of Identity in an Urban American School

The children of refugees face a difficult situation when coming the United States. They are expected to assimilate to the American ideal by the American public, as demonstrated through teachers and administrators. At the same time, these children are expected to maintain their families’ cultural identity and traditions. These children struggle with the various conflicting messages sent and received about identity, not only their personal identity, but more importantly, their social identity. A study was conducted in an urban American school from the spring of 1998 to the summer of 1999. An English for Speakers of Other Languages reception class was the focus of the study, with consideration of the family and surroundings these children found themselves in. The children were mainly Iraqi refugees, both Kurdish and Arabic, spanning ages 8-12 (3-5 grade). Ethnography and participant observation were used as the principle tools to investigate and understand the process of identity formation. The children, involved in the ESOL classroom, were confronted daily with conflicting messages about culture, race and identity. Over the time period of the study, the school acted as a major factor in socialization and Americanization, with the children subjected to the variety of culturally discriminatory acts, as well as denied access to education. The battle over the control of the reception class, as well as the confusion over the structure of the reception class, allowed for the children to be neglected educationally. They were repeatedly left out of classroom activities and mandated education. The children, over the course of the study, demonstrate their abilities to affect the outcome of the process of assimilation and Americanization. The children are agents, focusing their energies in ways that allow them to fully experience the new culture, but also allowing them to maintain their cultural traditions of home. The resistance of the children to Americanization, as well as their modifications of the home culture allow the children to create and maintain social identities that are fluid enough to allow full participation in two worlds.