examining the journey of former refugee youths living in Australia

253 Pages·2014·2.27 MB·English

University of Wollongong
Research Online
University of Wollongong Tesis Collection University of Wollongong Tesis Collections
2013
A search for a new identity: examining the journey
of former refugee youths living in Australia
Jonnell Uptin
University of Wollongong
Recommended Citation
Uptin, Jonnell, A search for a new identity: examining the journey of former refugee youths living in Australia, Doctor of Philosophy
thesis, School of Education, University of Wollongong, 2013. htp://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/4017
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A search for a new identity
Examining the journey of former refugee
youths living in Australia

A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the
requirements for the award of the degree
Doctor of Philosophy
from
University of Wollongong
by
Jonnell Uptin
Dip Teach, Dip C Min, Grad Dip TESOL, M. Ed

School of Education, Faculty of Social Science
2013

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Thesis Certification
I, Jonnell Uptin declare that this thesis, submitted in fulfilment of the
requirements of the award of Doctor of Philosophy, in the Faculty of Social
Sciences – School of Education, University of Wollongong is wholly my own
work unless referenced or acknowledged. The document has been submitted for
qualifications at any other academic institution.

Jonnell Uptin

September 2013

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Acknowledgements
As I’ve travelled the world I’ve heard the desires of many of my friends for a
good education at whatever level they were at but the expense has blocked
them. So first of all, I must acknowledge and thank the Australian government for
believing and equipping its citizens in pursuing higher degree research. Thank you
too to Mr Gough Whitlam who paved the way for working class kids like me to
plod into the halls of tertiary education.
To my supervisors Associate Professor Valerie Harwood and Professor Jan
Wright I owe a huge debt of gratitude. The conversations, the insight and
knowledge you generously afforded me has been inspiring. To Associate
Professor Valerie Harwood thank you for the opportunities and wisdom you
have extended to me regarding academia. To Professor Jan Wright, thank you
for your patience and ability to guide and break down difficult concepts so that I
came away with deeper understanding, I have so enjoyed learning with you.
Jen – thank you. What a road we have trod together! I love this journey with
you. You never stopped believing and encouraging. You listened even though I
know you were bored to tears, you waited through my doctorate dreaming, you
taught me to look at the detail. Thank you. To our Duang and Deen, life is warm
and beautiful with you two in it. And our friends the beautiful Burgans, the Kidds,
the Grays, Jan and Gail, Rick and Rob, Jane and Carolyn, Narelle and Aileen and
Sparrow – no longer will I hear the words, ‘have you finished yet?’ Also to the
people I look up to who work tirelessly for the poorest in our world, Esther and
Rob, Laura Borg, Karen Smith, Kit Ripley, Apple and dearest Jane Arnott who
first took me on the back of her motor bike to meet her children so many years
ago.
It’s the people you meet along the way that makes life rich and this is certainly
true of my colleagues. Firstly I’d like to thank Associate Professor Ken
Cruickshank, your passion for teaching in higher education opened my eyes to a
new world. Thank you for your encouragement and wisdom. To my PhD
buddies, the conversations and you listening to me rave has really helped, Rosie
Welch, Nici Humphrey, Janine Delenhunty, Catherine Hartung, Catherine
Threw, Anthony McKnight, Sharon Sam McMahon, Kakumi Kai , Narumi

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Toyumo, Mark Fraser and Sue Denny, we had a lot of laughs and much fewer
tears.
I learnt to read later than most, before that my mum read everything to me then
as I learnt to read and write and sing mum was with me. Dad took us travelling
to every museum in Australia. Mum said I don’t care if they say you’re dumb,
you’re mine and I love ya. That unconditional love, that seeing past what others
see, that salt of the earth gutsy woman – thanks mum. To Dean and Cheryl –
maybe now I’ll get a bit of respect. Ha.
Thank you to my God, the one who walks with me and talks with me and shows
me how deeply You love this world.
Finally, to the young people that are featured in this study, thank you. You gave
your heart. I am deeply grateful. Now I see you writing your own stories and
singing your own songs and I celebrate every step of the way with you.

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Dedication

To the three women in my life who hold my heart with such tenderness
My mum Helen,
My soul mate Jen Milligan
and
My daughter Duang.

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Publications Statement.
This thesis includes chapters that have been written as the following journal articles:
Chapter Four:
Jonnell Uptin, Jan Wright & Valerie Harwood (2014): Finding education: Stories of how young
former refugees constituted strategic identities in order to access school, Race Ethnicity and
Education, DOI: 10.1080/13613324.2014.885428
Chapter Five:
Uptin, J. Wright, J. and Harwood, V .2013, ‘It felt like I was a black dot on white paper’:
Examining young former refugees’ experience of entering Australian high schools. Australian
Educational Researcher (2013) 40:125–137.DOI 10.1007/s13384-012-0082-8
Chapter Six:
Uptin, J. Wright, J. and Harwood, V .2013, ‘Doing it alone’: Examining the intergenerational
relationships of former refugee young people from African countries in resettlement.
Chapter Seven:
Uptin, J. 2013, ‘Belonging to a Memory: Examining how young Ethnic Burmese former refugees
make sense of resettlement’. Submitted to Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education.
As the primary supervisor, I Associate Professor Valerie Harwood, declare that the greater part
of the work in each article listed above is attributed to the candidate Jonnell Uptin. In each of the
above manuscripts Jonnell contributed to the study design and collected the data. The first draft
of each was written by the candidate and then Jonnell was responsible for responding to the
editing suggestions of her co- authors. Professor Jan Wright and Associate Professor Valerie
Harwood were responsible for assisting in study design, interpreting data and editing manuscripts.
Jonnell has been solely responsible for submitting each manuscript for publication to the relevant
journals, and has been in charge of responding to the reviewer’s comments, with assistance from
her co-authors. Please note that Article Four has one author, Jonnell Uptin.

Jonnell Uptin, PhD Candidate
Principal Supervisor A/Professor Valerie Harwood.

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Table of Contents
Chapter One ................................................................................................. xvii
Introduction ................................................................................................. xvii
Introduction to the Research Problem .................................................................... 1
Aim of the Study ....................................................................................................2
Theories that guide this research ............................................................................ 6
Defining Terms .................................................................................................................. 11
Research Design ................................................................................................... 12
Research Questions .................................................................................................. 13
Rationale ............................................................................................................. 15
An Autobiographical Note .................................................................................... 18
Vignette 1: Researcher’s Background ...................................................................... 19
Vignette 2: Thailand. ................................................................................................ 20
Vignette 3: Back ‘home’ ........................................................................................... 22
Structuring and Presenting the Thesis. .................................................................. 23
Chapter Two .................................................................................................. 26
| Background ................................................................................................. 26
Describing the Context ......................................................................................... 27
A new world for forced migrants ............................................................................. 27
The nature of new wars. ......................................................................................... 29
Positioning ‘the refugee’ in global discourse ......................................................... 30
Theorizing the discourse of ‘the stranger’ ............................................................... 32
The forgotten world of educating refugee children and young people. .................. 35
Education in camps ................................................................................................. 38
Moving toward gender parity in education............................................................. 40
Refugee children not in camps ................................................................................ 40
Access to Higher Education for refugees ................................................................. 41
The stories of refugee children and young people from qualitative research......... 42
Definition of resettlement........................................................................................ 45
Australia’s resettlement program ............................................................................ 46
Refugees are the first of their culture ...................................................................... 47
Resettlement for young people ............................................................................... 48
Chapter 3 ....................................................................................................... 54

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| Methodology .............................................................................................. 54
Methodology ....................................................................................................... 55
Using Narratives ....................................................................................................... 55
The Setting for the research ..................................................................................... 56
The Participants ................................................................................................... 57
Cultural perceptions of age. ..................................................................................... 58
Strategies in Recruiting......................................................................................... 59
Data Collection .................................................................................................... 61
The Interview ........................................................................................................... 61
Allowing space for storytelling. ................................................................................ 62
The Focus groups...................................................................................................... 66
The African Girls’ Focus Group ................................................................................. 67
The Burmese Focus Group ....................................................................................... 68
Member Checking .................................................................................................... 70
Maintaining Confidentiality ...................................................................................... 70
Data analysis ........................................................................................................ 71
Ethical Considerations .......................................................................................... 76
Results ..................................................................................................................... 77
Limitations ........................................................................................................... 78
Discovering how the theoretical framework informed the practice ................................ 79
The disjuncture between ‘Western youth’ and the youth in this study ........................... 79
Chapter Four ................................................................................................. 83
Finding Education .......................................................................................... 83
Finding Education: Stories of how Young Former Refugees Constituted Strategic
Identities in Order to Access School ...................................................................... 83
Abstract ............................................................................................................... 84
Introduction ......................................................................................................... 85
The Framing Discourses of ‘the Refugee’ ................................................................. 87
Methodology ....................................................................................................... 89
Participants .............................................................................................................. 90
Thematic Analysis .................................................................................................... 90
Finding education as a refugee ............................................................................. 91
Finding Education: Strategic Identities..................................................................... 92
Sing Me. .................................................................................................................... 93
Jacqueline ................................................................................................................. 97

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