- Title
- Refugee children’s enactment of resilience within the South African school system
- Creator
- Perumal, Juliet Christine
- Subject
- Refugee children - South Africa - Social aspects, Refugee children - South Africa - Education
- Date
- 2014
- Type
- Article
- Identifier
- http://ujcontent.uj.ac.za8080/10210/375160
- Identifier
- uj:6139
- Identifier
- ISBN 978-84-617-2484-0
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10210/13182
- Description
- Since the advent of democracy in 1994, South Africa has experienced waves of newcomers – people fleeing wars, drought and poverty from countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Angola, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Somalia and Ethiopia. South Africa did not recognize refugees until 1993. It was only following the transition to democracy, that the country became a signatory to the United Nations and Organization of African Unity Conventions on Refugees. Despite South African legislation making provision for refugees to seek shelter in the country, unlike other African countries, South Africa does not have any refugee camps. Refugees survive largely without assistance. This article reports on qualitative research, conducted with refugee children attending the Refugee Bridging Program at Mercy College in Johannesburg, South Africa. The aim of this article if to provide pen portraits of their pre-flight, flight and settlement experiences; reflect on their social and academic integration experiences into South African schooling; and discuss their career aspirations as these issues emerged from interviews data. The article draws on theoretical insights from deconstructionist conceptions of hospitality and guest-host dialectics. It also draws on relevant concepts from Bronfenbrenner’s [1] bio-ecological theory as it relates to environmental variables that shape human development.
- Publisher
- ICERI
- Rights
- © 2014, ICERI
- Full Text
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