Our project investigates the language and literacy education of refugee and migrant background children and youth, a student population insufficiently researched. Knowledge in this arena is critically important to optimize the social and economic well-being of all students in Canadian communities and beyond. Children and youth from refugee and migrant backgrounds, displaced from their countries of origin, face challenges of social and educational integration because resettling in Canada and entering local school systems requires rapid development of English or French language and literacy skills to stay abreast of their same-age peers in school. Educators in elementary and secondary schools often struggle to identify, understand and meet the language and literacy teaching and learning needs of refugee and migrant background students, particularly those who have had limited or interrupted access to formal schooling prior to their arrival.
We have developed a multi-site research study in school districts where we have long-standing relationships in British Columbia.
This website showcases a research project funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (Insight Grant no. 435–2017-0338). The study has been reviewed by the UBC Behavioral Research Ethics Board (Certificate no. H17-01074), and the procedures were found to be acceptable on ethical grounds for research involving human subjects.
Child and Youth Refugee Study 