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Overcoming Educational Challenges: Resilience Factors Among Refugee Students

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Abstract

There are many refugee students in US schools. Because the role of education is paramount in refugees’ efforts to adapt to the USA, educators must understand the problems refugee students encounter and how to help them succeed. The purpose of this chapter is to share findings from a qualitative phenomenological narrative study on the factors contributing to resilience among student refugees in Southeast Texas community colleges. Data from one-on-one interviews with five refugees and asylum seekers suggested that despite various challenges refugee students faced, they still enjoyed successful educational experiences. Resilience factors and adaptive characteristics that lead to refugee students’ educational success are discussed. Implications for practice such as creating a supportive environment and implementing cultural competency training for educators and leaders are also provided.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lamar University, Beaumont, TX, USA

    Clementine Msengi, Ann Elizabeth Marsh & Sandra Harris

Authors
  1. Clementine Msengi
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  2. Ann Elizabeth Marsh
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  3. Sandra Harris
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Correspondence to Clementine Msengi .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Soka University of America, Aliso Viejo, CA, USA

    Rosemary Papa

Section Editor information

  1. The Graduate School, Soka University of America, Aliso Viejo, California, USA

    John M. Heffron

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Msengi, C., Marsh, A.E., Harris, S. (2020). Overcoming Educational Challenges: Resilience Factors Among Refugee Students. In: Papa, R. (eds) Handbook on Promoting Social Justice in Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14625-2_124

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