Portraits of young refugee women’s identities, experiences, and beliefs in relation to college-going
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2023-07-31
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jats:sec <jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Purpose</jats:title> jats:pThis study aims to explore the stories of two young refugee women, Sue Mar and Amora, and how their adolescent identities, experiences, and beliefs, partially shaped by their English teacher, helped pave their paths to higher education.</jats:p> </jats:sec> jats:sec <jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Design/methodology/approach</jats:title> jats:pThis study is guided by the lens of critical literacy as “a way of being and doing” (Vasquez jats:italicet al.</jats:italic>, 2019). The authors chose portraiture, a participant-centered methodology, as a response to the historical marginalization of refugees, to bring their voices to the forefront (Lawrence-Lightfoot and Davis, 1997). They draw from interviews conducted with Sue Mar and Amora, document analysis, and an interview with the English teacher.</jats:p> </jats:sec> jats:sec <jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Findings</jats:title> jats:pIn Sue Mar and Amora’s portraits, aspiration and determination are seen as primary factors in their college-going. In addition, Sue Mar and Amora were propelled by their English teacher’s support through the cultivation of a loving relationship, high expectations, and critical pedagogical practices. Their family and community fostered beliefs about the power and potential of education, and other refugees served as important role models.</jats:p> </jats:sec> jats:sec <jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Research limitations/implications</jats:title> jats:pResearchers should explore refugee students’ experiences accessing higher education.</jats:p> </jats:sec> jats:sec <jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Practical implications</jats:title> jats:pEnglish educators should connect literature to the lived experiences of their students to show that they value their students’ knowledge and past experiences.</jats:p> </jats:sec> jats:sec <jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Social implications</jats:title> jats:pPolicymakers should consider the role that community colleges play in the lives of refugee students and should support programs including tuition reduction for refugee students.</jats:p> </jats:sec> jats:sec <jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Originality/value</jats:title> jats:pAs only 6% of refugees currently attend college (UNHCR, 2023), it is essential to understand factors that contributed to students’ college-going.</jats:p> </jats:sec>
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Mann, Jennifer C, and Alison McGlinn Turner (2023). Portraits of young refugee women’s identities, experiences, and beliefs in relation to college-going. English Teaching: Practice & Critique, 22(3). pp. 368–380. 10.1108/etpc-07-2022-0085 Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/28790.
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Jennifer Mann
Jennifer C. Mann, Ph.D. is a Research Scientist at the Center for Child and Family Policy in the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University, where she conducts equity-centered education research focused on improving educational opportunities for students from immigrant and refugee backgrounds. She teaches Child Policy Research in the Sanford School of Public Policy and serves as an Adjunct Instructor in Duke's Program in Education, where she teaches Instructional Methods for Teaching Multilingual Learners. Dr. Mann is also a 2026–2027 North Carolina Education Policy Fellow, a statewide leadership program that prepares education leaders to advance equitable education policy.
Dr. Mann is the principal investigator for the Critical In-Depth Reading and Wellbeing (CIDR) project, a five-year, school-based research and professional learning initiative that examines how literacy instruction can support adolescent wellbeing for students from immigrant and refugee backgrounds. Grounded in social-emotional learning, culturally responsive pedagogy, and critical literacy, CIDR partners with three North Carolina school districts to work with middle and high school ESL teachers and students. Using mixed-methods research, the project examines how teacher beliefs, instructional practices, and student outcomes evolve over time, with the goal of co-developing a flexible, scalable model that advances literacy, language development, and student wellbeing.
Beyond her project-based research, Dr. Mann leads the Equity in Research Learning Collaborative, which advances equity-centered research by supporting investigators in integrating equitable and community-engaged practices throughout the research lifecycle—from defining research questions and building partnerships to implementation, interpretation, and dissemination.
In addition, Dr. Mann supports BELLA (Bridging English Language Learning and Academics), an Institute of Education Sciences (IES)-funded research initiative focused on designing and testing asset-based professional learning to strengthen literacy instruction for educators of multilingual learners. This work is supported by multiple randomized controlled trials that have demonstrated significant improvements in literacy outcomes for multilingual learners whose teachers participated in BELLA professional development.
As part of Duke's Program in Education, Dr. Mann contributes to the strategic growth of Duke TeachHouse, supporting program development, funding acquisition, and long-term sustainability for equity-minded early-career teachers. She also co-leads the Bass Connections project, Scaling Duke TeachHouse: Innovating Public Education, an interdisciplinary initiative that studies the implementation and expansion of the Duke TeachHouse model while engaging undergraduate and graduate students in community-engaged research.
With 20 years of experience as an educator and teacher educator, Dr. Mann has taught high school English, elementary and adult English as a Second Language (ESL), and undergraduate and graduate pre-service teachers. She earned her Ph.D. in Teacher Education and Learning Sciences from North Carolina State University, with a specialization in Literacy and English Language Arts.
Dr. Mann's research interests include community-engaged scholarship, immigrant and refugee education, multilingual learner literacy, teacher professional learning, participatory qualitative methodologies, and education policy.
Areas of Expertise
- K-12 Education
- ESL Education
- English Language Arts
- Refugee & Immigrant Students
- Teacher Education
- Qualitative Research
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