Date of Award

2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

First Advisor

Cynthia C. Reyes

Abstract

This alternative dissertation format explores the multifaceted roles and experiences of multicultural liaisons in refugee education through a qualitative case study focused on a single participant, Amira, an Arabic-speaking liaison with refugee background, and which consists of two unpublished manuscripts. The first manuscript, "Building Bridges, Reframing Narratives: Insights from an Arabic Liaison's Experiences with Community Cultural Wealth," employs Tara Yosso’s Community Cultural Wealth (CCW) model to examine Amira's cultural brokering efforts in bridging educational and cultural divides for families with refugee backgrounds. It highlights Amira’s approach to strategic relationship-building with families and students, and the interplay between her personal CCW and professional identity to achieve that approach. This manuscript acknowledges the contributions of multicultural liaisons in educational discourse and practice. The second manuscript, "In Her Own Words: A Translanguaging Exploration of a Multicultural Liaison's School Role and Experience," interrogates the limitations of monolingual English methodologies in capturing the full narrative and cultural richness in the textual data of multilingual participants. By incorporating the concept of translanguaging, the study examines the depth and complexity of Amira's experiences. This manuscript challenges the linguistic hegemony of English-only in research methodology. Together, these two manuscripts underscore the importance of recognizing and leveraging the cultural and linguistic assets of multicultural liaisons in refugee education, calling for a more inclusive and linguistically diverse approach to educational research and practice.

Language

en

Number of Pages

219 p.

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