Educational experiences and outcomes for adult South Sudanese refugees and migrants in Australian technical and further education (TAFE) in Australia

Abstract

Increasing conflicts, political, economic and environmental crises have resulted in the migration of South Sudanese refugees and migrants to Australia. As they settle into Australian society, a significant number of South Sudanese refugees and migrants have entered TAFE education including Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT) in order to gain skills to help them improve their English proficiency and find employment to support their families.
There is limited research into their education experience and this research was undertaken to examine how Sudanese refugees negotiate their places in TAFE, policies, programs and support services available for refugees and the impact on their learning. Most importantly it examines the reasons why South Sudanese refugee students choose TAFE and what the skills acquired in TAFE mean to them
Qualitative research approaches were employed to collect data from South Sudanese students, teaching staff and management from CIT. Qualitative analysis was utilised because it is best suited to understanding peoples’ lived experiences. Qualitative data was manually analysed using thematic analysis because of its accuracy in filtering large data sets, identifying themes and interpreting data to make meanings of participants’ views. Honneth’s Recognition, Trauma theory and Mezirow’s Transformation theory were used as theoretical frameworks to analyse, and broadly contextualise the meaning of their experiences in TAFE.
Findings show that TAFE is useful for Sudanese students because TAFE provides an alternative pathway to acquire vocational skills, work experiences and improve communication skills needed in the labour markets, as well as to function socially in Australian society. This study also revealed a deep-rooted cultural perception among Sudanese students that vocational education was only for adult learners and many perceived university degrees as the most valuable educational attainment.
The study has also found that TAFE contributed to Sudanese Students’ trauma treatment and coping. Gaining appropriate skills and work experiences motivated Sudanese refugees and the availability of paid work helped engage them in continuing work, relieving financial stress and improving their socioeconomic lives in their new environment. The study has found different gender experiences for Sudanese students at TAFE. Women were found to struggle more to complete TAFE courses than men due to social and cultural issues, family responsibilities and limited previous education which affected their long-term employment commitment.
This study concluded that TAFE is transformative for Sudanese students who enrol in CIT but the transformative experiences may not be enough for some Sudanese women in TAFE to challenge Sudanese social and cultural factors.

Date of Award	2023
Original language	English
Supervisor	Ernest KOH (Supervisor), Bethaney TURNER (Supervisor) & Artie MCCARTHY (Supervisor)