Immigrant family case study

Running Head: IMMIGRANT FAMILY CASE STUDY 1

Immigrant Family Case Study

Groups members names

Students id

Alan Faigal

Ryerson University

December 1, 2014

Immigrant Family Case Study 2

Table of Contents

Group Contract 3-4

Introduction 5

Social and Cultural Profile of the Family 6-8

The Family System 9-11

Impact of “immigration” on family life 12-14

Community Resource List 15-20

Personal Reflections 21-25

Relevance to Early Childhood Professionals 26-28

Conclusion 29-30

References 31-33

Appendices 34-42

Introduction Letter 43

Tracking Form 44

Grading Rubric 45


Immigrant Family Case Study

Group Contract

Name of Group Member

Assigned tasks(Distribution of Assignment tasks listed online, scheduled family visits)

Working deadlines for assigned tasks

Signature

U A Type the questions for the interview. Introduction Social and cultural profile of the

family (ethnic origin, culture, religion of the family)

Personal reflection (comparison to my family)

Citing the sources. Printing out the contract. Proofreading the assignment, and

putting it all together. Responsible for printing it (everyone

contributed in the cost).

Continue working on our assigned parts and meet up with the group between November 21-23, 2014 to put everything together.

R R Impact of “immigration” on family life

(Settlement into the GTA (motivation/reason for immigration)- Working together with Amna

Does the “culture/identity” of their community link to the family’s cultural identity?)

Community Resource (Articles, Journals, online resources)

Personal Reflection (Comparison to my family)

Finding external sources.


AM Look for a family. Continue working


Personal Reflection (comparison to my family)

Interview the family and type up the answers of the interview.


on our assigned parts and meet up with the group between November 21-23, 2014 to put everything together.

S I Personal Reflection (comparison to my family)

Come up with a list of interview questions to share with other group members

The Family System Conclusion List the core values of the family,

roles, responsibility, parenting philosophy and behavior management methods



S S Come up with interview questions Overview and description of the

family’s profile (including social and cultural aspects)

Relevance to an Early Childhood professionals.

Personal reflection (comparison to my family or other families I know)




Introduction

To begin with, one of our group members, (A), went to college in 2012, and she met (W),

who was also in the same program as (A). When (A) spoke to (W), she found out that she

belonged to an immigrant family from Bangladesh. As a group, we decided to choose this family

because this was a family that had a really great life in Bangladesh. By great life, we mean that

they had a business; (W) was a professor, and both parents were working in their own fields. Not

only that, but they also had stable income, benefits, status, and a great family support system.

However, after coming to Canada, they had to start their life from scratch, which meant that

Jamil (father) gave up his education, and had to work in a very different field that required

physical work. Moreover, (W) credentials were not recognized, and she had to go to college to

study further. Therefore, they had to work with what they had and adapt to a new country.

We found out that there were four members in the family, including mother, father, and

two daughters. The daughters were thirteen and nine years old, and both were school going.

Jamil, who had a degree in finance, got a job in a company that was not related to his field at all.

On the other hand, (W) had to go back to study further to work. In addition, the family resided in

an apartment, in the North York area.

Overall, unfortunately, all of us were not able to go together to interview (W)because she

only preferred (A), who she met in college. We respected her decision because she took out the

time to meet, and answer our questions. Moreover, since she was really busy, we were only able

to do one personal interview; however, she agreed to do two phone interviews to answer, and

clarify some questions as well. Overall, we were able to get a good idea of the family’s

background and the challenges faced through the interview.


Social and Cultural Profile of the Family

The ethnic origin of the family is Bangladesh, which is a South Asian country (Personal

Communication, 2014). Both Jamil and (W) were born and raised in Bangladesh. Afia and

Nashia were born and raised in Bangladesh for a few years, before moving to Canada with their

parents. (W) family has a strong belief in practicing their culture and religion. “Culture refers to

a society or a group’s total way of life” (Faigal, 2014). It includes all learned behaviors such as

language, values, and norms practiced in the family. The family’s home language was Bangla,

and they felt that communication between family members created a stronger bond and

connection in the family.

Moreover, communicating with other individuals should be done in a respectful manner

such as talking in a decent tone. (W) gave an example of communicating with elders in a proper

manner because they deserve that respect. The family had many values that were put into

practice, but (W) highlighted 3 important values. They were to respect others, to care for others,

and to spend a lot of quality time with family members. In Bangladesh, living with extended

family members is a part of their family’s norm (Personal Communication, 2014). However,

when they moved to Canada, it was a cultural shock for them to live as a single family, and they

had to adjust to the changes as time passed by. This was the stage when individuals felt anxiety

and confusion to live in a new environment, but eventually they slowly started to adjust and

recover from the shock (W-pattern, 2014).

The family faced different kinds of challenges when they moved to Canada. Afia and

Nashia adapted to the Canadian culture faster because they were still young compared to how

their parents adapted to the new culture. They didn’t have extended families living close to them

in order to make the changes easier for them. In Bangladesh, (J) had a major in Finance and (W)


had a major in Philosophy from Dhaka University (Personal Communication, 2014). When they

moved to Canada, they had to adjust to the fact that they could not find a job only because they

did not study their program in Canada. (W) felt that there should be assessments or training

programs for immigrants to make it easier for them to get a job (Personal Communication,

2014). Most immigrants felt that Canada is not friendly to immigrants when it came to getting

them jobs, related to their skills (McMahon, 2013).

As a Muslim family, practicing Islam was an important part of their lifestyle. (W)

emphasized on praying 5 times a day on a daily basis, and wearing the hijab. She felt that these

are some acts to show gratitude, and thank God for how far her and her family managed to cope

to a new lifestyle with all the hardships they went through (Personal Communication, 2014).

Moreover, another challenge that was faced by the family was discrimination. For example, in

the interview, (W) mentioned that she wore a hijab due to her religious values, and despite of

Canada being a diverse country, she faced discrimination in school. According to Darrell

Bowden, “Discrimination is any form of unequal treatment, based on code grounds, that result in

disadvantage, whether imposing extra burdens or denying benefits. It may be obvious or it may

occur in very subtle ways” (Bowden, 2014). The examples that were discussed in the interview

showed that the discrimination she faced was very obvious, to the point where she felt

uncomfortable. Another example, where she mentioned that out of all the students, only her and

her friends were checked to see if the things were put away for a test. This example clearly

showed, the discrimination being obvious, and may be intentional. This example, also related to

the hate pyramid, where discrimination is the third stage, and the actions that lead to

discrimination are prejudiced attitudes and acts of prejudice (The Pyramid of Hate, 2003).

Therefore, the discrimination that she faced started with these attitudes, for example, when she


answered in the class; the teachers never accepted those answers. This behavior then led to

discrimination, which became really obvious for her.

Media’s role in an individual’s perspective on religion, race, and identity can be very

crucial. Some movies and shows stereotype certain identities, which make viewers, think and

believe it’s real about everyone with that identity. For example, the news portrays terrorist acts

done by Muslims from a certain race. However, it does not make all of the Muslims the same.

After the September 11, 2001 attack, minorities were targeted when they departed from or

arrived to Canada (Angelini, 2012, p. 113). These minorities were mostly Middle Eastern people,

whether they were Muslims or not. The more the media’s influence grows in our society, the

more influence it has on the society’s ideology, values, and norms.


The Family System

One of the main core values of the family was having a strong family bond. When the

family was in Bangladesh, they not only lived as a family, but also lived with their extended

family as well. Included in the shared house were (W) four brother in-laws with their wives, and

children. (W) discussed how the family culture was different here because there were a lot of

single families, whereas before she only saw larger, extended families living together (Personal

Communication, 2014). One of the other core values of the family was family bonding. The

family spent as much time as they could around each other, so that they could have that strong

bond with each other. This was due to the bond that she had with her family in Bangladesh, and

wanted her children to have those same experiences. Being respectful and instilling respect in

others is another family’s core value as well. (W) found that the English language slightly took

away from showing the utmost respect, compared to her native language Bengali. She stated that

whenever you refer to someone in English you say ‘you’, no matter who the person is, but in

Bengali they had three different ways of saying it. There was a formal, informal, and a way to

say it if you were familiar, and close to the person (Personal Communication, 2014). (W) and (J)

tried to teach their children to instill that respect towards others, and make the effort when

speaking in English, although the English language itself did not differentiate. On the other hand,

religion and faith were also one of the biggest core values in the family; they were very devoted

Muslims.

Some of (W) roles in the family were to be a wife, mother, and a caregiver. She woke up

at 6 AM every morning to prepare breakfast, and lunch for her husband. She then spends the

time until 7:30, preparing hers and her kids lunches, going over the news and watching religious

sermons. She was also responsible for waking her kids up at 7:30, and getting them as well as


herself ready for work and school. Once she came home from work she was also responsible for

preparing dinner. One of (W) other roles was to be one of the financial supporters of the family.

She supported her family financially by working as a supply teacher through an agency called

Sentient. Her work schedule was also very inconsistent due to her job being a supply teacher, and

her income was very dependent on whether certain schools needed a supply teacher and how

often.

The biggest role of (J) was to be the main financial supporter of (W) and her two

daughters. He got up at 6:30 every morning, and headed out to work. Due to his qualifications in

financing, not being recognized, he worked at a wheel chair company that required a lot of heavy

lifting, but he had grown to enjoy the work. One of his other roles was to be a caregiver to his

children, while his wife was at work because he got home earlier than her. Moreover, he was also

responsible for beginning to prepare dinner so that when she got home, she could continue

cooking it. The main role and responsibility of the two daughters were to go to school, and get an

education, while listening and respecting their parents. Although Cottrell & Vanderplaat

suggested that immigrant families have more difficulty merging family roles and responsibilities

from their home country and their current country (Cottrell & Vanderplaat, 2011); Waheda and

her family appeared to have adapted very well to it.

Within the Colorosso Recipe, (W) and her family fell under the category of The

Backbone Family (Faigal, n.d.). We were able to determine this through (W) response to our

questions as well as watching her interaction with her children, while she was being interviewed.

(W) and (J) overall parenting philosophy was to show their children respect, discipline,

responsibility and to spend lots of time with their children. By demonstrating those

characteristics to their children, they felt their children would follow their example and learn


from their actions; they chose to lead by example. Their main house rules, which absolutely

could not be broken, were to say all their prayers on time, and to always have dinner as a family

(Personal Communication, 2014).

(W) was more involved with disciplining her children, whereas her husband took a

backseat role. To manage her children’s behavior she chose to use the “I Message” strategy. She

decided to talk to her children about the behavior or issues, why it was wrong and what they

could do to fix it. She found that this strategy worked for her. She explained that her children

listened to her, when she used this strategy, and found it very effective. However, in situations,

where she found that her children have seriously misbehaved, she chose to discipline them

because she believed that there were situations where discipline was a need (Personal

Communication, 2014). (W) and her family fall under the backbone family because her and her

husband met many of descriptors mentioned in that specific category. The descriptors included

that her family had unconditional love, an environment that was structured, it balanced flexibility

with discipline, and interdependence was celebrated in the family (Faigal, 2014). The family also

gave each other lots of hugs, smiles, and the parents motivated their children to be who they

were. The house rules were simple, and also clearly stated (Faigal, 2014). As Joel Hilchey

suggested in his presentation that one of the biggest things that (W) and her husband did was that

they encouraged their children to take risks, and venture into things that they may not be sure of

(Hilchey, 2012).


Impact of “immigration” on Family Life

Canada, an opportunity land for better future of children, families, elder and most

importantly everyone with race, gender, ethnical, or religious differences. For this immigrant

family, the major reason that motivated them to reside in Canada was a peaceful and a better

future. Evidently (W) said, “Canada is a great place for me and my family to live in. It is safe

and peaceful country that can offer my children a better future” (Personal Communication,

2014). When choosing to move to a different country, one major factor involved having people

that they knew. (W) chose to move to Canada instead of Australia because she had relatives here.

As she mentioned, “With the help of my cousin who lived here in Toronto. She helped us find

the apartment we are living in right now.” (Personal Communication, 2014). It was important

having her cousin because when moving to a country, where everything was different from back

home, one leading shoulder could be the support of relatives who were already settled.

When coming to reside in Canada, this immigrant family had to go over some

procedures, which were to some extent, easy and difficult. Both (W)and Jamil were highly

educated, as Jamil majored in Finance, and (W) majored in Philosophy from Taka University;

they were easily eligible to reside in Canada as skilled workers. However, the drawback was the

amount of $10,000 that was needed to enter into Canada. This amount was shown as evidence,

that they could support their family, when new to Canada. The amount was a lot for her family,

but they managed because it was a condition to enter Canada.

In the processes of residing in Canada, this family had to face stages of challenges which

somewhere were hard to deal with; however, they were able to cope with them. Referring to the

W Pattern, when (W) came to Canada in the hope of a better future, everything was going

reasonable for her. She found an apartment with the support of her relatives, and was living with


her family happily, until she found out about Canadian work system. She found out that she was

unable to work with the qualifications she gained from Bangladesh, unless she completed her

education from Canada (W Pattern, 2014). As she mentioned, “I can’t work here professionally

with my credentials, I had from back home; it was very challenging for me” (Personal

Communication, 2014). This was a stage where she started to feel that things were getting hard,

also known as the first isolation (W Pattern, 2014). She said, “I was so sad because I was 39

years old, and in my culture 39 means you are so old, and there is nothing you can do. But, when

I came here, I had to make the decision to start all over, and gave up my previous life” (Personal

Communication, 2014). However, she showed the ability to bounce back or cope in the face of

adversity by choosing to join Centennial College for the Early Childhood Education program.

This stage was more like a recovery stage, according to the W Pattern (W Pattern, 2014). After

(W) joined the professional career program of ECE, she fell back into a major drawback where

things were in disequilibrium. This stage could relate to the second isolation depression in the W

Pattern (W Pattern, 2014). It was hard for her to understand, how to manage college and home

life together. Having a family, and having to devote to college was definitely a weakness for her.

AS she said, “Maintaining between my role as a mother and my role as a student was very

challenging.” (Personal Communication, 2014) Additionally, (W) also had to face challenges in

the college. She felt as a victim of discrimination. Since she was a Hijab wearing women, she felt

that the teachers had a different way of look at her. “Think out of the box”, “Have an open mind

“, and “Be objective” were some of the comments, which were passed by the teachers (Personal

Communication, 2014). (W) somewhere felt that teachers were having a different attitude

towards her ,and her friends because they were Muslim. According to the interview, “Teacher

said she will come to check if everyone put their things away from the table. The teacher came to


my group and she stood for 1 minute to check only mine and my friend table in the group then

she left” (Personal Communication, 2014). She felt as if she was being targeted because of her

religion. This stage of isolation was a very long period for her; She stayed in this stage until her

graduation. Finally, upon graduating as an Early Childhood Educator, she was able to find a job

in her field, as a supply teacher (chances of becoming a permanent teacher soon), she was able to

look after her family more, and most importantly had feelings of satisfaction. This stage seemed

to be the recovery stage or the plateau adjustment, in the W Pattern (W Pattern, 2014).

Despite of the drawbacks and challenges of residing in Canada, (W) ability to persevere,

and adapt when things did not go as expected, illustrated her ability to accept changes, and her

capacity to cope with adversity (W Pattern, 2014).


Community Resource List

TULA Downtown. (n.d.). Yoga Classes in Toronto. Retrieved from

http://tulahotyoga.com/classes-yoga.html

(W) works part-time job as a supply teacher, and full-time job as a mother and a wife.

She can participate in some relaxing activities to reduce her stress mentally, physically, and

emotionally. TULA Downtown provides women with different community classes taught by

professional instructors. It offers different types of Yoga classes, and I believe that (W) will

benefit from Hot Power Flow Yoga classes, since she’s a beginner (Yoga Classes in Toronto,

2014). This type of Yoga is a meditating class to build a stronger and flexible physical working

body, and allows Yoga students to focus on their next level of fitness (Yoga Classes in Toronto,

2014). In addition, there are a lot of health benefits, which (W) will get from doing Yoga, such

as stress reduction, enhanced emotional wellbeing, calm mind, greater energy and stamina (Yoga

Classes in Toronto, 2014). She can also check out a blog post for busy mothers trying to practice

Yoga. Ginger Garner is a role model for many busy mothers because even though she’s a busy

mother herself, she still finds the time to exercise regularly, and succeed in her lifestyle with hard

work and efforts. We constantly tend to give ourselves an excuse about not having the time, but

this resource can somehow fit into (W) schedule.


Johnston, N. (2014, April 12). Art Studio for Children. [Web log comment]. Retrieved from

http://www.artstudioforchildren.com/

“Art Studio for Children was born out of a need to find a wonderful place for my artistic

girls to explore creatively” (Nancy, 2014). Nancy, the founder of Art Studio for Children, has

been working in this field for 9 years teaching students from ages 3 to 13 years old. Nashia can

join this program, and have the opportunity to express her artistically, and develop new skills

along the way. At her age, children are able to portray more detailed and realistic images in their

artwork. This will help build up her artistic level, and support her through learning arts and

creativity. This is an amazing resource for both of the children in the family because (W) and

Jamil are so busy during the week that it gets really hard for them to manage their time between

work and personal life. Therefore, Art Studio would give their children an opportunity to show

their talent and learn something new and creative.


Ministry of Citizenship, Immigration, and International Trade. (2014, February 24). Ontario

Bridge Training. Retrieved November 27, 2014, from

http://www.citizenship.gov.on.ca/english/keyinitiatives/bridgetraining.shtml

The Ontario Bridge Program is a program funded by the government of Canada. The

purpose of it is to support new skilled workers in Canada. In addition, it helps people to obtain a

license or certificate within their own profession, which could help them find a job with their

skills in Ontario. The Ministry of Training introduced the OBP program that offers a bursary up

to $5,000 to the eligible participants. The programs will only cover the participant’s direct

education expenses that won’t be covered by OSAP. This program will help the skilled workers

with their tuition, material, equipment, and education expenses to ensure that each immigrant is

provided with an equal opportunity to succeed in Canada (Ontario Bridge Training, 2014).

According to the Government of Ontario, “We need to do a better job of welcoming immigrants.

This includes encouraging municipalities, stakeholders and employers to attract and retain skilled

immigrants who can make valuable contributions to local economies. Building stronger,

inclusive communities that promote and value diversity will help all Ontario municipalities grow

and succeed.” (Government of Ontario, 2012). I believe that the Ontario bridge program would

be a great resource for (J) because from my interview with the family, I felt that he had many

challenges to overcome as one of the breadwinners in the house. He couldn’t find a job that met

his qualifications, so he had to take the first available job he could find to support his family.

However, due to the financial limitation he couldn’t study again. That’s why I think this resource

will be a great source to meet his needs, and encourage him to pursue his previous career after

completing the program.


Government of Canada. (2014, January 1). Ontario Service Centre. Retrieved November 27,

2014, from http://www.canadabusiness.ca/eng/page/centre/sgc-35/#sgcselect

This is a governmental website that will provide the family with all the necessary

information about owning a business in Canada. The website is really helpful because it contains

information on how to plan, start, manage, and grow a business. Moreover it also has

information about having financial support, which is also very important information for a new

comer to have, as it will help them understand their potential challenges and prepare themselves

for it. According to Bullard (2011), "There are three primary reasons that businesses fail: lack of

a clear plan, lack of capital and poor management in today's business climate, it has become very

important that you, as a business owner, understand your business, set goals for its success and

learn new business and management skills. A good business plan will help you do those things"

(Bullard, 2011). I chose this resource because (W) mentioned during the interview that her

husband was interested in owning a business, but he did not know what kind of business would

be best to open in Canada and where. Therefore, I considered this website could answer all of

their questions, and provide them with step-by-step guidance to open their own business.


Library, T. P. (2014). Homework Help for Teens. Retrieved from Toronto Public Library:

http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/services/homework-help.jsp

The program Homework Help for Teens, offered by Toronto Public Library is an essential

program, which offers free help to students from grades 7 to 12 with homework. The program

has many tutors, who are willing to support children in any difficulties with schoolwork.

Moreover, this program also offers technologies such as computers, to allow children to learn

and explore more. This program is an essential source for the family because it’s a supportive

program for students to excel in school, it involves no registration, and it is free. This program

will help the eldest daughter, who is in grade seven with any homework assistance without the

struggle or stress of paying.

The reason for considering this resource for the daughter was because (W) felt the need to focus

more on her daughter’s education. The major reason for immigrant families to move to Canada is

the future of their children. Evidently she stated, “Yes, because the main reason that motivated us

to move here, was to provide our children with a better life” (Personal Communication, 2014).

Therefore, this resource would be an asset for the family.

Moreover, it is a great resource because it is very easy to enroll and students can get

assistance with any subject. Aside from that, it is also free, which is great because (W) family

have a specific budget that they have to work with. As she mentioned, “We check our bank

balance every month and based on that me and my husband we would discuss how to manage

our budgets” (Personal Communication, 2014). To live in Toronto, life could be very difficult for

new comers. In this situation, paying for tutoring can be problematic for families. Therefore,

after considering this situation, I chose this free tutoring program for her daughter as a necessary

need.


Baycrest. (2014). Youth Volunteer Program (ages 13-24). Retrieved from Baycrest:

http://www.baycrest.org/participate/volunteer-at-baycrest/youth-volunteer-program-

age-13-24/

Youth Volunteer program offered by Baycrest is an amazing volunteer opportunity for

children from ages 13 to 24. It is an opportunity to help make a difference in our society. In this

program, children work with elder people, who need assistance. They learn to be responsible,

respectful, and leaders. This program offers children with lifetime experience, and enhanced

skills. Moreover, it is an easy to enroll in program, and the registration is online.

This resource would be amazing for (W) daughters. The reason for choosing this resource

for (W) daughters was the amazing opportunity to volunteer, and learning to take leadership role,

which would benefit her in developing new skills. Furthermore this resource would be an asset

because of its amazing benefits. The benefit of strengthening resume for future, developing

leadership skills by working with different people, getting to interact with them, and facing new

challenges.

The opportunity to volunteer in Baycrest, where teens get to work with the elderly,

strengths the needs of not only the work environment, but also the needs of family tradition. (W)

mentions the importance of respecting elders, “I think I can say in one sentence taking care of

each other’s is the thing we feel each one of us is responsible for” (Personal Communication,

2014). In the volunteer program, children not only volunteer, but they also adapt and learn to

respect or care for the elders in any position, such as, meal-time assistance, creative and

recreational activities or friendly visiting (Baycrest, 2014). Therefore, this resource would be

amazing for (W) daughters because they would be working with new people and enhancing their

skills, while helping others.


Personal Reflections

(A) :

From my interview with (W) family, I noticed a lot of similarities between us two. For

instance we both have immigrated to Canada for a better life. Our experience in Canada wasn’t

easy at first, so we struggled through the process of adapting to our new environment. Leaving

our parents back home and coming here wasn’t an easy decision for us. Also, both of our

families follow the same religion, and that’s why we share many similarities, in the sense of

values, rules, and philosophy.

However we differ in our cultural background, language, experience, and age. I am

originally from Eritrea, and born in Saudi Arabia; I speak Arabic, Tigrinya, and English. When I

was 12 years old, my parents decided to send my sisters and me to Canada for better

opportunities. Canada was the first country, which we traveled to, at a young age; a country

where we had to take serious decision for ourselves. We were four girls without a guardian; the

oldest one among us was twenty years old. When we came here, we didn’t speak the language,

so we had a language barrier to overcome. Especially for my sister who had down syndrome; it

was very hard for her to adjust to the new language, and environment without our parents. Living

in another country alone without our family was very depressing and hard to deal with, in the

first few years. However, with time we managed to get out of the depression, and adapted to our

surroundings, as we got know more people from the community. Therefore, our experience was

very challenging, and exciting at the same time, since we had to learn how to be responsible for

ourselves without our parents. The only hard part was learning the language, which slowed our

transition in Canada comparing to (W) family.


(U):

My experience was both, similar and different than the interviewed family. In terms of

similarity, we share the same religion, and cultural background. In addition, the qualifications

that both of my parents received back home were not accepted here, and they were required to

take extra courses. For example, my dad was an electrical engineer, and a businessman back

home; however, he was not able to find any kind of job in his field. My mom also, had to work at

different stores to help my dad and make the ends meet at the time. As seen in the interview, (W)

had relatives in Canada, who helped her with anything she needed; similarly, when we came to

Canada; my aunt’s family helped us with anything and everything. Therefore, I feel and

understand the importance of having family in a new country.

In contrast, I noticed some other factors that were completely different than (W)

experience. For example, she did not have any problem with learning the language because she

learned it in her country. My family on the other hand, had the hardest time, especially my

parents; my dad still struggles with the language. Furthermore, in the interview, it seemed like

the family did not face a hard time during immigration. In comparison, my parents applied for

immigration in 2000, and we were told that we would be in Canada in about 8 months time. It

was not true at all because it took us six years to come to Canada; I literally forgot that we even

applied for Canada. Aside from the immigration, the interview showed that (W) faced a lot of

discrimination in college due to her religion and the way she dressed up. I totally understood

what she went through; however, I was lucky enough to not face discrimination in Canada.

Overall, I could totally relate to (W) experience because it was not easy being an

immigrant, and start our lives all over again. Nevertheless, we were able to manage, settle in a

new country and adapt to the new culture as well.


(S):

Many of the things (W) family went through, were similar to my parents as well, when

they immigrated to Canada. None of my father’s qualifications were recognized when he arrived

in Canada, and it really took a toll on his self-concept and sense of self. He went from travelling

around the world; being a marine engineer in countries like Egypt, and Italy to now working in

what he considered a low end job. I found that my family had a lot of similarities to (W) family,

although I came from a bigger family. Throughout my childhood, my mother got up early in the

morning to make my father some breakfast, and lunch and then got us up for school and made

ours. (W) family relied heavily on their faith and religion, and my family did the same. (W) first

identified herself as a Bengali, and then as a Canadian, which is what I do. When people ask,

where I am from, I first say Eritrean and then Canadian, but that also depends on who I am

speaking to, and the context of the conversation.

Family bonding was one of (W) family’s core values, which was similar to my family as

well. My parents tried to get us to spend as much time together as possible, and grow a strong

bond. My parents went from being surrounded, and living with their extended family to not

having any family in the country. More than twenty years later, we still don’t have any of that,

and it is something that I desperately wish for all the time. I found that another similar core value

of (W) family was respect. In the Canadian culture if someone is not related to you by blood, you

normally don’t call them aunt/uncle or cousin, but what my family instilled in me from a very

young age, was to show respect to people older than me, and to not call them just by their names.

I was supposed to refer to them as uncle or aunt, although they were not related to me at all. I

find that now that I am older, I still do that even to people who are less than 10 years older than

me because it was what I was taught to do.


(R):

In the process of studying (W) Family, I was able to relate to similar believes and values.

This immigrant family and my family shared the same background; South Asian Country. She

came from Bangladesh; I came from the same origin, but different country, India.

Coming from India and settling in Canada, as an Immigrant family in the year 2001, was a very

challenging, yet very diverse experience for my family. Similar to Waheda and Jamil, my parents

had to start from scratch as well. My father being an engineer, and working for more than 20

years in India, had to study further in Canada, in order to find work. My mother, who had no

education from India, had to work in a clothing factory to support our family.

Another similarity between (W) and my family was the values we shared. When asked

about things her family valued the most, (W) said, “Respect, caring for one another, and family

bonding” (Personal Communication, 2014). Growing up, one thing I remembered my parents

saying was that “We are chosen by God to be together, live together, share together, respect

together and care together”. They have always supported us in having different believes, but

have always taught us the importance of having a family bond.

One contrast between (W) and my family was the adaptation to the new culture.

According to (W) , Halloween was not a thing to celebrate (Personal Communication, 2014).

My family did not have this belief. Even though, I had the same religion, but my family never

restricted us from celebrating any occasion.

Comparing (W) family to mine, I was able to find out similarities such as, experience in

Canada, beliefs and values. The difference was the adaptation of new culture. Overall, both

immigrant families presented an overview of being new to Canada, with diverse experiences.

Shuwekha:


My family’s ethnic background is East African. Similarly to Afia and Nashia, I was born

in my country, Kenya, but I moved to Canada with my mother when I was 8 months old. We

shared the same value, and norms as (W) family. We learned to respect and, to care for others,

and the importance of family. My mother always told me, “Your family comes first. Your family

is everything”. In our culture, young ones communicate with elders in a certain way. Instead of

making a lot of eye contact with them, young ones should show respect by looking down, and

making eye contact only a few times. Moreover, my parents would emphasize on having family

dinners every night to keep a connection with my family members such as talking about our day

at school and work. However, family dinners only happened on certain occasions as my sister

and I got older.

In my early childhood years, my peers played an influential role in my culture when it came to

language. All of my friends were from different ethnic backgrounds, so I could not speak Swahili

with them. I felt lonely when they had the opportunity to speak the same language with their

other friends. When my parents would communicate with me in Swahili, I would respond in

English because I felt that there was no need to learn my language, if I did not have friends who

spoke Swahili. I would constantly ask myself why I was the only girl from Kenya in my entire

school.

I was raised in a Muslim family, so practicing some acts of Islam was very important to me as a

part of my lifestyle. I prayed 5 times a day to thank God for a blessed family, and appreciate how

I succeeded in my life so far. Sometimes I feel that it is not easy to pray all my prayers when I

am busy, but I try my best to do them all. In times when I do not pray, I feel that I am misguided

or lost.


Relevance to Early Childhood Professionals

As any other parent, (W) had a goal to give the best opportunities, and environment for

her daughters to succeed in life, and become positive role models for others. (W) practiced

positive discipline with her daughters, and expected them to take responsibility for their own

actions, instead of blaming others. In addition, she strongly believed in respecting others, and

spending quality time with family (personal communication, 2014). She believed that this way,

her daughters would grow up to understand the importance of family, and know that they could

rely on each other.

Jamil and (W) believed that it was important to be involved in their daughters’ lives,

providing them with a nurturing environment, and education to become better citizens (Personal

Communication, 2014). We live in a diverse society, where students are exposed to many

different people. It is important for parents to enlighten, and support their children to be more

open minded about all those different people they would meet and interact with in their life. As

an educator, it is my responsibility to incorporate anti-bias curriculum in my classroom. Anti-

bias curriculum involves an educational philosophy that values diversity to be accepting in the

society and why stereotypes, racism, and discrimination are not accepted (Derman-Sparks &

A.B.C Task Force, 1989). Educators must put into practice for students to embrace diversity with

others. For example, they could bring in the students’ parents to talk about their culture, religion,

and what makes them have their own identity.

When parents and educators work together as experts to support children, they could

bring their diverse, social, cultural, and religious perspectives into the curriculum very easily.

They are the primary and most powerful influence on children’s learning, and understanding

about their own and other people’s identity (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2014). Students


would begin to have a sense of freedom to think critically about injustice happening in the

society and accept differences around them. For example, an eight year old child would ask his

peer, who wears hearing aids, if he wants to play a game with him during break time. This

example clearly shows that the child is accepting his peer’s differences and the way he is.

In order to support and ally with (W) family, I would have to examine my own cultural

biases and assumptions. If I have any misunderstandings about their culture because it is

different from my culture, then I would have to take a big step in learning and understand their

culture. Jamil and (W) can come to one of my classes, and explain their identity including race,

culture, and religion. This would enlighten Afia’s and Nashia’s peers to be more understanding

and accepting about Bengali culture. Moreover, Afia and Nashia could bring in pictures of their

personal or written artifacts, and post them along with their peers’ pictures in the classroom.

Creating an anti-bias environment does not mean that it should only be integrated in the

classrooms. Its concept should be a part of anything that happens anywhere in the school,

whether it is bullying happening during lunchtime or in English class. Educators should consider

life-long learning using other resources to build up their knowledge because they are still in the

learning process about other people’s cultures (Derman-Sparks & A.B.C Task Force, 1989). This

will let parents and students know that the educators are willing to learn about different families

from different backgrounds. Also, students should be given the free will to share their family’s

experiences on stereotyping, racism, and discrimination in the classroom. This is an effective

way to create awareness about judgments and racism, among students. However, educators

should acknowledge that some experiences might be an emotional subject for the students

(Batiste, 1998).


When students walk into their classroom, they would love to see materials or resources

based on their culture displayed on posters and bulletin boards. This will make them feel more

comfortable around their peers, and parents could also get an idea of how educators are inclusive

and welcoming. Educators should keep in mind that books and videos used in the classroom

should not reinforce the use of existing stereotypes or discrimination (Batiste, 1998). Thus,

inclusion of all cultures should not only focus on the main cultural topics such as food,

celebrations, and traditional clothing, rather it should incorporate all aspects of different cultures

from their personal artifacts to their practiced norms in the family.

Overall, as educators, we should keep all our biases and judgments away when working

with families of different races and cultural background. We should make our classrooms as

diverse and welcoming as possible, to give the families and children a sense of belonging. This

will not only give children a sense of self, but it will teach them to be positive role models and

accepting other people’s differences.


Conclusion

Through our interview with the family and our evaluation of the interview, it proved first

hand and further backed many of the things that we learnt throughout the semester. One of the

biggest issues was the lack of recognition of qualifications for both (W) and Jamil. Although

their qualifications were not recognized in Canada, they were able to overcome this challenge,

when (W) made the decision to go back to school. She got a diploma in Early Childhood

Education, so she could go back into the work force, and get a job that would provide her family

with a stable income to support themselves in Canada. One of the biggest things that we learned

was that despite of Canada being a multicultural country, a large majority of immigrants faced

racism constantly. Due to (W) , being a religious Muslim and wearing a hijab, she discussed how

she faced discrimination in her classroom while getting her diploma. Media played a large part in

this as well.

Other things that appeared to be very surprising to us were the family roles, and the way

that they adapted to their roles. Being a family from Bangladesh one would think the family

would have difficulty adapting to the roles they used to have back in Bangladesh, to the roles

they would have when they arrived in Canada. Through time we were able to see that they

adapted to their roles quickly, and found a way to incorporate those roles in Canada as well.

We found that it was also very evident that (W) and her family faced the W Pattern of

immigration that many other immigrants. Her examples in the interview further backed the

validity of the W Pattern. For example, everything was going well for them at first, they were

able to get an apartment and settle in Canada. Then, after a little while, the thrill went away when

(W) and (J) qualifications were not recognized, and they could not find jobs in the fields they

studied and graduated in. This caused a slight depression and sadness within (W) because all of


the hard work of getting her education, she went through, was no longer counted here (W

Pattern, 2014). One suggestion that (W) made was that, Canada should have the same way of

testing other professions as it has for doctors, so that people don’t have to go through what (W)

went through, and start school over again (Personal Communication, 2014).

We commend (W) and her family on their ability to cope and bounce back from many of

the issues they faced. We found that the resiliency in the family was extremely strong and it was

one of the major reasons they were able to get to the position they are in today. Moreover,

through our personal reflections, we noticed that most of our group members could relate to (W)

experience, as they were immigrants themselves. This case study has taught us to not judge

people at face value, but to get a deeper understanding of them, and their family to effectively

program activities for their children, and make classroom environments as welcoming and anti-

bias as possible.

This case study was definitely an eye opener for all of us, as it made all of the topics and

discussions we had throughout the semester, seem so much more realistic because we were able

to see it first hand in an actual family. We were very thankful that (W) took her time to discuss

her experience with us and answer all of our questions.


References

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Chapter 4, pp. 93-122

Batiste, D. (1998). A World Difference. Institute Anti-Bias Study Guide. New York, NY: Anti-

Defamation League.

Baycrest. (2014). Youth Volunteer Program (ages 13-24). Retrieved from Baycrest:

http://www.baycrest.org/participate/volunteer-at-baycrest/youth-volunteer-program-age-

13-24/

Bowden, D. (2014). Equity, diversity and inclusion [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from

https://courses.ryerson.ca/bbcswebdav/pid-2838291-dt-content-rid-6042373_2/courses/

cld332_f14_01/ECE_and_EDI_-_November_2014-2.pdf

Bullard, C. (2011). 'PLAN' FOR BUSINESS SUCCESS. Motor, 216(4), 27-30. Retrieved from

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accountid=1363

Cottrell, B. and M. VanderPlaat (2011). Immigrant women in Atlantic Canada: challenges,

negotiations, and re-constructions. Canadian Scholars' Press/Women's Press, 2011.

Derman-Sparks, L., & A.B.C. Task Force. (1989). Anti-Bias Curriculum: Tools for Empowering

Young Children. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young

Children.

Faigal, A. (2014). Healthy Foundations: Taking care of ourselves and each other.

Faigal, A. (2014). Lecture on Immigration W Pattern. Personal Collection of A. Faigal, Ryerson

University, Toronto ON.


Faigal, A. The Colorosso Recipe [Powerpoint slides] Retrieved from Lecture Notes Online,

https://courses.ryerson.ca/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_15_1&url=

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Government of Canada. (2014, January 1). Ontario Service Centre. Retrieved November 27,

2014, from http://www.canadabusiness.ca/eng/page/centre/sgc-35/#sgcselect

Government of Ontario. (2012). A new direction: Ontario's immigration strategy. Ontario:

Queens Printer for Ontario. Retrieved from

http://www.citizenship.gov.on.ca/english/keyini tiatives/imm_str/strategy/strategy.pdf

Hilchey, J. (2012, August, 03). Take Risks and Change The World [Video File]. Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--QbgWYIXsI

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http://www.artstudioforchildren.com/

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McMahon, T. (April 2013). Why the world’s best and brightest struggle to find jobs in Canada?

Macleans. Retrieved from http://www.macleans.ca/economy/business/land-of-misfortune/

Ministry of Citizenship, Immigration, and International Trade. (2014, February 24). Ontario

Bridge Training. Retrieved November 27, 2014, from

http://www.citizenship.gov.on.ca/english/keyinitiatives/bridgetraining.shtml

Ontario Ministry of Education. (2014). How Does Learning Happen? Ontario’s Pedagogy for the

Early Years. Toronto: Queen’s Printer for Ontario.


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W. Begum, personal communication, November 7, 2014


Appendices

The Interview:

What are the family members names?

The mother: Waheda , older daughter: Afia, younger daughter: Nashia , husband: Jamil.

What country are you from?

I am from Bangladesh, which is a South Asian country.

What religion do you follow?

I follow Islam.

What language do you originally speak?

I speak Bangla.

Did you come alone or with your family?

I came here with my family.

How old are your children?

My elder daughter is 13 and the younger one is 9 years old.

Describe your family’s culture or background?

Back home the family bond is so strong though most of the families now days live in single

family, but before it was more of larger families living together. Back home we have a family

like that. My husband’s family is like that in Bangladesh. We used to live with my in laws. My

husband has 3 brothers, their wives and each brother has 2 children, we all lived in one big

house. The culture there is kind of different especially when we communicate with our elders.

For instance in English there is one way of saying you, but in Bangladesh we have 3 ways;

formal, informal, and familiar way of saying you.


When you first came to Canada, did you have any relatives here or did you know anyone?

Yes, I had a cousin who lives here in Toronto.

Describe what is your day like/consists of?

Now a days since I am working as a supply teacher, sometimes I have work and sometimes I

don’t. However, I wake up at 6:00 in the morning because my husband got to leave for his work

at 6:30. I prepare his lunch and then I have 1 hour for me until my daughters wake up for school.

So during this time I prepare mine and my children’s lunch and snacks, go over read the news

and listen to some religious lectures. Afterwards I wake my daughters up to get ready for school.

I mostly come back by 6:00 or 6:30 if I go to work. My husband comes back before me, and he

helps me by preparing some of the foods and cutting the vegetables, so when I come, I can start

cooking for dinner. We usually have our dinner by 7:30. Then we spend some family time

together, and help our children with their homework.

What are some of the things your family values the most?

Respect, caring for each another, and family bonding

Within the family, what would you say you (parents), and your children are responsible

for?

I think I can say it in one sentence; caring of each other is the one thing that we feel each one of

us is responsible for.

Who works in the family?

Me and my husband work to support our family.

Does your husband’s job match his qualifications?

No, he has a master’s degree in finance from back home, and now he works in a wheelchair

company that requires a lot of physical work.


How does this issue make him feel?

He kind of felt the same as me when we first came to Canada. However, he is trying to adapt to

our new life here. He had a fascination of fixing things, so he started liking his job now, even

though it requires a lot of physical work.

How do you manage the budgets of the family?

We check our bank balance every month and based on that, me and my husband would discuss

how to manage our budgets. Then we decide what is our priority when it comes to spending the

money.

Did you ever think of owning a business?

Yes we did, my husband wants to start his own business.

What are the challenges you are struggling with to meet this goal?

The most challenging part is the financing to start a business. We are also confused about what

kind of goods will attract the people of all culture here in Canada.

What are your qualifications?

I majored in philosophy back home; my husband and I graduated from Dhaka University, which

is the first public university there. My husband majored in finance. I worked at a college as a

teacher for grade 11 and 12. I also worked with children from kindergarten to grade 5, so in total

I worked for 12 years. When I came to Canada I enrolled myself in Centennial College and

earned my 2 year diploma in Early Childhood Education.

Were you able to find the job in your field?

Yes, I am working now as a supply teacher.

How long did it take you to find a job?


It was easy for me to find a job after graduation from Centennial College. I applied to an agency

called Sentient HR, and they hired me as a supply teacher.

How is your experience so far as an immigrant in Canada?

My experience was great as an immigrant; I was very welcomed here. But I was disappointed

with the system here in Canada, they don’t accept the back home education or experience in

order to work in the same profession I was. I know they do this for doctors only and I think they

should do that for more professions because it’s really devastating to start studying all over again

especially if a person comes here after having a long break from study.

How hard was it getting to Canada?

Luckily, I didn’t have any hardships or obstacles in my way to come to Canada. My experience

was easy and went smoothly.

What procedures did you have to go through to come to Canada?

We looked for agency that helps people immigrate to foreign countries. The agency had a list of

conditions that each family needed to meet. We applied as skilled workers and we got accepted.

Afterwards they told us based on our family members that we needed to bring with us to Canada

an amount of ($10,000.00) to support our self before we got a job.

Do you have any family back home?

Yes, I have my mom , my 3 brothers and their family back home.

How did people treat you here generally or have you faced any discrimination as an

immigrant?

When I went to college, I felt a little discrimination from some of the teachers. They always used

to make some comments about anything I did and it made me feel uncomfortable from the way

they treated me. For example, whenever I shared an idea or my work with the teacher, he/she


would tell me to “Think out of the box”, “ Have an open mind”, and “Be objective”. I thought

they said that to me because I needed to improve myself, but then I realized that they said the

same thing to my other classmates who wore Hijab like me. Also, in one of my classes we had a

test and the teacher said that she would come to check if everyone put their things away from the

table. The teacher came to my group and she stood for 1 minute to check only mine and my

friend’s table in the group, and then she left. That day I felt so horrible because it was obvious

that they see us differently. And I think the problem was with the way the teachers perceived us

as Muslim. They thought of us as conservative Muslims, who were unable to open up to the

multicultural environment we are surrounded by. They had their own image about “Islam” and

based on their ideology, they judged us in class without noticing themselves.

How hard was learning the language?

I didn’t have any challenges with learning the language because I already knew how to speak

English. When I was back home I learned English in school. That’s why when I did my English

test for Centennial, I managed to get in a regular English class; my children used to go to English

emergent school in their early years, that’s why they didn’t have any language barriers as well.

Were you able to access language training/classes?

I didn’t need it because I went straight to college and I was put in a regular English class.

Were you able to find an appropriate and affordable house for your family?

Yes, with the help of my cousin, who lives here in Toronto. She helped us find the apartment we

are living in right now. The apartment we found is close to my cousin house. However, the price

is a little expensive for the apartment we are living in comparing to other apartments.

How did your family adapt to the culture? Was it hard or easy?


I think my children have adapted to the culture easily since they are young. But, my husband and

I are still in our transition. It’s not that we don’t like it here but it is different for us here. I am

trying to observe and implement some of the Canadian culture as long it doesn’t not contradict or

cause a conflict with our belief. For instance, I don’t celebrate Halloween because in my faith we

believe that spirit goes to god right away after they die. On the other hand, I would celebrate

Thanksgiving since it is about thanking and appreciating creator for all the blessings, he provided

us with.

What was your life like back home?

Before getting married I used to live with my mom, dad and my 3 brothers. When I was young

my mom got sick and I had to take care of her so I learned how to cook and clean. My mom

ensured that I go to school and complete my education from university. After completing my

education, I got a job and worked as a teacher. In my thirties, I got married to my husband. I

moved to live with my in laws, who I considered as my family. We lived there together happily

until we decided to move to Canada, and that was hard for us to be separated since we were used

to living together.

Would you say that your current life is better or worse than your life in your home

country? Why?

Personally I wouldn’t say my life is worse or better because my life in both countries had its pros

and cons. My life back home was better professionally because I had a great job and status in

Bangladesh. But, in Canada I had to start from scratch, which was very frustrating for me at first.

However, Canada is a great place for me and my family to live in. It is safe and peaceful country

that can offer my children a better future.


What are the things that you lacked since you came to Canada and you feel like you miss it

now?

My family is the most biggest thing, I feel like I am lacking since I came here.

What do you think you need right now for yourself?

I need a good, well paid job with benefits.

Why did you choose to come to Canada over another country?

When we were applying with the agency, we asked them what is the best country to immigrate

to? And they recommended Canada and Australia for us as the best two countries for families.

So we decided to go to Canada because we have relatives here from whom we got to know about

Canada more.

Were you satisfied or disappointed by what you experienced here?

I was disappointed when I first came to Canada, and got to know that I can’t work with my

credential. I was so sad because I was 39 years old and in my culture 39 means you are so old

and there is nothing you can do. But, when I came here I had to make the decision to start all

over and give up my previous life. But, after I started working as an ECE I got to experience

feeling of satisfaction. Since I started working at Sentient as a supply teacher, I have been called

repeatedly to same centers I worked at and that made me feel so happy and appreciated for what

I do.

Now that you know what life in Canada is like, would you still have moved to Canada?

Yes, because the main reason that motivated us to move here, was to provide our children with a

better life and healthy development in the sense of education.

What has been the biggest change for you since you moved to Canada?


The biggest change that happens to me since I moved here was in my religion and my

relationship with god. Whenever I think about how I am living now and how our family

managed to come this far, I feel grateful to god for giving us all of these blessings. So I try to

give back to god by ensuring to pray my daily 5 prayers and wearing my hijab. Looking back at

my life I did change a lot and I hope to the better.

Do you wish you could go back to your country and live there?

Yes, I wish I could go and stay with my family there because my mother is not feeling well and

my mother in law as well. They need us by their side. So I do feel bad about that every time. I

speak to them back home and I try to work hard so I can help them in any way.

What were the challenges you faced when you first came to Canada?

Accepting the fact that I can’t work here professionally with my credential I had back home, was

very challenging for me. Taking the decision to go back to school at my age, and start again was

hard for me because I have two young daughters. Also, Maintaining between my role as a mother

and my role as a student was very challenging. During my studies I was very stressed and

worried about my family back home. I am glad that I managed to overcome those times.

What were your biggest needs as a new immigrant?

My biggest need when I came here was finding a full time job.

What is your goal as a parent?

My goal is to create the best environment or opportunities for my children to become an example

in the society.

What is your parenting philosophy?

My parenting philosophy includes the following: respect, discipline, responsibility, and spending

time together.


Do you have any house rules that you all follow in the house?

Yes, our house rules are helping each other, saying our prayers, and having dinner together as a

family.

What kind of guidance strategies do you use when your children misbehave?

Whenever my children misbehave, I use the “I Message” strategy with them. It always works

because when we talk and I reason it for them, they tend to understand and listen. This way the

conflict or the negative behavior stop instantly and I don’t need to use more strategies to

discipline them.

What kind of family would you say you are?

I believe we are a strong, closely bonded kind of family. I believe as parents, we are involved in

our children’s life and we try as much as we can to help them in any kind of way so they can

benefit from it and learn in their future. We try to provide our children with a warm and

nurturing environment to help and encourage them succeed in life. And try to guide them

through their needs, motivate them to take risk. We ensure to have respectful relationship among

each other and discuss any thing together, because our aim is their success in life.

Immigrant family case study

Education

Transcript of Immigrant family case study