ImmigrantChildren.ca Archive

Category: Research

  • StatsCan study: Canadian immigrant labour market

    Statistics Canada today released a study on the quality of employment in the Canadian immigrant labour market.
    StatsCan finds that there were differences in indicators of quality between non-immigrants and immigrants, with immigrants experiencing, on average, lower wages than non-immigrants. But, for newcomers who made Canada their home for more than 10 years, the indicators “more closely resembled those of Canadian born”.
    Again, immigrantchildren.ca finds that investigations into employment-related issues – and, especially, quality of employment experiences – neglects to include availability of high-quality, accessible child care as an indicator.

  • Seeking proposed panel members: Changing intra- and inter-generational relationshps in migration for CARFMS 2010

    From the H-CHILDHOOD@H-NET.MSU.EDU listserv: Proposed panel on changing intra- and inter-generational relationships in migration contexts for CAFRMS 2010:
    “I am interested in proposing a panel on intra- and inter-generational relationships in migration contexts for the third annual conference of the Canadian Association for Refugee and Forced Migration Studies (CARFMS), hosted by McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada on May 6-8, 2010. The conference theme is Forced Migration: Challenges and Change.
    “Within this context, I am soliciting expressions of interest from colleagues working on age, generation and family relations to participate in a proposed panel on dynamic intra- and inter-generational relationships within contexts of migration. I believe that this could be an opportunity for researchers and practitioners working with migrants (interpreted broadly to include asylum seekers, refugees, internally displaced people,at different phases of the life cycle from infancy to old age to come together around the common theme of dynamic generational relationships. The panel would seek to address the overarching conference theme of challenges and change. Papers addressing conceptual, theoretical, empirical and/or methodological issues are welcome.
    “Please submit a 250 word abstract and short (one paragraph) bibliography by January 5th, 2010 to: cclark-kazak@glendon.yorku.ca. The panel proposal will then be submitted to the conference organizers, who will take the final decision on whether or not the panel will be accepted”.

    Christina Clark-Kazak, DPhil
    Assistant Professor, International Studies, Glendon College, York University
    2275 Bayview Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, M4N 3M6
    Tel: 416.736.2100 ext 88106

    Related immigrantchildren.ca post: Call for papers: Canadian Association for Refugee and Forced Migration Studies
    For more information on the CARFMS conference, contact Heather Johnson – johnsohl@mcmcaster.ca, or visit the conference website.

  • Education for migrants, refugees, asylum seekers

    From the Child Rights Information Network listserv: The annual report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to education to be presented to the Human Rights Council in 2010 will focus on the right to education of migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers.
    The focus of the report will be on people of all ages living outside the country in which they hold citizenship. The principle of non-discrimination and the right to an education is framed within the four components of availability, accessibility, acceptability and adaptability.
    This information will be collected via a survey. Submissions to vernormu@yahoo.es or to Vernor Munoz, PO Box 1245 ? 1007, Centro Colon, Costa Rica.  Deadline is January 20, 2010.

  • Call for survey participation: HR implications in early childhood education

    The Child Care Human Resources Sector Council (CCHRSC) is undertaking a research project examining the human resource implications of emerging issues in early childhood education.
    The research project includes conducting preliminary research on emerging issues in ECEC including involvement of the formal education sector, the inclusion of children with special needs, the inclusion of children from varying socio-economic and cultural backgrounds, school-age and family-home care.
    Project team members are inviting participation in an online survey. If you have any questions, please contact Kathleen Flanagan or Jane Beach at kathleen.flanagan@yahoo.ca or janebeach@shaw.ca.
    The survey closes at midnight Nov 13/09.

  • New (US) research: Immigration, diversity and education

    New research on young children of immigrants, publication date: Nov 2009. In an edited collection, entitled Immigration, Diversity, and Education, editors Elena Grigorenko and Ruby Takanishi present the first wave of studies about what is happening to young children from birth to age 10 living in immigrant families in the U.S.
    The contributors offer interdisciplinary perspectives on recent developments and research findings on children of immigrants. … this collection lays the foundation for changes in child and youth policies associated with the shifting ethnic, cultural and linguistic profile of the US population (Source: NAME Listserv, Sept 23/09).

    Table of Contents
    Preface, Elena L. Grigorenko
    Introduction, Ruby Takanishi
    1. Children of Immigrants and the Future of America, Donald J.Hernandez, Nancy A. Denton, and Suzanne E. Macartney.
    2. Differences in Social Transfer Support and Poverty for Immigrant Families with Children: Lessons from the LIS, Timothy Smeeding, Coady Wing, and Karen Robson.
    3. Disentangling Nativity Status, Race/Ethnicity, and Country of Origin in Predicting the School Readiness of Young Immigrant Children, Jessica Johnson De Feyter and Adam Winsler.
    4. Preparing the Way: Early Head Start and the Socio-Emotional Health of Latino Infants and Toddlers, Krista M. Perreira, Linda Beeber, Todd Schwartz, Diane Holditch-Davis, India Ornelas and Lauren Maxwell.
    5. Latinos and Early Education: Immigrant Generational Differences and Family Involvement, Eugene E. Garcia, Kent Scribner, and Delis Cullar.
    6. Diversity in Academic Achievement: Children of Immigrants in US Schools, Jennifer E. Glick and Littisha Bates.
    7. Latino/a Immigrant Parents? Voices in Mathematics Education, Marta Civil and Naria Planas.
    8. Cultural Incongruence Between Teachers and Families: Implications for Immigrant Students, Selcuk R. Sirin and Patrice Ryce.
    9. Special Educational Needs of Children in Immigrant Families, Dylan Conger and Elena L. Grigorenko.
    10. Two Generations of Educational Progress in Latin American Immigrant Families in the U.S: A Conceptual Framework for a New Policy Context, Ariel Kalil and Robert Crosnoe.
    11. Does It Begin At School Or Home? Institutional Origins Of Overweight Among Young Children In Immigrant Families, Jennifer Van Hook, Elizabeth Baker and Claire Altman.
    12. Parenting of Young Immigrant Chinese Children: Challenges Facing their Social Emotional and Intellectual Development, Charissa S. L. Cheah and Jin Li.
    13. More than the A-B-C’s and 1-2-3’s: The importance of family cultural socialization and ethnic identity development for children of immigrants’ early school success, Amy Kerivan Marks, Flannery Patton
    and Cynthia Garcia Coll.
    14. Emergent Literacy in Immigrant Children: Home and School Environment Interface, Iliana Reyes and Yuuko Uchikoshi.
    15. Development of Tolerance and Respect for Diversity in Children in the context of Immigration, Oscar Barbarin, Micaela Mercado and Dari Jigjidsuren.
    Conclusion: Commenting On What We Know and What We Need to Learn, Elena L. Grigorenko.

  • Ontario's McGuinty urged to 'do the right thing' for immigrant children

    There have been a number of initiatives in the last ten years (and previously) to  address the patchwork of services and supports for families with young children in Ontario.
    In the Harris/Eves government, the Ontario Early Years Centres were an attempt to respond to the Mustard/McCain report, The Early Years Study which called for an early child development and parenting model of service, to serve as Tier 1 entry to the formal school system. (See Ontario Early Years: A Very Brief History, at the Health Nexus Sante blog).
    The Best Start initiative was launched by the next government, Premier Dalton McGuinty’s Liberals, and saw communities collaborating in Best Start Networks, working to bring services and supports together in ‘hubs’ for children from birth to age six.
    This summer, The Premier’s early learning advisor, Dr Charles Pascal was asked to look at how to best prepare young children to succeed in school and released With Our Best Future in Mind. Pascals’ report calls for many of the same options of previous investigations but with clear – and implementable – steps.
    For immigrant children and families, the system proposed by Pascal are especially important. Pascal envisions a system of child- and family-centred schools, with access to information, resources, supports and services for parents and caregivers and full-day kindergarten and early learning and child care for children. Pascal’s system builds upon the work – and success of both the Ontario Early Years Centres and the Best Start Networks.
    As the province with the largest number of immigrant families with young children, Premier McGuinty would serve immigrant families very well in adopting the plan. I cannot think of a better way to welcome newcomer children and families to their new communities than by having a school act as the central point of entry into the myriad of social, health and educational services. Such community-based school centres (staffed by kindergarten teachers and Early Childhood Educators and other family support workers) will have expertise to assist the integration of newcomer families with young children into their communities.
    For parents with existing resources (time, funds, language skills and peer support and/or extended family members to help), it is difficult enough to navigate the system. Imagine not having the language, the networks, or knowing where to go to get this kind of information. That is the reality for immigrant families.  The school – an institution universally recognized as the centre of a community – is the best place to act as a central (and a multiple-) point of entry to the world of health, educational and support services for immigrant families with young children.
    {see June 16/09 post for more on how the Pascal plan addresses early child diversity}

  • Language and reading comprehension of immigrant children

    Select slide presentations from the May ’09 Language and Reading Comprehension for Immigrant Children (LARCIC) conference are now available on the LARCIC website. All presentations open as PDFs.

  • Call for papers: Southern Alberta Child & Youth Health Network conference

    The Southern Alberta Child & Youth Health Network has issued a call for proposals (and other conference related items/events) for their 2010 conference “Transcultural Health Conference“.
    The conference will be held May 2-4, 2010 in Calgary, Alberta and the theme this year is “Multiple Voices for Enhancing Health Equity through Research, Policy, Education and Clinical Practice”. From the call:

    The first national conference held in Montreal in 2007 drew a multidisciplinary group of over 200 participants in health care, education, community work and policy. It served to identify effective models of health care and strategies for clients from diverse ethnoracial and Aboriginal backgrounds. The second national conference will expand on these themes and for each of these categories provide attendees with the opportunity to consider and explore areas such as collaborative professional practice, issues of cultural knowledge and advocacy, the development of cultural competence, and the experience of clients, practitioners and policy makers from the perspective of diversity.

    For more information, see the conference web-pages and/or contact: Linda Kongnetiman
    Email: linda.kongnetiman@albertahealthservices.ca, tel: 403-955-7742.

  • "Peel Immigration Papers"

    In May, CERIS (The Joint Centre of Excellence for Research in Immigration Studies and Ontario Metropolis Centre) held a seminar based on research conducted in several areas, culminating in the Peel Immigration Papers. The papers include issues related to children and families. They are:

    • Meeting the human service needs of immigrants. Speaker: Sarah V. Wayland, Wayland Consulting.
    • Meeting the needs of immigrants throughout the life cycle. Speaker: Ilene Hyman, UT.
    • From generation to generation. Speaker: Michelle P. Goldberg, OISE/UT.

    Wayland’s presentation provides an overview of the issues and makes recommendations for optimal service delivery. Hyman’s presentatiaon (developed with Judith K. Bernhard and Ellen Tate) closely examines the importance of early childhood education in their overview of the issues and in their recommendations. Finally, Goldberg’s presentation (developed with Sarah V. Wayland) examines supports to families and communities in the areas of: Academic supports; Emotional and social supports; Mitigating the effects of poverty; and Building community social capital. We hope that the full papers – from which these presentations were based – are also made available online.

  • Child migrant workers, in their own words

    The Development Research Centre on Migration, Globalisation and Poverty (Migration DRC) examines the lived experiences of children who migrate to countries to seek work – from their perspective. The report finds a “significant gap between how children see their own experiences of migration and the way that child migrants are often represented”. See Voices of Child Migrants: A Better Understanding of How Life Is.
    Related resource: The Migration DRC Child Migration Research Network, a site with research and resources on child migration, unaccompanied children and child refugee issues.