In elementary classrooms, teaching immigration often begins and ends at Ellis Island--without discussions of racist migration policies or engagement with current issues. Although contemporary immigration is rarely discussed with elementary students, the number of young people from immigrant and/or refugee backgrounds in the U.S. continues to rise.…

This article describes influences on intergenerational communication within refugee families about sociocultural trauma and explores how education may positively affect this communication process. Drawing on qualitative research and grounded theory through a larger study concerning intergenerational effects of and communication about trauma in…

This article discusses one aspect of a research study that explored the school experiences of Cambodian American students. Due to their invisibility in the school setting and also in the literature on school reform, these children from refugee families are often overlooked as schools attempt to "close the achievement gap." Through their…

The early 1980s saw an influx of Southeast Asian refugees from various demographic groups and backgrounds to Minnesota. As teachers, the author and her colleagues regularly added children from these groups to their classrooms, receiving little explanation of a student's history or language proficiency. To counteract increasing teacher resentment…

After a brief description of the origins and languages of the three major groups of Indochinese refugees in the United States--Vietnamese, Cambodians, and Laotians--and short references to subgroups, 20 observations on the general cultural traits of the Indochinese are given. These observations touch on the following: the importance of harmonious…

Discusses responses of the Catholic church to the special needs of Indochinese refugees in the United States. Reviews the influence of Catholicism in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, and describes activities of itinerant ministries to Catholic refugee communities across the U.S. The church's mission must be openness and hospitality toward newcomers.…

During summer 1991, an experiential educator worked in a Cambodian refugee camp helping newly trained camp police to become a team and develop the necessary personal skills to maintain order in the face of ongoing Khmer Rouge activities. The story of that summer's experiential training ends with a remarkable long-term outcome. (SV)

Cambodian refugees represent a severely traumatized population living in the United States. In this paper, we describe the modification of a cognitive-behavior therapy program to facilitate delivery of an exposure-based treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder while addressing some of the challenges brought by differences in language and…

Describes three programs of school-community collaboration which have the following goals: (1) helping children develop a commitment to their communities; (2) helping refugees adapt to their new communities; and (3) helping schools deal with student discipline problems. (PS)

Cambodian refugees in the United States, in addition to suffering loss of homeland, culture, and families, are survivors of a holocaust that has affected every Khmer family. Summarizes the history of Cambodian conflict and genocide, and describes its lingering effects on refugees attempting to rebuild their lives in this country. (AF)

Because of the lack of research on the Khmer people in the United States, and because the Khmer have arrived here so recently, this paper describes itself as "less a state of the art analysis of Khmer resettlement and more of a speculation on their condition calling for more research." After an introductory section, the paper describes the two…

This guide is intended to aid in the design of parent education courses for refugee and immigrant parents, especially those who are having problems in relations with their children. The presentation is based on the experience of three parent-education projects, each of which conducted an 8-week course for Cambodian refugees who were experiencing…

This book describes the immigration of tens of thousands of Cambodian refugees to the United States from their war-torn country in the early 1980s, highlighting the efforts of Khmer Americans to recreate the fabric of culture and identity in the aftermath of the Khmer holocaust. Based on long-term research among Cambodians residing in metropolitan…

This paper summarizes the findings of a descriptive research project conducted among Southeast Asian parents in an Oregon school district, and discusses the issue of fieldwork methodology among refugee populations. The district studied had a student population of 18,000 (kindergarten through grade 12), with Southeast Asian refugees accounting for…

In an effort to address both the interests of Khmer and Vietnamese refugee students and the experiences of refugees making the adjustment to life in the United States, the Galang Refugee Processing Center developed a social language unit to add to the curriculum. The unit is designed to teach students socially appropriate ways to make and…