This is a reflective report on my presentation on 4th February, 2015.
Topic: “What pressures do children of immigrant families face, in adjusting to a new culture and what are the implications of this for counselling?”
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Introduction
This was an individual presentation that was assessed by Tim Wilkinson who is the lecturer for Christian Integrative Therapeutic Counselling II, for Year 3. The second assessor was Dr. Barth Orji.
I put in a lot of effort in preparing for this presentation. I visited the British Library twice and I engaged several scholars listed in my bibliography. I was really amazed to find that there was an enormous amount of materials on the topic. I critically analysed the views and the materials that I engaged. I also consulted my lecture notes and even the Tutor and Peer feedback forms so that I prepared not only for the content and materials but on the presentation too. I had a rehearsal at home in the presence of my wife and I asked her to critique the presentation. She gave me some valuable advice which I took on board.
As with all my assessments, I had mixed feelings leading to the day. I was anxious because I was to be assessed and I was also exhilarated in anticipation of receiving some very constructive feedback that will further enhance my counselling skills, as I have known the two assessors involved to be very objective.
On the day, I arrived in time but the second assessor was a bit late which in the end gave me ample time to relax my nerves. I was the first to present which ordinarily would have been nerve racking but surprisingly, I was very calm, composed and confident all through my presentation. Upon reflection, I think that it is the result of my quest to raise the bar and improve. Many will avoid starting first so as to learn from the feedbacks of those that present ahead of them but I would rather have an assessment of my genuine ability and take on feedbacks that will be useful to help me to the next level.
The presentations went on as scheduled. Every student attended and took part in peer assessment. Everyone gave feedback which made it more interesting because there were diverse perspectives to the feedbacks.
Summary of my presentation
There are issues that Immigrant children face in a bid to adapt to a new culture. I grouped these issues into six sub themes: Educational, New community, Emotional, Language, Racism and Identity. In the course of my research, I discovered that there is another side to the coin; there are also benefits. Such benefit will include Bi-cultural competence (Garcia-Coll & Magnuson 1997) and development of the mental ability to cope with stress.
Some children adapt easily while some others struggle. There is a great variation in how the children adapt. These variations are so much so that they pose a challenge in drawing conclusions.
There are implications that these issues could have on counselling. I realised that even though parents expect that the Counsellor will put their child right, not very much is known about these issues. I think the Counsellor must strive to equip himself to be effective. Pre-migration and post migration circumstances combine to influence how these children navigate this adaptive process.
However, I think that more research is required to formulate effective models of interventions to support immigrant children. This will support immigrant children in establishing the foundation for their futures. (Szapocznik & Kurtines,1993). The Counsellor requires an in-depth understanding of the aforementioned issues.
Again, I think that the government can support immigrant children by establishing counselling services in schools; this will enhance mental wellbeing, bi-cultural abilities and stronger community among immigrants’ children.
Questions and Feedback from Peers and Tutors
My colleague Israel, who was one of the peers assessors questioned my definition of immigrants’ children and wanted more clarification. I reiterated that a child born abroad and brought to live in the United Kingdom as well as a child born to a first generation immigrant parent, is an immigrants’ child. The lecturer, Tim Wilkinson concurred with my definition and in his contribution, gave an example of a child born to a Caucasian family who lived as missionaries in Africa; upon returning to the United Kingdom, the child struggled to cope with the culture and eventually moved back to live in Africa.
The peer assessors were Israel, Tuoyo, Ayo, Chikere and Bernardine. Tuoyo noted that the content was extremely rich and well researched. He thinks that the strongest part of the presentation was the definitions. Israel observed that it was well referenced with enough scholars. Ayo thinks that the presentation was thorough and that I exhibited confidence, Chikere and Bernardine agreed with the rest but pointed out that I needed to improve on my time management. There was a consensus that it was a very good presentation.
Dr Barth observed that I did not use visual aids but handed them printed copies of my presentation. He observed that the communication was very good, subject well researched, indicating that I know and mastered the subject. He also said that there was good eye contact, gesture and body language was good, stance was good and voice projection was excellent. He also commended me for remaining focused even when there was distraction from peers.
Tim Wilkinson did not want to repeat what had been said; he added that research was thorough, but that the material was too much hence I exceeded the allocated time. He observed that there was evidence of good knowledge of the subject, clear English, voice projection was good. However, he thinks that the eye contact can be better.
Reflection and Conclusion:
I think that my presentation was hitch free. I engaged several scholars in the course of my research and I found the topic very interesting. I put in all effort but I am aware that there is still a lot more research to be done in developing intervention models for immigrants’ children.
I reflected and listened to myself as I was presenting, and I was quite surprised at how confident I came across. At the end, I still felt that I did not do my best and so I was amazed at the feedbacks that I received.
I think that overall, having evaluated the whole exercise including feedbacks, it was a good presentation. However, it was a learning process for me and I have taken note of the feedbacks on areas highlighted for improvement. I will endeavour to use visual aids in the future, work on my time management and improve on my eye contact. (1073 words)
Bibliography
Cropley, A.J. (1983). The education of immigrant children. London: Croom Helm.
Das, A. and Kemp, S. (1997). Between two worlds: Counselling South Asian Americans. Journal of Multicultural Counselling and Development, 25, 23 – 33.
Garcia-Coll, C and Magnuson, K. (1997). The psychological experience of immigration. In A. Booth, A.
Gibson, M. (1988) Accommodation without assimilation: Sikh immigrants in an American high school. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press.
Kim, E, and Diaz, J. Immigrant Students and Higher Education: ASHE Higher Education Report 38:6
ONS (17 December, 2013) http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171776_346219.pdf [Accessed 02/02/2015]
ONS (May, 2014)
Portes, A. (1995). Children of immigrants: Segmented Assimilation and its determinants.
Rumbaut, R.G. (1995). The New Californians: Comparative research findings on the educational progress of immigrant children. In R.G. Rumbaut & W.A. Cornelius (Eds.), California’s Immigrant children: Theory, research, and implications for educational policy (pp. 17 -70). La Jolla: Center for U.S. – Mexican Studies, University of California, San Diego.
Sam, D.L. (1992). Psychological acculturation of young visible immigrants. Migration World Magazine, 20, 21 – 24.
Szapocznik, J. and Kurtines, W. (1993). Family psychology and cultural diversity: Opportunities for theory, research, and application. American Psychologist, 48, 400 – 407.
Vernez, G. and Abrahamse, A. (1996). How Immigrants Fare in U.S. Education. Santa Monica, C.A.: RAND Corporation.
Peter Emordi COU 3000 Task 2 1
