Littleleaf High School: SaySay, Paw Htoo, and Hlaing
Originally, I (Lisa) was introduced to Littleleaf as a graduate assistant working on a small project to help teachers in a linguistically and culturally diverse school—70% of all students were English learners (ELs) and over 40 different languages were spoken by students. Our task on the project was to help the teachers implement lessons related to the new forms associated with the Common Core State Standards (National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010). I was to work with a handful of teachers as a literacy coach, providing them with resources, guidance, and advice as they worked with their students, who were primarily ELs. This position was supported by a state-funded grant led by faculty from a local university. In addition to hiring literacy coaches to work in the building, university faculty also provided weekly on-site professional development for teachers in the areas of literacy, language, and technology. The school had been identified as one of the lowest achieving schools by the state, and the goal of the project was for the local university to partner with the public school to assist school leaders, teachers, and students for support. The students who had refugee status were primarily from countries including Burma, Nepal, Somalia, and Pakistan. For the next year and a half, I spent about ten hours a week observing in many classrooms, helping teachers plan their lessons, getting to know the students, and immersing myself in the school environment.
After this intense year and a half at Littleleaf (more on the school context and history is provided in Chapter 4), spending time at the school with teachers and administrators, conducting observations in classrooms, and learning about the background of the school and community, I came to realize that refugees were a population whose voices often went unheard in the educational and academic literature. I also started to explore my own subjectivities as a White woman and researcher (see Chapter 4). At this time, Littleleaf had also experienced a recent influx of students who were originally from Burma, and I began to focus on this particular people group, trying to read every information source I could find. Given that I was already familiar with the school and its community and knowing there was a need to focus on work with refugees, and in this case, youth who were newcomers from Burma, I decided to seek permission to conduct dissertation research at Littleleaf. In the fall of 2014, I asked and was graciously invited into the lives of three youths—Hlaing, Paw Htoo, and SaySay—who had originally come to the United States with their families as refugees. For the next year, I spent time with these three students, interviewing them, observing in their classrooms, and learning about Burma, the immigrant and refugee community, and their lives.
When I met SaySay, Paw Htoo, and Hlaing at Littleleaf High School, all of them were in grade 12, their senior year (i.e., their final year of public schooling in U.S. secondary schools). Two of the students, SaySay and Paw Htoo, were Karen (Kah-REN), a people group from Burma from the southeast side of the country in a region called Karen state. Although this population resides in Burma, they are indigenous people of the region with their own distinct language and culture. Unlike SaySay and Paw Htoo, the third student, Hlaing, grew up speaking Burmese in her home because she was ethnic Burmese. (More information on the history, language, and ethnic groups in Burma is included in Chapter 2.)
