Cultural diversity and migrant youth in secondary schools

Australia has a diverse population, which has been enriched and extended by a series of migration programs targeting distinct cultural groups. The cultural diversity of the Australian community, which has resulted from this migration program, is commonly described as multicultural, yet this has not always been the situation. During its early development, Australia as considered a white settler colony, similar to Canada and the United States. An influx of British migrants in the first half of the twentieth century continued the development of this remarkably homogenous society. However, at the end of the Second World War, Australia embarked on a contrasting program of migration. People came from Eastern, Northern and Southern Europe, the Middle East and Asia. In response to its culturally diverse population, Australia has committed itself to the development of an inclusive multicultural society. A considerable effort has been made to cater for minority groups and to embrace the interesting and sometimes challenging cultural contrasts with which Australia has been presented. Other countries such as France and the United States have attempted this multicultural approach, but both countries have different challenges from those faced in Australia. The lack of large minority groups in Australia has created a unique situation for educational institutions in particular, as there are specific logistical issues in teaching a small number of students from one or more minority groups within a traditionally larger Anglo-Saxon context. This peculiarity in Australia requires a unique approach within the educational system and a broad and extensive understanding of issues surrounding ethnicity, multiculturalism and schooling. An understanding of how we should best manage cultural diversity within Australian schools can only be achieved through extensive and detailed studies that investigate how particular cultural groups understand their own social and educational experiences in relation to wider social discourses. This chapter reports on a longitudinal study, commenced in 2003, which sought to extend these understandings and focused on the experience of Arab Australian families and the students within these families who attend Victorian schools