The influence of familial and schooling experiences on the acculturation of immigrant children from Zimbabwe

Abstract

The challenges confronting neighbouring South African countries such as Zimbabwe continues to increase as a result of the economic down turn it experiences. Consequently people are forced to break barriers in order to cross to South Africa in an attempt to settle down. Their settlement in South Africa presents the reality that their children have to attend South African schools with the attendant challenges and opportunities. Not much is known about how the children of immigrants from Zimbabwe acculturate to the school environment and the South African cultures. Utilising a qualitative case study approach, legitimate peripheral participation, semistructured interviews and observation, this paper explores the impact of familial and school experiences of immigrant children from Zimbabwe on their acculturation to the school environment and the society of sojourn. The study sample consisted of four male immigrant children from Zimbabwe and their parents. The study revealed that familial dynamics seemed to predispose Zimbabwean immigrant children to receive incessant protection in terms of the culture to adopt and the culture to refuse. They were trained at the home front to imbibe their home-based culture and not to inculcate the mainstream culture.