Impact of VICSEGs Scholarship Program on Personal Development of Refugee Student

Document Type:Essay

Subject Area:Arts

Document 1

The aim of the scholarship program is to increase the ability of the refugee students to be socially active thus creating successful and lasting relationships. The second aim was to increase the chances of the refugee students to engage in education thus increasing their morale in learning and as a result increase their performance and their rate of attendance in school. in addition, the program was aimed at increasing the ability of the students to get a job in the host country or to get skills that will increase their ability to come up with individual businesses hence having a sources of income and as a result improving their living standards. The methods that will be used in this research are the administration of interviewees to the students, teachers, parents and fellow students who are friends of the refugee students and observation of the behavior of refugee students (Bower, van Kraayenoord & Carroll, 2015).

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The interviewees will be aimed at providing information regarding the present attitude of the student towards life and education. Refugees are individuals who flee from their home country as a result of instabilities and relocate to other countries believed to be stable in all aspects. Refugees find it hard to cope in new environments because of the difference in language and cultural practices. Their lives are affected in that children discontinue school and parents and workers lose their jobs and homes in that case these individuals are very frustrated and disappointed with life occurrences. It is important to note that when refugees are not able to meet their needs easily they result to immorality and the justice system of the host country catches up with their acts and are subjected to punishment in line with the laws of the host country.

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As a result of the risk facing refugee children due to the disappointments they were facing, Australian, VICSEG organization decided to start a scholarship program for the children so that they could continue with their education effortlessly. The sole aim of the research is to identify the impact on the refugee children the scholarship program has made in line to their development. In the year 2014, VICSEG organization started the scholarship program which was focused on preventing refugee students from receiving bad and low quality education thus enhancing their employment. In that case, the scholarship was to improve the welfare of the refugee students by changing their attitude towards learning, development of skills and improvement of social interactions. The students in the program receive and will receive approximately 200$ or 250$ per term per student.

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In addition, the scholarship program requires that one mentor deals with two students. There is need for various international bodies to help salvage these children who are underprivileged due to war or instability and ensure that their future is guaranteed. Education is usually termed as one of the key aspects that help in empowering people in the society such that they can manage some of the social challenges as well as issues that they could face in life. Education will help enhance the capabilities of individuals as well as empower the young generation such that they could go beyond their potential. The trauma experienced by these individuals affects their psychological wellbeing thus affecting their ability to create meaningful relationships with their peers.

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In addition, trauma makes individuals unable to relate with others therefore living in seclusion and as a result become loners. To ensure that refugee students in Australia are able to get into school, VICSEG organization came up with a scholarship program that would cater for all the educational expenses of these children. Studies have shown that the opportunity to learn given to these children improved their morale in learning in that they rate of being active in class work increased hence increasing their ability to understand and retain the things being taught at school. It is therefore important to note that the performance of these children in school work was greatly enhanced and they recorded very high performance in their school grades.

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According to the findings of a recent research, confidence is also the best non-cognitive predictor of academic achievement. This technically means that for VICSEG to evaluate its performance and grade it as successful, it must have accomplished the mission of instilling confidence on the refugee students. One of the aspects that is seen as being significant in any young person’s life is the achievement in education as it helps enable the social, economic as well as the political participation. Education helps enhance the social participation as well as the individual development as it helps in ensuring that individuals have been enlightened based on some of the important aspects of the society. Refugees are usually underprivileged and as such they do not have access to high quality education as compared to those individuals who have access.

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Equal opportunity to education need to be provided to all the students such that they will be in a position of being exposed to the real time problems. The high school non-completion can be said to be directly related to a low participation in the paid work, low job opportunities as well as the social disadvantages in the adult life. One of the aspects that is seen as being significant in any young person’s life is the achievement in education as it helps enable the social, economic as well as the political participation. Students could end up lacking the requisite opportunities for identification, learning as well as practicing the micro skills that are needed for the achievement in academic world as well as the social connection (Moses & Villodas, 2017).

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School offer the refugees with an opportunity in which they transform their lives such that they will be exposed to some of the real world challenges as well as opportunities (Moses & Villodas, 2017). These children additionally could end up lacking the positive role models that they could emulate outside their families and their cultural communities. No any individual would wish to be a refugee as the struggle of being a refugee is very gruesome. In addition, the running of a school is based on the set rules and regulations that students, teachers and other members of staff need to follow failure to which they are consequences to be faced. In that case the experience received from the school setting of obeying and operating according to the set regulations, allows the refugee students develop a good behavior and their attitude towards following rules is improved.

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Schools usually face a number of challenges when they are providing for opportunities for the young people who are from the low income refugee backgrounds as they are not in a position of affording education. Students from refugee backgrounds could have gone through disrupted academic calendars, loss of family members as well as pre-settlement trauma which is likely to affect their performance in schools. VICSEG adopted a strategy such that they are involved in counselling these students who experience trauma so that they can help them cope with the post-traumatic experiences that they are likely to experience (Moses & Villodas, 2017). Theoretical perspectives The main aim of the scholarship development was to improve the wellbeing of the refugee children by enhancing their development in all life’s aspects.

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The wellbeing of an individual is characterized by living positively, engaging with peers positively, making informed decisions in any life situation and finally attaining ones life’s goals hence improving and safeguarding the individual’s living standards. Martin Seligman came up with a model that sort to address the issue of wellbeing of individuals (Núñez et al. The model provides that the wellbeing of a person is based on five elements which include positive moods, engagement, relationships that are positive, meaning and accomplishments thus PERMA. Martin Seligman suggested that when an individual is subjected to issues that enable them cultivate and develop the five elements posed in his model then they are assured of leading quality life thus improving their wellbeing.

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Research Methodology In the research methodology, the researcher analyzed the research design that will be used in the study. Additionally, the researcher analyzed the study design that has been applied to the research as well as some of the instrumentation tools that will be applied in facilitating the research and achieving the objectives for which this research thesis is aimed at fulfilling. Research Models There are three basic methods that will be used when trying to find out the impact that the scholarship program developed by VICSEG organization has on the personal development of refugee students. The first method that will be used is carrying out of interviews. The interviews will be administered to different individuals affiliated to the scholarship program.

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An exploratory design as the name suggests is aimed at exploring the research question. However, it is not intended at providing a conclusive solution to the problems that are in existence (Kumar, 2011). The exploratory research design is usually conducted to analyze and study an issue or a problem which is not yet clearly defined. An exploratory research is usually conducted for the purpose of determining the nature of a problem which therefore makes the audience to better understand a problem. In gathering of the secondary data, a quantitative technique will be used. The program by VICSEG worked in partnership with 10 schools which include Melton Secondary, Lakeview Senior College, Western English Language School, McKillop Secondary, Werribee Secondary College, Manor Lakes p-12, Catholic Regional College, Kurunjang Secondary College and Tarneit p-9.

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However for the purpose of this study, the researcher narrowed down to Lake View Senior College, Carolinespring, Victoria where six students were sampled. Additionally from Catholic Regional College, Melton and Victoria, six refugee students were also sampled for study. All the staff members helped in facilitating the attendance of the students for the program and some of the staff were involved with the support through having weekly meetings in a bid to improve strategy and ensure that they provide effective support in the process. The teachers were very instrumental in providing technical advice to the students as well as helping them in developing knowledge based on some of the key requirements by the program by VICSEG. Timeline The research on the topic on the impact of VICSEG’s Scholarship Program on Personal Development of refugee students will be carried out for about six months from today therefore the research will be carried on until November this year.

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This will provide the researcher with an appropriate time as there will be sufficient time to be used in studying some of the critical elements of the research. Budget The research being carried out will within my financial reach as it is a self-funded research. The researcher shall spend an additional cost in transport while moving from one school to the other observing the learning capabilities of the refugee students in these schools. Interview Questions The researcher developed some of the questions that helped guide the interviewee through answering some of the critical details that were required by the researcher. The success rate in which the students were in a position of meeting the milestones set for them was too high.

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The program by VICSEG was well received by all the 12 participants who were drawn from various schools in Australia. This was because of the positive development design, the program culture of listening to key stakeholders as well as the culture adopted by the organization of taking a learning approach from outset. Various literatures that have been used in documenting this study provide that the community mental health programs for the refugee families should consider the feasibility, acceptability, cultural tailoring, effectiveness as well as flexibility. This will provide the students with an appropriate learning environment where they will develop their skills effectively and get to learn about new and emerging ideas in the process. The program has helped a number of students develop their skills and unlock their potential which is really difficult to realize when they are deprived of the opportunity to have quality education.

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On the question of- How has the scholarship program helped in enhancing your career choice? – A majority of students observed that the scholarship program has significantly helped them in making appropriate career choices. Making of career choices is perhaps one of the most difficult choices that one can make. With the appropriate mentorship programs, the students have been guided on some of the appropriate career choices that they can make in ensuring that they boost their employability as well as enhance the skills that they possess. Career choice is seen as being very fundamental for every other refugee student as it is through the choice of an appropriate career that they will boost the rate at which they can be employed by various sectors in Australia.

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Australia is a very competitive country therefore employment opportunities are only open to individuals who perform well in their school work and their grades at the end of their learning period are high. In that case, the refugee students get an opportunity to be employed in high end offices in the country whereby they receive beautiful salaries and in return improving their living standards. With an improvement in the living standards of these refugees, there is likely that they will influence and change the lives of their families that they left back in their home country. One of the aspects that is seen as being significant in any young person’s life is the achievement in education as it helps enable the social, economic as well as the political participation.

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Education helps enhance the social participation as well as the individual development as it helps in ensuring that individuals have been enlightened based on some of the important aspects of the society. These reports were echoed and supported by their teachers and mentors who also reported to have observed their growth in terms of self confidence in every aspect of their lives including expression in language (Seligman, 2012). The students’ teachers and mentors also reported that the students had grown from shy individuals to students with strong and outgoing personalities where they could also participate in other activities aside their projects and schoolwork. This has enabled them to change their thinking as people who matters to others too. Studies have shown that this kind of thinking of mattering to others has a positive impact on the mental and overall wellbeing of refugee students.

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Another contributor to raising and improving the confidence of the students was the mentoring experience. The groups were hence identified as being very important to students in terms of providing positive social connection. Moreover, as a result of this positive social experience students got a platform to gain practice in skills that are basic to positive relationships. Overall, teachers also reported improvement in social skills and pro-social behavior of the students. In turn, the impact of positive social development is usually expressed in four main areas which include positive social contacts, feeling of social integration, an attachment to pro social organizations and the ability to find one’s way through various contexts. This has broadened the interaction of the students with people from various parts of the world and therefore helped them in building and maintaining positive social networks.

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The third impact of VICSEG’s scholarship program on the personal development of refugee students is increased motivation and opportunity to the students. According to the reports provided by the students, they all seem to agree that it is the relational support from mentors, school staff and the entire program that helped them in developing motivation and a sense of belonging and mattering. When talking about school engagement, it is a fact that it is the motivation to learn, a sense of mattering and the development of self-efficacy that are powerful factors to bring out the best in a student. On reviewing some of the student’s feedback, it is true that VICSEG’s program gave the students something to look forward to in terms of motivation.

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Moreover the scholarship program provided opportunities for the students to develop their skills through new experiences across many areas including developing their leadership skills, team building, event organizations, and communication skills among others (Scales et al. School attendance is an important aspect in terms of developing self-discipline as a student (Núñez et al. With the motivation provided by the program, the refugee students have had a personal development in terms of improving their self-discipline and giving more importance to their education unlike before. Self- discipline is therefore a positive milestone since it can help the student in many areas of life including decision making (Scales et al. With the help of the scholarship program, students can now perform better not only in their academics but also in other areas like decision making and even extra curricula activities like school holiday activities (Núñez et al.

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With respect to personal development also, the refugee students improved on life skills and development especially after enrolling on the program. Recommendations and Conclusion Development partners have been very instrumental in the realization of some of the goals and objectives of Vicseg. With the support that they have accorded to the various programs, it has been possible for this organization to put in place various mechanisms and measures to help solve some of the issues that are experienced by the refugee students. The mentorship programs by the organization have additionally helped a great number of students get to realize that they have a potential that should be unlocked in them. One of the objective of the program is to implement the evidence based programs in liaison with schools as well as the youths so as to help them achieve full secondary education as well as help them in making necessary career choices (Núñez et al.

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The program was designed to help in providing the multilevel support through the use of a combination of scholarship funds, a positive peer support as well as group based monitoring which have helped in providing necessary agency support (Scales et al. This will address the issue of student learner opportunities which will definitely ensure that the students get to have access to the opportunities that they would not have accessed when in their home countries (Núñez et al. Mentorship The organization provides that each of the mentors need to be responsible for at least two students who they will mold and ensure that they get to gain and attain necessary skills which will enhance their employability upon completion of their studies.

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The opportunity for the mutual decision making as well as the close interpersonal relationships with the adults and peers who are not relatives is always sorted during the period of adolescent development. From the research, it is indeed evident that a majority of the mentorship programs that have been initiated by Vicseg have helped in enhancing skill development in students while at the same time improving their personal development. Mentorship programs has been identified as being very instrumental in helping the young people especially refugees in the academic as well as social domains which will help them in developing goals, having problem solving skills as well as gaining hands on interpersonal skills. Conclusion VICSEG has played a fundamental role in ensuring that they protect the refugee students who are underprivileged.

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With this program in place, it will be possible for the various institutions to engage all the stakeholders involved in ensuring that they address all the key needs of the students. Suitability of the models that are applied in evaluating the performance of the students will be based on how effective they respond to the various education and mentorship programs. This will provide the organization with an appropriate feedback mechanism which will help them in addressing any future expansion issues. References Bower, J. Journal of School Psychology, 49, 399-410. Correa-Valez, I. , Gifford, S. , & Barnett, A. (2010) Longing to belong: Social inclusion and wellbeing among youth with refugee backgrounds in the first three years in Melbourne, Australia. , Ramey, H. , Rose-Krasnor, L. , & Proctor, A. (2012) Predictors of adolescent successful development after an exchange: The importance of activity qualities and youth input.

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