‘Baba, Take Us to Museum’: An Afghan refugee family’s engagement in language and literacy at the children’s museum

Abstract

Although there is a growing body of literature which focuses on museums’ role in supporting children’s literacy, there is also a need for studies to show ways in which museums can support refugee families’ literacy practices. In light of this gap, this qualitative study explores the role of a children’s museum in the literacy practices of a recent refugee Afghan-American family. Data consisted of interviews with the parents and children, conducted using Skype, over a period of two months. A media capture functionality method was used to receive photos from the family using a smartphone. In addition, the family sent audio-recorded interactions during activities that took place at the children’s museum. The recordings were sent through Whatsapp, a smartphone application that lets users’ text, send images, audio record and make calls for free. The findings demonstrated that the children’s museum played an important role in the Manzoor family’s literacy practices. The exhibits at the museum offered the family a site of multi-modalities, where images, sounds and words together contributed to meaning-making. Moreover, the museum provided the family with important resources, such as books and pamphlets on registering for schools. Lastly, the children’s museum provided a supportive environment for the Manzoor family to learn English and meaningfully engage with print literacy.