Date on Master's Thesis/Doctoral Dissertation

12-2025

Document Type

Doctoral Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph. D.

Department

Elementary, Middle & Secondary Teacher Education

Degree Program

Curriculum and Instruction, PhD

Committee Chair

Sheffield, Caroline

Committee Member

Patton, Elizabeth

Committee Member

Mark, Sheron

Committee Member

Gast, Melanie

Author's Keywords

postcolonial theory; refugee education; refugee resettlement; cultural capital; subaltern; critical content analysis

Abstract

Cultural Orientation (CO) is a free, legally mandated, multi-session program intended to provide refugee newcomers ages 18-65 with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to integrate and achieve self-sufficiency in the United States. Despite occurring at a critical time in the resettlement process, there has been almost zero scholarship analyzing the content or efficacy of domestic CO curriculum. This dissertation addresses that gap by performing a Critical Content Analysis (CCA) on The Road Ahead (TRA), the de facto official CO curriculum promoted through the Cultural Orientation Resource Exchange (CORE). Framed by a postcolonial perspective and informed by the concepts of othering, hidden curriculum, and cultural capital, this study investigated three questions: 1) What forms of cultural capital does TRA promote as necessary for successful resettlement?, 2) What does this conferred cultural capital imply about the socioeconomic trajectory of newcomers?, and 3) In what ways does TRA represent the value of refugees’ preexisting cultural capital upon arrival? Using CCA, analysis was completed by constant comparative coding of all default refugee-facing materials in the 8–12 hour curriculum. Findings reveal that TRA heavily confers cultural capital centered on basic survival and promotes three prioritized expectations: learning English, employment over education, and maintaining legibility to the U.S. government. The curriculum also presents an idealized American reality—one of possibility, progress, and prosperity—implying a linear, upward "American Dream" socioeconomic trajectory. This optimistic forecast is achieved largely through omission, failing to address systemic barriers such as discrimination, biased policing, employment stagnation, or the specific needs of marginalized populations (e.g., LGBTQ+). Furthermore, the analysis shows that TRA often relies on stereotypes and "common sense" advice that implies refugees arrive with deficient, childlike cultural capital, thereby othering the newcomers it aims to serve. In conclusion, by prioritizing immediate employment, demanding legibility to the government, and reenforcing a subalternity, TRA’s hidden curriculum functions as a tool of recolonization that pushes refugees to the bottom of U.S. socioeconomic hierarchy – promoting disorientation rather than orientation. This research therefore advocates for a thorough revision of current and future CO curriculums to better reflect the lived realities, respect the diverse cultural capital, and overall support the success of incoming refugees.

Download

Share

COinS